Monday, November 28, 2005

Mondays trades and thoughts

Been a hard day for me today - best trade of the day I closed for piffle when I should have held the second half for the run up - cost me dearly as you can see.
 
also on some trades I didn't take half at 10 - its the run down on Friday that made me wary where I closed for 10 and then it went another 60 odd pips
 
I must discipline myself to take the 10 and let the other half run to conclusion or decide just to take 10 full up on everything.  with the win / loss ratio of this method taking 10 every time is a good option but means you see pips slip away from you.  Psychologically its better to take the 10 every time rather that let the half run because your account grows quite nicely - but when the big runs come it gets painful.
 
add to that the fact that I'm still not out of the mindset where I always let the winners run - this take profit malarkey is all new to me - bunny girl used to harp on about it - it feels good on the poor ranges when you snatch 10 time and time again but it's a bloody nightmare when you take 10 from an 80 pip run like today
 
also let you know that I had a limit order in at 1.7040 - this was loaded to the hilt with funds for the bounce off the weekly 200sma - look how low it got!! a pesky 7 pips short of my entry!!
 
Still, a winning day is a winning day and good things come to those who wait....
 
 
All times GMT +1
 
08:40 long 1 min slo 1.7098 closed -5
09:26 long 1 min slo 1.7061 closed break even 
11:28 short 1 min slo 1.7099 close break even
11:40 long 1.7099 5 min slo close +3
14:06 long 1 min slo 1.7107 close break even
14:26 short 1 min slo  1.7202 close half +10 half +1
15:06 long 1.7200 close half +10 rest +7
15:34 long 1 min ss 1.7209 close -7
16:16 long 1 min slo 1.7212 closed half +10 rest +8
 
= 28 half pips = 14 full up
 
 
From The Desk Of ...
 
Soultrader
 
 

3 comments:

Forex2stay said...

Hey Soultrader. I usually check your blog out every night, and look forward to it. I have a question for you. I cam across a post by you on one of the forums where you discussed using the peeks and valleys on a one minute chart for exits. Do you still utilize this approach. Thanks!

Soultrader said...

Rastaman, thanks for the comments - i too aim for 20+ if using a 5 min chart but on one min charts 10 pips is a good trade - some run on further and thats what the second half is for - the best of both worlds so to speak. so i do still let my winners run, but when the market is tight then its best to take whats on the table rather than hope youve caught the big fish which in the end turns out to be a minnow

I came up with 10 pips based on what is easily achievable on the 1 min timeframe and the second half can go on being trailed as i usually do - ive had one trade like that turn into a +132 on a one min chart - but this is far from the norm.

Ive got very tired of looking for the big trade of the day and am content these days to take 10 pips 4 or 5 times a day rather that let a trade get to 10 and then turn back into a +1 - in reality this is actually allowing me often to make more pips than the daily range of the pair. so i can actually make more by taking the 10 pips than grabbing the big one.

Obviously this is ruled by my entries which have to be very precise and they are as im sure youve seen. Obviously when im taking a trade on a longer term timeframe then i set my sights somewhat higher.

Forex2stay, thanks for contributing - yes i still utilise that method of trailing - its the only sensible one to use - make your trails match the market rather than expecting the market to match some arbitrary figure you have in your head of what a trailing stop should be.

all the best :)

Forex2stay said...

Thanks Soultrader! I've look through a lot of charts and it appears that this will work well with my trading personality. I've ready through your blog (several times) and have read most of you comments on the major forums. Just wanted to say thanks for all the great information you've provided over the years.

Thanks agian!