Forex Trading Journal - Forex2Stay

Cleaned Up the Blog

2010-02-20T11:56:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone.

I've been struggling with this for a while, but i finally pulled the trigger today. There was a lot of content in this blog that was very misleading, so i decided to clean it up and take out the trash. The only pages left are the ones i feel are relative to trading. The others held a lot of misleading ideas, concepts and advice from someone that was not qualified to be giving it.

So what's next for this blog. I'm not sure really I've turned a major corner in my trading over the last year, and part of me would like to put some of the things down on this site that helped me do that. I think as long as i relate it to "My Experience" that is something that would be okay. Just need to think on the delivery. Also I'm not looking for something to take up too much time. I'm already dealing with a pretty demanding training schedule that I've placed upon myself and fitting one more thing in might be difficult, so we'll have to see.

Until next time.....

Trade well,
Brent

Some Clean-Up

2009-08-09T11:06:00.003-04:00

Okay decided to open my blog today and do some cleanup. I removed the junk blogs from the menu and just added the ones i fequently visit. I also took some time to remove the spammer messages.

So what's the plan.....

I'm going to try to put some life back into this journal. So you can expect some updates on my progress, some things that have helped me get to where I am.

I've spent some time reading over my old journals hard copies and electronic ones from the beginning. It was interesting to see my progression and my mind set during those times. With that said I'd like to start putting down some frequent notes again. It probably will not replace my complete journal but just some things that i can look back on (and possibly others) in the future.

Till then....

Trade Well....
Brent

Found a Mentor

2008-03-07T13:32:00.002-05:00

Well I decided on a Mentor. I chose the author of "Bird Watching In Lion Country" BWILC; Dirk du Toit. I've been participating in his MP 2008 class since January. During the last two months I've met some great people, who are also trying to make it as a FX traders. Over the next few months I'll try to give some highlights of the class without giving away to much. So I'll stick to what I'm going through and my progression instead of talking about the material we are covering.

The last two months have been truly amazing. I had my first ah-ha moment and I now realize how much of the wrong stuff I know and how little of the right stuff i know. Dirk has thus far been a true mentor. It's like going back to school. A lot of work....it's fun but it is work. It takes an honest effort to stay on track with the other folks. I feel i have made more progress these last two months than i have over the last 2+ years. To be honest....it feels great. We start a new series of exercises this weekend and I'm looking forward to getting started with them.

Until next time.....

Trade Well...
Brent

Maybe it's time for a change.....

2008-02-08T10:27:00.000-05:00

I read and hear this a lot so I though it was worthing writing about. We all know the old say 90% of traders lose, so here's something to think about. We all follow the same rules, read the same books, and visit the same websites...

For example we've all heard these great sayings...

Only trade x% of your account
Cut you losses let you profits run
Your reward to risk ration should be at least 2:1
Plan your trade and trade your plan
Backtest, backtest, backtest
Price is king

Okay quick question....anybody consistently making real money following these rules?

I know my blog is full of these concepts, and I'm actually thinking about removing them because I feel it misleads people.

Bottom line is your are doing what you are suppose to, but you are still in the 90% losers section, so obviously these phrases, books, and guidelines are not working otherwise there should be a lot more winners.

Maybe it's time to take the road less traveled on....

Trade Well....
Brent

Fundamentals

2008-01-12T11:18:00.000-05:00

This entry is about something that total changed the way I approach the FX market, and it's Fundamentals. Back in May of 2007 I had just finished two books that both caught my attention. The first being "Bird Watching In Lion Country" (second read), and the second being "Way of the Turtle" by Curtis Faith.

To make a long story short there was a phrase in the "Way of the Turtle that really made me think. Faith referred to the currency market as a "Fundamental-driven market", in which the trading is not the primary force behind the movement. Rather larger macroeconomic events and forces drive the price. Faith also stated that this kind of market has the greatest liquidity with the cleanest trends and are the easiest for trend followers to trade.

Now this sounded way to familiar. It was the same information I learned in BWILC, so I started to reread BWILC. However this time i caught onto more things then my previous read. Different mindset I guess.

So I made it a goal to find out who the main players were in the FX market and how they make their trading decisions. Well 41% of their decisions are based on Fundamentals and 26% is based on Technical Analysis. Those statistics told me that I was trading at a disadvantage, because about 90% of my trading decisions were based on Technical Analysis.

So i had to change my game. I started to research these macroeconomic events and I researched what Fundamentals drove the markets. I needed to find out how a particular news event affected the market, not only in the short term, but the larger picture.

This changed everything for me because i realized i didn't know enough about the market I was trading. I was good at my IT job because I knew a lot about it, and I was confident in what I knew. I wanted that same feeling when trading, and that's what I'm continue to improve on in 2008.

Also thought you might find this below link helpful...

http://www.ny.frb.org/education/addpub/usfxm/

Trade Well....
Brent

New Layout - RSS enabled

2008-01-02T12:49:00.000-05:00

I've changed my template to allow a site feed. So for those that have requested me to enable RSS it should be working now. You can subscribe via the right menu or at the bottom of the page.

Trade Well...
Brent

Book Review - "Enhancing Trader Performance"

2007-07-19T12:25:00.000-04:00

Hello....

I just finished reading Brett Steenbarger's new book "Enhancing Trading Performance" and thought I would I would write down a few of my thoughts.

The bottom line is I loved the book. I have multiple pages of useful notes and endless makers and highlights of key points in the book. It was packed full of useful information. The thing that really hit home with me is that Brett works in a Brokerage firm where he is in touch with a lot of successful traders. Traders that have had the same struggles as us and he has helped them though it. So he is familiar with our challenges and has key points in the book to help us through them. Not to mention he is also a trader. He does a great job of bridging the gap between trading professionally and any other profession whether it be a professional athlete, a doctor, or scientist. They all take hard work and dedication and it doesn't happen overnight. Another key Brett emphasizes is finding the right fit between your talents and interest, which is probably the most crucial step.

So to sum things up I would easily place this book in my top 5 all time trading books and most of the concepts in the book I'll be able to use not only in trading but in my every day life.

Brett's Information...
Website: http://www.brettsteenbarger.com/
Blogs: http://traderfeed.blogspot.com/

Trade Well....
Brent

EFX Account is Online

2007-05-14T21:18:00.000-04:00

Well EFX has deposited my funds into my account, so I'm back to trading live. I started out light today trading small mini-lots. Speed and execution were a little faster than what I experienced in the demo account. The spreads are relatively small or non-existent. Even the spread for GBP/JPY averaged around 3-4 pips today. During today's trading the spread for GBP/USD was typically between 1-2 pips. Of course I'm paying commissions for my trades. I think the Level II quotes will also come in handy.

By the way my daytrading has really evolved over the last few months. Actually things changed when I setup my new trading area. Just to recap I have 3 monitors two 17" LCD's and 1 20" wide-screen LCD. I only daytrade GBP/USD and I watch the following time frames; 5min, 15min, 30min, 1hr, 4hr, and Daily. Since I mainly trade price-action (with pivots/cams) I'll take a trade off of any of the lower time frames (not the 4hr or daily). However I feel i get my best information from the 5min and 30min charts. It might be obvious to most folks, but it wasn't for me. Watching these time frames just makes things a lot clearer. I mean a LOT!! If you haven't already just try it.

So my schedule is like this. I trade forex via the Europe session, and I "watch" the futures during the NY session. And of course I'm still Swing trading Forex.

This week will be lite trading for me. I'm preparing for a trip to London next week, so I have a lot of distractions. I will daytrade however it will be small mini-lots, and it will primarily be to get a good feel for the Live EFX account.

Trade Well....
Brent

A New Forex Broker....and Some Updates

2007-04-25T13:51:00.000-04:00

Well it's been a while. I've been busy trading, backtesting, and testing broker platforms. I decided it's time to quit complaining and move away from Oanda. Not sure if a new broker will be better, but I'm to the point where i need to find out.

The new Broker I decided to go with is EFX Group (MB Trading). They are an STP/ECN broker.

STP = Straight Through Processing
ECN = Electronic Communication Network (basically I'm anonymous)

Even though I'll have to pay commissions for my trades I'm willing to do that in order not to compete with my broker, which is what I was doing with Oanda. The trading platform is similar to what is offered with traditional stock brokers. For example multiple order types, stop losses, time entries, and Level II screens.

So right now I'm currently in limbo. I've withdrawed my money from Oanda (except for a few hundred $$). After EFX finishes setting up my live account I'll wire the money into my new account.

New Trading Environment
I've also setup my new trading environment this week. My office is now setup for strictly trading. I've also purchased a new PC with a 20" widescreen monitor and 2 - 17" LCD's. I have my charts setup on these and I run my broker platforms on my laptop. Maybe I'll post a picture of my office setup sometime.

Journal Entries
I've also started to keep my journal in electronic format. It just makes more sense for the information I want to collect. It will allow me to post charts in the document along with screen shots of my broker account. I'm also hoping I can just copy and paste these entries into this blog.

Anyway I hope everyone's trading is going well....

Brent

Update...and other stuff

2007-03-17T14:50:00.000-04:00

Hello...sorry for the lack of posts lately. Between traveling, backtesting and getting my taxes ready I haven't had much free time. Trades are going well this month. I'm on the plus side so that is always good.

My traveling will slow down over the next few weeks and it looks like I'll be home most of April. I'm looking forward to getting back in my office and start day trading again. In order to accomplish that I have two major goals. Backtest my day trading strategies to get my confidence up again, and finding the right broker.

As far as backtesting i'm going to state something that might be obvious for most, but it wasn't for me. I've come to the conclusion that you can't backtest on one tradeing platform (ie MT4) and trade live on another. For me the results are entirely different. The prices are different and the candles are different. I've talked to a few other folks that trade professionally and they said that they even found out that the strategy didn't work with some brokers and works well with others. Which will bring me to my next paragraph. Anyway backtesting is going well and I'm currently testing my 30 min strategy on GBP/USD. It doesn't produce a lot of trades a month, but it's consistant. I think most people give up on backtesting because they start and see their strategy missed a big move, so they adjust their method and start again. The cycle never ends. If you really want to know if your method will work go completely through your testing. Review the results and then fine tune if you need to. If you don't have a large enough sample you can't make educated decisions.

Okay now for the second goal finding a broker. I have two brokers i trade with we'll call them broker A and broker B. Broker A has a smaller spread that broker B, except during news or slow times. So what i've been doing is placing entry orders on both brokers (mini lots) this way I know i get in at the same price. Stop losses and profits are also set identical. What i have found thus far is that broker A is always a few pips against my trade. For example if I'm short their close pice is anywhere from 1-3 pips above broker B. If I'm long their always 1-3 pips under broker B. Now how's that possible if their spread is smaller? There has also been three times that my profit mark has been hit by broker B, but not broker A. Again I'll say how's that possible if their spreads are smaller? The has also been 2 times that broker A filled my position and broker B never did. Both trades ended up going against me and hitting my SL. Broker B's trade was never triggered. Again I'll say how's that possible if their pip spread is smaller?? I'll continue to do this for a few more weeks to get a larger sample size then I'll have a decision to make. The obvious decision is to move to another broker. That's a given. Right now i'm debating on whether to get one of my friends to open trades with against with broker A. I'll have them open a short while I open a long. When we do this his close price should be the ask and mine the bid, so we should see the true spread. If the spread is not what they display on their trading platform then we have a serious problem. Bottom line is it would be proof that they are misleading their customers. Anyway I'll keep you updating on my testing. I really hope things change and I don't prove what my initial beliefs are about broker A.

Trade Well......
Brent

Trading Question - From Todd

2006-10-21T12:54:00.000-04:00

Hi received an e-mail from Todd about a position trade I took back in July. I figured it would be best served if I answered the question here.

Thanks for the question Todd, and I hope this answers your question.

Greetings!
I just "stumbled" onto your blog. I'm a relative newbie...Your post "Trading Update" from Friday July 28 06 has me intrigued. Could you perhaps elaborate on your position trading method, i.e., explain what's going on in the chart, especially the price patterns you're looking for and your entry/exit points/rules. Thank you. I think it's good portends great things that I came across your blog.

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,
Todd

This is the chart Todd is referring to....

This was a play off of support. It was pretty simple and straight forward. Earlier in June 06 there was a pretty decent reversal which took place pretty close to the Murrey Math MM -2/8 line. I marked the line on the chart with the green horizontal line labeled 1.2471. As we move to the right you can see that in July 06 that price once again came down and tested the line. It ended the day with a small real bodied candle with long shadows or wicks. This alone tells me that once again the green support line and MM -2/8 is causing some hesitation in price going lower. It also tells me that there are a lot of buyers there willing to buy in that area. This area was also the 50% Fibonacci retracement line. I also know that the Murrey MM -2/8 line is an extreme and represents a buying condition. By the way we also have MACD divergence, which is not showing on the chart.

On the day that the red small real body appears I have a possible trade setup. Now when do I enter? The small real body is really not enough for me to enter the trade, and this is something I have struggled with in the past. I'm sure a lot of other traders have to. Cause if I wait until the following day, price is well above where I wanted to enter. Emotionally this is hard to accept. I've identified a good setup, and now price is running away without me. Not to mention the fact that the recommended stop loss would be below the support line and MM -2/8, so now i have 100 pips more of risk. So what do you do? Looking through my journal it appears I entered this trade in 3 different phases. I took 1/3 of the entry on the close of the small dark body day. Emotionally this works for me. I have minimal risk, and I'm not going to get left behind if the train leaves. The next 1/3 came when price dropped below support. When I saw price drop below support and that sellers could not push the price any lower I know my odds were getting better. So I waited until price pushed above the high of the previous candle and entered. The last 1/3 came at the close of the bullish engulfing candle. Keep in mind that my % risked never exceeded my money management rules. I just divided it up in 1/3's. So if my money management has a 3% risk rule I would be risking 1% with each 1/3. This procedure is still something I'm fine tuning today. It's a work in progress and it keeps evolving.

Now for setting the profit targets. I could tell by looking at the chart that price was making Lower-Highs. This is represented by the green sloping resistance line. So I knew I wouldn't be able to get greedy. I took profits on 2/3 at the MM 0/8 line and was stopped out on the remaining just below the 0/8 line.

I hope everyone keeps in mind that my style of trading works for me, and chances are it might not work for anyone else. It took me a long time to realize that i was not going to become a successful trader by a black box system or copying someone else trade signals. It was when I changed my motivation for visiting forums, blogs, and my discussions with other traders that changed my life. I no longer try to imitate them or copy their systems. Instead I try to pick up on their successful qualities that support who i am as a trader. It's all about finding out what works for me. I know emotionally there are only certain things I can handle while trading. So i have to pick the qualities from successful traders that support this. Just relate it to life for a second. I was taught by various folks. Including my parent, teachers, and grand-parents. The list goes on and on. Some of them successful and some of them not so successful. Well I didn't copy their personalities. I took experiences from each of them, and that made me into who I am. Don't you think the same thing would hold true with learning to trade?

---------------

Trade Well....
Brent

Plain Old Truth - Rule #2 (Part 2)

2006-07-23T14:23:00.000-04:00

I've been doing a lot of research on this particular rule, and it really seems the odds are stacked against us. You see most of the brokers we deal with are not "non-dealing desk" brokers, which basically means that they are market makers. This puts us in direct competition with them. At this point I am very skeptical that someone can win consistently dealing with these kind of brokers. I mean we are basically in competition with someone that can see every aspect of our orders, including stop losses and profit marks. If I can not find a reputable non-dealing desk broker, I'll most likely switch over and trade a regulated exchange.

The following two links will give you additional insight, please take their warnings to heart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forex_scams

I'd like to personally thank Phil for his efforts. It's really been an eye opener for me. Phil will be starting a public forum where forex traders can discuss their interaction with brokers, and hopefully the discussions will lead to answers. There's a lot of good information on his blog. Please study it carefully.

http://nondealingdesk.blogspot.com/2006/05/spiking-fact-of-forex-life-if-so-its.html

Plain Old Truth - Rule #2

2006-07-17T14:42:00.000-04:00

Okay...Let's get started with Rule #2. Bottom line don't trust anyone. If they're trying to sell you something you need to exercise some common sense. Everyone is in the Forex venture to make money. Everyone from your broker, folks selling the systems, alert service, and us the traders. There's an old saying out there that goes like this....

"If you want to make money during a Gold Rush, sell the picks and the shovels."

Well the Forex is definitely a Gold Rush, and there are a lot of folks selling worthless picks and shovels. Let's break these down a little.

The Broker:
The Broker is out to make money like you and I. How do they make their money? Mainly by the spread difference between the bid/ask prices. Well lets think about that a minute. So if a broker wanted to create more revenue how would they do it? First they could encourage traders to trade more. Here are a few examples you've probably seen. Offer monthly trading contest for a cash prize. I don't know about you guys, but when I see how many pips those top guys make, I want to start trading my ass off. Give away free software that you can create EA's (Metatrader) with to trade 24/7. Or make API's available so you can program your own robot to trade 24/7. Bottom line the broker acts just like a casino. Time is on their side. They know the longer you trade the more likely they'll get your money.

The second thing they do is stop running. This is pretty easy for them considering there is no common price between brokers for a currency pair. There's no central exchange, they are all on their own. I've actually picked the act turning point with my stop loss dozens of times. It's funny when it happens I'll open a chat with my broker and tell the support person that once again I picked the exact turning point with my stop loss. I'll go on to say that I had the same position opened with my other broker (same stop loss) and it never got stopped out. I get some pretty interesting comments. Afterwards things calm down a little, and then later it starts back up again.

The last thing you need to know is to be careful when someone is recommended a broker. You see a lot of blogs/websites with broker recommendations on it. I'm not referring to the Google Ads you see, those are pretty harmless. I'm referring to how some brokers will actually give people/companies commissions for referring folks. Here's how it works. The person that recommended you can actually get a per-trade commission fee every time you make a trade. Sometimes that fee can be $1 per mini-lot. Yeah it makes you feel pretty good about the advice you've been getting from their blog/website doesn't it.

The Sellers
I like many others I have thrown a lot of money away on crap. Looking back if I just would have used some common sense I would have saved myself a lot of money and time. Don't get me wrong there are some good courses, books, and mentors out there. You just need to make sure you do your homework. Go to Fx-Review.com and see if anyone has information about them. This is one of the few times I would recommend it, but go to the forums and do a search for the person and whatever they are selling. If someone has had a bad experience it will be their. Basically if it sounds to go to be true it is. Ask for references, ask for broker statements, get specifics from them. I would never recommend buying something from another trader. I don't care how good they say they are. I've been their and it doesn't work. I look at it like this. If I had a system that made consistent profits, the last thing I would do is sell it. Think about it, if it works your making money. Why in the world would you want to mess with customer service, answering question, just the overall BS of making sales. The bottom line is...You wouldn't. Real trading takes concentration, and good traders don't mix the two. Good salesman will though. It's obviously crap so stay away from it. The other thing you need to keep in mind is that if this person/company developed something there's good chance it won't work for. Trading personalities are all different. One system doesn't work for everyone, and a good trader knows this. So if a "good" trader is trying to sell you it, they're taking advantage of you. You also need to be aware of something else. Take a look at the following chart. This indicator calls the tops and bottoms perfectly. Just go long when green crosses the zero line, and go short when red crosses the zero line. Pretty amazing isn't it??

Well custom indicators can "repaint" themselves. So what you see here is not what you would see in real-time. Looks pretty convincing though doesn't it?? Oh Yeah, SolarWinds is not the real name of the indicator. It's an indicator that someone else developed that went by a different name. The originator however was up front about the repainting issue. You'll see this a lot. Folks take an indicator, create a system/methodology with it, rename it, and sell it. Stay away from these folks. They're just out there to take your money.

I'll elaborate on the "sellers" section a little more when I get into Rule #4. Who knows I might even give you some specific examples I've been through.

Summary:
Just use some common sense. Initially don't trust anyone. The people that sell the picks and shovels are slick. They know you need certain things to make it in the Forex gold rush, and they are going to make whatever they're selling as attractive as possible.

The Plain Old Truth

2006-07-15T11:48:00.000-04:00

Like most of you I have seen a lot of things take place in the Forex community that just isn't right. I've decided to sum some of my expriences up into rules. Hopfully someday someone will stumble across this site, and it will make them better prepared to tackle the Forex and the Forex community when they start their quest to become a full-time trader.

Anyway I've pretty much summed everything up into 8 Rules. I'm planning on posting all the rules here and then, as time goes on, I'm planning on elaborating on them in individual posts. In each post I'll share some insight and some of my experiences with each rule.

----------

Here they are....

1. Use common sense.
2. Don't trust anyone.
3. Learn how to trade. (No automatic trading systems).
4. Don't buy a system or "Methodology" from anyone. Create your own.
5. Stay out of the Forex forums.
6. Do not use Alert services.
7. Hire a mentor. (After proper screening).
8. Treat your trading like a business.

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Rule #1

I decided to go ahead and elaborate on this one here, because it's going to be relatively small. Basically all we need in the Forex world is a little common sense. I mean really just think about things. The old saying still holds fast.

If it sounds to good to be true it is.....

You'll basically use Rule #1 when you are faced with all of the other rules.

So again just go back to the basics and use some good old common sense. Out of all the stupid things I've done, including buying junk trading courses, lowsy trading systems, picking brokers, etc. If I just would have used some common sense I would have saved myself a lot of money and heartache. It's hard sometimes though, because you want to make it so bad that you convence yourself that it works. And that is what these "Slick Willy's" feed off of. Instead just step back an realizing that it's all crap.

Anyway "Use Common Sense" is Rule #1

How to Control Fear And Greed in Trading

2006-06-25T19:27:00.000-04:00

Here's another article that I had in my collection and I thought I would pass on. I have a "Favorites" folder in IE that has trading articles I've came across while doing research. Occasionally I'll revisted them. It helps me keep on track with my goals and strategies.

I think I will utilize my blog by passing some of them on to everyone. Hopefully they will benifit you as much as they have me.

--------------------

There is an old saying that the market is driven by fear and greed. Anyone that has placed more than a couple of trades will surely have experienced these two emotions.

All traders experience emotion. The distinction between a successful trader and an unsuccessful trader comes down to how they deal with that emotion. Let's look at how these emotions affect a successful trader and an unsuccessful trader in various scenarios:

1. The trader's three previous trades have been losers. The unsuccessful trader will consider this before placing his next trade and be fearful that this trade will also end up a loser. This might result in a delay in placing the trade whilst waiting for the price to confirm that they were right - thus missing a perfectly good entry. They might suddenly discover that some other factor, previously unconsidered, is a reason not to enter the trade at all. Basically they will be fearful of another loss.

The successful trader will have tested their strategy extensively and will be aware that a series of losing trades is very probable. They will also measure their success on whether they place the trade according to their system rather than whether it is purely a winner or a loser. They trust their system and place the trade when the set-up occurs. The fear is removed from the trade because they know that several losers in a row is to be expected.

2. Once a trade is entered it immediately moves against the trader. The unsuccessful trader will fear that they have made a mistake. They fear making another loss so they wait and hope that the market moves back in their favour. The fear of taking another loss now controls their trading decisions, they might move their stop further out so the market doesn't take them out for a loss. They might ignore the trade, hoping that it will get back to at least breakeven - the daytrade becomes a position trade of a few days and then it becomes a long term 'buy and hold' strategy.

The successful trader, of course, will know from extensive testing of his system that such trades happen and that the trade might come round or it might hit the stop. His stop is in place and it will remain in place - the system dictates where the stop is, not the trader's fears.

3. Once a trade is entered it immediately moves strongly in the traders favour. The unsuccessful trader will suddenly see a villa in the sun or a new sports car flashing before his eyes. This trade is going to the moon so he removes his price target and decides to let it go. Greed has now completely taken over his trading decisions and the previous plan (if any) is ignored. Of course, markets rarely move in one direction for long and when the market turns the greed turns to fear as the dream slips away and the trader tries to hold on until the price gets back to where it was. The daytrade becomes a position trade...

The successful trader has set a target, either a certain price or a timed exit and will stick to it. If the trade only takes 5 minutes then that's just great, there's plenty that won't.

Fear and greed are human emotions - we can't do anything about that. But, when it comes to trading we need a way to control those emotions. Here's a few tips:

1. Know your system. If you have confidence in your system this helps to override those feelings of fear and greed. Confidence can only come from designing and extensively testing your own ideas. You can never be fully confident when you rely on someone else's tips or signals.

2. Automate your system. Computers do not suffer from fear and greed, they won't hold onto a loser praying for a miracle or screaming at the screen that the market is wrong - they'll just cut it if that is what the system says to do.

3. Money management. Quite simply, no matter how good your system you must only risk a sensible amount - and always money you can afford to lose.

"The Secrets of the Super-Traders"

2006-06-19T19:19:00.000-04:00

I came across this article the other day, and I felt it had some decent points and it was worthy of publishing it on the blog. It is primarily worded for stock trading, but I think you all will get the point.

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The Secrets of a Super-Trader

The first and perhaps most important "secret" is to realize that your methodology or approach (no matter how good) is only part of being a highly successful trader. This applies to any trading style including, day trading, swing trading or position trading.

The simple fact is that a bad trader can screw up a fantastic trading system. Conversely a talented trader can take a mediocre strategy and make money with it.
Why? Please read on and I will explain.

Many traders/investors that I have talked with think that to be a "Super-Trader" that they must possess some type of highly advanced trading techniques or software along with nerves of steel and a highly developed intuitive feel for the markets. In addition they think that these elite group, have some "inside information" that they don't.

You will be relieved to know that the above is not necessary. There are actually only a few things that separate traders who consistently make money and those who don't.
And here they are?

* Skilled traders find a strategy or market pattern that offers a high probability for success. They make money by exploiting this edge over and over again.

* Skilled traders never deviate from their methodology or "wing it".

* Skilled traders never enter a trade without a entry and exit strategy. They know exactly when and where to cut their losses as well as taking profits.

* Skilled traders never ever let a winning trade turn into a losing one. The easiest way to ensure that this doesn't happen is to place a protective stop at or a few ticks in the money once your position is up several points.

* Skilled traders never hope, pray or wish that their stock would go up. They understand that when they are wrong they are wrong and the best thing to do is cut their losses short.

* Skilled traders never trade with their emotions. They don't allow themselves to get caught up in the latest and greatest investment hype.

* Skilled traders always have one goal in mind: To preserve their capital at all costs. They do this by never taking on too large of a position. A good rule of thumb to adhere to is never use more than 5% of your funds on any one trade. This way in the worst-case scenario the stock could drop to zero and your account would not be severely affected.

* Skilled traders never get too greedy. There is an old saying that "Pigs gets fed and hogs get slaughtered". These traders don't try to make one big trade that will turn them into instant millionaires. They don't try to hit home runs, instead they understand that it is better to keep hitting singles and making smaller consistent profits.

* Skilled traders enter and exit trades swiftly and decisively.

* Skilled traders listen to no one else's opinion concerning the market or particular trade they are in.

* Skilled traders are often contrarians. They will be buying when others are too scared to and sell when the crowd starts buying.

That's it, the secrets to making big money in the markets. Perhaps that is a bit of a let down as you were hoping for something a bit more esoteric and complicated.

Let me assure you that if you follow the above principles that you will take your trading skills and profits to a level that you never thought possible!

This article is courtesy of Dr. Jeffrey Wilde, a trading veteran with 15 years of experience in all major markets. He is a trading coach to over 1400 traders in 38 countries.

Things to Recite Every Morning Before Trading!

2005-10-31T18:18:00.000-05:00

These are the things I'll recite every morning before trading. Something that I've realized is that I need to get mentally prepared before starting my trading day.

I'm sure I'll continue to add to this list....

Never Let a winning trade turn into a looser. To me a winning trade is 15 pips and greater.
If you are trying to justify why you should stay in a trade you should have already closed your position.
Never double up on a loosing trade.
Do not get consumed with trying to hit a home run every time. Concentrate on consistent steady profits.
Always measure risk and reward before entering a trade. The reward should always outweigh the risk.
Have your exits planned before entering a trade. You should have your profit targets and stop losses figured before you enter a trade. If you don't how can you analyze #5?
Don't think and try to guess what the market will do. Every chart tells a story. Just react to what it's telling you.
Follow your rules for trading.

Priorities

2005-10-03T10:43:00.000-04:00

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2” in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes”.

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar-effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

”Now”, said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, and your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full”.

”The pebbles are the other things that matter - like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first”, he continued, “There is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. “I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers.”

First Post

2005-09-25T18:53:00.000-04:00

Well here we go my first post to my new blog site. The intention of this site is to document my trades, keep me focused, and to hopefully learn from my mistakes.