Week 85: Gained 16.3%

Had few more trades after the last post, scalped few pips here and there. Today longed 2 trades, EUR/USD and GBP/USD, but one trade cancelled another. Ended with break even. Had doubt on GBP/USD but persisted with the trade. Should have trusted my analysis instead of my gut feeling. Other Pound crosses were showing significant weaknesses that supported my analysis. Good lesson though.

Now on my weekly summary, almost back to half way point of my initial capital.
Total Trades: 11
Winning Trades: 8
Losing Trades: 3
Total Pips: 160
This is my second biggest weekly gain (16.3%) in my entire trading career so far. Hopefully next week can break my record high of 19.6%.

Second Consecutive Profitable Day: Weak Euro sentiment

Gained almost 10% today from 3 trades. Yeah...have not been so prolific for a long time. Shorted EUR/USD and GBP/USD (twice) during the Euro session. Though at one point my first GBP/USD short trade was running at -25pips, I had to remind myself that my setup were spot on and it just a temporary pullback. True enough, the trade did hit my PT almost 2.5 hours later. Earlier my EUR/USD trade also hit my adjusted PT of 20 pips (50 pips if I did not adjust the PT). This is the second consecutive winning days I have had for a long time. However, I need to remain focused and calm with my approach. Be consistent.

Good start to Week 85

Started the first trading day of the week with 3 trades. The first two long trades on GBP/USD and AUD/USD was another premature entries. Even though the signals were trending up but I did not wait till after the Euro session open. To enter trades at GMT8:00 would be safer as I noticed that the price tend heading the same direction thereafter. Realized my mistakes, I ended both trade prematurely with small loss and entered a short on EUR/USD with 40 pips profit target. And it did hit my target approximately one hour later, thus recouping my earlier two losses and ended up with almost 4% gain.
EUR/USD reverse moment after my PT was hit and it went up to 70 pips beyond my entry point. Considered this a lucky break. Thanks. :)

Week 84: -8%

Longed GBP/USD at GMT7:14 at 1.5369 but ended up with 49 pips loss. It was a bad decision on the trade setup. The signals were mixed at best, but I still go in with a long trade. My bad.

Week 84 ended up with -8%. Ouch..it hurts. Overall pips lost is 68. I need discipline on my trading setup, timing my entry and managing my risk reward. For the past few weeks, my approach was more of chasing back my losses up to the point where I disregarded some aspect of my money management. Need to consistently remind myself to be confident and composed whenever entering a trade. To remain calm. Consistent winning and I will make it to the positive growth soon.

Target break even by end of May 2010.

Timing the Entry...Time it

Only 2 trades today, during the Euro session. GBP/JPY closed with small profit but that was not enough to offset the loss from GBP/USD. Apparently the concern over public debt has caused the pair to drop significantly from GMT 7:00.
Noticed that the reversal tend to start at GMT7:00, even though the trend might be showing strength in the trend.
Timing, timing, timing...

Rules broken...

Broke the rules today. Entered 5 trades today. First 2 short trades (GBP/USD & EUR/USD) ended in loss. And immediately longed the GBP/USD twice and GBP/JPY. I was chasing after the trend. I do admit I should not have over trade but the reversal signals were strong and I wanted to make amend on my earlier trade. Managed to make profit for the day after recouping the earlier losses. Maybe I entered trades too early these days...better timed my entry next time.

Monday Blues

On Monday, shorted 3 trades (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, GBP/JPY) at the Euro session, lost 2 and break even 1. Portfolio was down to -59.1%. The trades staged reversal shortly after the trades were entered. All trades were closed manually after seeing the reversal. Did I enter too early? Or was it the trend reversed?

Week 83

Ended the week even from the previous week.
Total Trades: 10
Winning Trades: 5
Losing Trades: 4
Break even: 1

Its been tough mentally, after few weeks and you are going nowhere. Only managed to reach my weekly goal once since start.

Conservative or Signals

Shorted GBP/USD in the Asian session at GMT 2:52 and had to wait for 4 hours for the trade to move in my direction. Managed to gain 23 pips before it staged some pullback. Spared myself the agony of waiting for hours for the trade to turn positive.

Then later in the US session, shorted the same pair again, however this time I cut lost at 22 pips after disappointing UoM Consumer Sentiment even though the signals showing downtrend were still intact. True enough, 40 minutes later the trade went down again and could have hit my PT of 30 pips.

I was too cautious not to lose my earlier winning, that I stopped at 22 pips loss.

Two wrong trades saved by a good trade

Longed EUR/USD and GBP/USD just before the Euro session. The GBP/USD were showing uptrend in H1, H4 and D1 although EUR/USD were mixed. Other benchmark also were showing exhaustion of the USD weakness but I still entered the long trades. Another poor judgement here. EUR/USD hit SL with 35 pips while GBP/USD closed manually with 34 pips loss. Having the enthusiasm, I shorted EUR/USD a minute after the first trade hit SL. Luckily it hit PT of 55 pips and managed to break even earlier loss.

If I only waited another 15 minutes to enter the trade...imagine the result.

Better Retail Sales but weaker USD...

Yesterday, longed GBP/JPY at GMT6:29 with profit target of 100 pips but closed it manually with only 13 pips profit after it reversed at GMT10:00.

At the same day also longed GBP/USD at GMT8:19 with profit target of 40 pips but were forced out at manually adjusted TS. Would have gotten the full profit if I did not adjust the SL to EP.

Later at US session, longed USD/JPY but closed it manually with 38 pips loss after trend staged a reversal. Apparently the better Retail Sales result did not favor the Dollar. Poor execution of the trade setup, more of a gamble than a trade.

The missed profit from the first two trades totally wreaked my usual calm and detailed trading pattern.

Better UK Trade Balance

Managed to make small profit from my long trade yesterday. 10 pips to be exact. It was going against my way initially and at one point was just 5 pips away from my SL. But a better UK Trade Balance result of -6.2B against forecast of -7.3B helped turned the trade my way. No trading strategy were observed, hence the poor execution of the trade. Waited few hours for the negative trade to turn positive.

Tight play

Longed GBP/USD and GBP/JPY today using the Speed Strategy, however I set a higher profit target of 47 pips and 100 pips respectively. And I set the SL to EP approximately 15 minutes later after it goes to my direction. I come back later to see my trades goes in my direction, however my positions were closed at EP. Wasted..played it too tight.

Spilled tea break..

Missed out on the tea break yesterday but still entered short approximately 2 hours later after the breakout. The pair reversed on my position and I closed it manually with 27 pips loss. Later in the US market opening, I attempted another short position but manually closed it with 19 pips loss. I guess the fear of losing on a winning trade overpowered my emotion today. Focus, focus, focus.

Weak Euro

Shorted EUR/USD at GMT10:30 at 1.3372 with profit target of 50 pips, however closed it manually after more than 2 hours with only 29 pips for a 2.1% gain. Great...so far the current week gain is at 3.2%. I believed that this pair has the potential to go down further. Euro looked to be the weakest currency at the moment on concern of Greece debt. I was hesitating to closed it for a while as it is only 20 pips away from the full profit target. Well, 29 pips gained is better than nothing. However, I do noticed other currencies were at the consolidation point and some are showing signs of reversal, hence the decision to close it early. That's it for today.

Tuesday Rocks...

Made 3 wins out of 3 trades today. Shorted GBP/USD at GMT2:41 with target of 60pips. Profit target achieved approximately 5 hours later, right after the Euro session opening. I also shorted the GBP/JPY with 100 pips target, however I closed it with only 25 pips gain after the price began to hesitate an hour later.
Feeling greedy, shorted another GBP/USD after it retraced a bit, this time with a smaller PT of 30 pips. However the price were hesitating for a while before I closed it with only 4 pips gain. Recovered yesterday losses. Will be back for more...

Monday Blues..

Entered into 3 losing trade yesterday. Sold GBP/USD at Euro session. The trade setup for GBP/USD was completely wrong as the price and short term MA has not pierced through the lower long term MA. Got out with 13 pips loss after almost 2 hours of uncertainties. It could be the Bank Holidays around Europe that cause the low volatility. 20 minutes later I longed USD/JPY, and it was a wrong move altogether as the RSI showed overbought and MACD showed downward trend developing. Got out with 18 pips loss.

I entered into EUR/USD with the same Speed Strategy, however I disregarded the RSI indicator. Ended up with 32 pips loss. Got to be extra vigilant on the entry timing and the signals. Overall lost almost 5% of portfolio from these 3 trades.

Week 81 Summary

Yeah....finally, I made some profits for this week. Managed to make 1.8% growth on my portfolio. It's been a busy week as well, hardly have any time to trade during the Euro opening session. Only managed to try the Speed Strategy for 4 times, 2 profits and 2 break evens. Need to improve the entry of the Speed Strategy.

May the profits keep coming to me...

Week 80 Summary

Ended the week with small losses of 0.3%. Another defeat, and I wonder how long before I can start winning again. I need some winnings to regain some confidence and boost morale.

Could I be in the category of peoples who are desperately trying to find motivation to get motivated...

Or I should not have written this blog while I was not feeling positive?

Maybe I need to rediscover my desire...

Week 79 Summary

Had a few trades after the losses on the GBP/USD on 15 March 2010. There were few wins, losses and some break evens. Overall the week 79 ended with 4.8% loss on overall portfolio, which now stood at -58.1%. After all this defeats, how can one fight on...



I probably need some motivation...