Midweek review, 6 win 1 loss, 1 running.

Closed 7 trades so far this week. Significant win comes from AUD/JPY pair, with two trades contributing 5.5% and 4.8% respectively while one loss from GBP/USD erasing 3.8% from the portfolio. Managed to close another profitable trade yesterday, USD/JPY with 59 pips that contributed 3.5% to the portfolio. Current portfolio now stand at -33.5% notwithstanding current open trade, NZD/JPY now at -19 pips.

AUD/JPY: 80 pips

Managed to close this trade with 80 pips profit after holding onto it for 9 days. There were no SL and this is the most daring of all my trades so far. In fact I went it against the market trend. And at one point the trade went as far as -350 pips. It does not justify the risk you have to take when only got 80 pips profit. At that point, I was running out of strategy, idea and motivation. Should have stop for a while, I guess.

GBP/USD: 5 pips

Shorted both EUR/USD and GBP/USD today. EUR/USD was forced out at BE while the later closed manually with 5 pips. Was not in form lately.

GBP/USD: 85 pips

Long GBP/USD at GMT8:23 after the signals confirmed the uptrend. Profit target is 85 pips which were achieved approximately slightly more than an hour later. This win translated into 6% growth in equity. Right on track.
Initially resisted the temptation to move the PT higher although it could translate into better gain as the trend is still in its early move. Probably could move another 50 pips higher. But satisfied with today's gain.

Some pairs are not for trade

Some pairs are not for trade, only to be used as benchmark. Shorted EUR/GBP and had to wait for more than 2 hours to break even. And it went up after that, lucky escape. Earlier shorted AUD/USD at GMT5:10, my bad, wrong timing, ended the trade with 34 pips loss. Had to wait about 4 hours later to enter new trade, long GBP/USD and EUR/USD and ended with only 37 pips gain from the two trades. Managed to grow one more percentage to my portfolio today. Closed the trade too early, should have let it run a bit longer as the trend is still intact at the moment of writing. GBP/USD and EUR/USD is 40 and 50 pips higher than the closing price respectively. Signals are all still intact. Maybe the long wait earlier exhausted my patience.

Learned what is credit default swap today. Credit default swap pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a borrower fails to adhere to its debts agreement. A basis point on a contract protecting 10 million euros of debt from default for five years is equivalent to 1000 euros a year.

GBP/USD: 70 pips

Shorted GBP/USD at GMT8:38 today with target of 70 pips which were achieved in less than an hour later. This relative fast movement was caused by news of debt concern after Fitch warned about the "formidable" challenge UK is facing and advised Prime Minister Cameron to accelerate its plans to reduce the country's budget deficit.

Later also shorted EUR/USD however only closed the trade with 4 pips gain after it showed resilient at the support area. That's all for today. Hope to maintain the winning form.

GBP/USD: 60 pips

Entered long GBP/USD yesterday at GMT9:41 for a target of 60 pips . Closed in less than an hour later with full profit for a 3.9% portfolio growth. Entered with smaller lot size as the general outlook remain bearish and bigger time frame also indicated bearish trend. However the short term outlook indicates pull back and thus the trade. Other similar pairs also indicates pull back from the month's low. Besides the indicator signals are quite solid.

Learn fast, make bucks.

Yesterday...entered 4 trades of different pairs. Hoping to strike it all but only ended up with 2 full PT, one small win and one break even. One lesson learned from the trades 2 days ago is to wait for the second candle to confirm the direction. Four concurrent trades is too much for me to stomach, have to constantly monitor the price movement. The ideal is two open trades at a time. And one can only be entered after the first trade is headed in the right direction. Closed two of the trade early as I need to go for a badminton game with friends while leaving the other two to run. However my mind were still occupied while playing badminton, have to check the price in between games. Luckily both trades hit full PT just before my game ended.

Shorted EUR/USD for 80 pips

Shorted EUR/USD at GMT8:18 at 1.2197 with target of 80 pips. It was realized approximately one and half hour later. Gained 6.2% from this trade alone. EUR were hit by news of ECB warning that European banks face additional write-offs estimated at €195bln, EU April employment rose to its highest level since June of 1998 at 10.1%, May manufacturing PMI falls to 55.8 from 57.6.

Also shorted GBP/USD and GBP/JPY but closed early after seeing it did not move much and report of improving UK PMI later helps the pair to outperform. Glad to got out with break even.

EUR/USD: 100pips

Longed AUD/JPY and GBP/JPY yesterday at around GMT7:00 and both ended at SL. Effectively wiped out more than 8% from my portfolio. Persisted with the trades even though both pairs did not managed to break upward for a while. Hoped to ride the early trend but was caught out by the false signals.

Shorted EUR/USD right after both earlier trades hit SL. The trend for EUR/USD looks strong however for some strange reason, I decided to enter other pairs instead of this one. I always thought that the JPY crosses would yield me better result but I was humbled this time. In less than three hours, this trade hit PT of 100 pips. At the time of writing, the pair has even reached lower at under 1.2300.

Net percentage gain for yesterday is 5.3%.

Now is waiting for confirmation signals if there is any reversal or pullback for this pair before entering.

GBP/USD: 105 pips gain

Shorted GBP/USD today at GMT 9:56 at 1.4354 with 105 pips profit target. And it hit my PT slightly more than 4 hours later. Few reasons that lead to entry of this trade, it was slightly later than my normal entry time as the direction were unclear earlier, and I had to be away from the screen, lastly it finally managed to breakout to the downside. Entered the trade and went out for dinner at Desa ParkCity and came back to see the green color box. Yeah...full profit target. Great satisfaction from this trade. The pair staged a rebound to EP within 2 hours after touching my PT. Highly volatile pair that has lots of opportunities.

Small win on a Wed

Wednesday, shorted GBP/USD at GMT10:05 at 1.4264 with profit target of 50 pips, however only closed the trade with 15 pips gain after seeing it failed to maintain its momentum in smaller time frame (M15). The pair was struggling for more than 30 minutes and signals were not convincing enough for me to persist with the trade. It was not a good entry anyway. Glad to exit before it reverse. Thank you.

Fighting Temptation

Trade: Long
Pair: GBP/USD
Time: GMT 12:26
Price: 1.4420
PT: 1.4475 (55 pips)
SL: 1.4365 (55 pips)
Setup: MACD crossed up, Higher High, Higher Low, ADX up.

Though the bigger time frame outlook still indicate downtrend, therefore the smaller profit target for this trade. Gained 2.4% from this trade. It is better to move away from the trading screen after closing the trade to avoid the temptation to re-enter.

One good trade is better than 4 bad trade

Yesterday, there were a total of 4 trades, all 4 of them were wrongly setup. Three trades managed to scalp 10 pips while the last trade, USD/JPY closed with 24 pips loss. Another frustrating day, damn...
XO#@#XX%#@%OX

But today managed to recover some losses this week. Shorted GBP/USD at GMT 8:30 today and closed with 40 pips gain. The pair has continued to trend lower at the moment of writing. In fact its 150 pips lower than my closing price.

The West Crisis

Shorted GBP/USD yesterday and only managed to gain 17 pips manually after it showed some signs of pulling back. Made a correct decision by exiting the trade manually as it was ranging for approximately 18 hours before it began to plummet. As I was watching the platform, I have missed out a 200+ pips movement in the pair. The weak Euro sentiment, Greek debt crisis, UK Election and fear of slowdown in China all contributed to the risk adverse sentiment.

No trade today. Unable to find the time to enter trade. Made a wise move here as my limit order would have hit SL if did not abort it.

A small win & A Bigger Lesson

Had 2 winning trades yesterday. Shorted EUR/USD and GBP/USD with 45 pips and 72 pips target respectively. However only EUR/USD managed to close with full PT while GBP/USD closed with 46 pips gain. Would have hit full PT if I did not close it manually. Its been a while since I have seen such big movement in a day. Should have more faith and confident with the signals, though sometimes I would rather close with smaller profit than nothing. Its always a battle within, this time fear got the better of me. Still lack a bit of composure when facing the trading platform. However I believe that when you are trading with the money you have won, you would have better composure than when you are trading with your own capital. It could be lack of trading experience or in my case lack of winning experience. With more winning trades under your belt, you should be able to tell if the signals are convincing enough.

After yesterday close, my portfolio now stands at -51.8%. Looking at opportunity to enter during the Euro session now.
;)

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. :)

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.

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.