Clumsy NFP trades

Lost 44 pips in 3 minutes in a trade (GBP/USD) during the NFP news release. It was a clumsy trade decision, one that cost me 6.4% of my portfolio. Shorted the pair right after the NFP announcement after checking other few pairs. The consequences of neglecting my money management. Longed USD/JPY moments later and managed to gain 30 pips. Even out I still lost 14 pips.

Two Trades on 4 March 2010.

Entered short USD/CAD few hours before the US Unemployment Claims and GBP Official Bank Rate report released. Another misjudgement in trading setup. It was moving in my direction before it reversed and closed at EP. Before that I also entered long GBP/USD after the Official Bank Rate announced with no rate hikes or additional QE measured.
I entered those two trades even though the signals were rather mixed. Suffered loss of 77 pips from this trade, thus effectively erasing the two gains I made earlier.
Focus, focus, focus and control, control, control.

NFP - June 09

Long EUR/USD and exited with 51 stop loss. After a better than expected result on the NFP, the USD strengthen significantly but at the same time it also help risk appetite and the initial reaction is towards risk appetite and higher yielders moving higher. However the gains retraced in the first half hour after the announcement.

Entered long EUR/JPY minutes later and also exited with 95 pips loss. Overall ended the week with reduced portfolio of 1%.

No trading on first Friday of the month for 2009.

Cheers.

GBP/USD/JPY x 3 trades

This is me at my most adventurous. I entered into 3 open position at the same time involving different pairs. First trade, long GBP/USD, then long USD/JPY and lastly long GBP/JPY all within 3 hours. Minutes later i closed my first trade with only 2 pips gain as i want to limit my risk and it proved to be a mistake as GBP/USD soared >200 pips the next morning. While USD/JPY plunged about 140 pips and GBP/JPY is still trending sideway.

Well, only 2 trades open at the moment. Let's see how it works out when US market open.

Cheers.

Update: 2009-05-29 GMT 14:17
USD/JPY plunged under heavy pressure. Exited at SL.

Entered another long trade on GBP/JPY at lower price.

Trade Window from GMT2:00 to GMT14:00

Entered two trades too early today. Long EUR/USD at 1.4020 and exited at 1.3940. The price plummet the hour i entered. Too impulsive. Entered before i checked the economic calender. There are substantial of data to be released and all are EU related. Second trade, long GBP/JPY at 150.80 and its currently still on.

Approximately 5 hours later, the trade goes up very close to my BE but i did not close it as greed overcome my fear.

First lesson, do not enter early. The window for entering trade is from GMT 2:00 to GMT 14:00

Cheers.


Updates: Second trade, GBP/JPY ended with adjusted PT of 120 pips. Even out the earlier trade. Made small profits again.

What If You Can Have If?

If I have a million dollar....I'll want another million, and another million, and another million, and another million, and another million, and another million and hope it never stop coming...

I hope I can make it with trading forex. Today i closed 3 trades, one trade, short USD/JPY from yesterday which i accidentally closed it with 29 pips loss. The second is long GBP/JPY, which is a 50:50 trade. It didn't goes my way and i adjusted the SL moment after, exited with 50 pips loss. Then i went in short on the same pair and exited at trailing stop with 90 pips gain. The reason i went in short is because German and French quarterly GDP data released today is worse than the consensus. And the market reacted badly to it. However I did not end it when i saw the hammer formed about 5 hours later with about +150 pips, some 50 pips away from my PT. And it retraced all the way to the day high. Exited with 90 pips gain.

Summary for the day is small profits again. Lesson learned. Ended the week with 1.2% growth.

Enjoy the MV.

Another BE and Two Small Profits

Gained 2 small profits from the last 3 trades. The other long trade on GBP/USD managed to BE after it goes down to about 100 pips. Watching it goes down and climb back up was a really slow painful process. Its like this video.

Strategies for Success

Two consecutive SL knocked the wind out of my sail. Portfolio down 9.1% so far. Tried hard to lift myself up. Found some inspirational videos but it did not work much. Anyway, i need to keep my mind positive. No point fretting over those losses.

Need to tweak my strategy to suit my style, as well as my game plan. Set some goals, both long term and immediate.
Mission Impossible I : Achieve consistent small profits.
Mission Impossible II : Achieve 500% portfolio growth by end of the year.

Mission Impossible III: Retire by May 2010.



Strategies for Success: Change the input to your mind, change your attitude.



Heroes bounced back. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Recharge & move on.

Suffered a setback today. Lost 110 pips on GBP/JPY. Persisted with the trade even though it showed signs of reversal. Erased 3.5% of my capital. Its a Golden Week holiday for Japan until this Wednesday and UK market also closed for May Day. NTD for tomorrow. The SL is too small even though there is still room to adjust.

Time for recharge and reflect.
Cheers.

50 pips Trailing Stop on GBP/JPY

This trade ended on a trailing stop loss. Entered quite early and it took 2 hours before it moves in my direction. It goes down to 145 pips at one point and had a major pullback about 5 hours after entry. Though the indicators still showing no signs of reversal but it still a good gain. Increased portfolio by another 1.4% through this single trade.

Expecting a better result tomorrow. Cheers.

Sloppy trade

Some sloppy defending but highly entertaining game with lots of goals. Two of my favourites. Liverpool and Arsenal ended the game with the score tied at 4-4.

Same goes to my trade yesterday. Persisted to trade even though i hesitated, i shorted GBP/USD at 1.4635 with smaller lot. The next hour it experienced quite a sharp pullback as though there is a breakout on the upside. And i closed it after it retraced slightly with a 20 pips loss. Half an hour later it was down all the way. Lesson learned. No trade when hesitated.

Two trades on EUR/USD & GBP/JPY

Shorted two trades today. First trade on EUR/USD with a 100 pips target, however closed with 67 pips. Second trade on GBP/JPY on 130 pips target but managed to get only 31 pips after it pullback on the sixth hour of the trade. Week on week growth is at 3.8%.

False Signal on GBP/USD

Entered GBP/USD at 1.4763 after watching it break out on the upside but it reversed immediately thereafter. I had allowed 83 pips for SL but cut it early at 72 pips loss, should have closed it earlier. This trade wiped out 3.1% from my portfolio now at -14.4%. Greed had creeped in once again.

BOE left its interest rate unchanged at 0.5% and there were no spike after the announcement. US trade balance will be announced at GMT12:30 should have impact on the direction of the US Dollar. Watch out.

Cheers.

Short EUR/JPY at 132.00

Shorted EUR/JPY at 132.00 around 3:23 GMT after it cleared 2 time frame...actually the second time frame only cleared one criteria of EMA. Nevertheless i entered confidently after studying other JPY crosses to show similar trend. However the trend did not last for long and reversed on GMT7:00, about 3 hours after the entry. Managed to grab only 46 pips, thereby increasing the portfolio by 1.3% to overall of -11.7%. Lots of ground to catch. Still got 9.6% to go to hit my weekly target.

The market has been showing lack of direction, with uncertainty over US FOMC minutes to be released at GMT11:00. Hope to see clearer direction then.

Till then, happy trading.

Patience game

Another hasty entry and exit on GBP/JPY. Only one time frame cleared the criteria although other pairs with similar pairs also showed the same trend. It was trending sideway with no clear breakout. After more than 5 hours, my patience runs out and i closed it manually after the signal showed some slight signs of reversal though it could be due to the long sideway trend. Two hours later it went my way...arggggggghhhhhhh!

NFP play

Entered a long position on EUR/USD four minutes after the NFP announcement. The result was in line with market expectation...no surprises. And i lost 52 pips 9 minutes later albeit with a smaller lot size. This trade reduced my portfolio by 0.2%.

Overall this week is still good, increased my portfolio by 9% after 8 weeks of contraction.

GBP/USD at 60 pips

Yesterday i entered a long position on GBP/USD upon seeing a breakout but the momentum did not sustained, and in fact it reverse on the second hour after the breakout. Cost me 60 pips.

Short GBP/JPY at 132.52

Shorted GBP/JPY at 132.52 after it cleared the 2 time frame. Entered after it pullback about 100 pips.

Profit take at 300 pips, it will be a exciting journey.

The trade ended at Stop Loss of 148 pips. Should have ended it earlier when other Yen crosses also showed signs of reversal. Lesson learned.

Buy EUR/USD at 1.2744

Enter long position on EUR/USD at 1.2744 upon watching it clear 2 time frame.

Having watched other USD pairs weakening giving confidence on this trade. Closed the trade early with 3 pips gain.

Cheers.

Buy EUR/JPY at 124.65

Buy EUR/JPY at 124.65 with a buy limit order after watching it pullback at GMT 3:00.

Cleared 3 time frame criteria. A good indication to buy. Although the timing is a bit too early.

Manual exit with a loss of 47 pips.