Quote:
Originally posted by Jusco
jtb790
Thanks for the encouragement, sounds like you may have also 'been there' once. I am reluctant to throw in the towel as I know there are huge profits that can be made (for those who have mastered it) Besides the fact that I have spent a fairly large amount of money over the past 2 years, I also enjoy the idea of being able to 'generate income' anytime, anywhere, sort of thing. I have never been a 9 to 5 person and prefer putting in a little extra.
I started off by doing a forex course, buying books and then started following a signal service - eventually cost me and have since realised that one has to develop ones own system and so I have been scratching around with fibs, ma, 5min, 1h, 4 hr, day charts etc.
When I backtest say with a ma crossover, the profits may look good, but the more I look, I see that there are a lot of losses, so I look at another ma cross and then maybe look at bgs cross, but then she may enter a trade that is nowhere near her cross, which just confuses me even more, so I look at another......
Not good, but thats where I'm at right now. Must be quite amusing to those in the know. lol
Jusco
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"sounds like you may have also 'been there' once."
Been there? Dude, I wrote the book on losses. I have had so many margin calls (on
demos during my training) I think I set a world record.
I know just about everything regarding losses. What it takes to lose. How to lose. What to do in order to lose. What to do in order NOT to win. I'm the best loser technician there is.
Well... what I did in 6 months, you apparently have (wisely?) done in 2 years. Not a problem. If you are still here after 2 years of trying it is obvious you ARE cut out to be a trader. You will succeed.
I finally got to the place that by avoiding what it takes to lose I begin winning. Winning so much that I now close in excess of 98% of my trades in wins.
My last 4 prolonged trades where the price went against me 100s of points I came out a winner making over 90% profit on my money exposed to the forex market - each time.
I'm currently in *solid* in this EUR/USD trade. I'm total contrary to the spike as is my style. My greatest drawdown position has hit -1200 points. *yawn*
I'm doing good all things considered. Some think I have no stop losses. It is not true. I just handle them differently than most.
Let's take some of your statements - I will add my input.
"I have never been a 9 to 5 person and prefer putting in a little extra."
Perfect trader material.
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"I started off by doing a forex course."
Bad.
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"buying books."
Good! But you must read them.
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"and then started following a signal service."
Extremely bad.
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"and have since realised that one has to develop ones own system and so I have been scratching around with fibs, ma, 5min, 1h, 4 hr, day charts etc."
Scratching around with established, common and popular technicals are a waste of time. None of them work. All of them gaurantee that you lose sooner or later. To make up for that they demand you use "stop losses."
See, when I first started I never even heard of a currency let alone a pair. I chose common sense and simplicity over complex technical indicators.
I realized that the market is both extremely complex (way too complex for any indicators to read) and at the same time extremely simple.
I chose the simple route. Meaning, I tend to oversimply things then filter all the complex crap through that view. So far it has worked great.
Basically there are a few fundamental principles and market laws you must either learn, or uncover for yourself. Once you apply them successfully you can build upon them. Build them into your system. Most loser market participants never learn them.
Could you imagine going against the rise in EUR/USD for over 2 months - over 1000 points against you?
I subscribe to the school of thought that you must be a contrarian. You must set yourself in the way of danger in order to profit. You must use probability thinking - NOT possibility thinking. There are books to educate yourself on this.
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"When I backtest ....."
Forget backtesting. It's a waste of time. The market is ever changing / ever different. Each tic (point or pip) is new, based on new criteria. What created old prices are not what constitutes current and future ones.
Someone once said, "Persistence alone is omnipotent."
When it comes to being a successful forex trader, it couldn't have been better said.
Simple lessons and truths are the best. Unless you have millions of dollars, use a forex broker who allows you to trade less than pre-set 100,000 unit lots. That way you can use averaging and staggering number of unit trades to your advantage.
Know that there are no magic formulas. Ultimately yah win some, yah lose some. Just make sure your wins are greater than your losses or
monetary reductions.
Forex is a thinker's game. It's a fighter's game. It's a game of guts. All your losses will be caused by not thinking things out. By giving up. By not having courage against the face of sure death.
Your wins will be assisted by making proper determinations, along with applying good risk, trade and money management principles.
The only Holy Grail is using common sense.
On my trading platform I typically have set up a number of (candlestick) charts ranging from a day chart to a 1 minute chart. I've developed my own indicators I call "sticks." They are very primative and simple but very good for measuring certain items that assist me in making profits.
Hang in there, bro. Develop your OWN system! - separate from all others. You'll do good. Just remember that what you do in forex is an expression of yourself. You can win or you can lose.
It's up to you.
jtb