Trading for living

[Neurosinner]

peteuk, thx for the wishes...

russeleer, i don't know what do you mean by trading the plan...

the way i see trading is this: i try to see which is the current pair that has the greatest bear/bull sentiment..and i try to get ahead of the market. not predicting, just thinking what would i do if i was one of those big shots...i'm basically a fundamentalist (i guess), so i go for lower returns, at least until i get a better view of the MACD and stuff i don't understand (at least 95% of it)...anything less than that is like burning my money (imo).

of course, i always hunt for technicals like head and shoulders that EURUSD had a month ago...

also, i keep a little amount (around 5-10%) for day trading, chasing those 5+ pips per day..it makes my life interesting...

for example, i had an idea that USDJPY would go bearish, since snow was down in asia (nagging about crossrates) and that most news around said that jpy was going up, especially against the dollar.

i managed to get a little profit out of it (70 pips, with about 12% of my stake), but i also managed to smoke that profit, by further going short on USDJPY. i did that VERY stupidly, sold some more at 111.20, after seeing that fall today. no real reason for that, just some words from the g7, and i shoulda have known that a reaction was there to happen.

to finish, just to say that i don't have any open positions at the moment...i didn't follow any news for the last 10 hours (i was working), didn't look at the charts, so it's better to leave it alone...

of course, i don't listen to analysts...still can't digest a sell suggestion for AUDUSD from a site which i followed..i sold it almost 100 pips ago...in the wrong direction.

[darmasdt]

i've heard so many saying this: "PLAN YOUR TRADE, TRADE YOUR PLAN".
But still for me, it's only an empty stuff. The main thing is: what is a PLAN? Is it has to be a bullet-proof mechanical trading system? Is it has to be a strictly-no-emotion-entry-exit system?

Anybody please...

[peteuk]

...and trade your plan.

The idea behind that philosophy is that once you are in a trade your view of things can change because you will have a financial interest in where the price goes. If you plan a trade before entering the market you will decide your trade in a rational, unemotional, and balanced way and have in your mind (or on paper preferably) exactly where you intend to place stop loss and limit orders, pre-planned and organised.

Once you open a trade and emotion starts to kick in, you can simply stick 100% to your plan and avoid the sometimes unavoidable and very tempting 'I'll just wait an extra few pips, it's bound to turn in a minute' scanario!


Pete

[darmasdt]

yes, pete..
sorry for not clearly asking my question:
what does it make a good plan? The criterias, perhaps?
Does it have to be a system-trading plan?

[thedavid33]

Well, Darmasdt. I'm Fairly new at this also. I demo traded for a few months and have been trading live for about 3 months. Unfortunately, there's no better training than actual experience. And that means losing money. (Hopefully not too much) I've lost some and made some. Ive tried short term trading with 5 min, 10 min charts looking for 10-20 pips. I've come to the conclusion that for ME a longer term trading style is better. You have to find what type of trading best suits you. Alot has to do with how big your account is. You can go to www.incrediblecharts.com and get an idea of all the technical indicators available and what they are used for. Hope this helps. Good luck!


David

[pingatec]

Pete and others

I look forward to your posts - they are most entertaining and I'm sure strike a chord with all of us. I have been trading a live since January and made my first painful loss recently on the EURO. loss of cash and most importantly loss of confidence. I traded my normal stop (10 pips below strong support to hopefully be missed by the operators), but my view was just so out of sync I guess

Could you please give me some guidlines as to :
a) The pairs you trade

b) The time frame from open to close

c) the indicators you use - which pair and which period in stoch/macd etc

d) Time you go in (GMT) and out (I log in for UK open -2 hours and NY open - 2 hours) (used to trade index futures)

e) How one can profit without watching the market for 12 hours (and sleep soundly) - this means i need a broker who NEVER misses my stops

Do you have a STandard Operating Manual that you refer to before every trade? a trading algorithm? a IF/THEN/AND flow chart?

Appreciate if you could send something to me. Anything at all would be appreciated

tiggertch@hotmail.com

finally, the chestnut.... who is your dealer? Refco I use because I know they won't disappear with my deposit, but they are nowhere near as flash as the other sites... but just who is reliable? I understand the UK/Europe sites have stricter regulators than US.

Regards

[darmasdt]

pingatec,
i received ur private msg, but can not reply to it, nor email u.
pls email me to d*******@*****.com

sorry for posting this private msg on this thread. but the private message feature of the forum is not a two way channel

[$imon]

I wonder if any non-kiwis will get that one.

Fascinating reading the stories and experiences here. I am brand new and basically researching as to whether the forex is for me or not. Looks great at first, and I'm trying to arm myself with as much knowledge as possible by reading books such as 'Trading for a living' and forums such as this before jumping in. Next step the dummy accounts I guess.

$imon