RahmanSL's Personal Trade Journal

[RahmanSL]

Hi borissofoz!

“What portion of your capital are you putting into each trade to get results like this?......I've read that to survive in the long term one should be able to take 20 losses in a row at least, and more like 50 to 100….”

You are referring to good money management which have been extensively written here at the FPA and elsewhere in other forums. And, of course, they are all very sound advices which traders should follow.

Personally for me, I just keep a watchful eye on that highlighted black colored column at the bottom of the MT4 Trading platform, and particularly on the “Margin level ___%” and try to ensure that the percentage doesn’t fall below 200%.

“…...the most positions I've seen open at once is 7”.
In fact, having 7 open positions at any one time is a bit more than I would advice. In fact, you don’t have to open too many trade positions at a time to make money. A single well placed opened trade position can make you many hundreds and even thousands (depending on lot size) of dollars in profits.

My biggest mistake has been trading currencies pairs and Silver/Gold when I though they have gone down as far as market would allow. As I have mentioned in the other post, I have encountered such situation a few times in 2010 (most recent being Dec'2010) and each time that happens, it almost always wiped out my account.

So… : ) …my New Year Resolution is: “Never ever trade extensively on currencies pairs and Silver/Gold when they are on the down side”.

My trading style is to cruise all the currencies pairs and Silver/Gold on the H4, D1, W1, & MN charts looking for any price that’s on the high side.
Once I’ve found one that’s either way at the top or near about there, I switch the chart to H1 to see the day’s market movements. Then I switch to M15, then M5, and finally M1 to check out market movements in detail.
If market movement has been going up and down throughout the time period, and especially if they form 2 or more peaks & valleys, I would then observe the chart to see whether this trend is still continuing. If the currencies pair/Silver/Gold is still following this pattern, I would place a small “test trade” (0.01 to 0.05 lot) on “Sell” to see what happens.
If market movement is still going up and down, I would close out the trade at profit. I would then wait for the currencies pair/Silver/Gold to go back up again, and using the M1 chart as a guide, wait for a slight retracement before entering a larger 0.1 lot (and sometimes much larger) size trade, which I then closed when it is at profits.
Most times, I would trade only the selected currencies pair/Silver/Gold for an hour and more, or until market movement has become flat. Then I would either close out whatever open positions I have at profits, or leave the opened trade positions with a set TP at a conservative 10-15 pips. I would then cruise the other currencies pair/Silver/Gold for any trade opportunities. If there are none, I would then shut down my computer and call it a day.

Well, that’s just my trading style without ST, and it works for me. I really3 have to control my impulsive trades on currencies pair/Silver/Gold when the price are at the bottom of the chart thinking I can get a good “killing”, but ended up having my account being “killed” instead.

All the best for 2011, and do try to enjoy trading forex since if you love trading forex, then you are doing something which you enjoy doing while making some money at the same time.

 

[borisofoz]

Hi RahmanSL


Thanks heaps for the in depth reply!

This type of trading does seem interesting for if and when I have a small expendable account. The idea being that I'd take out some of the profit regularly. Im just starting off with virtual accounts and will be for a while. I dont think I will be doing this but I have many questions as I want to understand it...

To do this you would need a high win:loss ratio and be very, very patient to wait for right trades?

And the trading without a stop loss...just when do you close a loosing trade? whats the longest you've had to wait( and also the max pips in the red) for the market to come back? and if it doesnt and the market just keeps going against you, you eventually get a margin call...or top up your account. is this right?

is there a name for this type of trading style so I can read more into it? ( and not hasle u)

I was just looking at the AUD/USD and doing some maths. Thinking about if a trade went against me, and instead of closing a trade at a loss I waited for the market to turn and come back, but it didnt(at that point in time)...just when would I be in trouble. say if I had a 3K account, had 50:1 margin, and was trading 1 standard lot, this would use 2K. I'd have 1K left in the account....in this scenario its $10 a pip. if I had no stop loss I could only handle a 100pip negative movement before I'd get a margin call, as 100pips at $10 a pip, is $1000 and was all that was left in my account.( I know theres other fees/charges etc that arent taken into account)

Just a rough figure, but for example, If I sold the AUD/USD and the price didnt reach my profit target, then it went against me... Just say I waited for as long as it took...say 3 months for the price to come back and reach my profit target. But to do this I would need to have enough capital in my account to withstand the margin calls. if the price of AUD/USD went up by 10% max from now 1.0203 i would need approx an extra 10K (approx) in my account.

so what do you do to survive trading with no SL, u just have extra funds in your account that you keep there just for this reason? or do you not have the extra funds, the broker closes all/some trades and you carry on with what funds are left, if any?


"try to enjoy trading forex since if you love trading forex, then you are doing something which you enjoy doing while making some money at the same time."

I Agree!

All the best.

Cheers

 

[RahmanSL]

“To do this you would need a high win:loss ratio and be very, very patient to wait for right trades?”

High win:loss ratio is not in my equation as I open & close trades as I see fit or as market sentiment is at that very moment. Pre-set TP is there only to close out opened trades when I cannot be there to observe market movements…I supposed it would be wise to pre-set SL too, but I don’t do that especially when I enter trade(s) on the high side.


Patience?? Yes, that’s absolutely a prerequisite and vital in winning trades. Impatience kills off account(s) in no time! Entering trades at mid-rage and not being there to monitor market movements is looking for trouble….in fact suicidal.

“And the trading without a stop loss...just when do you close a loosing trade?”
As I have emphasized, be sure you have plenty of Free Margin / Margin Level % to ride out any potential loss/losses. I would close out a potion of losing trade size when my account falls below the danger level of below 200% to avoid the dreaded forced closed out / margin call.


“Is there a name for this type of trading style so I can read more into it?”
Honestly, I don’t know….but I would supposed some or many seasoned traders would call it “gambling”….you know, sort of going with how the cards are dealt out or going with market sentiments.

For the rest of your queries, as a good example of long term trading, please read “Silver and Gold trading” post by maarnio (Commerce zone under section Commercial Trade Journals) here at the FPA.
Maarnio’s trade account shows 2 opened “Sell” 0.01 size positions on Gold dating back to 5/Jan/2010 with losses amounting to over usd300 on each positions.
Today’s Gold is at around usd1,414 level , and maarnio went in at usd1,045 & 1,049 which mean it will be quite a long wait before Gold will go down to his “Sell” level….if at all…given that Gold has not touched the usd1,0450 level since maarnio traded them.
Under this scenario, if it was my trade (but then it’s not, and it’s maarnio’s trading style), I would have closed them out (and take my losses) when Gold has gone down as far as I “think” it will/can go so as to avoid any further losses in the very likelihood that Gold will appreciate further.

I have mentioned somewhere about a seasoned trader stating that after following and sticking with set rules in trading forex for years, he is now back to trading what’s in front of him…i.e the real market movement happening right there in front of him on the charts.
Trade signals are simply predictions of market reactions due to some news events and it generally will state that “if so-and-so figure is as expected or higher/lower, than market will react like this or that”. But very frequent times, market just do not react as expected and even goes against predictions.

Again as I have mentioned somewhere, the biggest misconception in trading forex is that you need tons of money to start trading. I mentioned this because the most frequent reaction from people when I mentioned “forex” is, “Wow, you must have a lot of money to trade forex!”. The simple answer is NO, you do not need a lot of money to trade forex. Just trade within your means…meaning, if you are a struggling student, scraped up usd50-100 and trade a micro account with 1:500 leverage which would give a 5,000 to 10,000 cents trading account to “play” with.
Demo account is good for getting to know the trading platform and their many functions, and it is not good to go too long on Demo as it spoil one’s perception of real live trading environment…plus trading with a usd10k (or higher) account which (often times)might not reflect the actual account size of the live account. This can be disorientating as Newbies would probably treat their usd50-1,000 live account like they do the larger Demo size account, and would probably wipe out their live account within days.

Once again, I would like to stress that this is my trading style that I feel comfortable and happy with (for now)…I still have to ironed out the wrinkles (like impulsive and impatience trades), and to refrain from trading currencies pair which are on the low end : )

Back when I first got to know forex, I have been told (by Big Guru over at 100ForexBrokers site) that Newbies need to develop their own trading style, and I didn’t know what he meant by that….now, I know exactly what he meant. Bless you BG!

All the best, and I will post my account updates on Sat, as usual, until 17/Feb/2011. If my account got wiped out by or within that time, then my trading style require some serious re-think and revamp.

 

[RahmanSL]

Another week and still surviving….and another 29 trading days to go before I close out this thread (i.e 17/Feb/2011).

See screenshot 1 & 2 as of market closing 7/Jan/2011.

Last week ending 31/Dec/2010, Balanced was: usd6,394.67 with reduced increase percentage of 113.16%.
Equity was: usd2,315.22 with loss of -22.83% over initial deposit of usd3,000.00

Account Started: 16/Nov/2010 - Ending 7/Jan/2011:
From usd3,000,

Balanced is now: usd7,328.27 - Equity: usd5,707.41

Still Opened Positions: 5 - Floating P/L: -usd1,620.86

Total Profits Percentage (%) gained:

Based on Balanced: 144.28% (last week: 113.16%)

Based on Equity: 90.25% (last week: -22.83%)

Thankfully, I was able to closed out all those "disastrous trades on GDP/CHF & EUR/CHF" with small profits.
But I am now stuck with EUR/USD (4 positions) and EUR/CHF (1 position). However, these 5 losing open positions are quite manageable as there is plenty of free margin in my account.

 

[borisofoz]

Hi RahmanSL

Thanks again for the replies and post! Glad you had a good week. I'm getting owned by work lately so not much time to get into it myself. When I get that promotion I will be able to PM u have a few questionz if u have the time.

Will read this thread again on Saturday.

All the best for the rest of the week!

Cheerz

 

[RahmanSL]

Hi brisofoz,

I too have been extremely busy with one of my project works as we are rushing to meet dateline. But…: )..I still find/make time to trade forex, especially in the evenings and in between busy schedules.
I just pop in, cruise around the H4 charts looking for anything that’s either way up there or near enough, execute some “Sell” trades, pre-set TP, and go about my business.
Later and whenever I can, I check back in to see what I got on my “fishing line”. Many times, I see that my TP was taken, and I don’t touch the losing trades as they usually go into profits sooner or later.
From my trading account, I have only 1 opened losing position (remaining from the week before) still opened, but I expect that to be closed with small profit next week.
In evenings, I cruise around looking for potential "hit-and-run" trades and scalp with medium large lot size for some quick profits.
==============================================

What a week!…especially on last day of trading on Friday where I traded almost exclusively on GBP/USD and, just before market closes, on Silver too….well, from my trading screenshots, I made some decent profits and so my account (and 2 other accounts) are (thankfully to the Almighty) in the pink of health : )

When market conditions are right (i.e with at least 3 peaks showing on M1 & M5 charts), I semi-scalp with medium large trade size (i.e 0.5 to 2.0 lot size) to realize some quick profits. But this is “dangerous” and trading on the edge as any sudden spikes can turn disastrous. So, when carrying out such “commando-like-trading”, make sure to be well informed on market news which might have an impact on the targeted currencies pair.

Last week ending 8/Jan/2011, Balanced was: usd7,328.27 with 113.16% increased over initial usd3,000 deposit.
Equity was: usd5,707.4 with 90.25% increased over initial deposit of usd3,000.00

Account Started: 16/Nov/2010 - Ending 14/Jan/2011:
From usd3,000,

Balanced is now: usd8,625.77 - Equity: usd7,899.77

Still Opened Positions: 4 - Floating P/L: -usd726.00

Total Profits Percentage (%) gained:

Based on Balanced: 187.53% (last week: 144.28%)

Based on Equity: 163.33% (last week: 90.25%)

 

[RahmanSL]

I broke one of my New Year’s resolution in “chasing the dragon”…AGAIN!.. Now my account is hanging on very thin margin and on verge of drawn down…Nobody to blame except myself in thinking I can capitalize on some quick scalp profits and followed the EUR/USD and GDP/USD but on the wrong side of the market. …Silver is okay and I think it will reverse next week.

Last week ending 14/Jan/2011, Balanced was: usd8,625.77 with 187.53% increased over initial usd3,000 deposit.
Equity was: usd7,899.77 with 163.33% increased over initial deposit of usd3,000.00

Account Started: 16/Nov/2010 - Ending 21/Jan/2011:
From usd3,000,

Balanced is now: usd9,640.08 - Equity: usd3,804.08

Still Opened Positions: 12 - Floating P/L: -usd5,836.00

Total Profits Percentage (%) gained:

Based on Balanced: 221.34% (last week: 187.53%)

Based on Equity: 26.80% (last week: 163.33%)

Nothing more to add for this week, except I have made plans for damage control the moment market resume on Monday…..i.e in event of further down slide of EUR/USD, identifying which floating positions to close to prevent further large losses and salvage my account to trade another day.

P/S: Just 4 more weeks to go before I end this personal trade journal.

 

[RahmanSL]

Due to my own stupidity & stubbornness, I am still stuck with EUR/USD the whole week and had to initiate “damage control” a couple times just to keep my account from total wipe-out.

Last week ending 21/Jan/2011, Balanced was: usd9,640.08 with 221.34% increased over initial usd3,000 deposit.
Equity was: usd3,804.08 with 26.80% increased over initial deposit of usd3,000.00

Account Started: 16/Nov/2010 - Ending 29/Jan/2011:
From usd3,000,

Balanced is now: usd7,091.36 - Equity: usd3,690.86

Still Opened Positions: 14 - Floating P/L: -usd3,400.50

Total Profits Percentage (%) gained:

Based on Balanced: 136.38% (last week: 221.34%)

Based on Equity: 23.03% (last week: 26.80%)

Overall, even though account is still profitable, profits have dropped significantly over the past 2 weeks of trading.

3 more trading weeks left before this thread ends.

 

[RahmanSL]

Not much trading being carried out last week as am still stuck with one too many losing EUR/USD opened positions.

Even though “Damage control” was initiated and maintained to keep account from total wipe-out, some losing opened positions were forced closed by Broker (when account was left unattended) resulting in account going into losses…but avoided account wiped out.

This is a very good example of what can and will happen to account when it is badly managed and with over extended margin.
But it also shows that even under such dire situation, the account can still be salvaged and even brought back to profitability. Under this situation, we have to make that difficult and painful decision to take losses and cut down on further losses and account wipe out by closing out some open trade positions.

Last week ending 29/Jan/2011, Balanced was: usd7,091.36 with 136.38% increased over initial usd3,000 deposit.
Equity was: usd3,690.86 with 23.03% increased over initial deposit of usd3,000.00

Account Started: 16/Nov/2010 - Ending 4/Feb/2011:
From usd3,000,

Balanced is now: usd3,017.36 - Equity: usd2,278.86

Still Opened Positions: 8 - Floating P/L: -usd730.500

Total Profits Percentage (%) gained:

Based on Balanced: 0.58% (last week: 136.38%)

Based on Equity: -24.04% (last week: 23.03%)

Profits have dropped significantly over the past 3 weeks of trading, and equity is at a loss. But I expect the account to be back in profits by next week.

2 more trading weeks left before this thread ends.

 

[RahmanSL]

Due to some technical problem (commonly referred to as "screwed-up"), I will not add anymore posting to this thread which is now considered "Closed"!