RahmanSL's Personal Trade Journal

RahmanSL

Major
Messages
2,925
Alright! Now I have gotten my feet wet in Trading Forex for just over a year, I would like to post my own Trade Journal.

The attachment screenshot is of one of my Demo account started on 16/Nov/2010 with usd3,000 at 1:500 leverage.

Demo Account: Starting: 16/Nov/2010 - Ending 17/Dec/2010:
From usd3,000, the Balanced is now: usd23,593.56 - Equity: usd23,451.51

Still Opened Positions: 7 - Floating P/L: -usd142.05

Winning Closed Positions: 100% - Lost Closed Positions: Nil - Lost Floating/Opened Positions: 3

Total Profits Percentage (%) gained:

Based on Balanced: 686.45%

Based on Equity: 681.72%

I have a last surviving Live account (blew 4 other Live accounts trading impatiently and recklessly) which I have managed to salvaged and put together into a usd240.78 Micro account with 1:500 leverage.
I have been trading that new account since 2/Dec/2010 and have realized (from 12 part time trading days) a modest gain of 57.95% based on Equity, and 59.38% based on Balance. I might post screenshots of this account at a later date.

I don't use SL, signals, rumors, soothsayers, witchdoctors, fortunetellers, and other mumbo-jumbo stuffs. I read old Steve, Pipsalot, Henry Lui, and other articles from around the blog.
Mostly, I spent some time watching and observing market movements on the screen before entering trades which are always preset with TP (in case I cannot attend to trades).
I tried to leave as much Free Margin as I feel comfortable with (to ride out any losses), but at times I do tend to cut that a little too thin for my account good health.

I shall endeavor to keep both the Demo & Live Accounts alive and see what happens in 2 months time (i.e 17/Feb/2011).

All comments and suggestions on my trading style are welcome.
 
Last edited:
Congrats on some very impressive results.

My only suggestion would be to put a SL in there somewhere. A surprise bank intervention can move the market hundreds of pips with no warning. A major shift in overall sentiment can put that trade you've been hoping would return to profitability into a multi-month or multi-year trip in the wrong direction.

Trading with no SL since the market "always comes back" works for awhile, but sooner or later will put you in a very difficult position. The only exception I've ever made to the "Always use a stop loss" rule is for very long term, super low leverage position trades.
 
I was beginning to wonder when the Son-of-Ra’a would come post a comment or two in my thread! : ) …but, I knew I can count on the Master Sergeant to give some advice.

Some very impressive results??? : )…really???
Honestly (and this is not bragging…wellll, maybe a tiny bitty bit) I thought with usd3k account, this is pretty standard as I do that ALL the time on Demo accounts…and with nil losses too.
However, I have ALWAYS wiped out the hugely inflated Demo accounts when I begin to get bored and start trading (impatiently and recklessly) 5 to 20 lot trades to see how fast I can get the account past the usd100k mark within a month or so. I only managed to get one of my usd3K accounts past usd77k and than….wham…the account got wiped out literally overnight with just a 2-3 very bad large size trades

After 10 months, I got bored with Demo accounts with virtual money which have no value and so I started on Live accounts (ECN, STD, and than Micro). I did very well at first, but started treating my Live accounts like Demo and soon (not surprisingly) got into troubled trades and wiped out almost all of them…so what else is new!
I believe my major mistakes was entering trades when they are in mid range when market can go either directions. So now, I am training myself to trade only when the market price is either way up North and South. ..No Equator trading for me…exception being Silver & Gold since I believe it is unlikely that these will go down to the pre-2010 level.

I thought of restarting on the wiped out ECN & STD accounts again, but thought better of that and instead scrapped whatever money is left remaining in my STD & ECN accounts and transferred the money into one single Micro account. I will have to learn to managed this Live Micro account responsibly and with prudence if I want to make Forex trading a source of reliable investment returns with my main funds in the near future. If the Demo and Live accounts last past the 3 months mark and continue to show profitability, than perhaps I can consider accessing my main investment funds which I’ll spread among 3 different Brokers.

As for not setting Stop Loss (ST), I really do not like to do that as I have (time and again) been stopped out with mere 1 to 5 pips and have the market reverse immediately. I know your logic for setting SL is very sound, logical, and makes perfect contingency sense in potentially disastrous market reversal, but I try to keep myself updated on market news and trade with as much Free Margin as I feel comfortable with. Additionally, one of my contingency plan, in case of major market upheavals, is to close out some of my losing trades in order to free some more margins into my account…and, of course, there is always the Credit Card emergency funding, plus internal money transfer from another account.
But I will try not to get into that type of situation by keeping my Free Margin at a reasonable healthy level.

Thank you for your comment and I hope to be still posting here come 17/Feb/2011.

Hmmmm, wonder where the other 3 reliable FPA seniors are going to come in here to comment.
 
Hi Rahman, congrats on your live account. Wish you best of luck.

I read somewhere that when someone asks us to walk over a bunch of burning coals we dont do that but when they ask to open a forex trading account, we do that right away, but actually both have the same results, one burns the feet & the other one burns the money. I hope you are well prepared now before stepping on the coals. :)
 
Hey RahmanSL, thanks for starting this journal :)

I just started learning about the Forex and was lucky enough to stumble accross these forums which i believe will (and have already) been a good source of information for me.

I to will be using a micro account, but first I will be learning the ropes on a demo account (done 3 trades, 2 of which I lost pips on because I didn't - and still don't know how to use the platform properly, the only winner being 1pip as I bought/sold accedently whilst trying to find the stop loss controls etc... :p)

Currently I am half way with the first book I am reading and have one more to read after that. As soon as that is done I think I will also make a journal for the following reasons;

1) It keeps you on track,
2) Keeps a record to analyze,
3) Potential for others to advise you,
4) To help people like me, show them realistic results of a new(ish) trader

So thanks again and I await your updates :)
 
Thank you Sheraz572 for your post and wishes! : )

You are comparing fire walker to forex trading?? : )…really???...hmmm…well, if someone asked me to walk over a red hot coal bed, I don’t think I would have that much faith to do it…unless, of course, I am stoned out of my mind and I also want to impress that sweet young lass…and will most probably land up in hospital with second degree burn.



But if I were to know what I have learned so far about the world of Forex Trading, I would most certainly would had jumped in on LIVE account much sooner.
All new Traders have to and need to be learned on trading Forex… i.e forex terminology, symbols, time zones, use of charts & indicators, opening Live account, depositing & withdrawing money, and general works of the world of forex, etc…and most importantly, which Brokers and Service Providers to AVOID.

Starting on Demo account is a MUST for familiarization, practice, and testing/experiencing/exploring the forex world.

The biggest misconception I encountered when the word “Forex Trading” is mentioned is: “You must have LOADS of money to trade forex!”. The answer is a flat and most definite “NO”!.
NO, it does not require a truck load of money to trade in the forex market. Just trade within your means!
If you are a struggling student, than scrapped up at least usd5 and trade in a micro or Nano account…don’t borrow money from loan sharks thinking you can become rich within a short space of time..most beginners will probably loss money and wiped out their LIVE account within a week…and with wiped out accounts and no money to pay back loans, the sharks will start circling.

Hi Rexel,
Yes, read and learn what you can about forex trading…but you really don’t have to attack all the books on forex. Besides, there are so many books on the subject, and also so many deferring views from “experts” that it would eventually confuse you : )

Just Demo trade to get the hang of whichever Broker you using on their trading platform. Try out all the buttons, if you so wishes, to see their function...and don't ask me cause, to be perfectly honest, I still don’t know the functions of more than half of the control buttons on MT4 platform : )

I will post my updated trade history this Saturday after weekly market has closed….besides, at the moment, my trading accounts “is not feeling too well” due to “eating too much of” the GBP/CHF and EUR/CHF currencies pairs : (
You’ll see what I mean after I have posted my updated account history.

Cheers and all the best!
 
Hey RahmanSL,

Yeah I found that when I entered playing poker the books were a good place to start allowing me to build off them. To be honest I have only looked at moving more to FX because poker hours = unsocial and I rather like the girl I am with so don't see me keeping her if I persued that career for long term. However poker has taught me to disregard money I "educationaly gamble" with, so after reading that most people fail due to emotional actions because of "caring" for the money they risk. I would love them to sit at my table :p

I don't enjoy money, I enjoy making it through good practice/strategy... if you know what I mean :S

Anyway can't wait to see your results, and remember the worst "gamblers" are the ones that lie about their gains/loses :p
 
This week has been a real bummer for me as I was mauled by trading EUR/CHF and GBP/CHF.

Main major2 mistake is in over confidence (based on H4 & D1 charts) that both the currencies pair have gone done as far as they would go…BUT, they just carried on down, and down, and……..Taught me a good lesson to be extra cautious when trading currencies pair going on the down side. This reminds me even more of that Leson(???) who brought down one of the oldest British bank when he too went in Long, but the price just kept on going down, and down, and down until he had margin call which ended that bank’s equity.

I had to forced closed sizes in opened positions to prevent account wiped out due to possible margin call (see screenshot3). In sacrificing profits made in the past month, I managed to keep my account alive. But I am still in profits though it has been reduced drastically from 719.82% to 392.74% in Balanced, and down to 293.19% in Equity.

Poker game; Rexel????...hmmmm, I used to play that a lot…now limited to once a year with bothers, brother-in-laws, and closed family friends. Yes, it can be a game of skilled in how you read your opponents and I have my fair shares of bluff successes and failures.
Nope, there is no need to post fake trade history nor to lie about gains/losses. Only persons who would fake or lie about their account(s) are just out to impress or used these doctored accounts to scam traders into signing up for managed account(s) with them.

Seasons greetings and all the best in your trading!
 
Last edited:
I have been exercising "damage control" the last week or so by further closing out/deducing more losing lot size in GDP/CHF and EUR/CHF. But my account was also automatic forced closed out of largest losing lot size by Broker.

Due to disastrous trades on GDP/CHF & EUR/CHF, my account balanced has now been drastically reduced to:

Account Started: 16/Nov/2010 - Ending 31/Dec/2010:
From usd3,000,

Balanced is now: usd6,394.67 - Equity: usd2,315.22

Still Opened Positions: 4 - Floating P/L: -usd4,079.45

Total Profits Percentage (%) gained:

Based on Balanced: 113.36%

Based on Equity: -22.83%

This has been proven time and again that trading currencies pair(s) which has/have gone way, way down does not mean that it/they will not keep on going lower still. I have encountered such very similar situation a few times in 2010. Henceforth, I will treat such trades with extreme caution.

As I have mentioned earlier on, I will keep posting this trade account over a 3 months period which ends 17/Feb/2011....i.e if the account is not wiped out before that date.
 
Last edited:
Hi RahmanSL

Thanks for these posts, I've enjoyed reading them. (Read them a few times now)

Just a quick question, 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. However to get a 6 fold annual return, are you making many, many trades or are you risking say, 10% of your capital per trade...the most positions I've seen open at once is 7?


keep the posts going! :)

Good luck for 2011

cheers
 
Back
Top