3rd Week of November +238 pips

I'm done for the week. I exited my long USD/CAD this morning at 1.1429 for another +27 pips. Together with the +211 pips achieved on Wednesday, I took a total of 238 positive pips out of the market this week.

Today story. During afternoon session, I was waiting to sell the dollar. I got the confirmation but there were all big breakouts and I didn't take it. And I missed my chances as the market rallied on. I knew it ! It was the delayed reaction to the weak CPI report.

So Far So Good

A mid week update. Trade breakdown as follows:

Monday:
Exit short GBP/USD at 1.9084 for +55 pips
Exit long USD/JPY at 117.80 for +17 pips
Exit long USD/CHF at 1.2416 for +20 pips

Tuesday:
Exit short GBP/USD at 1.8954 for +72 pips

Wednesday:
Exit long USD/CHF at 1.2469 for +26 pips
Exit long USD/JPY at 118.06 for +21 pips

Total: 211 pips in 3 days, +12.4% increase in trading fund.

Commitment

I find myself in situation where I am too emotionally attached to the running P/L of my trades. And it is very stressful especially when the price goes against you as soon as you enter your trade. But, I always hold on to it. When I have my positions running overnight, I still have to check on them during my sleep hours to make sure they are doing ok. Sometimes, I even alter the stop so that they will not get stopped out and hence taking more risks in the process.

Yesterday night, I had the exact same encounter. The price action went against my two long USD positions (USD/JPY and USD/CHF) as soon as the market reopened. I was worried all night long with the running losses. As a result, I dragged myself out of bed to check on their technical charts in 4 am early morning. By doing just that, I was lucky to locate a good short opportunity on GBP/USD.

I am now recording a good positive start for the week.

2nd Week of November +161 pips

Overall, this is an odd and tough trading week. There were a lot of "big" fundamental developments such as the US election, the better than expected US trade deficit, as well as the rumor of China's reserves diversification. I had a big drawdown immediately after the Thursday's trade deficit report and had to admit I was lucky to be able to hold it off for some tiny profits.

On the technical side, I could not trade in the beginning of the week (Mon & Tue) since I was busy moving house and waiting for my broadband connection. I needed my technical charts. I was able to back online on Wed but there was a glitch with the "real-time" streaming quote in the Metatrader platform. The price quote I saw was actually the delayed price. Despite all these, I still managed to put on a few trades:

Wednesday:
Exit short USD/CAD at 1.1273 for +40 pips
Exit long GBP/USD at 1.9049 for +23 pips
Exit short USD/CHF at 1.2508 for -10 pips

Thursday:
Exit short USD/JPY at 118.27 for +28 pips (a revenge trade, exit too soon!)
Exit short USD/CHF at 1.2464 for +13 pips (big drawdown, exit too soon! )
Exit long GBP/USD at 1.9024 for breakeven (big drawdown, damn, exit too soon!)

Friday:
Exit short USD/JPY at 117.58 for +34 pips (big drawdown on Thursday)
Exit long GBP/USD at 1.9097 for +16 pips (big drawdown on Thursday, damn, miss the unbelievable, enormous upward move which hit as high as 1.9177)
Exit short USD/CAD at 1.1273 for +20 pips
Exit short USD/CAD at 1.1278 for -3 pips

Total for the week: +161 pips.

Hope you had a successful trading week!

Irregular Trading Hours

I just move into a new house. It is well-furnished except for the broadband connection. It appears that I need to wait at least till this Friday for the line activation. I think I will just take it easy and relax for the next few days before ploughing myself back into the normal trading routine next week.

1st Week of November +279 pips

Mon - Wed: +90 pips
Thursday: + 25 pips
Friday: +164 pips

Good Job Report

I am glad that the job report was finally out. I was long on both USD/CHF and USD/JPY as suggested by the system in the morning session. Also, went short on GBP/USD as an instinctive bet. I was getting too nervy before the report and I might have exited my positions a little bit too early than I should have, in the end, I felt great with the pips I managed to grab.

*** +81 pips for USD/CHF ***
*** +49 pips for USD/JPY ***
*** +34 pips for GBP/USD ***

Probably another 100 pips more if I could hold on for another 20 mins. I just want to put this down as a future reminder. Follow your exit rules. Or exit half of the position instead.

A Mid-Week Update

I am feeling the heat trading against the markets yesterday and of course, today too. You may already knew that I have been holding some dollar long positions since last Friday. Here are the mixed results:

Monday (starting-off well):
Exit long USD/CAD at 1.1256 for +14 pips

Tuesday (a reversal in fortune):
Exit long USD/CHF at 1.2524 for +35 pips
Exit long USD/JPY at 117.70 for +21 pips
Stopped out of long USD/CHF at 1.2455 for -62 pips (ouch, I was so wrong in trying to chase the market higher)
Exit short GBP/USD at 1.9075 for +20 pips (revenged trade)
Exit long USD/JPY at 116.94 for +14 pips (revenged trade)

Wednesday (a lucky escape):
Exit short GBP/USD at 1.9105 for +21 pips (more revenged trade)
Exit short GBP/USD at 1.9088 for +11 pips (scalped trade)
Exit short GBP/USD at 1.9065 for +18 pips (scalped trade)
Exit short GBP/USD at 1.9069 for +10 pips (the initial short position before the ISM report)
Exit long USD/JPY at 116.95 for -12 pips (gave up finally)

That is...up 90 pips so far this week.