I'm a long time member of ET but don't post much because I prefer to read more than post. I am attaching my Excel spreadsheet of the past 30 days of trading on my Oanda account. What excites me the most is that I have a new trading philosophy and my equity curve is looking quite nice. Is it sustainable? That's up for discussion. Any comments good or trolling is welcomed. This is on a live Oanda account.
Good work. Is the date and time on your chart when you entered the trade or exited the trade? How long do you usually stay in? What you've accomplished is everyone's goal. I think so many people say that these kind of returns are impossible or extremely difficult are not factoring in the percent of total balance sued in each trade. If someone uses, say, a full 20% of their balance per trade and continually made good trades, then their account *will* double this fast. I also trade FX (just started my live account, and I only swing trade) and I think FX is different from the start market and the futures market in that you are trading currency for another currency, so I'm not sure that a solid currency like the dollar that a dollar-pair (if that's the right term)will become erratic like it does with stocks for any long period of time. So, if that's the case and you are using the same setups, then you should be able to sustain this return. I could be totally wrong about the FX market, though. Does an FX expert out there want to enlighten us?
Thanks for the kudos. Now remember that this is only my first month with these results. The excel sheet is all on exits. You'll notice that Oanda codes them as Stop Loss, Take Profit, or Close Trade. If you really wanted to figure out my entries, you can figure it out because lot size, profit, date and price are given. My personal breakthrough is putting a long time trading rule to rest. You guys heard of "you can go broke taking profits?" Well, I believed that for the longest time. I would enter a trade and try to let profits run. Well, most of the time, a trade would be in the money about $50-$200 and I would try to let it run. Unfortunately, those home runs are lower probability bets. So I challenged that rule and I wanted to see if I will go broke by taking small profits. So far the equity curve is showing that result of challenging that rule. As for how I choose my entries, I also believed for the longest time that trading is about a book of rules. Write them down, follow them to the T. Never deviate from them. Well, I challenged that rule too. I trade on feeling and 9 years of experience making and losing money. I employ tools for trading but not rules now. Trading is an Art, not a Science. If it were a Science, the smartest minds in the world would be successful. However, this is not the case. There is a gut feeling, an experience factor, a mindset that sets traders apart. This is the Art. If I feel bullish, I put on my long on and you can see on the spreadsheet that sometimes I do 10k, 30k, 50k, or 100k. This is how confident I am in the move. As soon as I feel bearish, I get out for a loss if it's below my entry or if it is already in the money, I take profit.
Interesting, dnaj. Good luck in your future trading. "I trade on feeling and 9 years of experience making and losing money. I employ tools for trading but not rules now. Trading is an Art, not a Science. If it were a Science, the smartest minds in the world would be successful. However, this is not the case. There is a gut feeling, an experience factor, a mindset that sets traders apart. This is the Art."
So what are you basing your exits on? Do you always go for 10 pips. etc...or do you have specific targets based on other factors?
my exits are not rules either like 10 pips. If I get in long, then it is the point when I feel it has turned bearish is when I exit. My entry price doesn't matter b/c the market doesn't care when I got in. If I feel it's going to go down after being in a long, it's time to hit the close trade button. As for how many pips I made, I haven't calculated it. I think that's a trick question b/c if you see my trade size, it varies. Sometimes I get 7 pips on 50k, sometimes I get -30 pips on 100k, and sometimes, I get 70 pips on 30k. For me to do a weighted pips is simply my P/L which is already displayed.