Cstfx, I just wanted to put my 2 cents in. The hardest thing to get through my head is loss managment. I am a firm believer of keeping stops tight. There is no crime in re-entering a trade after a short stop out than having a large stop loss. Stop losses get hit, thats part of trading. As you look at my trades on this thread, my stops have been tight execpt for 1 and that was a 100 pip loss. That was the difference for me of having a good month that could of been a great month. I am currently waiting for a breakout below 1.4000 on the eur/usd for a short trade or a break above 1.4075 to go long.
No doubt, but I used to be in the camp of taking profit whenever I hit the threshold of $X. I've since learned to base trades on entry and exit points, and rather than just taking profit when it hits a dollar amount, I try to be patient and let it hit the exit point. It seems to have worked, but I still find myself with my finger on the button despite it being above my exit point. Right now, with my open AUD/USD trade, it's up quite a bit. I so want to just take it and run. But the last three times I did that it went further - significantly further.
What about scaling out some of your position , would that work for you. Say when it gets to half your profit target take of a 1/3 or 1/2 position, just my two cents from a FX newb.
So that position over the weekend was fantastic for you. Hahaha. Get to the computer and AUD had run up a bundle.
short eur/usd @4020 stop@4035 target@3960 Long entry is set @4040 target@4115 stop@4020 I am expecting a creep towards target or a quick bounce up towards resistance. On the daily chart, we are currently sitting on the declining support line. It will either break through or bounce up. Lets see how it plays out. Isn't trading fun! Just adjusted short stop loss@4018. will adjust stop as pair drops. 2pips is better than breakeven or loss if pair jumps back up quickly.
Ivan, Not critiquing your trade style. It is what it is. What I was commenting on is your "would've, should've, could've" thinking that you were mentioning: you lamented that you got out of a trade too early and you should have held on to it longer. I have been around too long to see too many guys get crushed when they question their winners or begin to get a little greedy and try to squeeze an extra nickle out of a trade. That's all. Exited out of the NZD.USD trade @6634 (10 lots @ +66 pips). I am no longer comfortable with the setup and looks like support is going to hold at 6600 unless some external stimuli enters the equation. Looks like it may bounce a bit before RBNZ announcement so I will wait until then to re-enter. Plus I don't like holding trades this long. (Just my style) This week so far, +186 pips. Now, if only I wasn't stuck with that Dec t-bond trade. Dinner time now. And then more work. edit (5:12pm) 50 bp! Didn't expect that. Still I stand by my trade.
closed short trade @3980 for +40 pips, I was 4 pips from target, I should of took profit then. oh well, on to the next trade GGrrrr, I still need to work on patience. Pair came back down and hit my target after I got out the trade....Isn't trading fun!!!
As a fellow currency trader I'd just like to offer a kudos to you for some very excellent trades. Its been a pleasure reading this thread. Good trading to you... Andriy