[Soultrader]

	Quote:	DrEvil
	Soultrader, I'm relatively new to trading (less than a year). I have made a decision to be a discretionary trader. I trade forex, using only price, candlesticks, support and resistance. Looking for breakouts of channels, consolidations and trendlines on longer term charts, then taking the signal in same direction on an hourly chart. More or less this is my style of trading so far. I read everywhere that backtesting is essential to succeed. As I mostly trade off price patterns, how can I backtest? If I can't backtest how can I put together statistics like, percentage winners, losers, drawdown etc. Any answers greatly appreciated. Thanks, Soultrader

Hi DrEvil,

I trade discretionary but I have rules for each trading setup. I dont use a backtesting software though. What I do is keep track of each setup on a spreadsheet everyday and keep up with the data. If I see some setups failing to work after a while, I will observe it and see how I can improve it. It would be pretty much impossible to backtest most of my setups as I rely heavily on internals and tape. I also like to think in terms of market concept such as asking Why or What.

Soultrader