hedonQ

From what I read on this thread I'd say entry vs exit is more about trading skills than statistics. Entries are probably at the forefront of a trade much more than exits when learning the craft. It is possible the trading skill of entries are polished before the exits. And therefore entries become less of an importance. But wait, isn't entry the same as exit but in reverse? Good Luck.

You might be misdirecting your focus. I don't think you should worry about leverage. It sounds like you already have profitable setups and the necessary trading skills to succeed in trading. Find a methodology and setups based on the methodology. Trade it on demo, see if you can maintain some positive expectancy over time. I understand the excitement and wanted to trade real money. Been there done that. But think about a brain surgeon performing an operation on your head. And he just graduated from college in liberal arts. I think no broker offers leverage more than 100:1 since November this year (in US that is, a gift from NFA). Good Luck.

This statement might be a catch 22 ..... if you do all this, there's not so much of an emotion to speak of. You clearly define your setup, setup that you empirically know is profitable over time and you know your rules, guidelines, params etc., the emotions take a back seat. You know precisely what to look for and what to do. It either occurs in the market or does not. What Dennis might be referring to is some sort of disconnect between explicitly and implicitly understanding of his trading system. It's this implicit (enough screen time with the system) lack of understanding that might promote emotions. Anyway, I am not refuting the claim. It is very common but you do have to wonder about the source of the emotion.

I can't speak for anybody but myself. If can move back in time this is what I would do: The greatest challenge is the path you choose to follow. I tried scalping, news trading, technical indicators, candle stick patterns and price action. The greatest waste of time were indicators. I settled on PA, I do ok. You find your own true calling, research it and see if is good for "you". Stick to it, perfect it. You need to know what it takes to succeed in this business. Ask yourself, what is it that successful traders do to succeed? Make a list and do it. (Read SMB capital blog, find out what they do) Trading might be glorified, and cool to talk about and calling yourself a trader. But it will take lot of grid and thick skin to get to a place where most people will never get. Books: Don't buy any books about "How to make million dollars in 3 weeks" or "Secret Sauce in FX markets". Don't buy any trading system. I read lot of books on trading, the majority are informative but they will not teach you how to make money. They only make money to those who write them. Trading forums seem to be very efficient aiding in learning curve. Try the Wyckoff Forum. Buy books dealing with psychology. I found Brett Steenbarger useful. Sim trading: I'd say what's important with sim is to "experience" the price action that tests your methodology. If trading real account from get-go, even small one, you might not pull the trigger when money is on the line. You will not "see" what works and what does not. You will not make adjustments. You should keep sim trading until consistency emerges. It might be that you focus on the methodology first .... than the rest. Being a trader is a privilege. A profession that can take you from rags to riches. Good Luck.

Review some charts during the times you might consider overnight session. See if the price action fits your idea. Some liquidity enters the market, when Japan opens around 7pm EST. It might last till about 9 or 10PM. If some development, either fundamental or technical, enters the picture, the price movement maybe above the average over night.

The daily stop maybe designed to limit your capital commitment where the market might not be as fluid. Of course, you need to know if this applies. Or maybe your trading skills for the day are not where they should be to manage your profitable trades. I always operate from two angles 1. my setups are profitable over time 2. preserve the capital. There's some distribution of losing and winning trades. Approaching the daily stop loss, I can cut the size in order to execute extra few more trades beating the loser/winner distribution. This is a sort of defensive mode. It allows you to take that extra trade where you normally wouldn't if your daily stop is hit. Even at the reduced size I can make up the losses with a one or two good trades.

Not sure why this is happening. I tried it in Chrome incognito and Firefox with cookies and caches cleared, works fine.

I think I fixed it. Sorry about it

... trading marathon yesterday in GBP/USD... started at 4am, closed out the last trade 1:45am today. That's something like 22 hours, if I can still count. But I got it done at the end. http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/members/hedonq-albums-pnl-picture81-11-19.gif Good Luck today.

... been absent last few months. Tuesday's p/l on gbp/usd: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/members/hedonq-albums-pnl-picture80-11-18.gif Tough start but made some defensive and tactical adjustment in mid flight. The last two trades were terrible, game plan dictated more ambitious target. In hindsight, price reached the target level eventually. I think I did not not define what exactly needs to happen to invalidate the setup on the last two trades. Some price pressure needs to be considered as long as the setup is valid. Good Luck.

tough week in GBP/USD ... very choppy since Friday. It might be the range the ccy has been last few weeks and the lack of volume(?). Have a nice 4th July.

...hectic last couple of weeks. Started trading stocks as well. I'll post results from those as well. Trades in GBP/USD from last week: Good Luck.

... tumbling down the rabbit hole. Wednesday trades: ... but there's a light at the end. Thursday and Friday trades: I figured out what I did wrong. I made some adjustment 2 weeks ago that corresponded with my performance deterioration. Could not be a coincidence. I rolled back the change with immediate positive feedback (Th and Fr pnl) Important thing, I kept the losers small, preserved the capital, and worked hard trying to understand why . Good Luck.

If you want a good example of bad trading, here it is: - jumping the gun. Same problem as yesterday, imagining price action as opposed to seeing it - absolute lack of focus at the worst possible time - shaken out of good setups I have some disconnect between trading ideas and their execution, in real time. Also, discipline and clarity is something to be desired. Good Luck.

... half-decent trading day. Although pnl does not reflect it, I stuck to my game plan on all trades. To follow the process is the key. Trade 2 and 3 were a product of my imagination or too much anticipatory in nature. Trade 4 is the same as far as setup, but there's a key difference. I could see it in the price. Don't be creative when you trade, read the price, keep ti simple. If you want to be creative take up basket weaving or something. Good Luck.

... rather disappointing week. I am starting trading stocks next week as well. I"ll post results from that endeavor as well. Good Luck next week.

Overconfidence from yesterday did me in. Putting my ideas ahead of the price action. Who cares what I think. I also have some issues with focus. Market can move for hours without dealing you a good hand. Tough to keep folding and stay focused. Good Luck.

... not sure. Works for me.

I think this is "accountability" thread through PNL. I would say it would be allowed. I post gbp/usd trades here ... Welcome back. Good Luck.

Monday's trades .... Some good setups and entries today however trade management is something to be desired. I've spent countless hours and effort on setup definition and developing setup execution skills. I downgraded "trade management" to second class citizen and it shows. My thinking was, If I don't have a good setup what's there to manage? I think I have some work cut out for me. Good Luck. 3min chart

Under the "units" column, 10,000. That's the size traded. I wanted to distinguish between scalps (the 10k trades) and setups I've been trading day to day (larger swings). I'd like to diversify the trading style. I am thinking, starting with a smaller size would make sense. IHTH

Thursday trades. Tough market, you have to grind it to get something done. The scalps (the 10K trades) are not working. But I am not sure I know exactly what I am looking for. I'll be replaying the charts this weekend, see if I can scoop up some supply/demand dynamics for a methodology. Good Luck.

Mon through Wed trades ... riding a little bit of losing streak. Mostly due to some weak position management: e.g. stop loss too tight and in the wrong place and closing out a few trades too early (basically not sticking to the game plan). I am trying out some scalping as well (the 10k trades). I typically execute a few setups a day which take advantage of larger than scalp swings. I sit in front of the charts all day, I might a s well diversify the trading style. We'll see what happens. Good Luck.

Nothing much today. Done trading, off to reviewing and skill development ... gbp/usd It's shaping up like an inside day, note LH today. Don't trade in the middle, trade the extremes. Good Luck.

nicely done brownsfan019! It looked like we might have some moves today in GBP/USD after breaking above 5062. Instead, we were chopping wood with a bit of upside bias until about 9:30am. Some of the risk event later in the week might curb any fresh positions. The good: nothing today The bad: - trade 2 was an impulsive trade. - trade 3: I could've split up the position in half, cover one and trail the other. I shorted 5145 around 9:20am. - I missed on a trade later in the morning. Why? I got bored and started browsing, espn ... That's unacceptable and disrespectfully to my boss, the market! Good Luck.