Goals of forex trading

[Dean34]

Hi All,
I am new to this forum. I have some questions for others who trade forex, but my primary question for now is 'what are people's goals in trading forex, especially as a return on investment per year and on time employed trading?'

For example, what are reasonable expectations and results for return on capital? Do traders generally seek to make more than 100% per year, or is anywhere from 20-50% (or 2-4% per month) per year sufficient for most?

And in answering this, how does it relate to time employed? For example, if someone was looking to make say anywhere from 2-4% per month, then how much time (not including start up/training/education/back testing times etc) per month is generally acceptable? Say if you were looking to make say 2-4% per month then should it be reasonable to only to have to devote say 10-15 hours or less per month actually trading (including looking for trades and then managing trades)? The flip side to this would be, if you devote the same number of hours trading forex as you would in a job (say 40 hours per week), then what sort of monthly or yearly returns would one expect?

Cheers

 

[Dean34]

Hi All,
I am new to this forum. I have some questions for others who trade forex, but my primary question for now is 'what are people's goals in trading forex, especially as a return on investment per year and on time employed trading?'

For example, what are reasonable expectations and results for return on capital? Do traders generally seek to make more than 100% per year, or is anywhere from 20-50% (or 2-4% per month) per year sufficient for most?

And in answering this, how does it relate to time employed? For example, if someone was looking to make say anywhere from 2-4% per month, then how much time (not including start up/training/education/back testing times etc) per month is generally acceptable? Say if you were looking to make say 2-4% per month then should it be reasonable to only to have to devote say 10-15 hours or less per month actually trading (including looking for trades and then managing trades)? The flip side to this would be, if you devote the same number of hours trading forex as you would in a job (say 40 hours per week), then what sort of monthly or yearly returns would one expect?

Cheers

I noticed that there were 176 people who viewed this post without answering. I am hoping that by providing some more context and reason behind my post it may encourage some to reply.

The purpose of my original post is to determine how those entering into the arena of 'forex trading' define the word 'success'.

I am not a newbie trader. I have been trading since 2005, however in recent times I've been approached by a few people for coaching. As I have never coached before I have found myself needing to do some research mainly as to how people define success (among other things). Taking the last few people who have approached me I have noticed that saying one thing needs to be said in context with other things.

For example, I told one person that although I have traded since 2005, I have only reached what I define as success since around 2011 onwards, and that prior to this I lost money and also spent a lot of money on courses etc. When I defined success as the following, his responses were the following:

Getting consistent results instead of trying to win some jackpot trade - he agreed
I have not had a losing trade since I developed my own system in 2011 - he got very excited
I make around 2-4% per month - he was indifferent
I dont look at charts all day and I never look at anything below a 4 hour chart - he said I love to look at the 5 minute chart. I can watch it for hours
I probably spend less than 10 hours a month trading - again, he said i love to sit and watch charts
I dont use stop losses - He looked at me weird
I dont use leverage until I need to 'manage' a trade - he asked me what leverage was???? (this is a guy who has been trading forex, albeit unsuccessfully, for years and he didnt know what leverage meant!!)
The greatest risk to me is the forex broker themselves and the protection of my capital in their custody and care - he agreed that it was a risk but had never thought of it before

So this guy asked me to coach him, yet I could not get him to define 'success' even after repeated attempts other than to be consistent, but I asked him, consistent with what? Define consistent, which he could not.

So, as Ive been asked to do a talk in front of some people and I now realize that unless I can get a better understanding of how other traders other than myself define success, then its pointless even showing them how I trade.

So I'm hoping that by asking the question on a forum, I might get a better handle on this and then be able to address this subject first before anything else.

Cheers

 

[barney]

I noticed that there were 176 people who viewed this post without answering. I am hoping that by providing some more context and reason behind my post it may encourage some to reply.

The purpose of my original post is to determine how those entering into the arena of 'forex trading' define the word 'success'.

Getting consistent results instead of trying to win some jackpot trade - he agreed
I have not had a losing trade since I developed my own system in 2011 - he got very excited
I make around 2-4% per month - he was indifferent
I dont look at charts all day and I never look at anything below a 4 hour chart - he said I love to look at the 5 minute chart. I can watch it for hours
I probably spend less than 10 hours a month trading - again, he said i love to sit and watch charts
I dont use stop losses - He looked at me weird
I dont use leverage until I need to 'manage' a trade - he asked me what leverage was???? (this is a guy who has been trading forex, albeit unsuccessfully, for years and he didnt know what leverage meant!!)
The greatest risk to me is the forex broker themselves and the protection of my capital in their custody and care - he agreed that it was a risk but had never thought of it before

Cheers

Hi Dean and welcome. Just a quick question ..... Without going into detail, what size Trading Account are you using?

Personally, my "play" account is around 1K (ballsup thread) ..... My "I'd like to make grocery money this week" account reached 5K last month, .......... and my "There is no way I'm gona trade Forex until I get more consistent with less draw down" account is .... bigger

My point is, it is "easy" to make 2-4% on a small account trading small lot sizes because the draw down won't send you to the divorce court .... If on the other hand you are consistently making 2-4% per month on a VERY large Trading Account, you may have some serious "listeners"

Cheers,
Barney.

 

[Dean34]

Hi Dean and welcome. Just a quick question ..... Without going into detail, what size Trading Account are you using?

Personally, my "play" account is around 1K (ballsup thread) ..... My "I'd like to make grocery money this week" account reached 5K last month, .......... and my "There is no way I'm gona trade Forex until I get more consistent with less draw down" account is .... bigger

My point is, it is "easy" to make 2-4% on a small account trading small lot sizes because the draw down won't send you to the divorce court .... If on the other hand you are consistently making 2-4% per month on a VERY large Trading Account, you may have some serious "listeners"

Cheers,
Barney.

Hi Barney,
Thanks for the welcome and I appreciate the response.

I realize that this sort of question will more than likely come up at a group session, and although I cant disclose personal details, what I can say is that for the goals I have set, if I had a 6 figure float I certainly would not need to generate as high as a consistent 4% each month.

Technically speaking, the float size is irrelevant in operating the trading system other than to say that between $1000-10,000 your broker would need to offer micro-lots, and between $10,000-100,000 mini-lots, but addressing a group of student traders, I would at least say to them that having any less than say $5000, (and without being able to add more each pay check from a job say), it would take an awful lot of patience to build it up to a point where it creates a suitable income. But having said that, it is certainly better to build confidence and consistency when the 'drawdowns' as you put it aren't something one is not used to. And so I certainly agree with you, that there is a definitely a psychological factor at play.

However, because I dont use stop losses, any 'drawdown' is only ever a snapshot, and not the result of closed out losing trades because I dont close out trades with a loss, but rather the result of 'managing' them until they turn a profit, and I utilize leverage and a second linked account for this. Further, I manage one of the risks inherent in forex trading by having the bulk of the capital in a regular bank account and only resort to temporarily putting extra into the trading account, if necessary, when I'm 'managing' a trade, and even then, never all of it, only enough to keep a decent buffer. I find the risk of my broker going under more of a concern than being down 20% of my trading account at any one time, and this is not a slight against my broker, I have never had an issue with them, but it is an inherent risk with all forex brokers.

But you've certainly given me some food for thought. It is obviously going to be an important aspect of goal setting to get students to determine the impact of seeing an account down a certain percentage at any given time and whether or not they will have the capacity to ride it out. Some who have been in business turning over a million in sales a year would obviously have a different perspective to a pensioner, and obviously different goals and risk profiles.

However, there is also another reason for me asking my questions, because I spent the first six years of my trading getting a lot of mixed results and never really having any real settled goals. It wasn't until I somehow snapped out of the trance I was in and decided to get 'real' as it were, at least for me, and decided that I cant be looking for the big winners anymore..it's just not my style, but rather I have had business experience before and it needed to be treated as such. I settled on a target of 25-40% per year because that is manageable, and 'real' to me, and I would like to think that others who have been through the trenches have also come to a similar conclusion. It is these sorts of people that I am more able to help, and not those who are, well, like I was 6 years ago!

 

[skc]

For example, what are reasonable expectations and results for return on capital? Do traders generally seek to make more than 100% per year, or is anywhere from 20-50% (or 2-4% per month) per year sufficient for most?

This questions get asked a lot by people going into trading... and no one has ever received a satisfactory answer.
Because the answer relates to a huge amount of variables, not least of which relates to risks.

Trader A and B may have the exact same system with the exact same capital, yet Trader A trades with 2x the risk. So Trader A generates 2x the % return (say 40%) compared to Trader B (say 20%), all else being equal. Obviously, Trader A also has correspondingly higher account volatility, drawdown, and risk of ruin etc.

Should Trader B therefore target 40% instead of 20%? Or may be Trader B should target 80% by trading 2x Trader A's size? Or may be Trader A should dial it back and target 20% instead?

In the end there is no right answer... and this assumes the same trading system. Throw in other variables like instrument traded, margin requirements, trader temperment, actual account size, desired $ income, market condition, trade frequency etc etc. The actual % return achievable without having actually knowing how you plan to trade is simply fanciful.

This is where people new to trading come unstuck (noting that you said you are not new to trading). They want to know what % return they can achieve, in order to make a decision on whether it is a worthwhile pursuit... but they don't have the first clue on any of the input variables. Yes, an experienced trader will be able to determine a target return based on his/her own knowledge and capability proven over time... but none of that is applicable to a newbie. Telling a new trader to target a certain % is mostly unhelpful, imo.

However, because I dont use stop losses, any 'drawdown' is only ever a snapshot, and not the result of closed out losing trades because I dont close out trades with a loss, but rather the result of 'managing' them until they turn a profit, and I utilize leverage and a second linked account for this.

A trading approach that doesn't accept a losing trade? Can you explain briefly how that works?

 

[minwa]

I have not had a losing trade since I developed my own system in 2011 - he got very excited
I make around 2-4% per month - he was indifferent
I dont use stop losses - He looked at me weird
I dont use leverage until I need to 'manage' a trade - he asked me what leverage was???? (this is a guy who has been trading forex, albeit unsuccessfully, for years and he didnt know what leverage meant!!)
The greatest risk to me is the forex broker themselves and the protection of my capital in their custody and care - he agreed that it was a risk but had never thought of it before

However, because I dont use stop losses, any 'drawdown' is only ever a snapshot, and not the result of closed out losing trades because I dont close out trades with a loss, but rather the result of 'managing' them until they turn a profit, and I utilize leverage and a second linked account for this. Further, I manage one of the risks inherent in forex trading by having the bulk of the capital in a regular bank account and only resort to temporarily putting extra into the trading account, if necessary, when I'm 'managing' a trade, and even then, never all of it, only enough to keep a decent buffer. I find the risk of my broker going under more of a concern than being down 20% of my trading account at any one time, and this is not a slight against my broker, I have never had an issue with them, but it is an inherent risk with all forex brokers.

A draw down is a loss on THAT account. You put extra money in and use leverage when you are in draw down initially - that has to be calculated differently. Do you include the regular bank account savings as calculation for your 2-4% returns or is only the initial smaller trading account included ? Are you martingaling with extra capital injection on losing trades ?

If you claim you don't have closed losing trades and no draw down has ever went below your initial account then you are doing something very wrong by making only 2-4%. Spread your money on a few different brokers to eliminate your broker fear and trade the biggest position size you can - no trades will lose and wipe you anyway. You will probably make 20-40% per month instead and if you trade other people's money you will grow to be a giant that will eventually eclipse Buffet with the out of the world compounding at no booked losses, just draw downs that don't wipe your account out.

If you say increasing the position size will cause the system to not work then it is not a no-loss system.

 

[beachlife]

If you start coaching someone you could find yourself in a whole pile of trouble if you are deemed to be giving financial advice and dont have a license, not to mention the possibility that you could be sued if they lose money. Very easy to just blame the coach.

 

[barney]

A trading approach that doesn't accept a losing trade? Can you explain briefly how that works?

Are you martingaling with extra capital injection on losing trades ?

Martingale would be a recipe for disaster at some point, but scaling in or out with micro lots with a "reasonable" Account size should be tradable to a positive outcome (assuming a basic understanding of the Market) ....... There are always Black Swans lurking of course and it often only takes one to blow the account:1zhelp: Also takes a long time to build capital trading micro lots!

If you start coaching someone you could find yourself in a whole pile of trouble if you are deemed to be giving financial advice and don't have a license,

Hopefully Dean is aware of this and has the necessary qualifications.

 

[Dean34]

Thanks Barney & others,
Yes I am fully aware of my legal obligations. In 2009 I completed my Foreign Exchange (General Advice) PS146 Training Court Tier 1 which is a component of Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning) FNS50804.

Essentially, this means I can give general advice on foreign exchange but not personal advice in relation to personal circumstances. Further, I have studied Law, including Trust law for the better part of 4 years and so am quite aware of my duties. I have no intention of giving anyone personal advice...however, as I stated above, I feel it is necessary to know beforehand what it is someone is 'expecting' so I don't end up wasting time showing them something that ultimately isn't going to give them what they want. Everyone gets into forex trading for a variety of reasons but a lot of those people have been misguided early on as to what is reasonable expectation. I know because I was one of them.

Strangely enough no one has actually answered my questions, but has chosen to ask me questions. lol...that's fair enough and I dont mind answering questions, but I am not going to defend my system nor go to pains to explain it, I've worked too hard to get where I am today.

I realize that maybe my original questions are in fact too personal for most which is fair enough, but I have no problems admitting that for the first years of my trading I was too lazy and probably too arrogant, at least initially, to take goal setting seriously, and then after so many losses and purchasing courses that amounted to nothing, the thought of goal setting became depressing. Early on, I just traded a end of day system with no thought as to what I wanted, other than to see my account grow, and in a few months I had tripled my account from $10,000 to $30,000, only to then see it all fizzle away in weeks. So then I wanted to day trade forex (because I went searching on the internet), and thought this was a good idea, with the thought of making 20 pips a day @ $10 a pip, wow, thats $200 a day..thats how they advertised it...of course, thats not how it panned out..and on and on it went... I wish I could say what it was specifically that changed things, maybe it was because my wife and I separated for a while at that time and it was the kick up the ass I needed...who knows, but I certainly changed from thereon, and made goal setting my #1 priority over and above all else (in relation to trading).

 

[minwa]

Strangely enough no one has actually answered my questions, but has chosen to ask me questions. lol...that's fair enough and I dont mind answering questions, but I am not going to defend my system nor go to pains to explain it, I've worked too hard to get where I am today.

I think mods should step in.

1. New user
2. Drops hints of coaching others
3. Claims unloseable system, saying broker going bust is more risky than trading itself. Totally unfounded fears by the way - a lot of large brokers are more financially secure than banks. More banks went bust than brokers during the financial crisis. Give me a list of brokers that went bust, I will give you a larger list of banks that went bust. You say you are holding a larger amount of cash in bank than your trading account. Better stuff those under the mattress.

Now you might be genuine, but anyone will start suspecting when those things add up.

If you are genuine, do post some evidence of 0 closed trades of losses and 50+ winning trades.

 

[Dean34]

I think mods should step in.

1. New user
2. Drops hints of coaching others
3. Claims unloseable system, saying broker going bust is more risky than trading itself. Totally unfounded fears by the way - a lot of large brokers are more financially secure than banks. More banks went bust than brokers during the financial crisis. Give me a list of brokers that went bust, I will give you a larger list of banks that went bust. You say you are holding a larger amount of cash in bank than your trading account. Better stuff those under the mattress.

Now you might be genuine, but anyone will start suspecting when those things add up.

If you are genuine, do post some evidence of 0 closed trades of losses and 50+ winning trades.

You can be rest assured I have no intention of coaching anyone on here.

I appreciate your advice to me on my risk management

 

[Dean34]

You can be rest assured I have no intention of coaching anyone on here.

I appreciate your advice to me on my risk management

however, I cant remember the last time a bank went under in Australia, but if memory serves me correctly, a broker did go under..Sonray Capital comes to mind..

I am in no way saying my system is unlosable..or that the broker going under is more risky than trading itself...I am by far and away the biggest risk to my capital..I said my broker going under is a bigger concern to me than being down say 20%...but if you took me back 5 years, then being down 20% would have caused me much pain

I am not here to ruffle feathers. My original post stands as the primary reason for being here and no one is obliged to answer me....but I do appreciate the responses I have got as they have benefited me quite a bit

 

[Joe Blow]

Dean, are you here to participate in other forex threads at ASF? Or are you here just to start this thread, which I notice you have also started on a number of other forums?

Given the unsubstantiated claims that you have made, it is not unreasonable for others to assume that your purpose here is surreptitious self promotion. Becoming a regular contributing member who posts in a variety of threads would go a long way toward demonstrating that your motivations are genuine and that you are here to generate and participate in discussion on a variety of topics.

 

[Dean34]

Dean, are you here to participate in other forex threads at ASF? Or are you here just to start this thread, which I notice you have also started on a number of other forums?

Given the unsubstantiated claims that you have made, it is not unreasonable for others to assume that your purpose here is surreptitious self promotion. Becoming a regular contributing member who posts in a variety of threads would go a long way toward demonstrating that your motivations are genuine and that you are here to generate and participate in discussion on a variety of topics.

Yes Joe, I intend to participate as much as I can, and yes, I did start this thread on ONE other forum, BabyPips.com...however after I had signed up and posted, I found this Aussie forum and being an Aussie I wished I had found this one first and then wouldn't have bothered with babypips. I have not posted this same thread on any other forum.

However, I do take your point, and I do apologize to all for appearing self promoting. It is not my intent and in fact I'm extremely surprised at the hype its' created. I dont consider the claims I have made to even be claims of any real worth, I was simply recounting a conversation I had, nor that they need substantiating..as Barney said, making 2-4% per month is not attractive to anyone (which suggests to me that many people on here do better than this) unless they have a LARGE account, and I doubt anyone with a large account is going to be surfing forums for advice on how to trade it...and as to not having a losing trade since 2011, this needs to be taken in context. I still have a full time job and am only trading to grow my capital until i no longer need to work. Each trade I enter into is for the purpose of making 1/3-1/2% (or around 50 pips)..that is all...if I find 6 trades in a month I make 2-3%. By aiming for only 1/2% I have no need to leverage nor to put in a stop loss, I can ride it out until it comes back. If it goes against me to the tune of say around 100 pips or more, I may buy more (assuming I went long to begin with)..and if it goes against me another 100 pips I may buy more again...and so on..If it gets to a point where price is simply crashing through major support and resistance, the I'll utilize my linked account.

I honestly dont even think too many people would enjoy trading the way I do. It's not that exciting. But now that I've shared some more on how I trade, and hopefully people will now realize thats in not the hype first assumed. And if anything, this exercise has done more to subdue any motivations I had previously to talk in front of a group.

Maybe Joe, goal setting a as subject could be something I can bring to this forum. It certainly helped me in establishing confidence in what I do.

 

[barney]

I have no need to leverage nor to put in a stop loss, I can ride it out until it comes back. If it goes against me to the tune of say around 100 pips or more, I may buy more (assuming I went long to begin with)..and if it goes against me another 100 pips I may buy more again...and so on..If it gets to a point where price is simply crashing through major support and resistance, the I'll utilize my linked account.

Hi Dean,

Firstly, I have seen no evidence of hype in your posts .. in fact I see some parallels with my own observations.

Regarding your initial question ..... I would be of the opinion that most retail traders expect far more from their FX trading accounts than would be considered sensible. Your proposed 2-4% seems realistic imo.

I often trade FX on a small scale, and the trades which net me the most are generally "average down"/ scale in trades ..... Unfortunately, the trades which generally lose me the most are of the same genre

Out of curiosity, have you done any testing of your assumption that a trade will always mean revert enough to get you back in the black after it has gone south? And/or testing on when you should add to a losing position (e.g. 0.5% further move against your open position, 1% move; other?) ............ or are these decisions totally discretionary?

Cheers.

 

[minwa]

You can be rest assured I have no intention of coaching anyone on here.

Thanks for stating that, if you look around the forum a bit you will see why there were suspicion on that, nothing personal.

By aiming for only 1/2% I have no need to leverage nor to put in a stop loss, I can ride it out until it comes back. If it goes against me to the tune of say around 100 pips or more, I may buy more (assuming I went long to begin with)..and if it goes against me another 100 pips I may buy more again...and so on..If it gets to a point where price is simply crashing through major support and resistance, the I'll utilize my linked account.

Ok, so you martingale with extra capital deposits. That's all I need to know thanks, much better than claiming unloseable trades and consistent profits per month. Most traders have a rule of never adding to losing trades so do inform whoever you are coaching that to see if it fits their personality as it goes against most trading guru's wisdom.

 

[Dean34]

Hi Dean,

Firstly, I have seen no evidence of hype in your posts .. in fact I see some parallels with my own observations.

Regarding your initial question ..... I would be of the opinion that most retail traders expect far more from their FX trading accounts than would be considered sensible. Your proposed 2-4% seems realistic imo.

I often trade FX on a small scale, and the trades which net me the most are generally "average down"/ scale in trades ..... Unfortunately, the trades which generally lose me the most are of the same genre

Out of curiosity, have you done any testing of your assumption that a trade will always mean revert enough to get you back in the black after it has gone south? And/or testing on when you should add to a losing position (e.g. 0.5% further move against your open position, 1% move; other?) ............ or are these decisions totally discretionary?

Cheers.

I use Support and Resistance. Currencies like to range in ranges of about 200 pips, give or take, and then you have major points of historical s&r. Most trades are set and forget and may last anywhere from an hour to a week or so, because I enter them at s&r points and price will go up and down until eventually the target is hit. I also use alarms that send me an SMS when my target has been hit so I know the trade is over.

I also use s&r as a road map and so backtesting is all part of the trade. In other words, I already know ahead of time where I'm going to look to enter more positions if price has left the entry area and moved to another key area of s&r, meaning, price has gone against me enough that I'd prefer to actively manage the trade rather than wish and hope it gets back to the old s&r area, so I will either simply keep adding the same equivalent lots as I did at the first purchase or maybe increase it if the new s&r area is a very long term one; for example, buy 1, then 2 (at the major s&r). If price is simply crashing through s&r, then its trending so i'll look to short retracements, this acts as a hedge and I'll book profits from those shorts, which then reduces the end target of the longs. As long as in the end I get my 1/2%. But it's not that clear cut. Each trade that I manage is 'different'...no two are ever the same both in application and in the effects they have on me. But, they always make me grow as a person.

edit***..one thing I also do in managing trades is keep a keen eye on the news etc. I am always asking myself 'what emotion is the market through the news trying to invoke from me?'

Just a note, you simply cant do this style of trading if your original position is using leverage, (and in fact, when I first started this style I was only ever going to 1/4%, meaning I could buy twice just to be 1:1). Once you enter a trade with leverage, your almost bound to use a stop loss because you have no room to manage the trade.

One way to practise this is to go and look at charts and find s&r and then dummy trade it. Look at the AUDUSD chart of mid 2013, where it went from 1.400 to almost .8800 in a few months. Pretend your at 1.200 looking to long it (1lot for example), find all your prior s&r points, compile a road map and then go through various secnarios. What if I place another long (of 1) at 1.000, and then .9800. What if it kept falling to .9600, is there key support there? Should I buy a little more than the last purchases (like 2)? Short I short (1 lot) if there's a retrace of 50 pips to .9650, meaning if it goes back down to .9600 I'll book that trade for a profit meaing my longs now only need to break even. What if all I did was I kept purchasing (1 lot) at each interval of 200 pips, how much drawdown would I expect to see before eventually price reaches the point of being 50 pips above my average price? 10%, 20%, 30%, and how long would this take, a month, or more?? Would I be comfortable with either of these? If not, then shorting trades in a second account is going to be a requisite.

 

[barney]

I use Support and Resistance. Currencies like to range in ranges of about 200 pips, give or take, and then you have major points of historical s&r.

I already know ahead of time where I'm going to look to enter more positions if price has left the entry area and moved to another key area of s&r, meaning, price has gone against me enough that I'd prefer to actively manage the trade rather than wish and hope it gets back to the old s&r area, so I will either simply keep adding the same equivalent lots as I did at the first purchase or maybe increase it if the new s&r area is a very long term one; for example, buy 1, then 2 (at the major s&r). If price is simply crashing through s&r, then its trending so i'll look to short retracements, this acts as a hedge and I'll book profits from those shorts, which then reduces the end target of the longs. As long as in the end I get my 1/2%.

Just a note, you simply cant do this style of trading if your original position is using leverage, (and in fact, when I first started this style I was only ever going to 1/4%, meaning I could buy twice just to be 1:1). Once you enter a trade with leverage, your almost bound to use a stop loss because you have no room to manage the trade.

Look at the AUDUSD chart of mid 2013, where it went from 1.400 to almost .8800 in a few months. Pretend your at 1.200 looking to long it (1lot for example), find all your prior s&r points, compile a road map and then go through various secnarios. What if I place another long (of 1) at 1.000, and then .9800. What if it kept falling to .9600, is there key support there? Should I buy a little more than the last purchases (like 2)? Would I be comfortable with either of these? If not, then shorting trades in a second account is going to be a requisite.

Sounds like we are on the same page Dean ..... It takes discipline to trade this way correctly ..... if you are managing to do this month after month with no blow-ups, well done. Personally I like to be flat at the end of the session, so my timing and scaling is over shorter timeframes and lower pip intervals ... This equates to more risk in the short term of course, but less exposure to black swans ..... Still a work in progress to get the balance right

 

[Dean34]

Sounds like we are on the same page Dean ..... It takes discipline to trade this way correctly ..... if you are managing to do this month after month with no blow-ups, well done. Personally I like to be flat at the end of the session, so my timing and scaling is over shorter timeframes and lower pip intervals ... This equates to more risk in the short term of course, but less exposure to black swans ..... Still a work in progress to get the balance right

Indeed...is it possible to succeed at anything without a lot of discipline?

Did u know that 95% of lotto winners end up worse off than they were before they won? What does this stat remind us of?

 

[Dean34]

First trade I've had to manage in a while...thought I'd share it...pretty straight forward though