Transitioning to markets available in Australia's time zone

[CanOz]

One i'm watching....

 

[CanOz]

It seems i'm going to have to use the FXCM platform for my trades as NT will cancel my OCO orders at midnight....

 

[CanOz]

Ok, so a small glitch with NT and FXCM, i'll use eSignal for data into NT on FX with my orders managed thru FXCM. This still allow me more flexibility for trailing stops and checking when i'm home. For commodities i'll use FP Markets with MT4. Again, this will give easy access to manage trades. I'll likely start trading commodity CFD's today or tomorrow, starting with oil...

 

[minwa]

I have found FXCM/Oanda/Axi/Vantage all horrible. At this size I did some calculations and found that trading the FX futures and paying the commission saves you more than getting ripped on higher spreads. As size gets bigger, interbank @ Pepperstone or similar (IB...before they got hammered by ASIC..) should prove better than futures.

That only applies for majors against the USD though, haven't looked at non USD pair's futures. IB Commissions is around $2 per contract with 1 pip spread almost all the time.

 

[CanOz]

I have found FXCM/Oanda/Axi/Vantage all horrible. At this size I did some calculations and found that trading the FX futures and paying the commission saves you more than getting ripped on higher spreads. As size gets bigger, interbank @ Pepperstone or similar (IB...before they got hammered by ASIC..) should prove better than futures.

That only applies for majors against the USD though, haven't looked at non USD pair's futures. IB Commissions is around $2 per contract with 1 pip spread almost all the time.

Thanks Minwa!

"At this size", you mean my micro lots or your size?

Once I've got some stats and have weeded out the stuff, i can think about sizing up to a proper broker. That'll likely be IB for commodities using the minis at first, then yeah Pepperstone as you and a mate suggested as well.

Apparently my spreads on MT4 with FP Markets are pretty good....haven't compared them to FXCM, will do tomorrow

 

[minwa]

Thanks Minwa!

"At this size", you mean my micro lots or your size?

Once I've got some stats and have weeded out the stuff, i can think about sizing up to a proper broker. That'll likely be IB for commodities using the minis at first, then yeah Pepperstone as you and a mate suggested as well.

Apparently my spreads on MT4 with FP Markets are pretty good....haven't compared them to FXCM, will do tomorrow

At mini lot size and above..micro lot maybe not. Still, low spreads are most important and I wouldn't touch anything over 1 pip for intraday trading. Prime interbank brokerage is like 0.1-0.3pips on the majors..I am not there yet. FX is unique in that the bigger you trade, the less slippage cost and thus easier trading there is..

Looks like you trade intraday, look for around 5-7PM AEST time for a important swing low/high to be made.

 

[CanOz]

First day of trades out of the way.

Because I have to treat scales outs as two separate trades, plus as the overwhelming evidence suggests, its better to go all in all out. So I'll be trailing to whole position now, no more scale outs.

Trades from Ninjatrader on the pic below: 1 winner and 3 losers and we're in profit

Will post a weekly summary from Edgewonk.

On current open trade in the AUDNZD

 

[Gringotts Bank]

Because I have to treat scales outs as two separate trades, plus as the overwhelming evidence suggests, its better to go all in all out. So I'll be trailing to whole position now, no more scale outs.

It's good that you're winning, well done. However, two days ago, you were ready to start, with contingency plans for an asteroid storm or solar flare, but you were listening to some random guy telling you to scale out. Now what about trading psychology?

 

[CanOz]

It's good that you're winning, well done. However, two days ago, you were ready to start, with contingency plans for an asteroid storm or solar flare, but you were listening to some random guy telling you to scale out. Now what about trading psychology?

I'm risking 50 bucks a trade dude, i can be pretty mechanical with that level of risk compared to risking 500 EUR a trade in a moulinex market...

 

[Gringotts Bank]

I'm risking 50 bucks a trade dude, i can be pretty mechanical with that level of risk compared to risking 500 EUR a trade in a moulinex market...

What on earth is a moulinex market?! Your problem is that you're using all the fancy talk but missing the basics. I was the dude who alerted you to the fact that scaling out was not a good idea. Now I'm saying in order to make your approach pay, you need to focus on trading psychology.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

http://alo.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/FearGreedFinMarketsClinicalStudy2005.pdf

IV. Conclusions

The results of our study underscore the im-
portance of emotional state for real-time trading
decisions, extending previous findings in sev-
eral significant ways. In particular, although Lo
and Repin (2002) document significant emo-
tional response among the most experienced
traders, our results show that extreme emotional
responses are apparently counterproductive
from the perspective of trading performance.

 

[CanOz]

http://alo.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/FearGreedFinMarketsClinicalStudy2005.pdf

IV. Conclusions

The results of our study underscore the im-
portance of emotional state for real-time trading
decisions, extending previous findings in sev-
eral significant ways. In particular, although Lo
and Repin (2002) document significant emo-
tional response among the most experienced
traders, our results show that extreme emotional
responses are apparently counterproductive
from the perspective of trading performance.

I'm in a Zen state, what more do i need ?

A moulinex market is the Dax or the HSI....fast, choppy, think wood chipper

I've more relaxed trading than i've ever been GB, i have lots of time for deciesions, my risk is very low, i have ample funds that i can afford to lose, i have confidence in my ability to analyse and trade, then analyse my results in my detailed journal.....

I'm fine, really...but thanks for the concern.

 

[CanOz]

Out of the last open trade for a 30 odd pip profit. Will take this opportunity to do a restart and setup with eSignal.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

I'm in a Zen state, what more do i need ?

Nothing. Price is a squiggle on a page - we just need to know when to click 'buy' and when to click 'sell'. Everything else is superfluous. That's my whole point, demonstrated in a small way in my recent 'speccy' thread and highlighted in the article I posted above on DT performance vs emotional regulation.

In the paper's introduction it says:

...in a pilot study of 10 professional
securities traders during live trading sessions,
Lo and Repin (2002) present psychophysiolog-
ical evidence that even the most seasoned trader
exhibits significant emotional response, as mea-
sured by elevated levels of skin conductance
and cardiovascular variables, during certain
transient market events such as increased price
volatility or intra-day breaks in trend.

 

[CanOz]

My Edgewonk record is not as accurate at the moment, in the future i'll be able to put in closed trades using FXCMs report.

 

[CanOz]

Nothing. Price is a squiggle on a page - we just need to know when to click 'buy' and when to click 'sell'. Everything else is superfluous. That's my whole point, demonstrated in a small way in my recent 'speccy' thread and highlighted in the article I posted above on DT performance vs emotional regulation.

In the paper's introduction it says:

...in a pilot study of 10 professional
securities traders during live trading sessions,
Lo and Repin (2002) present psychophysiolog-
ical evidence that even the most seasoned trader
exhibits significant emotional response, as mea-
sured by elevated levels of skin conductance
and cardiovascular variables, during certain
transient market events such as increased price
volatility or intra-day breaks in trend.

Thanks GB, appreciate the perspective.

 

[CanOz]

So today i got a bunch of stuff done. I updated my trade record, started my new eSignal data stream which enables me to use the FXCM platforms (ipad/Iphone incl.) for trade entry/mgt and NT for the analysis. I also am configuring my NT8 for commodities, using my CQG connection. At the moment i'm in no hurry to add commodities or indices and i just want to focus on the process of trading my plan in the FX markets. Sop after lunch we've got to get positioned for the London open...

 

[Wysiwyg]

even the most seasoned trader
exhibits significant emotional response, as mea-
sured by elevated levels of skin conductance
and cardiovascular variables, during certain
transient market events such as increased price
volatility or intra-day breaks in trend.

Difficult to break that hard wired stimulus/response hey.

 

[Wysiwyg]

started my new eSignal data stream

Hey CanOz, could you disclose what markets/exchange data you get from eSignal?

 

[Gringotts Bank]

Difficult to break that hard wired stimulus/response hey.

Sure is. More and more I realize the depth of change required to reach truly carefree state. I'm not talking about maintaining a reasonable level of relaxation. I'm talking about being in a flow state (described by Csikszentmihalyi and others). I've had three striking moments in my career - twice with trading and once with a sports betting account. The flow state would appear as a result of total letting go, and the result was absolute certainty about what was going to happen next (hard to explain unless you've experienced it). The certainty that flooded in left me in no doubt about how things work. Trading is 100% a mind game.