I decided to make my own thread, to avoid "contaminating" other threads with my own mistakes and to keep track of my (hopefully) progress. I'll be posting my charts every day, pointing out where I took my trades.
I'm an absolute beginner, so if anyone notices I'm doing something wrong, any criticism is appreciated!
Now, with that out of the way...
I've believe the only way to get better at trading, is trading. So that's what I'll be doing (and I expect to fail a lot at first). Quoting TRO here:
"Pick a method, master it. That's all you need."
"Pick one pair and stick to it. Eliminate all the variables."
"Trade at the same time, every day, for the same length of time."
So that's what I'll be doing. I'll be trading the Buy Zone on the USDCAD, the first 3 hours of the NY open.
---
I tried trading the Buy Zone "blindly" the last week, with an arbitrary 20 pip zone, taking a trade on every entry without looking at anything else. Got stopped several times, asked around, watched TRO's "why you don't get better at trading series", watched a TRO forum and video response, and what I was missing was: "The thing is, you have to look at price action". (I might have to print this and pin it on a wall )
"Price either:
- Stays within the range of the previous candle
- Breaks out of the high and/or low of the previous candle
That's price action. That's the only thing price can do.
You can't break it down any simpler, and anything else complicates it."
"Study the WICK ZONE. Wick Zones of H1 candles give you a clue which way price is moving when it enters/exits the H1 wick zone!"
"You can overlay a wickzone and trade the price action, and use the wickzone for either profit taking or scratching a trade without going to the full stop."
Essentially, I'm trading breakouts, and this means I inevitably have to look at the previous candles, and have to look at wicks to trade around price action, even within the Buy Zone.
///////////
Trading Plan and putting everything together:
Preparation:
- Plot a line at the session start (NY Open).
- The buy zone range is determined via frequency distribution of High-Open and Open-Low over a peroid of time (ran it for the USDCAD, and it's around 8 pips above and 8 pips below the open for the H1 bars).
Rules:
- Within the Buy Zone (and/or if price exits the buy zone), I want to be long above the open, and short below the open.
- Only one trade per bar (I'll be using the 1H chart), to avoid re-entries.
- No trades outside the Buy Zone, because that'd mean that it's a late entry.
Entries:
- If price goes above the previous candle's high within the Buy Zone, I'll go Long.
- If price goes below the previous candle's low within the Buy Zone, I'll go Short.
Exits:
TPs: I know that the buy zone also has bigger runs, but for now, I'll apply TRO's recommendation for beginners: "Get good at grabbing those 3 pips consistently". So that's my aim currently. 3 net pips.
Stops: Stops will be at the other end of the previous candle's wick zone. (If the wick is really small like 1-3 pips, I'll be using the session open as my stop).
Money Management:
Risk: 1% per trade.
///////////
This is my plan and step-by-step process. It probably won't work just like this, and I'll have to learn and improve a lot in between, but I know that at least I'm approaching the whole thing with an actual trading plan.
Thank you to those who took the time to read. Starting tomorrow!
Jhx's Journey
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Jhx's Journey
Last edited by Jhx on Mon Jun 25, 2018 2:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- LeMercenaire
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Re: Jhx's Journey
Nice.
I wish you well and give 'em hell!
I wish you well and give 'em hell!
- LeMercenaire
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Re: Jhx's Journey
One thing I would mention - and this may effect you differently as you are using the US Open session - is to consider the influence of the Weekly Open.
To save messing with things right from the off, perhaps keep a track of it first as a side-bar and see if it makes any difference to your results.
I'm not playing with you here, I'm genuinely interested to see how that plays out should you decide to track it.
To save messing with things right from the off, perhaps keep a track of it first as a side-bar and see if it makes any difference to your results.
I'm not playing with you here, I'm genuinely interested to see how that plays out should you decide to track it.
- TheRumpledOne
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Re: Jhx's Journey
Perhaps you can make videos.
Here's what I use: https://screencast-o-matic.com/screen_recorder
I use the FREE version.
Here's what I use: https://screencast-o-matic.com/screen_recorder
I use the FREE version.
IT'S NOT WHAT YOU TRADE, IT'S HOW YOU TRADE IT!
Please do NOT PM me with trading or coding questions, post them in a thread.
Please do NOT PM me with trading or coding questions, post them in a thread.
Re: Jhx's Journey
LeMercenaire wrote:One thing I would mention - and this may effect you differently as you are using the US Open session - is to consider the influence of the Weekly Open.
To save messing with things right from the off, perhaps keep a track of it first as a side-bar and see if it makes any difference to your results.
I'm not playing with you here, I'm genuinely interested to see how that plays out should you decide to track it.
Interesting. It's not too much work to keep track of the Weekly open, so I'll have it as a note in my trading log for each trade/day and see how it would've affected the results later on.
I might do videos later on (I don't have a mic right now ).
So, today I entered 2 trades:
Trade #1:
I didn't enter when price broke out of the previous candle's low, because that low was just 1 pip away from the NY open (and that means that with 1 pip I'd already be in the wrong side of the trade). Instead, I decided to wait and entered short at the trigger (NY-8). Exited the trade at +3.
Trade #2:
Entered when the price broke out of the previous candle's high. Exited the trade at +3.
Note: My stop was at the open, maybe I was lucky this time but I need to stick to my rules. Giving it an 11 pip~ wiggle room to grab 3 doesn't make much sense to me (especially if I'm only trading once per 1H bar). If price goes below the open, and then goes below my short trigger, and I am still long by that time, it means that I should've cut that loss earlier. That's my reasoning for putting my stop @ the open (and if I get stopped I get stopped, so be it ).
After that, price kept going up and away from the zone for 20~ pips. I didn't take any trades in the 3rd bar because I want the candle to open within the buy zone. (As I'm trading away from the line and I'm not trading reversals)
So, today's total: +6
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Re: Jhx's Journey
The forum wouldn't let me reply here, I don't know why.
Edit: it works now
Edit: it works now
Last edited by Jhx on Thu Jun 28, 2018 10:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Jhx's Journey
Anyway, I didn't take any trades yesterday, inside bars and bars opening outside my buyzone.
So, today:
Entered at the short line trigger (and not at the previous candle's low because it was just 1~ pip away from the session open).
Exited at +3
Weekly total: +9
So, today:
Entered at the short line trigger (and not at the previous candle's low because it was just 1~ pip away from the session open).
Exited at +3
Weekly total: +9
Re: Jhx's Journey
Today's trades:
Bar #1: Long
Entered when price broke out of the previous candle's high. My SL was at the session open. Exit at +3.
Bar #2: No Trade
Candle opened outside my buy zone.
Bar #3: Short
Entered at the buyzone's short trigger (and not when price broke out of the previous candle's low because the wick was about 1~ pip, and it was close to the short trigger anyway). SL was at the session open. Exit at +3.
Today's total: +6
Weekly Total: +15
Bar #1: Long
Entered when price broke out of the previous candle's high. My SL was at the session open. Exit at +3.
Bar #2: No Trade
Candle opened outside my buy zone.
Bar #3: Short
Entered at the buyzone's short trigger (and not when price broke out of the previous candle's low because the wick was about 1~ pip, and it was close to the short trigger anyway). SL was at the session open. Exit at +3.
Today's total: +6
Weekly Total: +15
- TheRumpledOne
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Re: Jhx's Journey
Jhx wrote:Today's trades:
buyzone-usdcad-06-28.png
Bar #1: Long
Entered when price broke out of the previous candle's high. My SL was at the session open. Exit at +3.
Bar #2: No Trade
Candle opened outside my buy zone.
Bar #3: Short
Entered at the buyzone's short trigger (and not when price broke out of the previous candle's low because the wick was about 1~ pip, and it was close to the short trigger anyway). SL was at the session open. Exit at +3.
Today's total: +6
Weekly Total: +15
Well done.
IT'S NOT WHAT YOU TRADE, IT'S HOW YOU TRADE IT!
Please do NOT PM me with trading or coding questions, post them in a thread.
Please do NOT PM me with trading or coding questions, post them in a thread.
Re: Jhx's Journey
Jhx wrote:
Trade #2:
Entered when the price broke out of the previous candle's high. Exited the trade at +3.
Note: My stop was at the open, maybe I was lucky this time but I need to stick to my rules. Giving it an 11 pip~ wiggle room to grab 3 doesn't make much sense to me (especially if I'm only trading once per 1H bar). ...
Lines, pips, what's the diff? I think that we are all better off on larger charts.
"Everything Should Be Made As Simple As Possible, But Not Simpler!"
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