FX_Cowboy

Trades for 5/19. The images overlap by one row for continuity.

Attached are trades from 5/18. The two images overlap by one row for continuity. Thales, I just want to express my appreciation for your efforts in getting this event going, as well as the admin work of keeping it running. I think this was a great idea, and expect it will be fun and an interesting learning experience both for participants and onlookers. Please note that I added funds ($980.70) to my account on 5/18, bringing the total funded amount to $1961.40. Regards, FX Cowboy

All trades from 5/17. Only the last 5 rows have not been posted previously.

Trading results from last night and this morning.

Hey Guys, I realize I'm starting a little late, but I'm in too. Attached is a screen shot of my beginning balance, which I intend to top up to (just below) $3,000 over the next few days. This should get me started though. I'm looking forward to the coming 18 weeks! Regards, FX Cowboy

Of course, there is resistance too (which is why this box is forming here in the first place). Price just bumped up against this level, and is deciding whether to breakout through it or head back down, possibly to the major S/R level represented by the black dotted line, or even further.

A bit more context. Price has just bounced off a support level (red dotted line), and has broken above a more important support/resistance level (black dotted line), which this whole "box" sits astride. Which side will see a breakout is, of course, anyone's guess. But there has not yet been a reversal of the day's uptrend, in my books.

My take on this one. As was the case last night, the short, with reversed trigger and stop, might also be worth taking. Regards

Here's a trade that I think is similar to what has been posted previously. Blue line is entry, red is stop, green lines are TP1 and TP2. If the trade isn't triggered, a reversal of this (the short of that bar), looks good to me too.

bootstrap, Going back to your original post, you mentioned that there were three types of markets one needs to be able to identify: Trending, Trading, and Volatile. Can you go into any more detail concerning these market environments? When I think of these terms, I come up with correspondences like: Trading - Market is trading within an established range. Trending - Market is moving from one established range to another in an identifiable way. Volatile - Would that be...none of the above?

I remember how much I enjoyed the original thread when it appeared, and it's great to be reminded of the wisdom of these "rules". If I recall correctly, William was interested in Zen in its own right, and I'm struck by his comment here that he is a "beginner trader". I believe that it is a precept of Zen to be "always a beginner", always open to learning more. Given the quality of his comments, I wouldn't be surprised if he was an experienced trader, and -- if he took his own advice at least -- a successful one.

I have used Ensign for several years now, and have been relying on the FXCM as my data source for Ensign charting for perhaps six months. In general, the combination is very stable and reliable (and if you're already plunking down $40/month for Ensign, it's free!), but you should be aware of a few anomalies in terms of data availability. Obviously, this data is made available on FXCM's schedule, which it turns out is different (and slightly more limited) than the data provided from other sources. For example, FXCM data cuts off at 4:00 pm EST on Fridays, compared to a market close of 5:00 pm on the FX futures markets and some other spot FX brokers such as OANDA. The data flow only resumes at 12:01 am EST Monday morning, compared to 6:00 pm Sunday night for futures and as early as 1:00 pm Sunday afternoon for OANDA (just two other sources I have experience with). On major holidays (I noticed this over Christmas and New Year's, but there may be other examples as well), FXCM will stop its data feed altogether, so unless you have alternatives, you're forced to take the day off too. That may not always be a bad thing, but it's nice to have alternatives. Obviously, these quirks are going to leave you with some "gaps" in your data. If you trade on the basis of price action and pay attention to support and resistance areas, this means that you'll have a few blind spots. You can compensate for these blind spots, of course, by referring to other data sources, but that data will remain outside of the charting package. Just a couple of things to consider if you are evaluating this combination. These limitations may not affect your style of trading at all. Personally, I consider all this to be a disadvantage, but again, if you are using Ensign and like that charting package, you can't beat the price of FXCM as a data source.