Cory2679

Well THAT was a frustrating trade...if you were watching the EJ, from my earlier post, you would have assumed I'd gotten profit (well, I took some profit...just not at my PT). HOWEVER...I actually moved my PT further away (but didn't post the update)...price came within 0.9 ticks of my new profit target and stalled...I moved my stop tight (as indicated on the 1 minute chart I posted). Ughh...0.9 ticks!!! NOTE: It looks like on the Ninja chart that my new PT filled, but the almost 3 pip spread made it not so. OMG...what's worse...I forgot to take my PT off my platform and it just filled!!! (i just heard the noise while I was typing this) I quickly closed it for less than a tick loss but still!! haha. Whew...:rofl::rofl: NOTE: I probably would have been a little more "aggresive" with this trade (further/multiple PT's, not squeezing the stop so tight, etc.) had I not been halfway expecting a 123 reversal long...I just thought I'd get a quick short in the mean time while I waited for a potential long...but the long didn't happen...

Potential EJ short...

Scratch that...I'm not going to trade on a holiday...I'll get myself into trouble...I know that since it's a holiday, there's a good chance that there won't be any opportunities for me today...that I should sit on my hands the entire session...and I know I won't! haha... I will stick around and observe, though...and I'll be back ready to trade at the Tokyo open this evening...

Potential long on the EJ... UPDATE: Order cancelled...new low...

Well I'm glad I moved my stop as tight as I did...the UJ never really went anywhere. I attached a chart of my final results...all three thirds got taken out right around PT1. Today's a US holiday...and I would normally take the day off...but I've seen good moves on holidays before so I'm going to stick around and watch...and be ready to trade...

UPDATE: Stop tighter, again...support is holding up well....

I've moved my stop tighter on this remaining third of the original position...and cleaned up the chart. UPDATE: Stop tighter...hoping for a break of support!

Can you post a chart?...maybe with some details like where your entry will be, your stop-loss (if you have one), profit targets (if you have them), etc? That's usually how it's done 'round here...I'm interested to see your setup and management (as long as you're willing/able to share it freely...).

Just got back...looks like I was stopped on half...and I just moved my stop on the remaining half a little tighter...and moved my PT for the remaining half to PT2.

I'm currently tracking a short on the UJ (I acknowledge that the entry was not posted in real-time)... PT1 has filled. I'm leaving now, so I'm going to leave it on and have my OCO orders in for PT/SL's. I have a different SL for each half of the position. Fingers crossed! haha

The EJ had other plans...

Potential EJ short...I'm all-in/all-out on this one (1 PT)...

Good grief! It's amazing how easily my satisfaction from a winning trade can turn into disappointment/frustration from missing out! It's like a rocket! That's it for me today...no Tokyo tonight...I'll be back tomorrow morning. -Cory

UPDATE5: All my dreams have come true. haha Both PT's filled... That more than makes up for yesterday's nonsense. I've got only a 25% win-rate this week so far and I'm back in the green. I am a little disappointed about missing some opportunity today...particularly a short on the GU. I think it was a mix of focusing too much on TL and my UJ trade, as well as my hesistation to have more than one position on at once. Anyways...moving on...

UPDATE: I've moved my stop and locked in some profit... UPDATE2: Moved stop on half the position tighter... UPDATE3: Moved stop on half the position even tighter... UPDATE4: PT1 filled...

Possible long on the UJ, although I fully expect it to just continue the decline...

UPDATE3: I pulled the UJ short...I've provided a 1-minute chart to illustrate why. That is likely it for me today...until Tokyo. I've been struggling this morning...3 losing trades (averaging a little under -0.5R each), that's it. I'm not sure what to take away from it...other than I just don't think the market's swinging/trending very nicely this morning and maybe I should just be sitting on my hands...

UPDATE 3: I walked away for a few minutes and came back to this...not a happy ending...I guess I didn't consider a short there due to my long bias... I'm also sitting long the UJ (although I didn't post the entry in real-time)...not looking so good... UPDATE ON THE UJ: I've moved my stop tighter. UPDATE2: I have a stop and reverse play in mind that looks a little something like this...

UPDATE: Order filled and stop moved tighter... UPDATE 2: Moved stop tighter...I'm not getting the impulsive move I'd hoped for...

I don't think I would oppose a potential long on the EU looking like this... Price didn't make it very far after the most recent breakdown point, plus the EU recently made a new high on the 4H chart (though it was followed by a rather precipitous decline).

I'm looking to possibly go long the EU...it has come back to my up-trendline and stalled. Here's how I'm looking at a possible long right now...(subject to change...especially if it keeps falling!)... UPDATE! - Long cancelled...

Hey Guys, For those of you who don't view my log but are/were regulars here in the Reading Charts in Real Time thread, my most recent post may be of interest to you. I was actually tempted to post it to this thread rather than my log, but it's fairly lengthy... I'm simply looking back on the year and evaluating my performance and where I am now...and I have a plan of action for the future. I plan to begin posting here regularly again starting next week. I probably won't post every trade I take, but I'll post as many as reasonably possible...and as close to real-time/ahead of entry as reasonably possible. I'm not here to prove myself to anyone. I believe that posting to this thread again could do me some good (as long as I keep my emotions in check). See you next week! -Cory

It's Been a Year It's been about a year since I joined Traders Laboratory and first discovered thalestrader's "Reading Charts in Real Time" thread...and what I'll call the Thales Chart Method. Over the past 50 weeks or so, I have been desperately trying to "master" the approach and "break out" as a trader. Thus far, I have experienced admittedly lackluster success overall. I have had periods of fairly consistent success, but the year has been a roller-coaster ride. Needless to say, I have had periods of great discouragement...almost to the point of giving up...a state of mind that alone is probably a great hindrance to my success. I decided to take a hard look at where I am, where I've been, and where to go from here. I obviously don't have forever to master this, so I need to use the time I have left as efficiently and productively as possible. I've come to the conclusion that most of the problems I've been having aren’t with the mechanics of the approach, but with things extraneous to the approach. Where I've Been When I first began my Thales Chart Method apprenticeship, I think I caught on pretty well. I was getting positive feedback and I was optimistic. However, after a short while I began to taint the "purity" of the approach and started having problems with my trading... I sim-traded for a very short while, then went live with a futures account and suffered emotionally because of the large size one is forced to trade with futures...I was too new to the approach (and too poor) to jump in with that size. Later, I decided to try to mimic Thales's daughter by trading a small spot forex account. However, I messed up again...after hearing stories that she had turned a $25 account into $10K in such and such amount of time, I had the brilliant idea to start with $250 so that I would turn it into $100K in such and such amount of time. The difference is that $25 is such a small amount of money that it can be lost and replaced without a problem...which made it not unreasonable for Thales's daughter to take on the amount of “risk” she did in the beginning (trading even 1 microlot with a $25 account can be a relatively hefty position size). But, I wasn't thinking about that...and I went on to eventually risking about 20% per trade with that $250 account! I'm sure I don't have to tell you how that went (I now risk no more than 2%!). It gets worse...I later attempted the same thing with a $500 account! I didn't learn my lesson and traded risking 20% on a $500 account!! I'm a little embarrassed to even be typing this. And the story goes on like this...continuously changing what size I'm trading, how much I'm risking, what broker I'm using, what hours I’m trading, my "plan" for scaling up to "full size," blah blah blah. This has gone on now for a year! I'll admit...from time to time I've lost sight of the forest for focusing too much on the trees...essentially focusing on 123's in isolation from S/R and context...but this is something that has happened, I've realized, and then gotten back on track...this is not what has primarily been holding me back, in my opinion. My most recent hiccup comes from trying to apply Thales's approach to very fast timeframes...my logic being that if there is such and such opportunity on a 15 minute chart, then there must be 15 times the opportunity on a 1 minute chart! However, Thales advocates trying to identify and trade the main intraday swing (for daytrading). I won't go into details here, but a discussion about this topic began here. Don't get me wrong...it's not like I've gotten absolutely nowhere...I think I've managed to sharpen my focus and attack some over the year. Where I Am After evaluating the problems I've been having, I'm now trying to clear my mind of all the muck, and take a fresh, uninhibited try at the Thales Chart Method. Where I'm Going Essentially, I'm now going to follow the plan Thales laid out here, plain and simple: One very minor change that I’m making to his plan is that rather than four weeks in a row of 50+ net ticks, my metric will be four weeks in a row of 2.5+ net R. I know Thales is an advocate of position sizing and R-multiples, and it is what I'm comfortable with. Realistically, 2.5 R for me will most often be more than 50 ticks...but R will be how I track my performance. I've recently opened a FXCM Micro demo account. I'll be trading the EUR/JPY, EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and the USD/JPY...like Thales's daughter and he traded. They're highly correlated markets, and could be considered nearly "one market," and I will simply look for the best opportunity of the moment for day trading. I understand that Thales's daughter gradually favored the EUR/JPY and eventually devoted most of her attention to only that pair...something similar might happen with me, but if it does, I want it to happen "naturally" (like it did with her), rather than forcing it. I'm trading from 7am eastern time (an hour before the New York open) until between 2pm-4pm, and from 7pm-11pm (Tokyo AM hours)...except on Sunday evenings, when I'll trade 5pm-11pm. I won't enter any new trades outside of those hours, although I may let some open trades run past them. I have a part-time job now that sometimes interferes with my trading...sometimes it will force me to quit in the morning by 2pm, and sometimes I won't be able to trade in the evenings. I've also re-arranged my desktop and trading computer to best suit my trading. I'm using Ninja Trader for my primary day trading charts...15 minute bars is the default, but I'll change time frames and use range charts as needed/wanted... I'm using Meta Trader for my "secondary" charts...longer timeframe charts for context and longer-term S/R considerations. My default is 4 hour bars, but as with my primary charts, I'll switch to other timeframes as needed/wanted. I periodically update my markings on these charts as needed...I left my markings on the charts for the screenshot because I was afraid I'd have to redraw them if I removed them. ..and I'm trading on my new 17.3" laptop I bought a little while back. My Pledge and Final Thought My pledge...to myself, to the people who know me, to the readers at TL, to whomever...is to continue on this path and not veer from it in any way. This will allow me to devote all of my mental energy to the Thales Chart Method and not waste it on other things. I get frustrated because I think, "Gosh, I've been doing this for a year!!" However, as illustrated in the "Where I've Been" section, I really haven't...I haven't been laser focused on Thales's approach for a year, day after day, week after week, just trying to master the approach…far from it, to be honest. I've been distracted by extraneous things. That ends now!! I am determined to stick with it, because in my view, if it takes 2 years to master, it'd be well worth it...heck, if it took 5 years, it'd still be well worth it. However, I am well aware of the possibility that someone could stick with it for 10 years and get practically nowhere. However, I believe/hope that with hard work, study, diligence and patience, I will get to where I want to be within weeks or months from where I am now, rather than years (as long as I keep my head straight and emotions in check...and this should really be huge font, bright colors, double-underlined, etc.). Life is all about choices...and I am making the choice to continue (while I still have a choice). I am aware and mindful of the risk/tradeoff. I’m going begin demo-trading at the start of next week…I plan to simply “study” for the rest of this week and over the weekend. After that I will continue to "study" and read/re-read the readings/books Thales has recommended. Also, I plan to be posting a lot more in the Reading Charts in Real Time thread over the next several weeks. -Cory

Cool site, daedalus! I like the idea. Good luck with it!

I would imagine that part of the reason FXCM has lost so many accounts in the past year is the fact that they doubled/tripled the spreads on FXCM Micro.