Cory2679

I went ahead and cut my risk down to size...

Currently short the EUR/USD...I've adjusted my PT a little and labeled some significant areas of support to keep in mind. More or less, I'm planning to give this trade some room and take breaks from the screen...since it's such a large swing, I don't think it really requires micro-managing. -Cory

Looking at a short like this...

I added up the hours I posted to 72 hours per week...it's really probably more like 80 if I factor in all the time I spend working on trading (for example, I'm up now, almost an hour past "quitting time"). I was talking to my girlfriend about it...I think it'd be interesting to essentially keep a time card for a week for any time spent working on trading. I figure I'd probably average around 80. I think that's reasonable...when Goldman Sachs was at my school, one of their recruiters told me that the analysts work, on average, 80 hour weeks (but some weeks as many as 120!). I can safely say that I never work 120 hour weeks, but I do probably average around 80. Plus, if you ever want to be pulling down the big numbers, you're going to have to compound your returns and let your account grow. For me, even when/if I'm making decent money, it'll probably be a good long while before I'm willing to spend any of it.

Thanks, MK. Mission accomplished. -Cory

What a sleepy evening...price never even broke the range defined by my red line (SL) and blue line (entry)... I'm tempted to just leave the order in and go to bed, but it's a little risky for me...I don't mind leaving a trade on that I'm already in as much, but I'm more hesitant to leave an order like this. (EDIT: Because anything could happen, and my trade could get triggered after it really wasn't a "valid trade" anymore...) Another tempting overnight move would be to short the high illustrated on my 4hr chart... I may wake up to shouldawouldacouldas, but I think I'm just going to call it a night and see where we are in the morning. -Cory

I still currently have this order in, but I'm wondering if I should stick to the sidelines this evening... I see this on DailyFX.com (EDIT: the times are eastern daylight time...GMT - 4)... I'm worried this news announcement will cause the Oanda spreads to spike, however it's the JPY so I don't know if it applies to the EUR/USD. Also, as you can see, it doesn't give a time!! I looked it up and found that the report comes out "between" 2-4 GMT. Can anyone shed some light on this? Should I pull my order with Oanda? I'm not sure what to do...I guess the smart thing to do would be to play it safe and pull the order...better safe than sorry...? I guess, for now, I'm going to go ahead and pull the order and simply observe the rest of the evening...

I don't think I've ever seen such a tight range while a major market is open, especially during the AM hours! I wonder what the deal is...I'm a little scared! :o

Just for the record...I've been posting a lot of my charts on the real-time thread lately...I'll be the first to admit that I am not a profitable trader...just trying to learn...so please disregard my charts on that thread, as they are not relevant or representative of a profitable approach...thalestrader's charts would probably be the ones to look at. Thanks, Cory

I'm looking at a short like this...

Fair enough. Week: A: 10.5 hours (Forex - EUR/USD: 8am-2:30pm, 7pm-11pm, eastern time). B/C: about 1.5 hours Weekend: B/C: Varies a lot...on average, probably about 6 hours per day. I would work from sun-up to sun-down every single day, except for my girlfriend...I sacrifice some of my trading time for her. Some may see that as a lack of dedication, but we have been together for 7 years and it's a relationship I wish to maintain...even if it means that success in trading is put off just a little longer. -Cory

With only a little over an hour until the FOMC announcement, I decided to cancel my short. I initially thought that I could possibly be in and out before FOMC, but I believe that is no longer the case. I'm done trading for the day, but I'm going to stick around until 2:30PM ET just to watch. -Cory

That's impressive Dinero, considering you also work full-time (if I'm not mistaken). If you don't mind, would you be willing to share your daily trading/work schedule (which hours you trade, which hours you work)? Thanks, Cory EDIT: I don't mean to be intrusive...I was just curious because you appear to post/trade during the typical work day...I may have to get a full-time or maybe part-time job in the future, depending on how trading's going, so this topic is of particular interest to me...

This would probably be a worthy attempt at a short... I sort of expect price to retest the recent low before continuing upward...

Although, if I were still long, I would be cautious...we're approaching resistance (see the 4hr chart)...including yesterday's high. BTW, I have to say, when I came back to the screen and saw that spike, I was worried there was some unexpected news and the Oanda spread spike would have stopped me out for a loss! Thankfully, that wasn't the case. I'm using both the Econoday and DailyFX calendars to track news...when the news is "high importance" or "market moving," I'll just stick to the sidelines to avoid the spread spike. Hopefully that will be sufficient in keeping me from getting unnecessarily stopped out with Oanda.

Not often I get to say this lately...PT hit!! That puts me back in the black for the week... Price shot off like a rocket ship! I had intentionally walked away from the screen so I wouldn't screw the trade up...came back to what you see in my attached image! Perhaps I've exited prematurely...I bet there's more room to the upside after a spike like that. However, like I said, I had walked away and when I came back my PT limit order had been filled. I was expecting price to dry up anytime now...I certainly didn't see that coming! I'll be playing the rest of the day pretty cautious...it's an hour until the London close...3 hours and 15 minutes until the FOMC announcement... On big news days like this...with my lack of experience...I sort of feel like I'd rather be out wishing I was in, than in wishing I was out. -Cory

After that break of resistance, I'd probably consider a long like this...

Looking at this potential EUR/USD short... BTW, as expected, Oanda spreads went crazy around the 8:30 news...

Since I'm trading with Oanda, I think I'd better stick to the sidelines and just watch the spread during the 8:30 AM EDT Housing Starts news (not that I'd be in now, anyway, I'm just saying...). Also, I'm sort of waiting for price to dry up and go sideways leading up to the FOMC announcement later this afternoon. I know with Oanda, there's no way I can have a position on around that announcement. Today will be interesting...

I knew I'd regret that. haha

Pulled the long...going to bed. -Cory

Currently long EUR/USD due to the break of the upper end of the range...currently with a very tight stop...I got a fill but price hasn't budged...

Or so I thought! I got slipped 0.1 ticks...

Took BE on the short...

Up for a long or short at this point...depending on which direction this range breaks...