MadMarketScientist

There's a LOT of forex traders out there and we need some more conversation going on in this forex forum. I know you all have a lot more to say about it. So, in that spirit I'm kicking off this thread in hopes some of you who trade the GBPUSD will start posting your analysis, your approach, how you trade this highly popular currency pair. Anything to do with GBPUSD. And, if you prefer the EURUSD, or the EURJPY or you name the pair, how about starting a new thread to discuss that one and let's start sharing thoughts/trades/experiences on these pairs?

I should have added something to that -- and even make it easier -forget living up to the off the chart claims of instant riches - - is there any that even maintains some semblance of profitability? A couple recent ones I recall seeing a ton of promos on - Fibonacci Killer -- it's a dog but I'm sure many were sold. There is one now being pushed called Forex Kagi - I was messaged by someone that it's just an ebook using a simple trend following indicator (lagging) but you'd never guess it from the incredibly slick sales page and videos - and it tried to sell you a robot after the first sale starting at $97 and each time you said "no thanks" he told me it kept knocking the price down all the way to $7 - about 6 or 7 price reductions....the only other one I think I ever saw at least some positive comments, maybe short-lived don't know was fap turbo but have no idea if it held up. Heard some reports that brokers had "broken" the strategy since too many were using it and would widen the spreads when it had trades trigger..... Still, there has to be something right that at least is above $0 right

Like most of you, I get bombarded with emails promoting forex trading EA plugins. They promise the moon, whether it's 99% winning trades, or turning $1000 to $100,000 in no time at all. I've heard they tend to sell hundreds to thousands at a time - quite a business. Of course, we know where all that leads in reality -- as virtually all of these tend to be over-optimized, curve fit systems that have settings that are customized with the benefit of hindsight and they typically fall apart going forward. I would like to know from any of you -- have you used any of these EA's with any success? Or, if you have used any that were a total failure weigh in on that as well. Might save a few people from buying it as well.....

Received a couple of promos in my inbox today so just passing along. Tradestation is offering free commissions for the next 60 days on funded accounts. There are a variety of the usual conditions so be sure to read the fine print. InterbankFX is offering to top off accounts with an extra 10% on deposits $2K and above. Some conditions apply there as well. Just an FYI....

Good success with the trade! Keep us updated - should be an interesting one.

Love that quote from Daniel Levitin. Malcom Gladwell covers that topic quite a bit in his book Outliers, it's quite an eye opener....

There are daily forecasts and analysis of the forex markets on TL. You can get today's scoop here: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/dailyfx/946-japanese-yen-expected-rally-while-euro.html'>http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/dailyfx/946-japanese-yen-expected-rally-while-euro.html And to reach these updates on a daily basis you just need to jump here: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/dailyfx/ There's also more under Videos with a daily Forex video update: http://www.videos.traderslaboratory.com/video.php?next=watch Some good stuff from a technical and fundamental perspective for those of you into forex.

I'm sure you'll get other opinions as well and they could be varied but a couple that come to mind for me are: Think or Swim/TD Ameritrade and Interactive Brokers (and I might even suggest using the Ninja Trader front end for order placement/management)

New Blog Post from Jesse Richards on fibonacci and Gann - if that's up your alley you can check it out here: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/fastbrokers/947-utilizing-fibonacci-retracements-gann-fans.html'>http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/fastbrokers/947-utilizing-fibonacci-retracements-gann-fans.html There are several worthwhile regular blogs going as well you can check out here: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/blogs/ Thanks.

I agree, we discussed further up revenge trading, etc.... my intent was to say there's always "tomorrow" -- there's no need to panic and get down and out about it. I'm totally with you on avoiding the revenge trades and it's a "right" the market must give it back. Wrong attitude.

Best bet is to click the Report the Post and we'll get notified. We have 3-4 people now who receive those so typically we are able to get on them if not immediately within an hour or two at most. And we do have the ability to knock out all of the posts in one "mega" delete when someone has just spammed a bunch of crap. Not sure why they do, waste of time and we'll delete them but you guys are our best defense so just let us know with the Report function. Thanks for the help!

A favorite rule of mine that I was reminded of this week after a particularly crappy day is to review your trades, assess if there was anything you could have done different, compartmentalize it, and walk away. Do not take it with you for the rest of your day. Don't take it out by being short with your family or friends. Don't beat yourself up and cry about the market's conspiracy against you. Don't take it personal. Then, come back strong tomorrow, fight hard and make it back. In the end, it's not going to do you any good to beat yourself up and those around you.

Good job keeping up the journal -- also hanging out in chat and calling your set-ups live. For those interested, jump in after the open (9:30am EST/6:30am PST) -- click Chat above from the main navigation menu and emg is normally in there. Good way to learn.

It should go without saying, but no posting private messages, PM's etc... I have deleted the posts mentioning it. Whether the argument/debate on the value of the above is worthwhile I can leave you all to discuss that -- we're all adults right? I am assuming you do not want me moderating everything just because it gets a little controversial. No fun in that. However, please stick to the topic at hand rather than personal. Posters do have the right to question a post, and even say it's wrong. They are not stalkers and this isn't a forum where we all need to agree with every post and if we do, get talked down to. At the same time, make the argument constructive -- disagree, say why and let's not challenge each other personally. If you think it's crap, you're entitled - just say why constructively and if you love it, give it a "Thanks" Thanks for the understanding.

It's my understanding that Global is not a clearing FCM (I think use Rosenthal, etc...) but someone else may know for sure.

Sure no problem. See charts just below - in both cases targets just hit, about a $15 move on the 60 minute chart, where I'd lower trailing stop to 61.37 since unlikely it's going to reach stretch target 2 (they are big due to gap on 4/30) and if basing off of 130 minute chart about a $14 move with a trailer at 63.37 for now.....though given the size of the moves in both cases I'd probably just take it and run since normally on this stock the moves are $3 - $7 so it's an unusual one.

Definitely agree with the above. Context means so much. Many times someone asks me "what do you think of......(fill in the blank on your favorite market....." Then I immediately ask them -- day trade? Swing Trade? 2 point target? 10 point target trade? Those answers completely change what I think of that market. What's happening on a big timeframe certainly does influence the smaller ones but not in total -- just because a daily chart is bullish doesn't mean I won't short on a quick daytrade and vice versa. Understanding the context and objective of your trade is a key point as stated nicely in the posts above.

Funny on the Euro comment. Next stop parity with the dollar? I'm with you on the "boring" aspect. I had to come to some terms with myself and realize I'm not a good trader of anything that takes a while to move or develop. To impatient so I tried to start moving to markets that move and move quickly. They can be more difficult to trade but I had to finally relent and realize that if I wasn't trading a market with fast movement, I'd end up forcing a slower market to trade more often. Usually not a good idea -- in order to just generate some excitement. I'm sure my broker appreciated the effort in the form of more commissions but it wasn't good to the bottom-line.

JLJ - maybe someone can weigh in on some suggestions for places to put your stop. I realize on entry you seem to have a reasonably good idea of when you are entering -- other than sometimes being a bit unsure of whether it's totally ideal (then missing the move) -- it does sound like your stop in particular is very subjective. There may be better suggestions but you could consider something like an ATR stop (Average True Range) -- so some multiplier of the ATR of the period of the charts you're watching. Others on here might be much more adept using Fibonacci retracements -- there might very well be a way you could use one of these to identify stops of some safety but that would allow you to move to more of a rule-based exit which I think would help you. Perhaps others can weigh in.

Thanks for that update on what is happening over TS. Let's just hope this gets resolved. I know they put out a new version (8.8?) just recently - not sure if anything with that addresses this. I tend to avoid going to their newest release usually weeks or even months later since usually the additional features I don't need and I like to know it's stable before moving.

Very valid points. I know when I started trading too many years ago compared to now I'm trading totally different things. We are reliant on volatility holding up in our chosen market. This exercise though helps me realize that only a few markets really rise to the surface and maintain their trade-ability over the long haul. Right now is a good example, the index futures were kinda dead for many months but lately have been great to trade -- but they tend to fall back to sleep so you have to be nimble with them. I think Dax Futures is an index that stretches further in both directions than the US index futures so that would be a reason I'd choose it if I had to go with an equity index. If I could control the slippage, NG might not be a bad one either.

I definitely think you're all onto something here. And, I think most beginner traders would read this and be a bit shocked...."embrace your losers?" No way, it's all about winning. But experienced traders realize that the old mantra from George Soros rings true, it doesn't matter how often you're right or wrong, it matters how much you make when you're right, and how much you lose when you're wrong. I like the idea of welcoming your losers. Embracing them. Trying to stay balance as possible. Don't get too high on winners, and try not to get low on losers. Even keel. It is very, very difficult to do but the best traders find a way to stay neutral on their trades. I personally like to remind myself when I'm derailing on this to remember that each losing trade puts me that much closer to my next series of winners. And, I'll go back over my spreadsheet of trades and remind myself how many times I did hit a losing streak but look what happened after. Always good things. That helps me talk myself back off the cliff....

What you all need is someone to step up and say they will lead the charge on this. What we could do is say have a meeting time/day in the TL Chat where the topic is going to be Beginner Trader -- maybe it meets weekly or more? Perhaps an hour or so. If someone wants to try and get this organized feel free to private message me. I'll make sure it gets distributed in our weekly email we send out to everyone as well as posted on site. Thanks.

Right, that's the key - for example if you looked at trading the index futures now they're moving amazing in the last few weeks, but it was several months before that of dull trade. They tend to ebb and flow a lot and volatility doesn't stay high all the time like it used to. Whereas CL has remained fairly steadily crazy for a long stretch of time. If I had to choose in forex I would go with the GBPUSD over the EURUSD -- it simply has higher volatility more consistently. To me that's preferred for forex.

Please just some help on the above - this is a great thread - very fascinating posts from several of you. However, as I read it there seems to be a tone of some personal cutdowns. If possible, please feel free to critique and debate the theories of course and ideas, but let's try to keep it on a different level and not take it personal if you do not agree. Keeps it more constructive and enjoyable for everyone that way. Thanks for the understanding.