Ingot54

Just a quick post with a Roy Orbison double. Right until his untimely passing he retained his unique vocal ability, no better illustrated than in these two classic songs: "It's Over" [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMc263klrMQ]YouTube - Roy Orbison - It's Over[/ame] and "Crying" [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh7JgDPUa4M]YouTube - Roy Orbison - Crying[/ame]

Quite a lot of assumptions there, Rande - "easy money ... easy life ... success ... the good life ... " My own reasons for becoming a trader are very far removed from that. Life's circumstances and my own altruism led me to the financial wilderness - never bankrupt, but living hand-to-mouth basically. I discovered that at the age of 54 I had no hope of retiring from salaried work. I realised I needed to find something that would ease the transition from my profession to a self-funded retirement, as I would one day be naturally unable to continue with my current salaried situation. I knew before I got too far into this, that it would take time ... maybe three years I thought, but it has taken me until now to get it together ... 7 years later! I am a slow learner, it seems, but once I do learn, I have it for life! Just another perspective - a trader not after the "easy life" or decadence ... but involved intentionally as a means to self-fund some kind of life after being unable to participate any longer in mainstream employment.

I've registered my a/c and joined. Bring it on!

For all the true believers out there, there is always more CCR available! Some of their classic early stuff still commands good airplay. Not too many bands still endure to this extent. Today we have "I wrote a song for Everyone" and "Someday Never Comes." But really it wouldn't matter which of their songs are put up - it can't be bad ... right? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2-fqdCKCMA]YouTube - Creedence Clearwater Revival: Wrote A song for everyone[/ame] . [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwNuQulK6N0]YouTube - Creedence Clearwater Revival: Someday Never Comes[/ame]

That is a story of persistence, Mysticforex, and your mention of Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" reminded me of another of the analogies in persistence from the book: A Fifty-Cent Lesson in Persistence". That story is so memorable, that anyone who has read the book would instantly recall exactly the story I am about to relate, verbatum. Shortly after MR. Darby received his degree from the "University of Hard Knocks," and had decided to profit by his experience in the gold mining business, he had the good fortune to be present on an occasion that proved to him that "No" does not necessarily mean "No." One afternoon he was helping his uncle grind wheat in an old fashioned mill. The uncle operated a large farm on which a number of colored sharecrop farmers lived. Quietly, the door was opened, and a small colored child, the daughter of a tenant, walked in and took her place by the door. The uncle looked up, saw the child, and barked at her roughly, "What do you want?" Meekly the child replied, "My mammy say send her fifty cents." "I'll not do it," the uncle retorted, "Now you run on home." "Yas sah," the child replied. But she did not move. The uncle went ahead with his work, so busily engaged that he did not pay enough attention to the child to observe that she did not leave. When he looked up and saw her still standing there, he yelled at her, "I told you to go on home! Now go, or I'll take a switch to you." The little girl said "yas sah," but she did not budge an inch. The uncle dropped a sack of grain he was about to pour into the mill hopper, picked up a barrel stave, and started toward the child with an expression on his face that indicated trouble. Darby held his breath. He was certain he was about to witness a murder. He knew his uncle had a fierce temper. He knew that colored children were not supposed to defy white people in that part of the country. When the uncle reached the spot where the child was standing, she quickly stepped forward one step, looked up into his eyes and screamed at the top of her shrill voice, "MY MAMMY'S GOTTA HAVE THAT FIFTY CENTS!" The uncle stopped, looked at her for a minute, then slowly laid the barrel stave on the floor, put his hand in his pocket, took out half a dollar, and gave it to her. The child took the money and slowly backed toward the door, never taking her eyes off the man whom she had just conquered. After she had gone, the uncle sat down on a box and looked out the window into space for more than ten minutes. He was pondering, with awe, over the whipping he had just taken. Mr. Darby, too, was doing some thinking. That was the first time in all his experience that he had seen a colored child deliberately master an adult white person. How did she do it? What happened to his uncle that caused him to lose his fierceness and become as docile as a lamb? What strange power did this child use that made her master over her superior? These and other similar questions flashed into Darby's mind, but he did not find the answer until years later, when he told me the story. I invite you all to download the book - Google it - it is free now, having been released from copyright. In the book you will find that answer. Thanks, Mysticforex for prompting the memory of the story. That story follows on from your Napoleon Hill Mentor analogy with Rob Booker, but from a completely different direction. Yet the result of both persistent actions, was success for the objective.

Good morning all - this week I felt another delicious serving of "country" would put us in touch with our inner pathos ... or turn us off for good! But to ease your pain ... or heighten your delight - I have chosen Shania Twain - a Canadian country music icon - to make you choose! First-up we are treated to some of the finest country music accompaniment through the soulful twang of Willie Nelson's guitar, as he supports Shania singing "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain". I probably won't get away with posting any more country stuff here, so will duck for cover after this second number. This time it is Shania Twain singing "Coat of Many Colors" far better than Dolly Parton ever did, though that is debatable because the original vintage Dolly is always going to have its unique character indelibly written in Country Music Halls of Fame. Dolly does a cameo appearance (from the stalls) in this second number! Enjoy! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6wBxQVBozI]YouTube - Willie Nelson and Shania Twain, Blue eyes crying in the rain[/ame] . [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo3oRuBYE6A&feature=related]YouTube - Shania Twain - Coat Of Many Colors (Lyric)[/ame]

There are always two ways to look at things:

My wife is a great person - she takes an active interest in my trading,and today I'd like to honor her by posting a song she recommended to me, by that great comedian, Nick Arandes. Nick is probably better known in the US for his stand-up comedy. Until today I had not heard of him or his comedy - never mind that he has a great voice. There is much more to him than comedy, as we shall shortly see. This song will touch you. The guy sings with the the same vigor with which he lives his life ... to the max. Today it was a toss-up between this song, or "Here I am" - another worthy contender for space here. I encourage you to Google that number. Today we are blessed with "I Believe in You" ... for your listening pleasure. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-YXDNydjVk]YouTube - I Believe In You![/ame]

Just 'cos it's Sunday, let's stretch it a little further ... This one I have renamed: "Spot the Trader!" [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR-kdDPp2NE]YouTube - The Fireballs - Bottle of Wine (1967).wmv[/ame]

This would be the first song by a group that my kids like, that I also found palatable! Well I tell a lie ... the first was Black Betty by Spiderbait! And the version I chose for this post is a little more entertaining than staring at the dust-jacket for 3:27! So I guess I can toss them both on the board. Can't give you that much history about either group - I wasn't really interested enough to check 'em out on wiki-p! Seriously though ... I found they just grew on me. Was our music of the 60's and 70's all that much different? Nope! Enjoy. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB0DU4DoPP4]YouTube - Nickelback - Photograph[/ame] . [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWoowg1Slo0&feature=watch_response]YouTube - Blues Brothers Spiderbait Black Betty[/ame]

Consider your arm twisted - this is beginning to sound like something I am familiar with, and an Ambulance is not going to be of any use!

Totally agree with you PiptopiaX, CrypticTrader and GlassOnion :- Rob Booker comes across as a decent human being who is intent on seeing traders master their game. I would like to hear more from this man. It is a rare thing to have a trader expose their losses to public scrutiny as openly as their wins. Having Rob as a guest was a coup for TL - thank you Mysticforex and Admin for that very useful Webinar. I am going to go over it again yet - I found a few points worth drumming in, from Rob's comments, and his discussions with Chris and James. I have yet to get down and dirty with this wallaby indicator, but will do that this week, time permitting.

I was 15 years old when this movie was released, and deeply "in love" with my first serious girlfriend - a relationship that lasted 7 years! Even today I admit to heavy feelings of loss and homesickness when I hear this song - it is hard-wired in there, to those fragile and "eternal" feelings. I hope you will indulge me as I present "Lara's Theme" - the theme-song from "Dr Zhivago." You can Google the Ray Conniff Singers version for a lyrical version, which includes clips from the film. Better still, this is a "must see" movie, and I suggest getting the DVD/VCR if you can, and experience it live. It may or may not be true that first love is the best love, but it seems possible to experience love in many forms, and if you have it, then cherish it. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXAa0XaS6bs&feature=related]YouTube - Somewhere my love[/ame]

Another "thought" for today: I wonder if the application of "Psychology" to trading actually works? Using this as a barometer ... I would have to say: NO!" [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iSwEB_w394]YouTube - Brain training doesn't boost brain power, work suggests... - Bang Goes the Theory - BBC One[/ame] You can also get an extended version of this research by Googling: Adam Rutherford Brain-training games don't work

Ahimsa - this is what the market does to those who do not use stop loss orders. Like the mouse, we may see nothing but "cheese". Sometimes we may get away with just scalping the pips, but eventually, the market might punish those who trade without stops. There may be a few mice on this site who will have a strong case against using stops too - I have no problem with that - they are responsible for their own cheese. But where money is concerned, the market only has to take ours once - observe what happened with the broom in the video clip - and we lose. Here is a chart from yesterday ... nearly 12 hrs ago now. You can see that the GBPUSD had been in a nice uptrend, and it is likely many traders were long. A retrace occurred followed by another rally, to continue the uptrend, at which stage traders might have entered to take advantage of the pullback in the uptrend. The pair then gapped down 40 pips. The GBPCHF also gapped down 30 pips ... to 55 pips ... on the 1Min chart at that time. This happened 15 minutes AFTER the news announcement - an adverse GBP news release - so no one would have been expecting anything unusual. This was the second high-impact news for the GBP in that 90-min period, and the first ... Halifax HPI m/m ... was not good either, though not fully unexpected. In the next 30 minutes the market fell a further 34 pips. There would have been opportunity to close longs in that time, had traders been watching closely, but the 1M chart says they were burnt!. The entire move top-to-bottom was 97 pips, and it is possible traders might have been caught with about 75 pips loss of that move down, depending on if they entered long earlier, and where they were able to grab an exit. Certainly by the time traders saw the gap and closed the position, the loss might have been 60 pips. See the 1M chart - it was ruthless. Rapid price movements are not unusual around news release times - but this one is unusual in that it occurred well after the release, when the market was ostensibly settling down again. That would have been a nasty situation for many traders, I suspect. Here ends my explanation ... long version. Short version: Yes, I always use Stop Loss orders.

What happened at the bottom of the page??? This mouse failed to use a Stop Loss! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm_vbV9Wq_E]YouTube - a mouse singing 'i believe in miracles'[/ame]

This is another bush ballad from Slim Dusty, but with a bit of humour! Thankfully for those interested, this one is only 3 1/2 minutes long. I have a couple more in a similar style, but will refrain from posting them out of respect for the wider audience. If you want to hear more of this type of ballad, just Google: "Slim Dusty youtube." Do you have ballads in your country that speak of another side to your culture? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRVDS36eOMk]YouTube - Slim Dusty - The Drover's Cook Live[/ame]

Last week I mentioned introducing you to a couple of Australian ballads. Perhaps the best-known of our Australian Country Music balladeers, would be Slim Dusty. He is certainly my favourite - we used to milk cows in the late 1950's and early 1960's while listening to some of his early music. Over time his "sound" evolved and improved, culminating in an era where this song/ballad - a poem originally written in the 1890's, by AB Patterson (who also wrote "Waltzing Matilda") - spawned a movie by the same name: "The Man from Snowy River" I apologise that this "Song of the Day" will not appeal to everyone, nor may it be understood by those unfamiliar with Australia's bush-lore. The language used by Banjo Patterson in penning this poem was distinct to Australia's early grazing settlers, and though still in use today by members of my generation, would hardly be understood by even Australian younger people. Sadly we move on, and so much of our rich heritage is lost. This song encapsulates some of it. The Snowy River actually refers to part of Victoria's "High Country" - rich grazing country, but rugged and barely accessible to any but the most skilled horsemen. The great Snowy River forms a part of Victoria's Hydro-Electric Power scheme - built to take advantage of the annual snow melt. A well-bred and very valuable colt had escaped and joined the wild bush-horses, or brumby herds in the area, and the song is the story of how they got him back. The hero was a little-known horseman who was barely allowed to ride with the searchers, except for the intervention of "Clancy of the Overflow" who vouched for him - another great Australian icon ... for another day perhaps - but Google will help you out with both the history of this song/movie, and Clancy of the Overflow too. The hero of the song is forever-after known as "The Man from Snowy River." The singer - Slim Dusty - had a very long and successful singing career in this country, and had released more than 100 Albums. Throughout his career, he brought his music to Australian country towns in the bush - towns which might never have received a thought by other popular country singers. He was loved by all, and respected by those who didn't have an ear (or a heart) for his music genre. He passed away in September 2003. A humble man who loved his music and his people and his heritage. This was perhaps his longest song. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW7rgnNqgjE]YouTube - Slim Dusty - The Man From Snowy River[/ame]

Thanks Chris Will set up tomorrow and have a play with their platform. Hitting the sack here now - 10+ pips on AUDUSD ... but closed too soon!

OK This does not seem to be going to work by setting a starting date. Can we instead begin setting up our demo trading accounts with OANDA, and proceed in a less structured way? I am thinking that if we all do this, then it would be far easier to run a comp a bit later when more people are already following the progress of the beginners. Initially is need not be formal ... that is, we don't have to have a starting date as such. People can just report their progressive wins/losses. I don't have a problem with people over/under-reporting wins/losses - cheating doesn't help their ability to trade. But we have to begin somewhere or this will never happen. QUESTION: Do we need to be registered as a sub /ac under Mysticforex (with OANDA) in order for the comp to be formalised? This is all that is holding me back from setting up a demo a/c - the need to be linked to an "umpire" a/c. If not, then I will go ahead and set-up my a/c this week. So far we have: Mysticforex Ingot54 Pipsqueak GlassOnion StevenSJC Forexnetworth Others interested in joining should be able to simply register with OANDA, following confirmation from Mysticforex. Eventually we will have a large following here if we can simply begin.

It's a start, but hopefully it will have an eraser function to delete much of my communication to the Australian Taxation Office! I mean, try to explain that you were only pulling out your hair with two fingers, when you get the "Please explain!" letter! The possibilities are endless ... and possibly dangerous!

Nice music from nice people. My music is fairly simple, and will always contain either nice rhythm, great lyrics, pathos and of course, melody. Occasionally I am drawn to simple ballads - and I'll post an example or two in this coming week. Many of you have not heard an Australian Ballad before, and so let's try to fill the week with ballads from our own countries, if you have them. Right now though, to round out the week, I'd like to throw in this little up-beat number from the George Baker Selection. I guess I am pretty well locked in to my youthful years with some of this stuff - but just click through if it is not to your taste. Our mates over at Wikipedia had this to say about George Baker Selection: George Baker (born Johannes Bouwens, 8 December 1944, Hoorn, North Holland) is a Dutch singer and songwriter best known for his global hit Paloma Blanca. In 1967, Bouwens joined the band Soul Invention, which later changed its name to "George Baker Selection." Their first album, Little Green Bag (1970), gave them their first hit. Their debut single, "Little Green Bag" reached the #16 position on the Cash Box magazine chart and #21 in the Billboard Top 100 in the United States. This disc sold over one million copies globally, and received a gold disc. By 1972 the band had sold over 5 million records. Their fifth album Paloma Blanca was released in 1975, and the single "Paloma Blanca" reached #1 in the charts in several countries. In 1978 the George Baker Selection split up because "the pressure had become too much." The band has sold over 20 million records worldwide. George Baker formed a new George Baker Selection in 1985, which stayed together until 1989. The band has released twelve albums and several compilation albums. Hope this brings back memories - pleasant ones! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R36CixkIaIc]YouTube - George Baker Selection Una Paloma Blanca[/ame]

You can add my name to that list - a member since 2009!

I don't think any artist will ever surpass the Led Zep version of Stairway... these guys are masters - and were around when I was still in bell-bottoms! Classic Zeppelin! You have truly dug up a master song there Certenotti .... thanks again. I mentioned "Vincent" in my last post ... It was sung By Don McLean. I don't know why I thought Gilbert O'Sullivan had released a version of it. But that pre-occupation blinded me to the idea that perhaps the original came from another artist. Trading can be like that - we form a bias, and become oblivious to other possibilities! The song was written as a tribute to the master painter Vincent van Gogh, by Don McLean. (Reference: Wikipedia) It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. The song also describes different paintings done by the artist. McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of the artist. The following year, the song became the number one hit in the U.K. and No. 12 in the U.S. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM]YouTube - Vincent (Starry Starry Night) Don McLean[/ame]

Thanks Steve - had quite a lot to do away from trading these past couple of weeks, so I was surprised to get back and see that the Euro has rallied again. Given that the shorts look too wobbly, where does that leave us with supply and demand at the moment? I would be looking to cover shorts - or would have done already - much earlier than the current price. How long do you hold onto the short? It doesn't look like the supply/demand strategy went according to plan this time. Did I miss another signal? Thanks Ingot.