RealDemo

Europe is a very big place and not all of us are eating mud, well not yet anyway One of the major effects of all this debt is the kind of unemployment figures you find in countries like Spain with 23%, it's a real cancer in their society and the trend is up. If Greece defaults I believe the greatest pain will be felt by the Greeks themselves.

....yes, the statistics are not in my favour, and as you say the regaining of lost ground is a steep hill to climb. I'm surprised that the difference between demo and real is so large, maybe it's just me. I'm really not playing big, I mean 2 grand is really laughable. :haha: I hope to learn from the mistakes I make..... I've got nearly an A4 side of notes from this months trading to make sure that I remember all of them (mistakes) and then very consciously try to force a change of habit. One example, and it's one of the larger problems for me is hesitation. Even with all parameter gauges reading 'good' I can still hover in limbo.

So the end of January comes around and the scores on the doors are -8.5% on the account. Personally a difficult start to the year but not completely unexpected considering my level of skill. Certainly I have a much better idea of what taking monetary risk really feels like. I've had very little exposure to gambling in my life so putting money behind a conviction is a pretty new experience. The theory, which is simple enough, has been difficult to execute consistently, and it's been shocking just how far I can stray in this respect. Recognising certain things, whatever that may be, patterns, price action etc. in real time and acting on that information is where I need to focus. The deceptive nature of how price action forms is intriguing, and it's understandable that people look for confirmation all the time. Here's to better results in February.

Yes it certainly demands attention. It's probably one of the most demanding things I've ever attempted. I hadn't a clue at the beginning as to the enormity of the task involved in trading these markets. The premise is pure sparkling simplicity....... the trading of that premise is often the exemplification of hell. I play chess, and I equate trading to being like playing chess. Certainly at the start we trade like our first games of chess. We've understood, and just about memorised how the different pieces move, but beyond that we have some vague notion about protecting the king or something and the rest is totally stumbling in the dark. An experienced chess player has a totally different perspective of the game, as do experienced professional traders. I believe if we persist and give it our utmost attention we can become experienced, and we can consistently extract money from this game. I am aware however that I may be chasing a mirage. I feel sometimes that I'm just getting the pieces out of the box..... All the best.

......good idea, you might want to buy yourself a dictionary while you're at it.

No don't do that, I prefer you all obscure and mystical like.......

Took this short as price raced into the pivot. A support turned resistance level. To be honest this is late in the day for me..... uumming and aarring about what to do, (I know that's not good) also got a eurjpy short trade struggling to survive as well.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkmEZs_Kcms&feature=related]green day - american idiot HD - YouTube[/ame]

Exactly, and this is the dilemma of maxing out your winners. How much are you willing to potentially give back? and does your testing/observations give you probabilities that favour doing one over the other? This also might vary between markets. It may be possible with multiple lots to create a strategy that trades intraday but leaves a percentage of the trade on to build a much more long term view trade in trending price. Let this percentage run as far as you can or at least have another target area in mind. You may find this provides no advantages at all, or you may find it's to difficult to implement for other reasons, but all this you'll have to find out, as you say, by yourself. Interesting way your going about this, if you don't mind me asking what made you choose Pivots?

Last weeks COT report showing a lot of commercial buying, I hope they continue, I've got a gap trade that I'd like to add to. USDCHF dropping perfectly out of Asia's tight little range...... and what a lovely little range that is.

Speaking as one who has floundered around in the pool of 'no direction' for some time, my advice would be to start to organise. Start defining 'stuff' like 'I want to be a trader'. Trade what? and when? get a plan of attack together. Traders spend their time coming up with plans of attack. The 'how?' comes later and is really a product of getting organised. There are a million and one 'hows' out there but you only need one. Technical/fundamental it needs to be one that you know inside out, applied to a market you know inside and out. Do not get side tracked from concentrating on one market at the start. Your skill levels are in the basement and it's a long way up. Study and apply your market ideas one at a time and keep notes. At the beginning we're on a search, and we're really in the woods looking for treasure. This is probably one of the most strange and interesting treasure hunts your ever likely to go on. Stick post-it notes on trees so you know where you've been........ all the best.

So this week my account hasn't moved because I haven't moved. Looking to get some positions on this week. Eur pulling back breaking out of it's bear channel, (not shown) Is this just pulling the rubber band back more so we can shoot off to 1.16? Here's some levels I'm looking at on the bullish side of things.

How much more specific can you get than a specific price? Your S/R level is your specific point, your pivot is specific, your 61.8 fib is specific, how can you be more specific? Do you mean specific?

DOJ shuts down Megaupload website in New Zealand.....without SOPA law. So after a very long time trying to convince it's citizens yet again that the world is a bad place and America needs more and more power to deal with it...... it does whatever it wants anyway! Shooting yourself in the foot while giving a big fat one finger salute to the world.

There is still a lot of elected support for this legislation across the states, here's an interesting map: Congressional Support/Opposition of SOPA Google have amassed a staggering 4.5 million signatures on their petition against this. "There’s no need to make American social networks, blogs and search engines censor the Internet or undermine the existing laws that have enabled the Web to thrive, creating millions of U.S. jobs," the petition reads. "Too much is at stake -– please vote NO on PIPA and SOPA." [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzqMoOk9NWc]SOPA and PIPA - YouTube[/ame]

Any Europeans who may be still left thinking......naaaa..... that's just those crazy americans, that sort of thing would never happen here. Think again. ACTA La Quadrature du Net | Internet & Libertés they are coming for the internet.

Two pieces of American legislation that, if passed, could change dramatically our internet freedoms, and not just in America. This, I believe, is very important stuff. It would effect everybody, and the questions it poses are far reaching. This is far more than a bill to protect copyright. It is a power grab for more control and censorship generated by fear. Here is a link to a run down of the bill in detail...... and the devil is in the detail: http://mashable.com/2012/01/17/sopa-dangerous-opinion/ Here is the White House view: https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/veto-sopa-bill-and-any-other-future-bills-threaten-diminish-free-flow-information/g3W1BscR?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

No trades yesterday or today. This choppyness is a killer for me so I'm going to sit on my hands and wait for better opportunities.

.....oh now you want to get back to the topic, after having a wander round wills mothers you're accusing me of going off subject? :crap: You're not willing to listen, you're not willing to compromise, you're not willing to invest anything other than feeble diatribes, so I'll leave you with this, I'm done. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUd8XA-5HEk]Laurie Santos - YouTube[/ame]

You'll be glad to know I've analysed you too MB. I've diagnosed you as having something called the "God Complex", don't panic we're not off down that bottomless pit, it's got nothing to do with religion, well not in your case anyway. It's pretty common, I have bouts of it myself. It's all about the persons inability to accept that they may be wrong. The complexity of most things, let alone the human brain, is beyond the limits of understanding of your average Joe, that's me, that's you, and that's Rande, but still the hubris flows like wine. The rather sad side effect of this unacceptability is that the person becomes completely blind to their ill considered position, the reality of the situation as seen by most onlookers has passed them by, and rather like the drunk uncle at a wedding, they will inevitably make a complete tit of themselves as everybody shuffles uncomfortably away. ....of course I may be wrong

This triple A thing has put the boot in. It's like every time the sun breaks through a chink in the clouds over Europe a wind whips up and blows in more cloud. Is this year destined to be a 2011 'take 2'?

So going into week 3 my account is down 2%. I've learnt a lot, the biggest problem I think is my severe lack of patients, I'm going to have to get over this if I'm going to have any hope of progressing. I know, if, buts and maybe's don't belong in the real world..... but..... if I had just shorted EURUSD at the start and not looked at my computer until today..... I'd be up around 300pips :crap: ...back to the real world.... :missy:

Welcome, look forward to reading more about your trading.

Wow! Rande you still yanking at them blinkers? ... recently I saw an article about a 'health and safety' issue concerning old Spitfire pilots....it would have you breathing flames mitzy, I can't post the link for fear it may induce an aneurysm. I grew up in the seventies too, and apart from some quite awesome musical talent knocking around.....oh and the motorways were empty...... it was pretty s#it. There's the US kicking Vietnamese and Cambodian ass, Watergate, then the Arabs and Jews had a war :doh: yeah, a real one not just blowing raspberries. The IRA was blowing up stuff, the cold war, the cod war, two Germanys, inflation hitting a mighty 24%, stagflation! 3 day weeks, oil crisis, and no TV after 10:30pm..... The end of that decade culminated in countrywide industrial action that had rubbish piled up to the second floor and grave diggers not digging graves. ...ahhh happy days :rofl: (I apologise for any facts that may have spoiled this post)

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