Reading Charts in Real Time

[todds 10]

1/2 off

2nd half to BE

Final target looking for area of last 4th wave and 38% retrace of down move.

I should note that all trades today have been in sim. Just trying to get the hang of this thing!

[todds 10]

Not sure what happened here. I could have sworn the stop on the final 1/2 was at my entry but somehow I got stopped out at the first profit target level. I have had some funny things happen with this broker.

 

Total gain on trade: 0.63R sim

[todds 10]

Cory, I am somewhat new to Forex. I have been trading futures for the past two years. The fills and spreads in futures are very tight and consistent. With forex I have gotten a lot of weird fills both with live trades and sim trades. The attached chart is an example. It was in sim so it may not reflect what would have actually happened. My stop was way down there. I am not sure if this is my broker or if it is the way forex is. I recall reading about this type of thing somewhere in this thread.

 

What has been your experience? Who is you broker and do you like them?

 

By the way, I have read through the entire thread and followed your progress. Your entries have gotten very good over time. Feel free to critique my trades anytime. It would be an honor!

[jfw215 11]

Looks like it went the other way. I actually managed to catch some of the move, albeit on the EUR/USD...I entered way late, but I jumped into the impulsive move (with a tight stop) and still managed to eke out about 1R...had I entered the trade at what should have been my entry, it would have resulted in about +2.3R...

 

(EDIT: I hesitated to post an after-the-fact trade, but I decided to anyway since it was basically an extension of the potential trade from the previous post. )

 

Hi Cory,

 

Good long there.. that move caught me off guard.. my short was stopped where you entered the long. btw are you cash now?

 

Cheers

 

JW

[Cory2679 11]

Cory, I am somewhat new to Forex. I have been trading futures for the past two years. The fills and spreads in futures are very tight and consistent. With forex I have gotten a lot of weird fills both with live trades and sim trades. The attached chart is an example. It was in sim so it may not reflect what would have actually happened. My stop was way down there. I am not sure if this is my broker or if it is the way forex is. I recall reading about this type of thing somewhere in this thread.

 

What has been your experience? Who is you broker and do you like them?

 

By the way, I have read through the entire thread and followed your progress. Your entries have gotten very good over time. Feel free to critique my trades anytime. It would be an honor!

 

Hi todds,

 

I much prefer currency futures to spot fx...I hope to get back to futures someday. But, for now, to trade the small size I prefer, I'm stuck with forex dealers.

 

Make sure you know what is being plotted on the chart...the bid price, ask price, average of the two, etc. That's important when considering where to put your orders. If, for example, it's simply plotting the bid (which would be my guess), when you place orders above where price currently is, you'll need to take the bid price and add the spread +1 tick (or something along those lines).

 

Make sure you're aware of how your broker handles news and spread spikes. Oanda, for example, will spike the spread insanely (10-20 pips on major pairs!) for several moments during relatively insignificant news reports throughout the day.

 

If you genuinely believe that your broker is doing something fishy, you can always switch.

 

I'm currently with FXCM Micro. They're not necessarily the best (they could be, who knows), but I made the decision a little while back to quit broker-hopping and just focus on trading...it was a distraction. FXCM Micro is okay...the spreads used to be good but now they're not that great. They used to offer contingent OCO orders, but now they don't. At any rate, relative to other brokers, I don't have any major complaints. I've never experienced anything fishy either live or demo...and the demo has become more realistic in recent months now that it allows slippage (that's another thing...live or demo, one used to get virtually no slippage with FXCM Micro...no longer the case). If you want a demo account, you have to get a standard FXCM demo...FXCM Micro no longer has a demo (it's the same thing though, just a bigger balance and lot size). Typing all this makes me really miss the old FXCM Micro. haha. You don't know what you have until it's gone!

 

If I ever work up to a little size, I'd like to move to Interactive Brokers ECN forex...

 

Thanks for the compliment, but you give me too much credit...really. I have some good streaks but I usually get derailed. haha. I'm lacking real consistency. I've got issues. That being the case, I really don't feel comfortable critiquing anyone else's trades...I fear I could do more harm than good.

 

I'm hoping to increase my posting here over the next couple weeks...no guarantee, though.

 

Cory

[Cory2679 11]

Hi Cory,

 

Good long there.. that move caught me off guard.. my short was stopped where you entered the long. btw are you cash now?

 

Cheers

 

JW

 

If what you're asking is if that trade was taken with a live account with real money, no, it was not...that was on a demo account. haha...I wish I was trading live with that kind of size...someday...hopefully...

[todds 10]

Hi todds,

 

I much prefer currency futures to spot fx...I hope to get back to futures someday. But, for now, to trade the small size I prefer, I'm stuck with forex dealers.

 

Make sure you know what is being plotted on the chart...the bid price, ask price, average of the two, etc. That's important when considering where to put your orders. If, for example, it's simply plotting the bid (which would be my guess), when you place orders above where price currently is, you'll need to take the bid price and add the spread +1 tick (or something along those lines).

 

Make sure you're aware of how your broker handles news and spread spikes. Oanda, for example, will spike the spread insanely (10-20 pips on major pairs!) for several moments during relatively insignificant news reports throughout the day.

 

If you genuinely believe that your broker is doing something fishy, you can always switch.

 

I'm currently with FXCM Micro. They're not necessarily the best (they could be, who knows), but I made the decision a little while back to quit broker-hopping and just focus on trading...it was a distraction. FXCM Micro is okay...the spreads used to be good but now they're not that great. They used to offer contingent OCO orders, but now they don't. At any rate, relative to other brokers, I don't have any major complaints. I've never experienced anything fishy either live or demo...and the demo has become more realistic in recent months now that it allows slippage (that's another thing...live or demo, one used to get virtually no slippage with FXCM Micro...no longer the case). If you want a demo account, you have to get a standard FXCM demo...FXCM Micro no longer has a demo (it's the same thing though, just a bigger balance and lot size). Typing all this makes me really miss the old FXCM Micro. haha. You don't know what you have until it's gone!

 

If I ever work up to a little size, I'd like to move to Interactive Brokers ECN forex...

 

Thanks for the compliment, but you give me too much credit...really. I have some good streaks but I usually get derailed. haha. I'm lacking real consistency. I've got issues. That being the case, I really don't feel comfortable critiquing anyone else's trades...I fear I could do more harm than good.

 

I'm hoping to increase my posting here over the next couple weeks...no guarantee, though.

 

Cory

 

Cory, thanks for taking the time to respond. I am starting to get how this thing works. I don't think my broker is doing anything funny, and they are an ECN, it's just a matter of getting used to how forex works. It's a little different than futures. Your suggestions have helped.

 

Reading through all 500+ pages of the thread was interesting because I was able to see how everything progressed. People come and go. You should look back on your early posts and compare to now. Your trades now look very much like those that Thales would take. I think it is just a matter of being extremely picky about which trades you take and which you pass on. I am learning that once one gets the general concepts about the entries, being ultra picky and only taking the ones that scream to be taken is the difference. The charts I posted recently have not been ultra picky but I just wanted to get something on the board. I am still working on this part of trading.

 

I hope this thread picks up again with the veterans. I was disappointed to see that it had slowed down after I got caught up, but certainly understand that people need a break. I do very much appreciate what Thales and everyone have contributed. They really could charge for this stuff. It has given me a whole new perspective on trading and led to other discoveries about price action.

 

Happy trading

 

Todd

[jfw215 11]

If what you're asking is if that trade was taken with a live account with real money, no, it was not...that was on a demo account. haha...I wish I was trading live with that kind of size...someday...hopefully...

 

keeping that kind of performance up you will soon enough!

 

cheers

 

JW

[Cory2679 11]

Potential EUR/USD short...

 

UPDATE: Walked away for a moment and came back to this...break-even effort...

Edited April 4, 2011 by Cory2679

[Cory2679 11]

I'm currently with FXCM Micro...They used to offer contingent OCO orders, but now they don't...

 

Contingent OCO orders (entry orders with a profit target and stop-loss attached) are back with FXCM! Yay!!

 

Now if only they could also go back to the old micro spreads...

[todds 10]

Here's a short that looks interesting in GBP/USD. I am just watching this one but I like the big down move preceding the correction. I would have preferred to see the shooting star candle in the blue circle nearer the top of the correction.

[Cory2679 11]

Here's a short that looks interesting in GBP/USD. I am just watching this one but I like the big down move preceding the correction. I would have preferred to see the shooting star candle in the blue circle nearer the top of the correction.

 

Here's another look at a short on the GBP/USD (larger degree of swing).

 

However, I wouldn't be opposed to a potential long in this area either...looking at the 4H chart, I can see where my "entry" could also serve as support in a resumption of the uptrend...

[todds 10]

Here's a short that looks interesting in GBP/USD. I am just watching this one but I like the big down move preceding the correction. I would have preferred to see the shooting star candle in the blue circle nearer the top of the correction.

 

Even though I didn't take it it's nice to know they work sometimes. 1st PT, stop at BE

[todds 10]

I hope this one works because I am already in at lower levels on a daily time frame. I'll be really watching what happens at that light blue line though.

[Cory2679 11]

Here's another look at a short on the GBP/USD (larger degree of swing).

 

However, I wouldn't be opposed to a potential long in this area either...looking at the 4H chart, I can see where my "entry" could also serve as support in a resumption of the uptrend...

 

Indeed! A nimble trader should have been able to catch that long at the support...

[todds 10]

Indeed! A nimble trader should have been able to catch that long at the support...

 

Yes, I have been kicking myself all morning for missing that one!

[todds 10]

I like the story behind this one:

 

5 waves completed

Bouncing off of a Support zone

 

Ultimate target is retracement back to previous 4th and 50% fib area

[todds 10]

I like the story behind this one:

 

5 waves completed

Bouncing off of a Support zone

 

Ultimate target is retracement back to previous 4th and 50% fib area

 

Good story, unhappy ending. I bailed at -0.5R when the price action signaled a reversal on lower time frames. It still might work but I am taking Thales' cue to get out with minor losses when price doesn't behave as expected. Next!

[todds 10]

I hope this one works because I am already in at lower levels on a daily time frame. I'll be really watching what happens at that light blue line though.

 

stop to BE. It's a slow mover but what you might expect for a retracement. Getting 1st PT would be nice.

[todds 10]

stop to BE. It's a slow mover but what you might expect for a retracement. Getting 1st PT would be nice.

 

The 2nd PT is probably a little ambitious. It will likely need a big retracement before it gets there and I don't want to go through that. Took 1st PT and will trail stop for as long as she'll let me.

[todds 10]

The 2nd PT is probably a little ambitious. It will likely need a big retracement before it gets there and I don't want to go through that. Took 1st PT and will trail stop for as long as she'll let me.

 

It never made it to 2nd target but the trade was good for +0.86R nonetheless.

[Mysticforex 13]

Here is something I will be following with great interest today. GBP/JPY is extended well beyond 1 std Deviation from the 800 SMA

I will short on a candle close below the TL on the 15 Min TF. The TP is over 400 pips away, SL is 14000 + spread... Nice R/R.

Here's the chart:

[todds 10]

here's a short I'm looking at on NZD/USD.

 

Update: 1st profit taken move stop for free trade

 

Update: wow, that wasn't very nice. I didn't expect it to retrace that whole down bar. Pretty much a BE trade.

Edited April 7, 2011 by todds
update

[Mysticforex 13]

Todds,

 

Looks very inticing to me. what TP are you seeing?

 

I like the Weekly Pivot, as yet not hit, or , the 800 SMA about 12 pips above the weekly pivot. So far south you can't see either on the 15M chart.

What do you use for entry?

[todds 10]

Todds,

 

Looks very inticing to me. what TP are you seeing?

 

I like the Weekly Pivot, as yet not hit, or , the 800 SMA about 12 pips above the weekly pivot. So far south you can't see either on the 15M chart.

What do you use for entry?

 

Mystic, my entry is the blue line, stop is the red line and TP's are the green lines. I caught my first TP then it retraced the entire move on the next bar and stopped me out for a BE trade. See updated post above for the entire trade. Brutal!