Day Trading - Can I Make 10% a Month

[JIG]

Hi All,

This diary is just a place for me to record my trades, thoughts and feelings as I embark upon my own trading journey.

That I will be using is Divergence's Flag Trading system loed here - https://www.nigeriaforextrading.com/trading-system-and-egies/218-mans-super-simple-system.html

it's the first thread I have come across on day trading that actually makes sense to me. It's based largely on price action but uses a few indiors to help confirm an entrance or get you out in some scenarios.

I have back tested it on data from the beginning of the year and have the following results with the EU.

78 transactions
68 wins
10 loss
1 trade a day typical
22 trades per month average
87 strike rate

So as you can see it's promise. Now the key will be for me to trade it live and find out whether I could get similar results.

A few things to note, the results above are based on trading Asia and New York as described by the system founder but these aren't necessarily going to be my final session choices. I am based in Europe so will look to test this on the London Sessions as well as testing other currency pairs (GU and EJ).

About the name why I have put 10 percent per month is that's my goal initially, if I could do that consistently although not risking to much I will up my risk percentage. Additionally 10 percent each month is what I have calculated as being a necessary return to allow me give up my day job completely and trade full time based on the starting bank I am willing to risk when I loe consistency.

OK so if all of the house keeping is over with I will end this first post by saying I welcome comments and contribution, although in the event that you want system particulars I will declare now that I am not the specialist and you should consult Divergence and a number of the other senior members around the above mentioned thread.

Thanks for reading and happy trading.

[JIG]

Today was another fantastic day. However I got to learn how to strap a pair!

As with the London session provided me with all the relatively painless profit whilst the US sessions I tried to take among the 123 installations only to exit early for BE and then a few candles later watching the entire position go on hit my profit target. Amazing is not it how you can repeat the same mistake two days in a row, and I'd imagine I shall repeat it again and again as I progress through my journey.

Anyway I can see in the trades I have taken up to now that sticking together until my profit target or stop is hit will be my biggest obstacle. Don't get me wrong most of the trades I shut early did then go against me for a brief time period and likely would have hit my stop had I transferred it to BE, but the important thing is that they all would have gone to hit my full profit target.

Therefore my fictitious results could have been 4 trades 4 wins if I had stuck to the rules and just hung in there. I remove the 1 trade because I wouldn't have taken it in the first place if I had read the charts correctly. The main reason I have put my fictitious results is I think that it may be a fantastic contrast to appear back in months to come to have the ability to observe how my mental condition is impacting my trading decisions.

Should I Stuck to The Rules Trading Summary

Total Assets to Date: 4
Wins: 4
Partial Grow: 0
Break-even: 0
Loss: 0

Trading Overview

Total Trades to Date: 5
Wins: two
Partial Grow: 1
Break-even: 2
Loss: 0

[Mignighlbogom]

PipRiderFX,
Welcome to the reality of trading vrs backtesting. Whilst I advise backtesting as instrument to validate systems, it's useless if you do not trade that manner when moving live. In backtesting you'll always hit on your profit target or stop since you just click on the screen and the data appears.

In live trading you have to deal with the pips going around, and then comes emotions that you appear to haven't yet conquered as you are closing trades first, yet telling yourself that the ficticious results it had been 4 winners. Which brings me to my purpose.

Don't rate a system on it's win/loss%, that is completely irrellevant without your risk:benefit to provide you with your own expectancy. If traders understood this at the start of the journey, I am sure that many years of schooling would be reduced.

Good luck with your journal.

[JIG]

I completely agree with you. I am simply maintaining the two different sets of stats hopefully it will show me exactly what the difference would be if I'd stuck to the rules in contrast to my actual outcomes.

Additionally my r:r is usually 1:1, so anything that goes in my win column is 1:1 or better. That's why I included the partial win column to indie those transactions that I exited early and to get less than 1:1.

I hope that makes sense.

Thanks for your wishes:)

[jomgieg93]

Stop by just to wish you great luck.
Hope everything keeps going and things have been so much better. https://www.nigeriaforextrading.com/attachments/1527635444.png

Cheers!

[JIG]

OK so that limits another fantastic day and a fantastic week for me. I was battling with my demons and on one trade exited a little to early!

I started by taking an EU long trade on a combination of the 123 and flag trade. That went to the money but came back and took me outside at BE, I believe that was the ideal decision for this trade as it afterwards continue its move down and could have struck my stop anyhow.

Then I tried my luck with another 123 that again went to the money slightly but came back providing me with a set up and activate for the short. I was just half invested in the 123 as I really don't have that much confidence in them yet, so I left the long on whilst at precisely the exact same time carrying a complete position on the short. That trade continue down, shot me out of the 123 and hit my target and then some on the short.

At precisely the exact same time as this I entered a lengthy EU trade which initially went to the money but came to over 0.5 pips from my stop just to rally back up in a matter of moments to provide me with a chance to take profits. The price stalled about half way onto my true TP and I got out for half my TP only to see the price a few bars afterwards continue on to hit my full target.

Thus all in all a fantastic week, I am up about the week but I might be doing better when I gave my transactions room to breath.

Next week I'll look to work on my patience issues and hold out for my full profit target. Again if anyone has some ideas on how to remedy this please let me know:--RRB-

If I Stuck into The Rules Trading Summary

Total exemptions to Date: 8
Wins: 6
Partial Grow: 0
Break-even: 1
Weight Loss: 1
Loss: 0

Trading Summary

Entire exemptions to Date: 9
Wins: 3
Partial Grow: 2
Break-even: 3
Weight Loss: 1
Loss: 0

[AinamaAmegi]

Fantastic luck, we're both in the exact same boat brutha
I've been doing real well with using Div's method, I use the basic principals of his machine and then made some slight modifiions that function for me.

[Ibz]

I have begun with flag trading too and it's the first easy and profitable system I have observed. Wish You good fortune.

[Mlle]

Just wanted to say all of the very best for your journey. It is a fantastic system - only keep patience and discipline, do not revenge trade and 10% a month is easily acheivable (imho).

Noodles

[JIG]

Thank you everyone for your wishes!

So far my back studying and live trading is telling me this system is really solid.

I hope moving forward this continues to perform:--RRB-

I would want to hear from anyone that's been trading this for more than I have, to determine how our results compare.

[JIG]

good luck, we're both in the same boat brutha
I've been doing real well with utilizing Div's method, I utilize the fundamental principals of his system and then made a few small modifiions that work for me. Hello,

Thanks:--RRB-

How long have you been trading this system for? I also saw you made 14% a week, which is fantastic, do you risk 2 percent each trade?

Do you mind sharing your modifiions? And they improve things for you?

[AinamaAmegi]

I'll message you in a few mins...

[JIG]

I have not had time to update this within the past couple of days so that I'l do a sort of weekly review .

So I have trade a total of two weeks this week and things pretty much carried on the way I left the previous week. In total I took 5 transactions this week. 2 Winning transactions and 3 break.

Unfortunately the very same habits are creeping through to my trading which is my lack of ability to stay with the transaction. Just 1 of my two winning transactions were for the full amount with me bailing early on the other.

I missed out on two additional wins with my two of the three break even transactions going on to make my profit target.

So below are the figures.

When I Stuck into The Rules Trading Summary

Total Trades to Date: 13
Caution: 10
Partial Win: 0
Break-even: 1
Partial reduction: 1
reduction: 1

Trading Summary

Total Trades to Date: 14
Wins: 4
Partial Win: 3
Break-even: 6
Weight reduction: 1
reduction: 0

[JIG]

OK so lets try and analyse these figures.

If I had of stuck into the rules and stayed with the trades assuming I took the 2% risk that's what a few of the other my experienced men are taking and I intend to take once I've built up experience using this system. I would have made 17%.

Rather by breaking the rules I would maintain 10%.

So either egy would be affording me profits but sticking to the rules unsurprisingly yields a great deal longer.

I think that this is really a really useful exercise as it actually shows the difference between what could be achieved should you exchange correctly, like a robot and what's achieved when you begin to let your emotions get involved.

So these outcomes are after 2 weeks live trading this method. Now lets look at my goal of 10 per cent a month. First of all it's clear that this is achievable, however, the question is what kind risk do I need to consider in order attain my monthly goal.

So by risking 2% my very worst scenario is the 10 percent as stated above which would put me on goal to get a 20 percent month. But if I stuck to the rules and not got scared I would rather be on target to get a 34 percent month. Obviously we can not state for certain that the following weeks will follow what I have attained these past weeks but my testing does seem to suggest it would.

So at 1 percent risk I could attain my 10 percent a month goal how I am currently trading at which I would only require just over 0.5% risk in order to achieve the 10% by sticking to the rules.

Mmmmm interesting...

[JIG]

I really could get used to this:--RRB-

Another great day trading. It ended up being a tiny slow beginning but I finally managed to enter some valid installments and required profit for the day.

Once I sat in my desk this morning the charts seemed to indie they were moving backward. Then we have a break to the upside, followed by a pull back. I required the EJ long following this pullback. The transaction went almost instantly coming to within a pip of my stop. It then hastens but only to about 10 pips, I brought my stop to BE 1 and got taken out. This seemed to be a fortunate escape since the EJ continued to move lower throug from the semester.

The downgrade of Greece delivered the Euro tumbling and the Pound also begun to get rid of ground. I saw a pull back in Cable and got in on the first signal candle. If I'm honest I rushed the commerce a little and that I could have waited to get a more clear cut opportunity and the following price action demoned that as the commerce took a long time to perform. But not the less ultimately it did and it paid me well.

So another Fantastic day trading with this system, lets hope this can continue:--RRB-

When I Stuck into The Rules Trading Summary

Total exemptions to Date: 15
Wins: 11
Partial Grow: 0
Break-even: 1
Weight reduction: 1
reduction: 2

Trading Overview

Total Trades to Date: 16
Wins: 5
Partial Grow: 3
Break-even: 7
Weight reduction: 1
reduction: 0

[mokchiny]

Good fortune to you. I will leaving my job August 2012 to exchange full time. I have a goal each week. It's possble if we don't get impatient and over trade. We have to stick to our egy. Fantastic luck.

[JIG]

Dcb,

That is Fantastic! That is the fantasy I think of everybody. How long have you been trading for?

What is your system? It's like the flag trading fad technique?

Pip

[mokchiny]

,

That Is Excellent! That's everyone's dream I think. Just how long have you been trading for?

What is your system? It's like the flag trading trend technique?

Pip I started trading futures 1998, and I started trading FX in 2002. I moved to FX because of the liquidity and the trading hours. I exchange the London open, 0700 GMT into 1100 GMT. I exchange by simply taking a look at the price patterns, no indiors, only TLs. My goal each week is a minimum of 40 PIPs gain. I exchange enough lots that will give me a 10% gain each week.

[JIG]

I began trading stocks 1998, and I started trading FX in 2002. I transferred to FX due to the liquidity and the trading hours. I trade the London available, 0700 GMT into 1100 GMT. I trade by simply looking at the price patterns, no indiors, just TLs. My goal each week is a minimum of 40 PIPs gain. I trade enough lots that will give me a 10% gain weekly. Wow 10 percent a week!!! That's amazing! What is your stop size?

Perhaps you have always managed to achieve this? If so for how long?

[mokchiny]

Wow 10 percent a week!!! That is wonderful! What's your stop size?

Perhaps you have always managed to achieve this? If so for how long? I currently do this, however, it was a battle. I must stay on my plan. I try to use a 20 PIP prevent reduction. I use the H4 bars to try to detemine direction, but use the H1 or 15min bars to input. I use an entry order. I do not use a market order. I move my SL because the price moves to the positive for me. A few minutes ago my entry order to buy the E/U has been triggered. When the price moved to a 8 PIP gain, I moved my SL only above my entry. The price came down and hit my SL to get a 1.3 PIP gain. I did that since the market is rather undecided this morning. Some mornings I do not place an order.

[Jlleca]

Keep going with these outcomes, PipRider... likely to read your journal often.

[JIG]

Not to bad a day now. I received some opportunities early on in the UK session but nothing in the usa session on account of the simple fact that each one the pairs were trading in a really quite tight range. If I had been range trading I could have made a killing now. In fact maybe I should take pride in the fact that I was able to recognize this and stayed disciplined enough not to invent a trade which didn't exist.

My first trade ceased me out, although I just took a half position on it as I was anticipating entries on additional pairs in the exact same time that did not materialize. I needed to make sure if all entries triggered I'd be able to enter them rather than be to exposed hence not inputting a full position. This went against me almost instantly. I'd take this commerce 20 mins before London open and a major spike during the opening minutes of the open took me out just to continue on its own prior move. So a lesson to be learned here is to either not exchange prior to the start or at least get out a few minutes before ensure no unnecessary losses because of random spikes.

The next trade was a full position and made cash. I took exactly the exact same trade since I had just got stopped out on, and it made me my profit within a few minutes. I was quite pleased with the fact that I was able to select the commerce again in-spite of the previous loss I continued taking close enough the exact same commerce 30 mins earlier. It shows that I'm growing as a trader and demoned the value of being consistent.

When I Stuck to The Rules Trading Summary

Total Assets to Date: 17
Caution: 12
Partial Grow: 0
Break-even: 1
Partial reduction: 2
reduction: two

Trading Overview

Total Trades to Date: 18
Wins: 6
Partial Grow: 3
Break-even: 7
Partial reduction: 2
reduction: 0

[fx2001]

Hey PipRider.. Congratulations on your achievement so far. I have always been interested in this method, but I really don't have time during the day to await a pullback on the 5m. Could I ask what your screen watching period is? Do you merely check for a fad and then watch more carefully?

[JIG]

That's pretty much exactly what I do. I look to see whether the chart is trending after which I pay more attention.

If it is not I check back every 10-15 minutes.

Perhaps you could test this on a higher time frame? Just like something or 4 hour?

[JIG]

I didn't get to update yesterday. So I'll do it today.

Yesterday was ok I didn't make any money but then I didn't get rid of anything .

All in all it was the exact same story, I moved my stop for BE to quickly, the markets came back and took me out just to then ride off towards my profit target. 1 day I shall learn to simply put the trade on and walk off.

I had two other trades one loss and one profitable. I have to say the hardest thing for me is putting on another trade after taking a loss. I took a loss early in the morning then found myself second guessing the remaining setups through the day.

However I did take the trades and at the end of the evening got my profitable one that made me back my losses and I ended on break-even for the afternoon.

If I Stuck to The Rules Trading Summary

Total Trades to Date: 22
Wins: 16
Partial Grow: 0
Break-even: 1
Partial Loss: 2
Loss: 3

Trading Summary

Total Trades to Date: 23
Wins: 7
Partial Grow: 3
Break-even: 10
Partial Loss: 2
Loss: 1 )

[JIG]

OK so no upgrade yesterday because I did not manage to find any valid chances. The markets seemed to be moving quite slowly so I chose to step aside.

Now was a bit repeat of Tuesday and Wednesday. I took an early loss and subsequently made it back a bit later with a winning trade.

The annoying part is that the loss did not have to happen! Again I got a little anxious and jumped in on exactly what I believed was going to be a transfer before the London open. This subsequently took me out for a loss.

I really don't understand why I do it... I should have learnt my lesson the other day! Well this time I really will. I've written it in to my plan that I am not to take another trade before the London open!

Additionally, I bottled from what would have been profitable trades in the EU and GU approximately 15 minutes before the US news! I believed it'd be too risky so stepped aside. This is the second time this week, this has happened to me. But I guess the rules keep you from receiving in so close to the news to keep you from taking losses because this is a pretty volatile moment.

It's fruing viewing the winners, but then they could just as easily be losers.

I afterwards did not take a GU short trade since I believed the greater opportunity was going to occur in the EU, which you did not quite trigger and I saw the GU roar into profit.

I am think the greatest thing for me in the moment is that I am trying to think those transactions to much! When I am testing I am just carrying the setups as I see them, in the moment I am trying to consider external things that are keeping me from the transactions. I am to scared of taking a loss in the moment!!

Anyone have any ideas on how to overcome this?

When I Stuck into The Rules Trading Summary

Total Trades to Date: 24
Wins: 17
Partial Win: 0
Break-even: 1
Partial Loss: 2
Loss: 4

Trading Overview

Entire exemptions to Date: 25
Wins: 8
Partial Win: 3
Break-even: 10
Partial Loss: 2
Loss: 2

[JIG]

Well my first day trading was not bad at all. I missed an opportunity in Asia, but picked up a win in the London session. Subsequently missed another flag chance on the GU during US. I later took another brief in the EU that I left early for another small win as I realized once I was in I had sold into support. This was a good move as the price soon after rallied.

After sitting in the chat room and watching a few of the knowledgeable men playing the ranges using divergence and make a killing I made a decision to give a GU divergence set up a go. I bailed early as a result of price stalling on a previous level of support only to see it fly into the money a few candles later.

Overall a good day with 1 Win and another tiny win plus a BE.

Everything I took from today was how effective watching price across the S/R levels can be and observing for divergence really can enhance your performance.

Mentally it was a lot rougher than I anticipated. With day trading I was kind of hoping to see that my transactions go into the money straight away... on the test tool you click on distance and you are 1 time a head so you don't need to sit through the hassle, you can just fast forward to the results. Clearly you do not have this luxury trading live, so that is something I want to learn how to love with. I exited a perfectly good trade to early just because I thought price was stalling... who am I to decide... I should have just let the setup run its course, maybe move to BE but closing was not really valid at the time...

Day 1 Good day:--RRB- Missed some transactions that was a little annoying but made some good pips too.


Trading Summary

Total exemptions to Date: 3
Wins: 1
Partial Win: 1
Break-even: 1
Loss: 0