Hey Om Salat,

What you're going through is called experience - we have all been through it and most of us have come out of it (and some of us even keep going back for more!).

Have a read at my earlier post below - it is not directed at you but at all of us:


Along with MM, knowing when to trade and when NOT to trade are the two most important qualities to be successful in trading. Forget your systems, strategies, methods, blackboxes etc., they are all useless if you apply them at the wrong time.

In tandem with this, is also the fact that you don't HAVE to be trading every minute/hour of the day. Along with the Monkeys, I know some professional traders who trade for their living - no trading means no profits and no money to pay the bills (or the gas for their Ferrari's!) but they don't put pressure on themselves to always be sat in front of their screens trading nor to be trading every pip that dances for them.

They are so in tune with the markets that they know it's every beat, it's rhythm, it's song, it's dance, that they know when to be in and when to be out. After a huge market move, you will not find them at their screens the next day; they know the next day will be consolidation so they stay out. They recognise consolidation and range bound markets and either stay out or change to scalping strategies.

In my earlier futures/commodities trading I felt I had to be making trades every day otherwise I would miss the big moves that everyone talked about. So I traded every day, several times a day and YES, I caught the big moves - only going in the wrong direction! There were no computers, forums or chat rooms then so there were no external forces putting pressure on me to trade - only my ego to make millions. I didn't realise it at that time but I, yes stupid me, was my own worst enemy.

Fast forwarding to where we are now, I got into Forex and Futures again, and promised myself I would treat it as a business and not a game. Well, trading the emini S&P on 76 and 210 tick charts changed all that - what a game - the excitement of watching those bars pump up and down - fast and furious - my adrenalin was flowing thick and fast! Boy was it exciting! Only thing was, my account was going down as fast as those bars were pumping up!

Strange thing was, my mentor was making money hand over fist at the same time as I was watching mine disappear down the toilet. After analysing my trades, he told me I would never make it in trading because it was just a game to me. He recognised I was just trading for the thrill - the action - he could see that from the frequency of my trades compared to his - there were days when I would make say 5 or 7 trades where he didn't trade - why? Because the conditions were not right.

So again, I took time out, looked in the mirror and told the idiot staring back at me that you are getting one more shot and you had better make it work this time.

After 16 years of trading, studying charts, reading books, buying systems, developing systems, developing indicators etc., I researched everything I could find on the internet looking for the Holy Grail. I still didn't get it that the guy in the mirror was the Holy Grail!

As luck would have it, I came across Jacko's Forex House of Pleasure and Pain and joined his private group. This is a 50 years young, retired guy that trades the Daily EURUSD for $2,000+ per pip (yesterday he made 265 pips!) on trend lines and 50% Fib support. I made myself not trade but instead just watch how he does it. He is basically a fundamental trader and a EURO bull. It took him until EURUSD took out the monthly support to realise that the bears had taken over and then he switched gears.

The first thing I noticed was that he ONLY trades when the conditions are right (for him). Then he pounces with his 200+ lots and usually makes a killing. He also buys at, in his words, "discount prices". For example, when EURUSD was down at 1.25ish the other day, he put in a sell order at 1.275 (at the H4 trendline) and sure enough, it came up to him and he trailed it down to his profit.

Now in his thread were (past tense as they have probably blown their accounts now), young studs who were trying to trade his method on M1 and M5 charts. These guys (and gals) were making several trades every day and losing big time and complaining to Jacko that his method does not work! They completely missed his point of waiting for the market to come to you with the right set up! I could go on with more examples but from looking over Jacko's shoulder, I have learned to sit back and WAIT. The market will always be there and the next big move is always being set up so if you miss it there will be another one to follow.

This has finally taught me PATIENCE.

To those that are in this for a game, the thrill, the action, ego, or whatever - go out and get yourself a PLAYSTATION game. It is cheaper than giving your money to the Pros.

While trading the Daily EURUSD is very profitable, I wanted more frequent profit and knew I had to get involved with shorter time frames so another search and I found the London Open and The School of Pimpology.

As we all know, Dan and Zak's strategy/method is THE best without question. BUT, as good as it is, if you apply it when the market conditions are wrong, it, like anything else, just empties the pip tin. Remember - this is NOT the Holy Grail - you are!

For those still looking for the Holy Grail - just stand in front of a mirror and you will SEE it!

Now, by combining my patience and new found ability to recognise market conditions coupled with the Monkey strategy, I am well on my way to getting some of those thousands back which I threw away in the 90s.

Who is this Stratocaster59 guy I hear you say?

Well, having learned the method, I went on the Live Chat and had a good time but straightaway started making losing trades! Why?

I knew it as soon as I went on there - I was getting caught up with the frenzy of those guys wanting to be in every trade going and ended up making trades I shouldn't have and making trades based on other people's decisions. I could feel myself going backwards fast into that black hole again.

I take my hat off to Anders, Bunnygirl, Rockdrive and others who are very successful in that environment, but it does not suit me. I need the quiet and calm to rationalise my thoughts and trades and trade on MY beliefs and not those of others.

So another lesson learned for me but this time at no big cost. As you would expect, I am not often in the Live Chat but when I am, I am relaxed and not trading - just the voyeur in me picking Dan's brain!

I also learned that while I was profitable using the M15/M5 combination, I was having a hard time deciding which squiggly line to ignore and which was going to be a retracement or a rally - way, way too stressful for me. I have now moved over to trading M15 and it is more profitable, more consistent (even with GBPJPY) and definitely less stressful. For a guy that just celebrated his 3rd 20th birthday this June, I can do without that thank you. So now I am trading H1 and M15 in addition to the Daily and am looking at changing the Daily for H4 and then having another separate account for the Weekly.

Sorry for the ramblings but I wanted to help and share my learning curve and hope that those who are trading for the thrill or those that are losing will either STEP BACK or buy a PlayStation.

I hope this helps and if it only helps just one person then my ramblings have been worth it.

BE PATIENT AND LET THE MARKET COME TO YOU

Strat

Since this post, I have joined the fx500Club but again you won't see me - I'm just in the background - still learning and earning.