Win some, lose some

Today wasn't a good day. 


I suppose the market was to thin to break the trend as I was hoping it would. 
Well, can't complain really. It was really close to winning, but in the end it lost.
But taking a step back, it has been a good month anyway.  

Quite a long time to lose 17 pips.

Target: 20 pips

Achieved: No (-17 pips)

Achieved for month: 427 pips

I wish my few readers a Happy New Year. 

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Slow times

There were a few signals today, but as soon as they showed up, counter signals appeared. I managed to gain 1 measly pip on this. Happy I didn't go back. 


Towards the end again, a clear signal finally appeared. 21 pips without breaking a sweat.

Target: 20 pips

Achieved: 22 pips.

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Finally

The US market is closed, but it is still possible to trade on it. It was slow, and I just managed to squeeze out 20 pips very late in the evening. 

Slow slope, but steady. Was never any danger.

Target: 20 pips
Achieved (20 pips)


The cool kids couldn't have gotten a lot more, perhaps 23-24... 

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Boxing day

No action on Boxing day. Not even boxing... 


Most traders are probably on holiday so I assume that the market will be slow until the next year. 
Too bad. 

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Almost Christmas

The friday was very slow indeed. I guess everyone who trades took an early day. And Obama spoke... That usually means it will be slow until he is done, and it sure was. 


I guess there is nothing to do but wait for the New Year's Rally. It was not much of a Christmas Rally, so I'm hoping it will pick up soon. 


Merry Christmas! 

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A rare thursday.

No trades. The market was mostly ranging - moving sideways. 


It is much easier to make profit if it is trending - moving up or down. 


There were a few 'almost signals', but I had nothing today. 


One should be aware that it can vary between service providers. One pip up or down can make a difference. 

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Wednesday 21st of december

The first signal was clear and strong, and I was just about to count it home as a win, when it suddenly dropped and it was a loss. Shows you can never take anything for granted. 

The second came shortly after, and it was not as clear. It was slow in the beginning, but steady. I got 42 pips on that. The cool kids could have gotten 100+, but it was close to a loss in the meantime. I'm not that cool yet. 

Target: 20 pips
Achieved: 17
Pretty darn close. 

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Tuesday

It was a slow, but steady, day today. Two trades popped up, and I caught them both. 

Could have been cooler and won more, but I was ahead for the day. 

Target: 20

Achieved: 59

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Importance of planning, part 2

If one is to act without greed or fear, it is important to follow the plan. Perfect example here. 

Yes, I am planning to have some basics about candlecharts later. 

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The importance of planning

Plan every trade, trade every plan.

So, I thought I'd fill this blog with useful stuff as well. Here we go. 

Those who have been in the business long says that the most important thing is to have a trading plan. I don't argue against success. 

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Monday at last

Well, a long wait and it is finally monday again.


To be honest, it wasn't a great day for trading. 


First I had two losses and in the third trade, a countersignal showed up, and I closed for 0 pips. 


The fourth trade was a win... 

And then another signal heading in the other direction. 


The market must have been confused with all the signals flying about and it took a long time for the fifth trade to pull it's weight. 

And yes, I was out before that huge drop that would have made me about 60 pips. 




Goal for the day: 20 pips
Achieved: No (+4 pips)

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Pros and cons

For quite a while I've been sports trading. Sports trading can be done in a number of ways, but the one I've been mostly involved in is Lay The Draw. 


Lately LTD has been trickier due to lack of liquidity. That was the main reason I moved to Forex. 


I thought I'd do a list with pros and cons for both. 


LTD


PROS

1. Simple rules (everybody knows soccer, right)
2. Availability (games are played when you are free) 
3. Simple interface (Betfair and Betdaq are easy to bet on)
4. Returns

CONS

1. Liquidity (you can't always trade when you want to)
2. Chosing games (not all games are worth trading)
3. Availability (you must trade when the games are played)

FOREX

PROS

1. Availability (Anytime but the weekends)
2. Liquidity (unless you are trading gazillion dollars, you'll always get matched)
3. Returns (same with sports, that's why we do it)

CONS

1. Steeper learning curve (it is a trickier thing to learn, since one probably does not naturally have the financial market as an interest)

Well, that's about it. Once you get in to Forex, I can't see more drawbacks to it. 

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Weird thoughts

Before I started trading I used to look forward to the weekend and all the sports trading available.

Now I look forward to monday when the market opens after a weekend of rest. 

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Quiet friday - possible reasons

Another reason the market was quiet yesterday could have been Triple Witching. The market had probably settled all it needed, and was recharging it's batteries to do another quarter. 


Similiar to Non Farm Payrolls. Another day to stay away from short term trading. 

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And this on friday...

Friday seem to be a bit slower than other days. I suppose it is because the yanks are the only ones awake and trading, while the rest of us have started the weekend.

Anyway, there was a trade today. There were a few more, but the signals were too weak so I ignored them. One of the ignored ones was a winner and the other a loser. So, I'm happy I got on the first winner.

It was exactly 20 pips for a winner. (Excluding spread, of course.)

Goal 20: Achieved (20)

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15 December

A nice day with 25 pips achieved without sweat within 5 minutes. I wish every day was like this.

Target of 20 pips achieved. (25)

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14 december

A slow day with only one trade.

Goal of 20 pips achieved though, and that's what matters.

(Yes, this was published one day late. Yesterday was my birthday, and I had a few other things to attend to.)

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13th of December

In Sweden this day is Lucia day. She is the bringer of light.

Well, that didn't help us much, because there were no trades today.
I bet there will be tomorrow, though.

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Monday december 12th

When I got in today, the market slowed down with it's downward movement. I managed to steal 10 pips on each of two trades before I got 22 pips on the third.
Not counting the small wins, but definetly including the big one.

Goal 20: Achieved (22 pips)

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Spread betting intro

I'm spread betting. Basically that is trading in stocks, foreign currencies and indicies - with a leverage.

If you want to know more, I recommend the excellent site Baby Pips. There you'll see what this is about.

Every result is calculated in pips. One pip can be anything from 10 pence, cents etc and upwards.

The lowest bet is about 1 EUR per pip (professionals minimum) up to... well, up to anything really. I don't think there is any upper limit - the financial market is huge.

The goal is to get 20 pips per day. (I'm compounding my Bank Roll, to increase winnings and will never present any actual money, just the number of pips.)

(It makes sense, since when you start out, your pip might be worth £1, but after compounding it for a few months, it might very well be worth £20. And yes, when you bet £20 per pip, life is gravy.)

I'll present charts on where I traded as well as provide useful links for those a bit more interested.

In Sweden, where I live, there is a tax of 30% on winnings. I'm currently looking in to the possibility to trade on a british server. In good old England, there is, not yet anyway, no taxes on winnings from spread betting since it is concidered a game and totally random. We'll see if that is a possibility. 30% is a lot... or at least, it will be.

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