TraderGav.com

Gav's trading blog - Perseverance, Consistency, Confidence

Gav

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My EUR/USD long orders were triggered. It was so near to hit my first profit target when it made new high. But, well, so near yet so far. I closed the position before U.S trade balance announcement , since the positions were not going anywhere and I know ‘the broker’ that I used will widen the spread. End the day with -1.75R.

Weekly Update of my trading challenge: Week 1
This week, I was only focusing in Forex day trading. I don’t see too much opportunity in Aussie stocks trading at the moment. My brokers issue is settled soon, I hope to start index CFD trading 2 weeks later. So far, the portfolio grows +2.182%.

Here is the…..CHART!

[photopress:EURUSD1hour09Nov2007.JPG,full,alignleft]

https://tradergav.com/fridays-currency-trade/

No trade on Wed and Thur, so far

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None of my orders were triggered so far. No trade for Wednesday and Thursday. Aussie dollar seems to be showing a little bit weakness at the moment, maybe it is time for a pull back before attempting 0.95. Let’s see how it goes. I see the same in loonie (USD/CAD) as well. Besides, generally, I see Yen is gaining a little bit strength. It is kinda messy for these pairs.

Thursday was a central bank day. We had ECB Trichet and Feb Ben speaks. DailyFX.com did a nice summary of Trichet’s speech.

Here are more details on what Trichet said:

 – Recent data confirm upside price risk in mid-term

– They stand ready to counter upside inflation risks

– Data supports favorable mid-term growth outlook

– Market turmoil means outlook now more uncertain

– ECB needs more information before deciding policy

– Will monitor all developments very closely

– Firm and timely ECB action will prevent price risks

– ECB will act to anchor inflation expectations and this is key amid volatility

– ECB needs to pay great attention to markets in period ahead

– Economic outlook remains solid and sentiment indicators point to sustained growth and they are still above historical average

– ECB sees growth around potential next year and consumption growth will add to expansion

– Balance risks to growth are on downside

– Level of uncertainty around economic outlook high – the risks to growth are from oil and commodities

– Sharp inflation increase is a concern and they think that inflation will be significantly above 3% in coming months

– Additional information needed to decide on rates and the ECB will ensure that price risks don’t materialize.

– Disorderly movements of exchange rates are undesirable for movements to economic growth, brutal moves never welcome and recent moves have been abrupt

– Strong dollar is in the interest of the US

Well, technically,I am only looking at EUR/USD at the moment.

Why do I do monthly review, and only monthly?

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I don’t have to write another post to tell you why do you need to keep a trading journal. I assume you should know if you are taking trading seriously. But, I guess, most of the traders might have the same problem which I used to have, ‘over review’ your trading result.

No doubt, we have to review our trading results or the accounting book of your business. Do not try to hide the losses and mistakes to yourself. After all, this is our own business, isn’t it?

But just how frequent should we do that?

After trading for a little while, I figure out, doing a monthly review is pretty much enough for day trader, like myself.

Why monthly and not weekly? Well, this is not a rule, but an observation.

I used to do a weekly review of my trading. It is useful. But, it does not really tell me my overall performance. In other words, the weekly review is kinda ‘short-sighted’.

Why is it so? Let’s take an example, during the FOMC meeting week, the market might be a little bit choppy, most likely traders are waiting for the interest rate decision. I might be trading extremely well during this kinda week, or I might be chopped to pieces. Does the result of the week itself tell me a little about my over performance as a trader? Nah, I don’t think so.

So, why do we spend time to analyse the result of the week, and feel ‘happy’ or even ‘devastated’ about it? And subsequently thinking about ‘maybe I should not trail my stops’, ‘maybe I should wait when the candle closes above yesterday’s high’ , blah, blah , blah. Maybe I should change the system rules! again?!? I don’t see a point.

In fact, it is similar to trading. Do not trap yourself in the 5-minute charts and forget about the hourly chart or even daily chart. Why? Over the long run, the big picture tells you more about the ‘truth’.

I would think a monthly, quarterly, and yearly review of the overall trading performance is pretty adequate. Tracking monthly cost of trading, reviewing mistakes, analyzing the system performance over different weeks, or even seasons. That’s more effective, well, to me.

Tuesday’s Currency trade

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I made two trades on Tuesday. Long CAD/JPY and AUD/USD. Pretty nice day. I end the day with +5.85 R.

I am not trading Aussie pairs today. Waiting for the interest rate statement. Well, most of people are expecting 6.75%. I have no idea,  let’s see.

Here is the …….CHART!

[photopress:AUDUSD1hour07Nov07.JPG,full,alignleft]

[photopress:CADJPY1hour07Nov07.JPG,full,alignleft]

Some trading updates

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Non of my orders were triggered yesterday. I am still looking at long side of Aussie dollar. (well, I am still thinking parity is coming 🙂 ).

asxlogo.gifI have been looking around for Australian brokers for Forex and CFD. I feel more comfortable dealing with broker that operates here. This should be settled within this week. Something that caught my attention is the launching of ASX CFDs. Basically it is a exchange-traded CFD (in Sydney Futures Exchange), and it is regulated by ASX. I see this as a positive move in CFD industry. Let’s see how it works out. I am looking forward to trade ASX/200 index CFD and some FX CFDs. 😀

A CFD (Contract for Difference) is an agreement between a buyer and a seller to exchange the difference in value of a contract between when the contract is opened and when it is closed. The difference is determined by reference to an ‘underlying’ instrument – a share, index, FX rate or commodity and reflected in the transparent ASX CFD order book.

ASX CFDs are fundamentally different to the current Over-the-Counter (OTC) CFD because they are the only CFDs traded on ASX. They also offer price transparency, exchange independence and greater investor protection.

ASX CFDs include:

  • The top 50 stocks listed on ASX
  • Key global equity indices
  • A range of major foreign currency exchange rates
  • Selected commodities

ASX CFDs listed on the market operated by the Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE). Access to this market is possible through a large network of both full service and discount brokers.