Scaling-in and Scaling-outHello traders,
All the below are based on my preferences, I don't give any financial recommendations and I have nothing to sell you with this article.
I'm sharing content because I see a lot of traders being/becoming broke and I don't want you to be one of them.
Scaling-in
There are times when I will scale into a position.
When the price dips into the my Moving Average pullback zone, I'll typically get 25% of my position there.
I'll then add a full position if the price dips past that MA
Don't add to winners
I wouldn't advise adding to winners
I would advise adding to losers IF it's part of your plan.
Though, most traders adding to losers end up losing more statistically.... then even I don't do it.
You should always have a stop in place and get out at your stop (or preferably use our hard exit system)
NEVER add to your position after your stop has been hit
That's not what I'm advising
I always make sure to get in a very small position early in case I miss the real entry.
It allows me to still have a decent entry if the price drops lower AND allows me to catch the move if the price decides to rip
Alright, let's talk about exits👇
Scaling-out
Your exit strategy will ultimately depend on your overall strategy
However, for ALL small accounts, I'd recommend NOT to scale.
Scaling exits should really only be for accounts that can afford to take multiple contracts (5-10+)
Otherwise, it's better off just take 100% off at your first target
And I really mean it
Remember, when your Stop-Loss hit you take 100% of a loss.
This should be obvious.... though I see plenty having multiple Take Profit levels and 1 Stop Loss level
And they wonder why they're losing.... mostly because of basic mathematics (literally additions and subtractions).
A big loss is very hard to offset with multiple partial profits across multiple trades.
If you do have a larger account, here's how I'd recommend setting up your exit strategy
IMO, it's best to only have 3 targets/exits MAX.
After 3, there's really no need to complicate your trading anymore
I'm taking the MAJORITY of my profits out at first target... 80+% of your position
Otherwise, I very often end up taking the trades, having a lot of unrealised gains but bringing back home nothing.... which is NOT ACCEPTABLE for me.
It's UNFORGIVABLE to earn a decent amount of $$ and letting everything go because I thought the trade should have gone further.
I like moving my stop to breakeven after I've taken my first partial
After you've taken your first partial, that's when you can leave 20% for runners.
You can either take the remaining runners out at your second target
or
Take half out at your second target and leave 10-15% for your last target
The larger your account size, the more targets I recommend you have
I also like moving my stops up after each target to make sure the trade doesn't go red
Why do I use this scaling strategy?
By taking the majority of my size off at my first target, it allows my strategy to keep a decent R/R rate, assuming I move stops to breakeven
It also leaves my trading more stress-free since I have less of a position on.
Allows for the trade to come back breakeven and I've already taken most off
On top of that, I have 20-30% of my position as runners in case this stock starts to explode
Doesn't happen often, but sometimes the remaining 20% ends up netting me more profit than the original 80% did.
At the end of the day, it's up to you how you want to scale
These are the methods I found most effective, depending on your account size and your strategy.
Conclusion
- As a beginner, I used to stick with 1 TP/1 SL only and that's how I brought home gains
- Once my trading account reached the 6 figures threshold, I allowed myself to have 2-3 TPs but I was taking most off the table at the first TP level and automatically moved my SL to Breakeven
- Adding to losers (aka the Dollar Cost Average method) also called martingale is a solid way for most beginners to depart from their money quickly - I'll make another article on martingale and why I think it's not for everyone
Risk Management
INVESTING VS TRADING VS GAMBLING | Know the Difference
Hey traders,
In this post, we will compare investing and trading with gambling.
📈Investing
Investing is the act of putting money in a financial market with the expectations of a long-term positive return.
The investing decisions are usually made using fundamental analysis.
The main goal of an investor is to predict the long-term market trends and benefit on them.
Professional investing also involves assets allocation and diversification aimed to hedge potential risks.
💱Trading
Trading is the process of selling and buying financial instruments expecting a short-term (occasionally, mid-term) profit.
The trading decisions are usually based on technical and fundamentals analysis.
The goal of a trader is to predict local price fluctuations and catch them.
Professional trading implies strict, rule-based actions following a trading plan.
🎰Gambling
Gambling is the act of betting on a specific event with the expectations of winning some value.
Being completely luck-based, gambling usually involves get rich quick schemes and pursuit of easy money.
What differs professional trading and investing from gambling is the fact that professional trading / investing involves objective analysis and strict planning, while gambling remains purely intuition based.
Unfortunately, most of the market participants pretend that they trade and invest professionally while acting as gamblers in fact.
Remember that long-term, consistent profits can be achieved only with the plan. Your intuition may bring some short-term profits, but in a long-run it will most likely lead you to a bankruptcy.
❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section.
Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
The main reason you're blowing up accountsAlmost all blown-up accounts happen quickly
Typically from only 1-3 trades
There are 2 main causes for this:
- Risk Management
- Emotions
Let's dive into both👇
Risk Management
Risk management is crucial to becoming a successful trader
The best way to grow an account is to risk the same % of the account per trade
I suggest no more than 5%, but the lower the better
For example...
If you're risking 3% of your account per trade, you have to lose 33 trades in a row.. to blow up your account.
That's very unlikely.
The reason most traders blow up is because they full port or go all-in on every trade and risk way too much
This is the fastest way to destroy your account.
ALWAYS risk a small % of your account per trade
It not only will prevent you from blowing up... but will also be the fastest way to help you grow your account
Emotions
The second way is Emotions.
Maybe you are using risk management, and are only risking 3%.
Then your stop hits and you don't get out
And price keeps dropping and dropping and dropping...
It will come to my breakeven and I'll get out, you tell yourself
But it never does
Then once you finally get out, your account is gone.
I've done that LOADS of times
So how did I fix that?👇
I realised that I wasn't getting out at my stop because I didn't trust my strategy.
At the time, I wasn't trading with conviction
I'd take a trade because it just looked like price was going to move higher.
No real strategy or reasoning for the trade.
It's extremely difficult to control your emotions when you shouldn't be in a trade in the first place!
Once I noticed this I got a grip on my strategy and really started being strict on my entries
After clearly defining my strategy, it gave me more confidence in my setup and my edge
which ultimately led to me becoming more disciplined and allowing myself to take the loss.
Conclusion
So if you're looking to stop blowing up your accounts...
- Use Risk Management
- Trade with conviction using a clearly defined strategy
How Does Forex Market Work?How does Forex market work?
As a trader, you decide if you would like to buy or sell. The broker finds someone who would like to do the opposite and they introduce the two of you. The broker then takes a small cut (spread) of the transaction price for arranging the connection. Foreign exchange is largest liquid market in world, but what does that mean? Has a daily roll over of 6.6 trillion dollars. It means that the broker can always find "the other side" very easily and quickly. This is good if you want to enter a trade immediately and great if you wan to get out of a trade very quickly.
Best thing about Forex is:
Markets which are not liquid, or have low trading volume, can be difficult to trade. Imagine you were in a losing trade and you wanted to get out of it. If the broker can't find "the other side" then you are stuck! That will not happen when trading FX. There is always someone on the other side- a major benefit.
Forex exchange is essentially for international business. Forex markets include governments, businesses & investors. Forex, also known as foreign exchange or FX trading, is the conversion of one currency into another. It is one of the most actively traded markets in the world, with an average daily trading volume of $6.6 trillion. Forex, or foreign exchange, can be explained as a network of buyers and sellers, who transfer currency between each other at an agreed price. It is the means by which individuals, companies and central banks convert one currency into another – if you have ever travelled abroad, then it is likely you have made a forex transaction. While a lot of foreign exchange is done for practical purposes, vast majority of currency conversion is undertaken with the aim of earning a profit. The amount of currency converted every day can make price movements of some currencies extremely volatile. It is this volatility that can make forex so attractive to traders: bringing about a greater chance of high profits, while also increasing the risk.
Unlike shares or commodities, forex trading does not take place on exchanges but directly between two parties, in an over-the-counter (OTC) market. The forex market is run by a global network of banks, spread across four major forex trading centers in different time zones: London, New York, Sydney and Tokyo. Because there is no central location, you can trade forex 24 hours a day. Most traders speculating on forex prices will not plan to take delivery of the currency itself; instead they make exchange rate predictions to take advantage of price movements in the market.
What moves Forex markets?
The forex market is made up of currencies from all over the world, which can make exchange rate predictions difficult as there are many factors that could contribute to price movements. However, like most financial markets, forex is primarily driven by the forces of supply and demand, and it is important to gain an understanding of the influences that drives price fluctuations here. Central banks, News reports, Market sentiment, Economic data, Credit ratings.
FREE 12 WEEKS INTENSIVE TRADING PROGRAM 📚
Hey traders,
For those who just started to trade, I suggest a 12 weeks intensive training program. Each week will be dedicated to a specific topic. Starting from the basics you will gradually mature and by the end of the intensive you will have a complete trading strategy.
✔️Week 1 - Practice market trend identification
Learn to identify the direction of the trend. Master the recognition of a bullish trend, bearish trend and sideways market.
✔️Week 2 - Practice support and resistance.
Learn to identify key levels. Master support & resistance recognition.
✔️Week 3 - Learn candlestick pattern.
Study classic candlestick formations and practice their recognition.
✔️Week 4 - Learn price action patterns.
Study classic price action patterns: trend-following patterns, reversal patterns and consolidation pattern and learn to recognize them.
By the end of the first month, you will mature the basics of candlestick chart analysis.
✔️Week 5 - Practice supply and demand zones.
Learn to identify supply and demand zones. Learn to combine candlestick analysis with support and resistance to identify the potential reversal zones.
✔️Week 6 - Practice multiple time frame analysis.
Master top-down analysis. Learn to apply all the techniques studied previously on multiple time frames.
✔️Week 7 - Learn different entry strategies.
With all the knowledge being obtained, you can practice different entry techniques. You can try trading candlesticks patterns or price action patterns, or simply key levels. Search what works for you.
✔️Week 8 - Learn risk management.
Of course, entry strategies are not enough for profitable trading. Learn how to set stop loss and how to manage your risks properly.
By the end of the second month, you will have a foundation for a strategy building.
✔️Week 9 - Practice trade management.
Knowing how to enter the trade and how to manage the risks, the next step is to learn how to manage the active position (stop loss trailing, position protection, manual closing, etc.)
✔️Week 10 - Create a trading plan.
Combine all the knowledge that you gained in a structured trading plan.
✔️Week 11 - Follow the strategy.
Be disciplined and follow your rules. Test them and learn to be consistent.
✔️Week 12 - Review your plan.
Following your strategy, you will inevitably find its flaws. Learn to constantly improve it.
By the end of the third month, you will have a complete rule-based trading strategy. Of course, that won't be a perfect strategy, but you will have broad knowledge in technical analysis.
The next 3 months alone should be sacrificed on polishing and improvement of your trading plan.
Try this intensive, traders. I strongly believe that you will see a dramatic improvement in your trading upon its completion.
❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section.
Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
10 things to remember about bear markets, volatility, and panicTrading & investing is not easy. If it were, everyone would be rich.
One of the most difficult moments for all traders, and especially investors, is when markets are abnormally bearish, trending downward or in a direction that goes against their positions. Adding to that difficulty is when volatility is rising and when uncertainty is high. These events have occurred throughout market history and should be expected. Every trader or investor should remember a simple truth: markets will go against you at some point. Be prepared.
Learning to trade or invest in bearish and volatile markets requires great skill, experience, and composure. The last 12 months has demonstrated that. Stocks, bonds, forex, crypto, and futures have seen heightened volatility over the last 12 months. So what should we do? What now?
Let's revisit the basics - the skills, traits, and mindset that are required to survive these moments.
1. Plan ahead 🗺
Plan your trade, trade your plan. Every trade, every investment, should have an underlying plan. Write out the basic questions before you buy or sell. For example, what is your desired entry price? What is your desired exit price? What is your stop loss? How much money are you risking? Why are you making this trade or investment in the first place? In times of volatility, these questions matter more than ever. Get back to the basics.
2. Don't rush 🧘♂️
Volatility, and especially market panic, cause people to make quick reactions. The pressure, the fast price action, often forces people to act without a moment to revisit their original plan. Don't do this! Take your time. Stay composed and deal with the hand you have been dealt.
3. Be patient with entries 🎯
Many traders & investors speak of buying dips, but this phrase does explain the steps required. You don't buy dips without a plan. You plan out your strategy, you wait for the perfect entry, and you let the market come to you. When the market is in a downtrend, and volatility is high, it is paramount that you remain patient, waiting for the perfect entry. Use limit orders wisely.
4. Know your timeframe ⏰
Are you trading for one day? One month? Or 5 years? These basic questions will remind you of what you're trying to accomplish and how rushed or patient you should really be. They will also remind you about the chart you should be looking at, whether you should be zoomed in to a 30-minute chart or zoomed out to a weekly chart, showing years of price histort.
5. Have an exit strategy 🚨
An exit strategy means that no matter what happens, you know where your stop loss is and you know where your profit target is. No matter what happens, up or down or sideways, you have an exit plan. Do not leave any entry or exit up to chance. Create your exit strategy before you place the trade and follow it.
6. Tighten position size 💪
Added volatility and uncertainty needs to be factored into your game plan before it begins in the first place. However, many new investors and traders forget to do this. If that's you, it's time to adjust your strategy, your plan, for larger trading ranges, volatility. The year-long trends that defined a previous market are now less valid.
7. Zoom out for historical context 🔎
Zoom out on your charts. Then keep zooming out. And now zoom out some more. Circle the latest candle, line or price movement and let it serve as a reminder about where price is today vs. where it came from. There's a saying: when in doubt, zoom out. Do not to get lost in the moment, looking only at the day or week, but instead go research the entire history of price. Learn about what has happened in the past.
8. Cash is a position 💸
Want to dollar cost average into a trade? Want to buy more? Want to trade more? You need cash to do that. There is comfort in being able to participate in the volatility whenever you want. Cash is a position and guarantees this.
9. Avoid panic, FUD, and FOMO 😳
When emotions are running high, some of the biggest psychological mistakes can occur. FUD stands for fear, uncertainty, and doom. FOMO stands for fear of missing out. These are two common emotions in crashing markets. On one hand, everyone thinks the end is near and then on the other hand every little up move is the next bull run. Do not let these emotions take you.
10. Take a break 😀
Sometimes it helps to step away. Log out, close your apps, get outside and get some exercise. Come back to the markets when you're ready. Your mind will also be well rested now.
We hope you enjoyed this post and we hope it helps you as you navigate the markets.
Please feel free to write any additional tips or pieces of advice in the comments section below!
🌱Weekly quote: We know what we're doing wrong🌱🟢For many of us, our trading accounts are our cluttered homes. What we desperately need is to find our inner quiet; review our trades and trading statistics in detail and truly experience the horror of betraying our potential; and fully appreciate what we do well and embrace it with gratitude. Out of that energized awareness, we can replace the clutter with what is meaningful.
Our great enemy is routine. Many times, we know what we're doing wrong, but we keep making the same mistakes. Indeed, that is the way of life's curriculum. If we fail to learn from the first lesson, we get a second and a third and a fourth: one painful opportunity after another to commit to a different path. Is that failure, or is that something to be grateful for: a curriculum that is trying, trying, trying to teach us the lessons we need to learn to be successful?
🟢We've seen that gratitude is an essential component of psychological well-being. The grateful trader is not self-focused, absorbed in how much money they could/should make. The grateful trader is thankful for the opportunities coming their way. When we look heavenward with thanks for what we've accomplished, there is an essential humility to our perspective. It's not just about us. It's not just about profits and losses.
A great metric in evaluating your trading journal is to count the number of frustrated statements versus the number of grateful ones. A great metric in evaluating other traders is to count the number of self-aggrandizing statements with the number of humble, grateful ones.
🟢If losses are opportunities to learn and improve, we can sustain a grateful mindset even in times of adversity. A humble mindset is one looking to learn. A grateful mindset appreciates every opportunity to grow.
A life perspective that instills and strengthens humility grounds us in the awareness that there is always something more important than me. There is always something more significant than what is simply happening here and now. We cannot succeed in trading--or any life endeavor--if it becomes our end-all and be-all. Once trading and P/L are placed on a pedestal, they control us and our experience. And that is precisely what interferes with profitability!
It's great to correct your mistakes, but it's in your shining successes that you can find your path to fulfillment--and your future in markets. Hidden in your winning trades may be the key to your development as a trader.
🟢 So many developing traders look for one edge after another, one market after another, one trading style after another--all in a frantic search for success. The reality is that our best trading is hiding in plain sight, when we explore what we're trading and how we're trading it when we're most fulfilled and successful.
Brett Steenbarger, Trading Psychology
What is an ETF? (exchange traded fund)
An exchange traded fund (ETF) is an investment fund that invests in a basket of stocks, bonds, or other assets. ETFs are traded on a stock exchange, just like stocks. Investors are drawn to ETFs because of their low price, tax efficiency and ease of trading.
ETFs seek to provide the performance of a specified index, such as the S&P 500, and typically have low fees.
Like mutual funds, ETFs offer investors diversified exposure to a portfolio of securities, such as stocks, bonds, commodities and real estate.
Why are ETFs popular?
While investors often associate ETFs with large stock indexes, such as the S&P 500, ETFs provide access to virtually every asset class, sector, region, theme and investment style.
ETFs are popular because of their low fees, tax efficiency, liquidity and transparency. Since the first ETF was launched in 1993, the ETF industry has grown substantially, with more than $3 trillion now invested in ETFs.
What are the benefits of ETFs?
ETFs cost significantly less than comparable active mutual funds — and that savings can add up over time. Other benefits include:
Access and liquidity. Because ETFs are traded on stock exchanges, they are easily bought or sold.
Transparency. Just like mutual funds, ETFs report performance quarterly and fees daily.
Diversification. ETFs provide access to a wide range of investment options, covering a broad range of asset classes, sectors and geographies. They also make it easy to select specific themes or investment styles.
What are the risks associated
with ETFs?
Like mutual funds, ETFs carry investment risk depending on their asset class, strategy and region. Some ETFs are riskier than others.
In addition, if you invest in an ETF that holds securities in a currency other than your own, movements in the foreign exchange rate may affect your returns.
The Evolution of a Trader | 3 Milestones 📈
Hey traders,
In this educational article, we will discuss 3 stages of the evolution of a trader.
Stage 1 - Unprofitable trader 😞
The unprofitable trader has very typical characteristics:
-total absence of trading skills
Most of the time, people open a live account simply after completing some beginners course like on babypips website.
Being sure that the obtained knowledge are completely enough to start trading, they quickly face the tough reality.
-no trading plan
Having just basic knowledge, of course, they do not have a trading plan. Why the hell to have it if everything is so simple?!
All their actions on the market is just gambling. They open the positions randomly most of the time, simply relying on intuition.
-poor risk management
In 99% percent of the time, the unprofitable trader does not even think about risk management. The position sizing, stop placement and target selection are completely neglected.
Trading performance of the unprofitable traders is characterized by small wins and substantial losses and negatively trending equity.
Stage 2 - Boom and bust trader 😶
Usually, traders reach boom and bust stage after 1-2 years of unprofitable trading. At some moment, winning trades start to compensate losing trades, brining non-trending equity.
Such traders have very common traits:
-not polished trading plan
Being unprofitable for so long, traders start to realize the significance of a trading plan.
Sticking to the set of rules, they notice positive changes in their trading performance.
However, trading plan requires to be polished and modified. It takes many years for a trader to identify all its drawbacks before it starts bringing net profits.
-lack of confidence
When one starts following a trading system, confidence plays a substantial role.
The fact is that even the best trading strategy in the world occasionally produces negative results. In order to not give up and keep following such a system, one needs to build trust in that.
The confidence that after a series of losing trades, the strategy will manage to recover.
Such a trust can be built after many years of trading that strategy.
Stage 3 - Profitable trader ☺️
That is the final destination.
After many years of a struggling trading, one finally sees positively-trending equity. Winning trades start to outperform losing ones, leading to consistent account growth.
Profitable trader is characterized by iron discipline, confidence and consistency.
He knows what he is trading, when and why. His trading plan is polished, he fully controls his emotions.
He never stops learning and constantly develops his strategy.
Knowing the 3 stages of the evolution of a trader, one can easily identify at what stage he currently is. That will help to identify the things to be focused on to move to the next stage.
At what stages are you at the moment?
❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section.
Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Bullish Butterfly PatternYes, you can scalp or day trade harmonic patterns in real live time, If you know what to look for. All harmonic patterns have their own fib retracement and/or extension ranges- which need to happen- for them to be called certain names.
When a PRZ happens, instead of just jumping on a trade, get a confirmation move out of PRZ and then reversal back to it with an engulfing, harami and/or pin bar candlestick setup to then do a trade. This will prevent you from getting into a move too early and help with risk management on the trade too.
Be Patience equals to Be Profitable- with a strategy and/or a plan.
Risk management in your priority on each trade that you do, in this Forex trading and with the high liquidity and volatility that is happening at this time with many currency's, their is no place for either fear and/or greed. Lock in profits on all winning trades. Concentrate on getting a little piece of pip pie, not getting the whole pip pie in trading.
Bullish Cypher PatternOn the AudJpy 4 hour chart example of a bullish cypher pattern. Yes, all harmonic patterns have their own Fib. Ret and extension percentages you need to look up and know, if you use harmonic patterns in your trading.
Higher timeframes of 1 hour, 4 hour and daily work the best when using harmonic patterns, but can work on smaller timeframes- just less time for you to set up trades and react to candlesticks in real live time. Always wait for all harmonic patterns to 100% complete before you make a trade in opposite direction.
Number one rule is wait for all harmonic patterns to complete before entering in any trades, related to being the safest times to get in and having the best risk reward setups with highest win percentages in trading, then to jump in too early because you are not patience, but have a need to trade rather then wait.
Risk management is always #1, control what is in your hands to do like: What pair you trade, what price you get in, what session you trade and what time you are trading a certain pair. Also, entries, exits and/or targets, stop losses, etc...
Stay healthy & get wealthy-
Note: I will be looking at 1 hour charts on AJ for bullish trades to start this coming week off- r/t the completion of the bullish cypher pattern on example chart of 4 hours- there is around 70 pips to the upside to the target area of at least 50% on the fib. retracement tool (here on TV).
✍️WEEKLY QUOTE: You don't need to know in order to make money✍️...Having an awareness or an understanding of some principle, insight, or concept doesn't necessarily equate to acceptance and belief. When something has been truly accepted, it isn't in conflict with any other component of our mental environment. When we believe in something, we operate out of that belief as a natural function of who we are, without struggle or extra effort. To whatever degree there is a conflict with any other component of our mental environment, to the same degree there is a lack of acceptance. It isn't difficult, therefore, to understand why so few people make it as traders. They simply don't do the mental work necessary to reconcile the many conflicts that exist between what they've already learned and believe, and how that learning contradicts and acts as a source of resistance to implementing the various principles of successful trading.
The answer is quite simple: The typical trader doesn't predefine his risk, cut his losses, or systematically take profits because the typical trader doesn't believe it's necessary. The only reason why he would believe it isn't necessary is that he believes he already knows what's going to happen next, based on what he perceives is happening in any given "now moment." If he already knows, then there's really no reason to adhere to these principles. Believing, assuming, or thinking that "he knows" will be the cause of virtually every trading error he has the potential to make (with the exception of those errors that are the result of not believing that he deserves the money).
If he believes that anything is possible, then there's nothing for his mind to avoid. Because anything includes everything, this belief will act as an expansive force on his perception of the market that will allow him to perceive information that might otherwise have been invisible to him.
It's the ability to believe in the unpredictability of the game at the micro level and simultaneously believe in the predictability of the game at the macro level that makes the casino and the professional gambler effective and successful at what they do
Their belief in the uniqueness of each hand prevents them from engaging in the pointless endeavor of trying to predict the outcome of each individual hand. They have learned and completely accepted the fact that they don't know what's going to happen next. More important, they don't need to know in order to make money consistently. Because they don't have to know what's going to happen next, they don't place any special significance, emotional or otherwise, on each individual hand, spin of the wheel, or roll of the dice. In other words, they're not encumbered by unrealistic expectations about what is going to happen, nor are their egos involved in a way that makes them have to be right. As a result, it's easier to stay focused on keeping the odds in their favor and executing flawlessly, which in turn makes them less susceptible to making costly mistakes.
From Trading in the Zone by M. Douglas
How To Set Trading Goals!Hey Traders,
Setting trading goals is always a fun discussion and something I actually really enjoy talking about. It is possibly one of the most simple tasks with getting started in investing or day trading, yet it is a task that so many get wrong. It's like starting a Sprint race, only you're starting the race facing the other direction. So, today we're going to dive into how to set goals, what they should look like and how we can start getting you running on that race, or even if you started the race, to give you that little speed boost so you can get back on track be sprinting for that finish line, which is where you want to be.
It is very common, especially with beginners in trading, that when asked what are their trading goals, they're going to leave you with some kind of percentage or dollar amount and what they're trying to achieve per week or per month. It's easy and it's their aspirations is why they are in the game. They want to make X amount of money and they've been able to divide it down to figure out what they need to make each day in order to reach that goal. Now, most people will sit back and judge that goal on whether or not they think it's achievable and then they'll say well done and give the trader a pat on the back. Only what that person is done by telling this trader that it is good feedback is re firmed that there facing the wrong way at the start of the race and telling him to still Sprint that direction.
We trade an unpredictable market. That means no matter who you are or where you are, unless you have some kind of insider information, you have no idea which way a stock, currency or any type of asset is going to move. We base our decisions off of probability. We play on whether or not we have an edge over the market and as long as we win enough we will make profit in the long term and that is how trading works. What that means is we are never sure on how much money we will make or whether or not we will make money. Which means it is unreliable to set money based goals because we have no idea what the market is going to deliver for us. We can have expectations over the long term, but short term. As long as we are trading true to our strategy, it is honestly up to the market whether or not we take home profit or whether we cop losses. Now we understand this because it's trading, right? We got into this market knowing that. So why do we attempt to set money related goals when we know it's just unrealistic and really hard to achieve such consistency when you're looking at short term goals?
Baffling right?
Now, for some of you may just woke up to this fact, "oh yeah, that is very unrealistic." For others, you may have already known this. Either way, what we're going to do is dive into where you should be setting your goals and what should they look like.
My favorite goal to set and to see other people set is consistency within myself. It's to track your own decisions, marking your own movements. When actually trading, if you can become consistent within yourself, you will see consistency in your results, because you'll be able to trade that strategy without having to worry about your own decisions or emotions affecting your decisions. So, what I always did is obviously have a trading plan, have this trading plan and have set guidelines in what you have to do. Post trading as well. When it comes to filling out worksheets, maybe Excel spreadsheets you're trading, log your data, fill it all out.
Get yourself a spare calendar, put it on your wall and every day that you do everything to your plan, win or loss on the charts, everything you were supposed to according your strategy, your plan, and filling out all of your Excel spreadsheets, give yourself star. Then every single trading day you get a little star on that calendar and your goals should be set around that. If you find you're being consistent within yourself and consistent in your decision making, then you will be able to determine whether or not your strategy is good or bad, and you'll be able to achieve consistent results long term. Do not base your goals on dollar figures base your goals off of performance. It is the only thing you can actually control.
Stop playing around with the idea of setting goals outside of the market or outside of your results. Yes, it is fun to set dollar amount goals. Yes, it is fun to Daydream, but you get stuck in that Daydream Cloud and there may be times where you have a perfectly good trading strategy. You're able to trade it perfectly as well, but you're not hitting your goals. And the reason that might be is because your strategy may not be able to hit those dollar value goals even on perfect days. It happens. So set goals on what you can control, not on what you want the market to deliver.
How did you go about setting your goals? How do you do it now? Let me know in the comments. I hope you enjoyed this little post and I'll see you next time.
-Jordon Mellor
What Is An Imbalance, Fair Value Gap (ICT) or Inefficiency?What Is An Imbalance, Fair Value Gap (ICT on YouTube) and/or inefficiency in price (all the same thing)
An imbalance can be defined as an imbalance between buyers and sellers. A bullish imbalance has more buyers behind it and a bearish imbalance has more sellers behind it. When you see an impulsive move to the upside or downside in the market with no wicks overlapping full-bodied candles, this is where imbalances in the market are formed. They can happen on all time frames, but easier to trade on higher ones, especially after high impact news happen.
When looking for an imbalance in the market, simply look for any candle which has a full body and look for the part of the candle that isn’t overlapped by the previous and next candles’ wicks. This signifies an imbalance in the market because there were few transactions going on between buyers and sellers. (On chart) we can see how sellers completely overpowered buyers. Wicks usually represent price oscillating up and down within the time it takes to print that candle, showing that price is efficient. So when you see a full-bodied candle with no wicks overlapping it, you’ve identified a clear imbalance in price.
Price Imbalance Is An Imbalance Between Buyers & Sellers
The reason we call it an imbalance is not only because it’s an imbalance between buyers and sellers, but because there is literally an imbalance in the market. If we have an impulsive move to the upside it’s because there are no sellers to absorb the buying pressure of the bulls (bid up). This means that there is no resistance from sellers to stop the buyers from pushing the price up extremely rapidly. On the other hand, if we have an impulsive move to the downside it’s because there are no buyers to absorb the selling pressure of the bears (bid down). This means that there is no resistance from buyers to stop the sellers from pushing the price down extremely rapidly.
Imbalances in the market can also be viewed as inefficiency in price, telling us may be banks or financial institutions involved in the aggressive movement of price we’re seeing. Again, if we think about it, most impulsive moves and imbalances in the market happen as a result of there being no liquidity in the form of orders to stop price from being met with resistance and slowing down. In an efficient market, we typically see price trade in a range of fair value for that asset where sellers sell when they perceive the price of the asset is high (premium), and buyers buy when they perceive the price as low (discount).
By doing this, it creates a high momentum move and imbalance in the market that is much like a gap in price. In some cases, this price manipulation may be a part of an institution’s plan to generate liquidity, and therefore we may see price seek to “fill” that imbalance or close that gap before pushing back into the same direction that price impulse from.
Naturally, most imbalances in the market represent inefficiency in price, and therefore there is usually a good chance that price will return to fill that imbalance (in order to make price efficient again). While this isn’t always the case (price can just continue to push away from imbalances that form in the market), we can sometimes see price seek to mitigate the imbalance, or the zone that the imbalance originated from, and therefore look to take a trade in the direction of the imbalance in order to profit off of price moving in that direction to mitigate it! Trade Smarter not Harder.
What Is Leverage (in Forex trading)?Leverage allows you to potentially trade more money than you have in your current account. Your broker gives you a loan of 1:10 up to 1:50 leverage for your trading, in the U.S.A. (see chart attached).
You can change all amounts and % per trade on the chart.
Remember less leverage you put down on a trade, the higher margin (deposit or cash out of your account is needed) to place trades, yes that is how your broker protects you and them from a big huge loss by a forex trader. Also, this how you prevent margin calls from your broker from taking on to much risk.
Forex trading involves several things:
1) You account size
2) Leverage used. Higher leverage means you need less margin (broker deposit) per trade. Smaller trades you can do higher leverage with proper risk control. Higher trades you can do smaller leverage with proper risk control. Then you trade for the long-term, not just for a short period of times.
3) Required cash margin that your broker needs to hold for each trade that you are in. Protection for yourself and broker during your trade.
4) Percentage % used per trade (risk controlled by you)< Always do this on every trade that you do.
5) Lot size (you decide before any trades are done). Standard size: 1= 100,000= $10, Micro lot 1= 10,000= $1 or Mini lot 1= 1,000= 0.01 (on USD pairs)
6) Always use a STOP LOSS when trading (so you can determine, amount of risk per trade and/or lot size proper for each trade you do.)
You always want to use normally less then 5% risk per trade, so that 20 losing trades in a row does not blow your account. Risk management of your account is what will determine if you succeed or fail in forex trading. If you have a 1% or 2% per risk per trade with a 60%, 70% or higher win rate, with yes compound interest, you will see very high profits in the longer term and your forex account grow fast. The secret is leave your account alone and let it grow.
Actually, forex trading involves another ten things, which you can control are: account size, candlestick setups, entry, exit, targets, pair you trade, leverage you use, price you get in, session you trade and time you trade, lot sizes, risk per trade 1% to 5% (less is more).
Handling losses like a pro!Hey traders,
Ever wondered how some of the professional traders can lose tens of thousands of dollars and still not be phased? Well, today I am going to chat about how and why they have the ability to remain consistent and trust the process, and how you can do the same.
Enjoy!
🟩TRADING HACKS: You're doing ENOUGH 🟩 This video is about the importance of thinking in RR and %. The main point is when you think you haven't earned enough is $ amount - and so you want to trade more and more, which leads to poor trade quality - remind yourself that trading is highly scalable, and so it's ok to imagine you have a 20x more capital at the moment. So x20 your profit in the trade and ask yourself how I feel now, is this enough for the day? Remember, if you're consistent, you'll be able to scale the account relatively easy.
Successful traders think like chess playersEvery day I get many questions from traders and more than half of them are: "What will X asset do today, will it rise or fall" or "Do you think X asset will reach Y price?"
With very few exceptions, I say "I don't know". Surely my interlocutor will think that I don't want to tell him/her or that I'm an idiot.
In fact, the correct answer is another: "I don't care"
And now, dear reader, you will think not that I am an idiot, but a complete one.
But bear with me a little more and let me explain using a real trading example on EurUsd
Let's say we consider taking a trade on this pair so, we ask ourselves what do we know about it?
1. Fundamentally the USD is favored
2. The trend is down for more than a year.
So, we want to trade in the direction of the trend and sell this pair
Looking closely at the chart we see that EurUsd is contained in a downwards channel and recently found support in the 0.99 zone.
Last week, the pair corrected and reached a high at 1.0150 and reversed exactly from the channel's resistance, leaving a nice and strong bearish engulfing on our daily chart.
Going further with our judgment, where do we want to sell this pair?
Now, considering my approach, I see a good place to sell in the 1.0030-1.0050 zone.
So we set a sell limit order in that zone (Remember, professional traders use pending orders)
We also consider at this moment the point where our bearish outlook is negated. We get 1.0150 for our stop loss.
Now, using again my personal trade, let's say we set the selling order at 1.0030, with a stop loss at 1.0150 we have a potential loss of 120 pips.
We know that every pip move on EurUsd represents 1usd for 0.01 volume, so 12usd potential loss on 0.01 trade for our trade.
Now, let's consider volumes.
What potential loss are we "comfortable" with?
For the sake of example let's say 120 USD, so a 0.1 volume.
Now let’s see where we can take profit.
0.97 zone is the falling channel's support, so there.
Looking at such a trade we have 120 pips or 120 USD potential loss with 330 pips or 330 potential profit. This gives us a close to 1:3 risk-reward ratio, a very good one.
And now, maintaining the analogy from the title is the market’s “move” turn
And the market can do only 2 things at this point: fill our pending order or not.
Considering that I don't hold pending orders after NY's close, if the market doesn't reach my level by then, I will remove the order, and tomorrow I will start over again by analyzing the market.
The second is to trigger our limit order as is also the case for my trade, and we are in a running trade now.
Now, with a trade running is again the market's move.
So, what are the possible scenarios?
1. The market rises and hits our SL. Although an undesirable scenario, we knew from the start that it’s a possibility and like every trade, this also carries a risk. We considered it and assumed it from the start and didn't trade more than we could afford to lose in a trade.
So, we take it like a stoic and move on to the next trade and market analysis
2. The lovely scenario in which EurUsd breaks 0.99 support and falls to our target.
So, our reasoning was correct and we now have a trade that brought 330usd in our pocket, but more importantly we traded disciplined with a good R: R
3. The market falls below 0.99 but reverses. Now we can also consider some action
- Move SL in BE and let the trade run
- Close half to get some money off the table and move SL into BE
- Close all trade
In conclusion:
As you can see, you don't need to be Gary Kasparov to be a good trader, the market's "moves” being in fact just a few. All you need to do is to be aware of these moves and have a plan for each of them.
This way you will not end up wondering every minute "where will EurUsd go, it will rise, it will fall", you will not trade emotionally or recklessly.
As Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who failed to plan, plan to fail", but it is not your case, because, as a good trader you always trade with a plan and know from the beginning all that the market can do.
Best regards!
Mihai Iacob
EDUCATION WHAT IS DRAWDOWN | 3 Types Of Drawdown ExplainedHey traders ,
is it drawdown . The account drawdown is the highest observed loss from the highest value of the deposit to the lowest value of the deposit at a certain period of time . Imagine you started to trade with 10,000 $ account . At the end of the year , your account size reached 15,000 $ . 1 However , at some point through the year the deposit value dropped to 6,000 $ . It was the absolute minimum for the one - year period . At some point , your net loss was -4,000 $ or 40 % of your account balance . The account drawdown is 40 % .
! Knowing the account drawdown is very important for the risk assessment of the trading strategy . Usually , 50 % and bigger drawdown signifies an extremely high risk .
There are 3 types of drawdown to know
Current drawdown - a temporary drawdown associated with the negative total value of opened trading position ( s ) at present . Once you start trading with 10,000 $ deposit , you open several trading positions . Being opened , with the constant price movements , your potential gains fluctuates from positive to negative . For examples , with 3 active trades : EURUSD ( -500 $ at present ) ; GBPUSD ( + 200 $ at present ) ; GOLD ( -100 $ at present ) your current account drawdown is -400 $ or 4 % of your deposit . Fixed drawdown - the negative value of the closed trading position ( s ) at present for a certain period of time . While some of your trades remain active , some are already closed . Imagine the same deposit - 10,000 $ . On Monday you opened 6 trades , 2 still remain active and 4 are already closed . Your total loss from your closed trades is -500 $ . Your fixed Monday's drawdown is 5 % . Maximum Drawdown - the maximum observed loss from
WHAT IS DRAWDOWN | 3 Types Of Drawdown Explained 📚
Hey traders,
In my videos, I frequently use the term "drawdown".
Many of you asked me to explain the meaning of that term and share some examples.
The account drawdown is the highest observed loss from the highest
value of the deposit to the lowest value of the deposit at
a certain period of time.
Imagine you started to trade with 10,000$ account.
At the end of the year, your account size reached 15,000$.
However, at some point through the year the deposit value dropped to 6,000$. It was the absolute minimum for the one-year period.
At some point, your net loss was -4,000$ or 40% of your account balance.
The account drawdown is 40%.
❗️Knowing the account drawdown is very important for the risk assessment of the trading strategy. Usually, 50% and bigger drawdown signifies an extremely high risk.
There are 3 types of drawdown to know.
Current drawdown - a temporary drawdown associated
with the negative total value of opened trading position(s)
at present.
Once you start trading with 10,000$ deposit, you open several trading positions. Being opened, with the constant price movements, your potential gains fluctuates from positive to negative.
For examples, with 3 active trades: EURUSD (-500$ at present); GBPUSD (+200$ at present); GOLD (-100$ at present) your current account drawdown is -400$ or 4% of your deposit.
Fixed drawdown - the negative value of the closed trading
position(s) at present for a certain period of time.
While some of your trades remain active, some are already closed.
Imagine the same deposit - 10,000$.
On Monday you opened 6 trades, 2 still remain active and 4 are already closed. Your total loss from your closed trades is -500$. Your fixed Monday's drawdown is 5%.
Maximum Drawdown - the maximum observed loss from
the highest value of the deposit before a new maximum
is reached.
Starting to trade with 10,000$ you are already trading for 5 years.
Your account were growing rapidly and at some moment it reached 25,000$. Then the recession started. You faced a dramatic loss of 12,500$ before you started to recover.
That was the maximum observed loss for the period.
Your maximum account drawdown was 50%.
❗️Different types of drawdown give a lot of insights about a trading strategy. Its proper assessment will help to spot a high risk strategy and to find a conservative one.
Constantly monitor your account drawdown and always check the numbers.
What is your highest account drawdown?
❤️If you have any questions, please, ask me in the comment section.
Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
How to calculate which lot size to useAs mentioned several times before, we risk 1% of our total trading capital per transaction. In simple terms, we risk 1 egg out of the 100 that we have in the basket in an attempt to get more eggs.
However, even though the average price mark where we place our Stop Loss is 30-60 pips away from the entry price, SL levels set differ from one trade to another, and different currency pairs have various differences in pricing (major pairs have small differences for the most part, while minor and cross-pairs have big gaps in pricing).
This article will demonstrate 3 random scenarios and illustrate which lot sizing is needed to be used based on the Stop Loss set and the percentage of the total capital risked while taking into account the size of the trading account. All numbers are imaginary in order to diversify the visualisation of the portrayed examples and give a better understanding of the case.
Enjoy the idea and don't forget to drop your questions in the comment box below!
Reminescence of a Scam Operator (ANTI SCAMMER GUIDE)Reminiscent of the roaring 1920s, the 2020 epidemic and the inability to work for many people brought an influx of new retail investors to the public market. Furthermore, the FED's decision to prop up the market by dropping interest rates combined with stimulus checks handed out by the U.S. government lured in even more investors who were hungry for profits. Although the market sensation also brought a rise of omnipresent scams across all trading platforms.
Lack of workforce, sophisticated methods, and automated bots often play into the hands of perpetrators who try to get ahead of the platform and its users. Therefore, we decided to write this concise article with the purpose of helping new investors to recognize good apples from bad ones.
The most common means of communication for criminals is to use private chat, public chat, comments, ideas, and headline references. Several examples of red flags are shown below.
RED FLAGS AND OTHER POINTS:
Asking for personal information and TradingView account information
One common tactic criminals use to exploit their victims is to ask for personal information or account information (login and password). This information should not be disclosed to anyone, including someone claiming to be a platform's employee/support (as these people tend to have access to this information).
Asking for trading account information
Another standard method bad actors use is asking for trading account information. On such occasions, a perpetrator asks for existing account information or requests a victim to create a new account; then, a perpetrator usually asks the victim to invest money into the account and let them use it in return for shared profits.
False promises
The third point probably accompanies every other point on our list. This point relates mainly to false promises about trading achievements, which often include statements about having a high win rate, high net worth, and an unbeatable trading system.
Financial gurus and lavish lifestyles
A high follower count and strong social media presence do not equal reliability. Perpetrators often portray lavish lifestyles across social media platforms to entice more people and trick them into buying a trading signal service or trading course (or any other service). The public image does not necessarily have to match a person's authentic lifestyle. Indeed, trading as a career is highly time-consuming and does not come with trading from a vicinity of a pool or ski resort; that is just public perception.
Trading signals and trading courses
Unfortunately, most of the time, trading signal services (for buy) lack performance and do not consider subscribers' risk tolerance and account sizes. In regard to trading courses, we hold a similarly low opinion of them as we think learning a skill to trade goes far beyond a few hours of any trading course.
Unrealistic win-rate claims
Most brokerages report that their retail clients lose about 50-90% of the initial capital, especially when trading CFDs. Therefore, we would like to put in perspective how realistic claims about a high win rate really are. Professional traders tend to peak at approximately a 50% win-rate over a consistent period. Thus, claims about a 90% or higher win rate are likely to be false.
Guaranteed moves and risk-free investments
Another tactic of scamming utilizes guaranteeing moves in the market. However, there is nothing like a guaranteed move since the market constantly changes and is influenced by complex factors.
These are just few points we included, however, we ask a public to share their own points in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This content serves solely educational purposes.
How to use the Multibit-System x8 ProcessorFirst, the bases of this chart:
what is multibit:
its a way to transmit 16 bools from one indicator to the next, based on the library
this is called daisy chaining, so to use that stuff u need at least a TV-pro+ license, but i would recommend
premium, as you also have more data to analyze
here you see how its basically looking, x8 can do 8 channels, starting from the bottom which is 0 to the
top which is channel 7
what is a classic signal:
its a signal for daisy chaining based on a trigger line which can do -1, 0, +1 for short,long, neutral
What to see in that Idea:
5 indicators chained into a row which are finally a combined to a strategy
almost Nadaraya-watson -- configured to deliver classic signal on cross-inside
--> to Digitalsignal plot
x8 L3 Processor -- configured to convert a classic to a multibit to channel 0(L),1(S)
--> to Multibit plot
L1 L2 RSI -- configured to deliver a multibit signal on channel 2(oversold),3(overb.)
--> to Multibit plot
all the data is now into the daisychain multibit link (so channel 0 1 2 3 used)
x8 L3 Processor --
here a lot more of the magic begins:
MDB: channel 0 to ch. 0 (filtering small moves (+-4%)
MDB: channel 1 to ch. 1 (filtering small moves (+-4%)
TON: channel 2 to ch. 4 prolonging 2 by 10 bars
TON: channel 3 to ch. 5 prolonging 2 by 10 bars
AND: channel 0 and 4 to channel 6
AND: channel 1 and 5 to channel 7
finaly its configured to send out a classic signal from channel 6 and 7 -> 6 is +1 7 is a -1 else 0
--> to Digitalsignal plot
you can now do alarms on the x8 processor Digitalsignal (trigger above and below 0 for long short)
FINISHED, OR:
L5 Backtest MK5.5
grabbs the x8 processor (Digitalsignal) and does the risk management and does its magic
with the settings in the indicator
--> delivers alarms how the position gets managed with a alarmmessage
{{strategy.order.alert_message}} in the alarmconfig,
than you get the custom texts from the module
Functions inside the x8 Processor (you can read the signaltranscoder library for more details)
And and condition - 1 2 or 3 signals to on channel line 2 output channel
Or condition - 1 2 or 3 signals to on channel line 2 output channel
XOR, XAND, NAND, NOR (this are basic Logic combiners)
TON - wants a signal over a minumum selectable length to let it pass
TOF - prolongs a signal by length selected
next 2 are little bit more tricky
MDP (MinimumPercentagePromille)
- only lets pass a signal if it minimum grows or shrinks xxxx promile
Parameters: would be: 1=Input, 2= 950(5% shrink), 3= 1050(5% grow)
4=outputchannel 5= MDP
RATE - wants a amount of signals in a defined length
Parameters: 1= input, 2= candleamount, 3= minimum count
4= output 5= RATE
that list are most functions a strategy uses, so you can combine more indicators in a row without the need to code around every time you wanna try something.
There are now several multibit indicators out in the wild from me, each of my indicators which i touch again or update will be compatible. at least for Level 1 Indicators i do a 1,0 -1 Classic signal which a x8 can turn into a multibit very quicky.
a implementation reference code you can see here:
at the bottom of the script, both versions, classic and multibit
have fun