Hi all,
I have a couple of reasons for starting this journal -
I am at a juncture in my career. I have recently been made redundant and the job market is not looking favourable at the moment. I am not really ready to trade full-time from a knowledge perspective but needs must and all that.
I would also like somewhere to record all my own trades as to date I have not been very good at keeping history and learning from it.
Trade History
I have been “punting” stocks with CFD’s since about Oct07. Not using TA at all, purely whether I thought the stock looked cheap or expensive – needless to say this was not all that successful. Whilst I was not so busy at work, and knowing that the recession was just around the corner and likely to be one of the worst in a very long time, I decided to look for a way to make myself “recession proof”. So in Aug 08 I started to trawl the net, on trading forums etc, until I came across a thread on Trade2win.com started by Trader_Dante. Basically he is an advocate of Price action and a student of the James16 thread. So having read his thread through I am now about half way through the James16 thread.
These guys have basically turned my trading around and I am finally making some headway. There have been many on those threads that have spent their time to help me and for that I will always be grateful.
However I have been struggling as my account has been very small – I started with about £200. Have taken that down to £47 then back upto £800 then down to £300 etc. You get the picture – no money management!!
I have found trading a small amount really makes a big psychological difference to the way I trade, and to date I don’t have the discipline necessary.
Therefore I will be starting this little adventure with about £2000 - £3000. This time though I am hoping to install money management techniques that I have learnt on these threads.
Methods
I will be using Price action as a reason for my trades. I will not be using indicators, apart from either the MACD or RSI for divergence. I will be looking for Price Action at areas of confluence, where previous support/resistance has taken place with other factors such as fibs, trendlines.
I mark up my charts by looking for these pivot point zones, on the weekly, daily and then 4 hourly timeframe. I normally view charts using candlesticks, but have found recently that using bar charts for marking up my charts is clearer to me.
I then wait for the Price to come to my PPZ's and look for Price action here.
For now I will use the knowledge that I have acquired from these two threads. I hope to join the James16 group private forum as soon as I have been through the public thread.
Basically keeping things as simple as possible.
Tools
I am using IG index on a spreadbetting account. Reason being this is a platform I am familiar with. Whilst I was at work I was unable to load software onto my machine and IG provide the best web based charting package. I also have an ODL demo account. Whilst I now have more time on my hands I will hope to become more familiar with the MT4 platform.
Thanks to all who visit here, and hopefully this may even be of some value to others someday.
Cheers
Simon
I have a couple of reasons for starting this journal -
I am at a juncture in my career. I have recently been made redundant and the job market is not looking favourable at the moment. I am not really ready to trade full-time from a knowledge perspective but needs must and all that.
I would also like somewhere to record all my own trades as to date I have not been very good at keeping history and learning from it.
Trade History
I have been “punting” stocks with CFD’s since about Oct07. Not using TA at all, purely whether I thought the stock looked cheap or expensive – needless to say this was not all that successful. Whilst I was not so busy at work, and knowing that the recession was just around the corner and likely to be one of the worst in a very long time, I decided to look for a way to make myself “recession proof”. So in Aug 08 I started to trawl the net, on trading forums etc, until I came across a thread on Trade2win.com started by Trader_Dante. Basically he is an advocate of Price action and a student of the James16 thread. So having read his thread through I am now about half way through the James16 thread.
These guys have basically turned my trading around and I am finally making some headway. There have been many on those threads that have spent their time to help me and for that I will always be grateful.
However I have been struggling as my account has been very small – I started with about £200. Have taken that down to £47 then back upto £800 then down to £300 etc. You get the picture – no money management!!
I have found trading a small amount really makes a big psychological difference to the way I trade, and to date I don’t have the discipline necessary.
Therefore I will be starting this little adventure with about £2000 - £3000. This time though I am hoping to install money management techniques that I have learnt on these threads.
Methods
I will be using Price action as a reason for my trades. I will not be using indicators, apart from either the MACD or RSI for divergence. I will be looking for Price Action at areas of confluence, where previous support/resistance has taken place with other factors such as fibs, trendlines.
I mark up my charts by looking for these pivot point zones, on the weekly, daily and then 4 hourly timeframe. I normally view charts using candlesticks, but have found recently that using bar charts for marking up my charts is clearer to me.
I then wait for the Price to come to my PPZ's and look for Price action here.
For now I will use the knowledge that I have acquired from these two threads. I hope to join the James16 group private forum as soon as I have been through the public thread.
Basically keeping things as simple as possible.
Tools
I am using IG index on a spreadbetting account. Reason being this is a platform I am familiar with. Whilst I was at work I was unable to load software onto my machine and IG provide the best web based charting package. I also have an ODL demo account. Whilst I now have more time on my hands I will hope to become more familiar with the MT4 platform.
Thanks to all who visit here, and hopefully this may even be of some value to others someday.
Cheers
Simon