Monday, October 24, 2011

Forex Trading Lessons Learned ...the hard way


I am not trading today. And hey, what the bleep.... I didn't trade yesterday either.
Well, it's not because I didn't want to.

Ever since I started the Bossilator Course, I have become more aware of when I am in a trade, that I probably should not have placed in the first place. And that, is a good thing.

At least if I am not aware while I am in the trade, putting the trades up here really shows me what I should not have done. 

Scalping off 1 minute and 5 minute charts used to be such a great adrenalin rush, actually it still is. As you know I am still trying to kick the habit of not pulling the trigger on a gut feel.

I also have a bad habit of trying to force trades in, especially when I have a lot of "stuff" going on in real life. So trading had become a sort of "shopping therapy" or "retail therapy" as we fondly call it in this neck of the woods.

Here's a short list of 2 times that I have put on trades when I shouldn't have:

Lesson 1:  Before a Yoga Lesson
Really, do not trade just before a yoga lesson.
I go to a once a week morning yoga lesson which I love. And I love it because it creates pain in places of my body where I didn't know pain could exist. Delicious pain.
Yeah, sounds masochistic. So in that one and a half hour, my whole concentration is trying to get my body into these strange contortions. Amazingly, after that,  my mind feels totally clear.
Since I have about 4 hours to spare from when I wake up to the yoga lesson at 10am, I like to look at my charts. And since this is usually in the Asian session, I always (yep, I am looking to quantify this with testing) seem to see a move of at least 30 pips in one direction when the market opens - either in Japan or Singapore. As I write $AUDUSD already travelled 30pips from a High of 1.0478 to 1.0448.
I have won some trades, lost some and cut some short when in profit. I really hate the last scenario. So I've decided to go cold-turkey before yoga lessons. That's in 2 days time. Ominous!
 Lesson 2:  Before Handing Your Kid Off To Your EX 
It sounds kind of strange but I have found some benefits in being a single mom. A couple of times a year, my ex drops by to see the kid. I'll have to fill in the details...the ex lives in a different country...about 3 hours flight away. 
Anyways,  to save his costs (not mine - yes - I am so nice that way), we have an arrangement where he stays over at my place and I go off.  If I am really lucky, I'll have a trip planned, otherwise I just hang out at a friend's place (yes - that extra special one). Whatever the case, it means I will have some "me"time...which is great. 
The problem is that a few days before the event, I am usually rushing around trying to tidy up the apartment and madly  trying to pack my bags with everything but the kitchen sink. 
I must say that I have gotten better at doing this, beside the usual computer and clothes, now I just bring over my favorite Ikea kitchen scale (in case I want to bake), my AC Ryan media player and a couple of trading books. Of course in the midst of all this, I am looking at trade setups. 
I have been tracking this event, and my trading account has learnt the painful way that I really should not be trading on the day when I am supposed to hand the kid over.  I think it must be something to do with not being of sound mind and body. 
Well, this event is scheduled to happen again in mid-November. I signed up for a one-week Java course in the hope that I will learn more about programming stuff for the web. 
I think I will be able to ace Lesson Number 1. Then, if I get good at Lesson Number 2, my trading account will thank me.

 Happy Trading!