Kyle's Journal Mk2

[Kyle]

Hey all,
I was wondering whether to start a new journal or not with my fresh start with AIMS, but when I thought "Fresh Start", I made the decision to do that for the journal as well.
I was in AIMS some years ago and lost my way a bit, however, have come back and things have made some more sense this time around and got hopefully to where I was before plus some since. I am active in the chat room (come along, it's great) and hope to become a seasoned and successful AIMS trader.
To that end, I will post my trades, warts and all. I hope it will not only improve my trading, but also help others as well.

[Kyle]

Now, I attempted to make my first trade on the new account today. Why new? I was with pepperstone but they do not offer the DAX as an option, so I have moved to IC Markets. So, it wasn't a move from a destroyed account, but to one that I can trade DAX with.

I thought we had one setup today. Fortunately for me, the MT4 gave me an error - "mt4 pending order failed off quotes". Haven't worked that one out yet, but we'll see what happens on the next trade.
Anyway, in the end, it was fortunate as the trade would have been stopped out, taking a small 0.38% rent from the initial 1% risk, but I believe it would have been a valid setup. Cannot expect them all t win, and I have had a good week identifying others that came through.

2014-05-15 de30m1 entry 1749.png

Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll be able to let you know of a trade that has worked well B-)

[Darren]

Welcome back to the journal world Kyle!

I took that trade, small rent paid!

I have never had an off quotes message with IC Markets, what type of account do you have with them?

[Kyle]

Hi Darren. I have a MetaTrader 4 True ECN Account with them. Just lodged a support request to find out what it may be and will post the answer in case anyone else gets it.

[Kyle]

Missed two trades tonight by being a bit too slow in taking the entry.

One could have been one of two scenarios. If taking a fruit signal as an exit, it could have been a 0.45 Reward : Risk, whereas a dot exit would have been a small 0.06% rent on 1% risk.

2014-05-19 de30m1 entry 2332.png

The other, complete literally just a few minutes ago would be a "Trade of the week" with a fantastic 4.93 Reward : Risk

2014-05-20 de30m1 entry 0057.png

I need to become more efficient in analysis and selection. It will come, but I am also making sure I do trade correct setups and not make errors that I could avoid. Honestly couldn't care about a losing trade if it was correct setup, but mistakes must be minimalised.

Let's aim for a faster trade selection tomorrow. Congrats to Darren in the Chat room who rode that last trade and also to Peter for identifying it live in the room \:D/

[Dave]

Hi Kyle,
I know that you know what you're doing, so take what I say however you wish, but something that really changed my trading was shifting my point of focus from M1/M5 to M5/M1. It might seem like semantics but it all comes back to Immy's statement that "we trade M5 but we take our entries from M1". So rather than sitting and staring at M1 and feeling as though I'm checking every dot and constantly looking to M5 to validate or invalidate these dots, my focus is 100% on the M5 chart and only when the M5 chart shows me what I want (freshly opening alligator, eWave momentum, pullback for new fractal) do I then look at M1. My thought process is along the lines of, "M5 is now right, let's see if M1 gives me the setup to resume the trend".
It's only a small change but I feel much more in tune this way and am ready for, or even anticipating, the M1 alert when it comes. Or similarly, very quick to dismiss it when M5 isn't right.
Cheers, Dave

[bambino45]

Hi Kyle,
I know that you know what you're doing, so take what I say however you wish, but something that really changed my trading was shifting my point of focus from M1/M5 to M5/M1. It might seem like semantics but it all comes back to Immy's statement that "we trade M5 but we take our entries from M1". So rather than sitting and staring at M1 and feeling as though I'm checking every dot and constantly looking to M5 to validate or invalidate these dots, my focus is 100% on the M5 chart and only when the M5 chart shows me what I want (freshly opening alligator, eWave momentum, pullback for new fractal) do I then look at M1. My thought process is along the lines of, "M5 is now right, let's see if M1 gives me the setup to resume the trend".
It's only a small change but I feel much more in tune this way and am ready for, or even anticipating, the M1 alert when it comes. Or similarly, very quick to dismiss it when M5 isn't right.
Cheers, Dave

Dave,
I could not agree more. It may indeed be semantics but it just makes so much more sense. The less time spent looking at M1 the better. Why check M5 five times every 5 minutes ? It isn't going to change. Having that bigger picture view is hugely important. This is fractal geometry. You start at the smallest magnification then you zoom in. As an AIMster you are a sniper and that scope on your rifle is only used once the target is located. It isn't any use scanning large areas, it is used once the target has been identified to focus.

It also enables you to scan more markets and pairs if you so choose and get that rifle ready.

Maybe a slightly ethereal analogy but it works for me.

Cheers
:-bd

[Kyle]

Thanks for the input Dave and Bambino. Looks like the Aussies are coming together a bit (in Tassie). I understand exactly where you both are coming from, and I do have the m5 chart open alongside the m1 chart. I do very similar where I know if it is in a reasonable position "soon" as such, even on the m1, you see the two dotted lines instead of the purple. They represent the m5 Alli on the m1 chart as well if you just want the one open.
Quite happy as Bambino said, to sit and stalk the prey. I think it is hugely important not to over-trade and be happy to take correct setups only and not try to bend the rules. As simple as they are, it will lessen the probabilities if we step outside them.
Although I could trade other pairs as well, I am mostly interested in the DAX at the moment as it is one that has a great ADR, whereas the GBP and EUR are quite low for now. Quiet happy as I am learning to sit on the DAX twice a day for 2hrs each session while I can. Not so much when my son is over, but still trade NY equities open as he will be in bed.

[Kyle]

First trade today. A small rent. The Easy Order seems to not quite calculate risk size properly. 0.39% rent on 0.5% risk and the trade went 56% towards disaster S/L, which should have meant around a 0.28% rent, but that is OK.
Gator was Sleeping
Dot Candle was inside AIMS
Trading was away from Gator
AO was close to Zero Line
AO crossed 6 bars prior
S/L was close enough (10.2 pips)
So, all up, all the conditions were met. That in consideration, I am satisfied that this one was simply one that didn't work out and move on to the next one. Mind you, I wont mention how far it ran after I closed out (OK then, it went 32 pips in the right direction within the next 14 minutes).
No emotion though, it just didn't work this time. NEXT B-)

2014-05-21 de30m1 entry 1655.png

Maybe I needed to wait for the Alli to sleep completely ie cross as it was slightly open...

[immy]

Yes, as you rightly mentioned it just did not work. By "IT" in this occasion we mean the trade management rules got you out earlier. It happens, but if you stick to it consistently, in the long run you may grow your account steadily.

all the best

my 2 cents worth