JCL's Forex: Forex Trading Life

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 01:29 PM PDT

greg: would you classify these as tricky trading days Jordan? I think it's tough right now but I'm much less experienced than you
jordan: a tricky (or the worst trading day) is one that has sharp quick moves back and forth. You see a move so quick and sharp you think I have to get in! and take a position then it reverses just as quick and you think I have to exit and reverse! then this happens again and again and you just blew out your account and are sick
jordan: that has happened to me
tony: i was sure i was the only one with the bad luck
jordan: today, if you were free trading 'seems' to be quite good. for the last two hours we saw strong $$ and it was clear and have been strong since
greg: that's why we need a system like yours. When I used to play with demos and was really just trading to see what happened I blew at least 3 5k demo accounts
greg: You see Tony I get that sort of luck too!
greg: it was horrible to watch
ajay: This volatility is not done for today.
jordan: you are thinking we are going to whipsaw back ajay?
greg: I fear that too, but I'm just afraid at the moment

jordan:there is nothing to fear. Just took a hit on the usd/cad and lost 0.19% of the account. if you are using the right position sizing the losses do not hurt you and when we catch a wave you build up the account. we never know which signals are going to hold. it is about perseverance. We had an easy two months with good profits and now the last two and a half weeks have been tough while all pairs are in a tight range but we have not given back anything of our accounts. that ROCKS for trend traders!

ajay: Sorry I setped out for a bit. Yes I do think this market will be choppy for next three days. Last day of Q and than July 4th will make it whipsaw
greg: it's all about mental attitude Jordan, I'm still developing my mental toughness to this, although I just checked and I lost EXACTLY 0.19% of my account. Must be doing something right! Not using oanda for actual trading I used it to calculate the lots I should be trading with Alpari, you just confirmed it for me
greg: when I started trading real money I would get annoyed if I lost even like 0.01% - as it was a loss of real money and I would think "that was the price of a pint or whatever" now I am detached from the £ amount. Last week was tough for me as it was the most trades I've ever opened at one time
greg: and I found THAT scary, but I'm getting there
jordan: although I just checked and I lost EXACTLY 0.19% of my account. - okay, good. trying to enforce the no need for fear

could you imagine how bad things would have to be for us to have a 3 or 4% draw down

jordan: i am trying to build the correct mental attitude for correct mindset as best I know is all ;-)

greg: well you're doing a good job. I read that trading is 15% the system you use to get signals or whatever and 85% mental attitude.
jordan: after you put up your first profitable year of trading you can start writing what it is all about. we don't listen to others because I doubt many of them could put up a return on their money and we can!
greg: everyone I talk to (outside this forum) about trading tells me I'm gambling and I try to say "but no, I work with a system which works" people dont want to hear it. I've stopped telling people that I like to trade
amir: its hard to trade profitably, at least in my experiences, when you expect too much from it
amir: and when you also invest like ALL of your money in it
amir: lol

greg: what do you mean Amir? I re-mortgaged my house to do this?!?
amir: I did that when I first started, I put pretty much all of my money into fx and when it was gone I was like "damn...ugh I coulda bought a bmw with that"
amir: lol

jordan: at the end of the year tell them you had a 10%, 20%, 30% or whatever it is return on your money and ask them how they did with the banks and retirement plans
[15:28:54] jordan: people always think and follow the herd. that is why they all lost 40-60% of their savings last year. and trading is dangerous? What has been our biggest draw down on our accounts all year, less than 4%? Not bad for double digit gains ;-)