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Fantastic post on pyschology on losing by Boris Schlossberg
Intraday Scalping
And yes. If you were wondering, it has been confirmed by an ex-trader/current Head of Learning @ CMC that what I do is indeed intraday scalping.
Contrary to what I feel (I’ve done 1 min chart scalps before, this is WAYYYYY slower than that).
Easter Monday Holiday..
Boring long weekend for FX trading but unfortunately not at my day job.
Holidays (Europe/London) are bad for business.
Anyway highlights for boring Easter Monday:
1) EURUSD reaching yearly highs of 1.4600;
2) AUDUSD playing hangtime around 1.07xx;
3) USDJPY playing hangtime around 82.xx;
4) GBPUSD still hovering around multi-year high of 1.65xx.
Not that there were any lack of trading signals, just that none were taken due to lack of liquidity. EURJPY signaled entries twice but were limited to 20 pip movements.
Well, the hardest thing to learn in trading is when to stay out.
A tiny voice chants…
“Successful trading is boringgggggggg….”
“Uninspiring Asian session” – Jamie Coleman
Could this have been the signal?
Perhaps I should not only seek and take perfect signals (price rebounding off EMA62).
Since we cant command price to move in our way, the above can actually be considered a valid signal which is confirmed by the MACD and Stochastics.
Hmm.. Point noted.
Yen crosses.. Pips for thought..
Why are JPY pairs so volatile historically?
FX 101. What are the Foreign exchange majors?
The majors are USD, EUR, JPY, CHF and GBP.
As they are traded against the USD, major pairs are therefore the EURUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF and GBPUSD.
That brings us to today’s topic, the major crosses: EURJPY, GBPJPY and even the AUDJPY.
From a simple point of view, cross values are derived from the following formula:
EUR/ USD x USD/ JPY = EUR/ JPY
(A) x (B) = (C)
(A): Multiplier pair
(B): Base pair
From the above equation, the EUR and GBP crosses will typically be 1.45 times and 1.63 times more volatile than USDJPY, i.e. Assuming USDJPY is constant, 1 pip movement results in 1.45 and 1.63 pip movement in EURJPY and GBPJPY.
Of course in an ideal world the JPY will be constant. In the real world, both are variables and due to trade flows, prices fluctuate constantly.
Fundamentally, to effectively trade the EUR and GBP yen crosses, one could place more emphasis on the USDJPY pair instead of the EURUSD or GBPUSD.
According to the veterans, yen crosses are not as profitable statistically and not for the faint hearted. I agree with that to a large extent in the sense that stop losses have to be greater, risk is higher etc.
With this in mind, one might also infer that round number Support/Resistance levels (i.e. 1.00 and 0.50 price levels) for cross pairs are not as effective (as the USDJPY’s) since the price of the yen cross is a derivative of the USDJPY .
Point forward, to better utilise stop loss and profit target areas, one should consider consulting the USDJPY charts to identify potential reversal/support/resistance points in order to set informed and realistic stop loss and target profit levels.
And yes, going by the above train of thought, that is why the EURGBP is less volatile by nature.
A caution on using MACD setups…
Advice from scalper Boris Schlossberg:
http://www.investorwords.com/tips/58/a-caution-on-using-macd-setups.html
Duely noted. I prefer taking my signals from Stochastics and MACD is more of a confirmation in terms of whether it is decreasing or increasing. Not really taking a crossover as it usually lags.
Daily target attained
Certainly feels good to nail a trade you have visualized over and over again.
Since I have exceeded my daily pip target, shall go hang out with my bud and chill out tonight instead of eyeball the tri-session 9-12am~
More pips to be made tmr!
