Baruch's Forex System Journal
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Hey Baruch, I figured that part of the reason I did lots of scalping was also the need to be constantly challenged and overcome boredom. Once I figured this, decided that my all-time mantra (focus on one single market at a time only) was actually double-edged, and I decided to offset the boredom by studying and trading as many markets as possible, until boredom no longer has a chance to prevail (you can't really juggle a dozen burning torches and be bored).
It was an interesting discovery. How after years of trading, you can still so much change your mind on something. It's worth realizing that this job is always interesting, because there's always more to absorb, adapt, improve, learn.
Now, instead of focusing on one market and trying to take each single trade, I just watch a bunch of markets and cherry-pick the best trades in each all day / night long. Works better than ever. Much more relaxed, yet never bored. For me that is. Whether you choose specialization or diversification is entirely up to the individual.
Currently I trade the ES, NQ, DAX, BUND, ER2, HSI, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, CAD, CHF.
I have found this really works well against boredom.
I do, however, not recommend this to beginners(!). If you're just starting off, there's far too much stuff to learn even about a single market than could allow you to look to another. However, this may not so validly apply for stocks, where you can diversify with a "stable" of stocks you get to know well and always use. I would say derivatives (futures) are way too efficient to adapt such a "stable" mentality for intraday trading. At least for most people. But then, I think most people shouldn't be trading derivatives, anyway.
Quote from Scientist:
Hey Baruch, I figured that part of the reason I did lots of scalping was also the need to be constantly challenged and overcome boredom. Once I figured this, decided that my all-time mantra (focus on one single market at a time only) was actually double-edged, and I decided to offset the boredom by studying and trading as many markets as possible, until boredom no longer has a chance to prevail (you can't really juggle a dozen burning torches and be bored).
It was an interesting discovery. How after years of trading, you can still so much change your mind on something. It's worth realizing that this job is always interesting, because there's always more to absorb, adapt, improve, learn.
Now, instead of focusing on one market and trying to take each single trade, I just watch a bunch of markets and cherry-pick the best trades in each all day / night long. Works better than ever. Much more relaxed, yet never bored. For me that is. Whether you choose specialization or diversification is entirely up to the individual.
Currently I trade the ES, NQ, DAX, BUND, ER2, HSI, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, CAD, CHF.
I have found this really works well against boredom.
I do, however, not recommend this to beginners(!). If you're just starting off, there's far too much stuff to learn even about a single market than could allow you to look to another. However, this may not so validly apply for stocks, where you can diversify with a "stable" of stocks you get to know well and always use. I would say derivatives (futures) are way too efficient to adapt such a "stable" mentality for intraday trading. At least for most people. But then, I think most people shouldn't be trading derivatives, anyway.
Hi Scientist,
OK. Yes, boredom is the traders worst enemy, I suppose, because it leads to overtrading.
I just checked on this. I don't understand...
If you went short 1.795... You can't have taken 45 pips, because price only went down 18 pips from there. Am I getting something wrong here?
Do you mean 1.7995? Please verify your entries/exits and quote them in 5 digits, this is important in 5-digit forex like GBP.
OK then, some notes;
1) For starters, I assume you're using SMA instead of EMA, since it was crossed at 1.7999. Any reasons for preferring an SMA? Have you experimented with any EMA's?
2) You supposedly entered at 1.7995, 4 pips below cross? Didn't you say you use a 10-pip entry filter? What happened?
3) I see on my quote station your order was for 1 contract @MKT at 2:45:43 EST.
Do you use market orders to get in? If so, do you consider that safe, particularly in a freefall like this, where the bid could just disappear and you get filled anywhere? And on top of that during one of the least liquid times in one of the least liquid markets? Or did you just have your LMT somewhere below the bid? Appreciate your elaboration.
4) You exited either @LMT at 3:09:49, MKT at 3:23:22, or LMT at 3:23:27. Since latter two were exactly the minute you posted your results, I'm not sure if it could have been them. So I ask how do you preferably exit? At LMT? And more importantly, what made you exit there?
5) Why did you exit at all? There clearly was a powerful fall, and according to 30m chart, we made a lower low at the 3:00 bar (lower than the prior day's 12:30 bar, even if just by a couple of pips, for chartists that's all that counts!), on top of the fact that the swing highs on the 30m are all lower than the preceding ones. So we're witnessing the quasi-beginning of a downward sloping channel. All these things would confirm a bearish position over a bullish one.
6) In light of these questions and circumstances, would you think that it could have been wise to have a splittable position, take 1/2 or 2/3 just above the prior low (like you did) and another 1/2 or 1/3 for continuation for a possibly much larger gain?
Cheers,
Scientist
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