Weekly Summary: April 6 - April 11

Another good week that could have been great if not for the lapse in concentration towards the end of the week. All week, I was disciplined and followed the strategy from last week, and constantly kept increasing my equity. By Thursday morning, I had made over 9K in profits for the month, and my account was at its highest level.

Then greed and a brief lapse of concentration did me in. I traded for the sake of trading and entered trades where the setups were not valid. And in less than an hour of placing those trades, all of them hit my stop loss and I had a draw down of almost 3K. I immediately stopped trading for the rest of the week and took a break from trading to clear my mind. I figured if I continued trading, I will try to make up the lost money and will end up losing more.

Whats scary is that if I made 4-5 trades like this when I start with a real account (5K), I would pretty soon find myself in great deal of trouble. hence until I can build my account to above 10K, I need to look for 20-50 pip profit and cut my losses to 20-30 pips. That way I can manage my risks and handle some draw downs.

As always, here are the results for this week. Like in previous week, I have linked to my trades instead of giving the number. You can find it here.

Trade Update - GBP/USD Short

The Trade: GBP/USD Short

Date: April 11 2008, 9:30am
Entry: 1.97011
Lots: 5
Stop Loss: 1.97511
Target: 1.96511

Reason/Setup:
This trade was entered based on the squeeze play setup on daily charts. I entered the trade as soon as the signal was given. I had initially placed a 100 pip target and 50 pip stop for this trade. I later changed it to just a 50 pip profit since I didn't want to get too greedy and end up losing money. The chart below shows when the entry was made.


Result:
On Friday after I entered the trade, the pair slowly moved down and I had closed the day with a small profit. But the trade was still open. When the market opened on Sunday evening, almost all USD pairs had gapped down big due to the comments from the G7 meeting. Apparently all european banks had decided to support the dollar. Anyway, I was up little more than 40 pips on this pair, but I was still waiting for it to hit the 50 pip target. Unfortunately, that never happened. Like it usually happens, the pair moved up to close the gap and proceeded to move even higher. While all indicators pointed to a downward move, the pair continued moving higher. Ultimately, it hit my target point and closed the trade with a loss.

Date: April 14 2008, 1:30am
Total Pips: -250
Profit/Loss: $250
Rating: 4

While I didn't make a profit in this trade, I still followed the signals and money management techniques. Hence I give this trade a 4. Now I have some knowledge on how to pay gaps.

Lesson: If you are in a trade and the pair gaps in your favour, book profits immediately as the pair will look to close the gap.

Trade Update - USD/JPY Short

The Trade:

• Pair: USD/JPY Short
• Date: April 10 2008, 7:40am
• Entry: 100.588
• Lots: 10
• Stop Loss: 101.088
• Target: 100.088
• Reason/Setup: Yet another trade where I used the old OzFX signal which was signaled almost 2 days prior to enter this trade. The Elite setup on 15 minute chart shows that at the point of entry, the pair was actually starting to move higher. Yet I ignored that fact and just saw what I wanted to see.
  

Result:

• Date: April 10 2008, 8:06am
• Total Pips: -500
• Profit/Loss: $494.59
• Trade executed to plan? No
• Rating: 1
• Comments: This was yet another trade where I saw the signal as I wanted to so I could enter the trade. I had already made up my mind to enter all JPY pairs short. The Elite setup clearly shows the trend shifting and the pair starting to rally. Yet I decided to go short. Terrible trading.
  

Trade Update - EUR/JPY Short

The Trade:

• Pair: EUR/JPY Short
• Date: April 10 2008, 7:40am
• Entry: 159.163
• Lots: 10
• Stop Loss: 159.663
• Target: 158.663
• Reason/Setup: There were couple of reason why I entered this trade. First was that the Yen pairs had a significant move down during the Asian and European session overnight. I had already handsomely profited off that move yesterday, but I wanted to ride it a bit more. The next reason was that the OzFX signal was still valid on this pair, although it was a day old. In the chart the green candle marks the entry candle and the red the stop candle.
  

Result:

• Date: April 10 2008, 8:07am
• Total Pips: -500
• Profit/Loss: $494.43
• Trade executed to plan? No
• Rating: 1
• Comments: Very sloppy trade and complete lack of patience. First off I wanted to find a reason to get into the Yen pairs due to the overnight sell offs. hence I used the old OzFX signal. Next, I tried to enter based on the Elite setup. Here I first placed a sell limit order where the 10 SMA was, hoping to enter on pull back. But when price started moving towards that level, I decided to move the limit higher. As soon as I did that, price started falling again and I felt I was going to miss the trade. Hence I canceled the limit orders and entered the trade at market, way below my initial entry point. In the end, a very forgettable trade.
  

Trade Update - GBP/JPY Short

I made 2 trades on this pair today (April 10 2008) they were both terrible decisions. The green and red candles marked when I entered and got stopped in these trades.

Trade 1:
The first trade was made based on the Elite setup ion 15 minute charts. The yen pairs have been in steep decline the past day. On the 15 minute chart, we can see a brief rally where the 3 EMA crossed the 34 SMA before pulling back down. As per the Elite setup, I decided to enter the trade short once the 3 EMA crossed below the 34 SMA. However, I was late in entering the trade, and entered close to the bottom of the candles shown in blue. The stop loss was 40 pips away just above the 34 SMA line.

Entry: 198.756
Lots: 10
Stop Loss: 199.156
Target: 198.456
Rating: 4
Total Pips: -400
Profit/Loss: $398

Unfortunately, the pair decided to rally again and I soon hit my stop loss. Atleast I didnt feel so bad about this trade as I followed the setup and it was a regular loss. But what I did next was inexcusable.

Trade 2:
I checked all the JPY pairs on the OzFX setup on daily charts, and decided that the signal was still valid. So I entered short on them all including this pair. Even though I cut my lot size to 5, I had a 100 pip stop & a 50 pip target for this trade. The Elite setup clearly showed an uptrend in the making when I entered short the 2nd time. Just poor trade and I don't know what I was thinking.

Entry: 199.048
Lots: 5
Stop Loss: 200.048
Target: 198.548
Rating: 1
Total Pips: -500
Profit/Loss: $493.98

Trade Update - GBP/JPY Short

The Trade:

• Pair: GBP/JPY Short
• Date: April 09 2008, 15pm
• Entry: 199.729
• Lots: 5
• Stop Loss: 200.729
• Target: 198.729
• Reason/Setup: This trade was entered based on the OzFX setup and Elite setup, both on daily charts. On the OzFX setup, I entered the trade a day late, but the trend was still down. I also noticed that there was a trade on the Elite setup. The 3 EMA was crossing below the 34 SMA and the CCI was below 0. The entry on the Elite was timed well and hence I took this trade. Considering I was late in entering this trade, I opened a smaller position but had the stop and limit at 100 pips away.

Result:

• Date: April 10 2008, 4am
• Total Pips: +500
• Profit/Loss: $498.33
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 5
• Comments: I was late entering this trade based on the OzFX system but the entry on the Elite system on daily charts was properly timed. the HAS indicators is also beginning to show a signal for this trade. I also did the right thing to cut down on the position size and increase the pip limit as this is a volatile pair.
  

Trade Update - EUR/JPY Short

The Trade:

• Pair: EUR/JPY Short
• Date: April 09 2008, 9:30pm
• Entry: 159.820
• Lots: 10
• Stop Loss: 160.320
• Target: 159.320
• Reason/Setup: I had noted the box play setup on 4 hour chart, but failed to place any limit order. At the open of the Asian session, the pair moved lower and broke out below the box. By the time I entered the trade, I had already missed a 60 pips move. Luckily the signal was also confirmed by the A-MACD system and I decided to enter the trade. And the trade was also signaled by the Elite setup on 4 hour charts. So I placed my stop and target 50 pips away.
  

Result:

• Date: April 10 2008, 4am
• Total Pips: +500
• Profit/Loss: $496.36
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 4
• Comments: Again the reason I gave this trade a 4 instead of 5 rating is the late entry. Had I played the box setup or Elite setup correctly, it would have been a perfect trade. In any case, I got the signal from multiple setups confirming a genuine trend. The OzFX system was also developing the sell signal which confirmed my trade.
  

Trade Update - GBP/CHF Short

The Trade:

• Pair: GBP/CHF Short
• Date: April 09 2008, 5:30pm
• Entry: 1.97369
• Lots: 10
• Stop Loss: 1.97869
• Target: 1.97069
• Reason/Setup: I entered this trade based on the OzFX setup on daily chart. I was however late in entering this trade, and hence I decided to scale down my risk by looking for just 30 pips profit. The stop was still placed 50 pips away. As for the trade, the AC and AO indicate red bars, and the Stoch is moving down all pointing to a sell.
  

Result:

• Date: April 09 2008, 9:47pm
• Total Pips: +300
• Profit/Loss: $301.19
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 4
• Comments: I am not giving this trade a perfect rating mainly because it was entered late. Had I entered this trade a day before, I could have easily targeted 50-100 pips as my profit target. The good thing I did with this trade was realizing I was late and limiting my profit to just 30 pips. Sure the price moved another 20-30 pips below my target, but soon the price action reversed and the candle closed higher, way above my stop. Hence I was right in taking my profit when I did.
  

Trade Update - USD/JPY Short

The Trade:

• Pair: USD/JPY Short
• Date: April 09 2008, 5:30pm
• Entry: 101.252
• Lots: 10
• Stop Loss: 101.752
• Target: 100.752
• Reason/Setup: This trade was signaled by the OzFX system on daily charts. As I have mentioned above, the OzFX is one of my favorite setups as it gives me extremely high success rates. As seen from the chart below, the AC and AO indicator are both showing the red bar indicating a downward trend. The stoch is also moving down from overbought territory. This is a classic OzFX setup entry.
  

Result:

• Date: April 09 2008, 11pm
• Total Pips: +500
• Profit/Loss: $496.27
• Trade Executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 5
• Comments: As mentioned above, this is one of the high probability trades. Trade was executed as soon as the signal happened. The stop loss was within my risk criteria (50 pips) and I placed the target 50 pips away. Once again, I am not trying for the multi 100 pip gain in OzFX anymore, but rather 50-100 pips each time with bigger lots. Once again a perfect trade.
  

Trade Update - USD/CHF Short

The Trade:

• Pair: USD/CHF Short
• Date: April 10 2008, 3pm
• Entry: 1.00108
• Lots: 10
• Stop Loss: 1.00608
• Target: 0.99608
• Reason/Setup: This trade was entered based on the squeeze setup on 4 hour chart. I entered this setup about 2 candles late and I was lucky to have entered at the right time. The squeeze indicator has signaled a short entry at 6am, but I didn't enter the trade until 3pm. In the 2 candles I missed, there was a bid drop as well as a decent pullback. The chart indicates where I entered and exited the trade. The trade was also confirmed by the A-MACD setup which contributed to me taking the trade late.
  

Result:

• Date: April 09 2998, 9:45pm
• Total Pips: +500
• Profit/Loss: $501.98
• Trade executed to plan? No
• Rating: 3
• Comment: I was lucky to make any money on this trade. I entered significantly late, and in fact, had I entered in the previous candle, I would have been stopped out. If I cannot enter at the start of the squeeze trigger candle, I should not take the trade. Yes this trade was also signaled by the A-MACD system, but the signal wasn't clear. This is what I would call a low probability play.
  

Trade Update - CHF/JPY Long

The Trade:

• Pair: CHF/JPY Long
• Date: April 09 2008, 8am
• Entry: 101.70
• Lots: 10
• Stop Loss: 100.85
• Initial Target: 102.30
• Reason/Setup: This trade was entered based on the Box play setup on 4 hour chart. As seen from the chart below. the pair made 2 well formed highs and 2 well formed lows inside a box pattern. This signifies that the pair is currently trading within a range. We want to place limit entry orders outside this range to capture any breakouts. On April 9th, the pair made a push outside the box and hit my buy limit order. As per the box play setup, the target is the size of the box and the stop is the lower end of the box. However since I am just trying out the box plays, I set the initial target 50 pips away.
  

Result:

• Date: April 10 2008, 8am
• Total Pips: -850
• Profit/Loss: $842.97
• Trade executed to plan? No
• Rating: 1.5
• Comments: There are a few things I did wrong on this play. First as seen from the chart in the white highlighted area, there is a smaller box setup inside the previous box I had marked. I should have updated my entry and stop points to these levels, and I could have captured my target pips. Next, I have never tested box plays throughly and I still entered with 10 lots. And this larger lot size combined with bigger stop resulted in loss greater than my acceptable limit ($500). And finally, the CHF/JPY pair movement is always erratic and I have been burned previously by this pair. All of this suggested I should have either skipped this trade or lowered my risk. I could have also cut my losses for below my $500 level (around $200 in fact), but I was hoping (BAD) the mini rally would help me break even and held on to it. In the end, I ended up with my single biggest loss.
  

Trade Update - USD/JPY Short

The Trade:

• Pair: USD/JPY Short
• Date: April 09 2008, 7:20am
• Entry: 102.324
• Lots: 5
• Stop Loss: 102.624
• Target: 102.024
• Reason/System: This trade was entered based on the squeeze setup on 1 hour charts. The price has been in a downtrend the last couple of candles, and the squeeze indicator turned green and signaled a sell. Being a 1 hour chart, I set the stop and target 30 pips away.
  

Result:

• Date: April 09 2008, 8:30am
• Total Pips: +150
• Profit/Loss: $147.03
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 5
• Comments: The timing of the trade was perfect. I just went with te trend and entered the trade as soon as it was signaled. I quickly hit my target point within the very next candle. This is the kind of perfect setups I want to execute more often.

Trade Update - GBP/JPY Long

Trade:

• Pair: GBP/JPY Long
• Date: April 09 2008, 9:10am
• Entry: 202.079
• Lots: 5
• Stop Loss: 201.5
• Target: 202.379
• Reason/Setup: When I entered this trade long, the squeeze indicator had fired a buy signal on the 1 hour chart. But shortly after I entered, the trade, the indicator changed again to red.

Result:

• Date: April 09 2008, 9:40am
• Total Pips: -194
• Profit/Loss: $189.78
• Trade executed to plan? No
• Rating: 2
• Comments: First off, I made the mistake of entering the trade against the long term trend. Just yesterday I had entered the short side on this pair. And the short signal was still valid on the OzFX and A-MACD setups. But I entered this trade solely based on the squeeze indicator. Within 20 minutes of me entering the trade, my position went south and the indicator negated its signal. Hence I exited my trade early before it hit the stop loss. The interesting thing was I had entered an almost similar trade on the USD/JPY pair, except on the short side. the charts looks exactly similar. So no idea what made me go long this pair.
  

Trade Update - GBP/JPY Short

The Trade:

• Pair: GBP/JPY Short
• Date: April 08 2008, 4:30pm
• Entry: 202.111
• Lots: 10
• Stop Loss: 203.12
• Target: 201.12
• Reason/System: This trade was signaled by the OzFX system on daily charts. It was also confirmed by the A-MACD system. On the OzFX setup, we have the AC and AO indicators turn red. The price is also below the 200 SMA and the Stochastic is moving down. I entered the trade as soon as the AO turned red. The downtrend is also confirmed by the A-MACD system which shows the MACD and CCI cross below 0.
  

Reason:

• Date: April 08 2008, 9:30pm
• Total Pips: +1000
• Profit/Loss: $968.35
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 5
• Outcome: The OzFX setup is one of my favorites and gives me very high success rate. Knowing this, I took a big risk or entering this trade with 10 lots and also keeping a stop and target of 100 pips each. Also the fact that the trend was confirmed by the A-MACD system made me take the risk. It just took a little more than 5 hours for my trade to hit my profit target. Overall a very satisfactory trade.
  

Trade Update - GBP/CHF Short

The Trade:

• Pair: GBP/CHF Short
• Date: April 08 2008, 4:30pm
• Entry: 1.9982
• Lots: 5
• Stop Loss: 2.0082
• Target: 1.9882
• Reason/System: This trade was entered based on the OzFX setup on daily chart. The price was way below the 200 SMA. And now both the AC and AO indicators are showing red candles. The Stoch indicator had also moved downward from oversold territory.

Result:

• Date: April 09 2008, 7:30am
• Total Pips: +500
• Profit/Loss: $496.70
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 5
• Outcome: One of the trades I am proud of. I entered this pair before this was signaled in the OzFX forum (was signaled on 9th). By that time, I had bagged 100 pips on the trade and closed my position. This trade was also perfectly executed. Entered as soon as a new candle was available, Set the stop and target and never updated it and just let it ride.
  

Trade Update - USD/CAD Long

The Trade:

• Pair: USD/CAD Long
• Date: April 080 2008, 4:30pm
• Entry: 1.01519
• Lots: 10
• Stop Loss: 1.01019
• Target: 1.02020
• Reason/System: This trade was signaled by various setups on different time frames. The main reason to enter this trade was the signal from the OzFX daily setup. As seen from the chart, both the AC and AO indicators were showing green, and the stoch was moving up. The price is also above the 200 SMA. On the A-MACD system, both the AO and MACD were crossing above 0. The 5 SMA had crossed over 20 SMA and the CCI was just crossing 0, all indicating a buy. And finally on the Elite setup on 4 hour chart, the 3 EMA had crossed over the 34 SMA, and I entered the trade at the very next candle.

Result:

• Date: April 09 2008, 5:40am
• Total Pips: +500
• Profit/Loss: $491.08
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 5
• Outcome: Whenever you have a trade signaled simultaneously by different setups on different time frames, its one of those rare opportunities. My entry and exit were perfectly executed. Looking back, the only thing I could have improved was maybe increase my lot size. But then again, it might be taking on greater risk.
  

Trade Update - GBP/USD Short

The Trade:

• Pair: GBP/USD Short
• Date: April 08 2008, 4:30pm
• Entry: 1.9669
• Lots: 5
• Stop Loss: 1.9769
• Target: 1.9569
• Reason/System: For some reason, I thought i got the signal on the squeeze indicator on daily chart for this pair, and I blindly entered this trade. But in reality as seen from the chart, the squeeze indicator was actually entering a period of squeeze where one is not supposed to trade. This is when we have some consolidation withing the keltner channels, and that's exactly where I bought in. Even worse was the fact that I entered the trade relatively late and bought in at the very lowest point in the day.

Result:

• Date: April 09 2008, 10am
• Total Pips: -500
• Profit/Loss: $500
• Trade executed to plan? No
• Rating: 1
• Outcome: As you would expect, this stupid trade cost me $500. Thats what happens when you don't pay attention to minor details like this. Red dot = DO NOT TRADE. Thankfully I entered the trade with just 5 lots.
  

Trade Update - GBP/JPY Short

The Trade:

• Pair: GBP/JPY Short
• System: Squeeze setup on 4 hour chart.
• Date: April 08 2008, 7:20am
• Entry: 201.486
• Stop Loss: 201.79 (30 pips)
• Target: 200.98 (50 pips)
• Reason: The squeeze indicator signaled a sell on the 4 hour chart for this pair. The long term trend for this pair is also down, so it seemed like a good risk/reward play. I entered the trade in the bar where the signal was fired. Unfortunately, I was a big late in the entry and entered close to the bottom of the candle.

Result:

• Date: April 08 2008, 9:30am
• Total Pips: -150
• Profit/Loss: $148.27
• Trade executed to plan? yes
• Rating: 4
• Outcome: The trade was executed to plan, but I made couple of mistakes. First was that I entered the trade late. The candle was signaled at 6am, but it wasn't 7:30am that I entered. This was costly as it was a difference of 10-20 pips in my favor. The other mistake was I placed a 30 pip stop instead of the usual 50 pips. Not sure why I did that.
  

GBP/CHF Short - April 08 2008

The Trade:

• Pair: GBP/CHF Short
• System: Squeeze setup on 4 hour chart.
• Date: April 8 2008 7:22am
  
• Entry: 1.99436
• Stop: 1.99940 (50 pips)
  
• Target: 1.98940 (50 pips)
  
• Reason: The squeeze indicator fired off a signal on the 4 hour chart. I entered the trade as soon as the squeeze bar was triggered. Since the histogram was showing red and growing below 0, I decided to enter the trade short.
  

The Result:

• Date: April 8 2008 11:05am
• Total Pips: -250
  
• Profit/Loss: $248.16
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 5
• Outcome: One of those trades where the timing was wrong. Just before there was strong downward pressure on the pair and it had spiked to my eventual target point. But by the time I entered the trade, the pullback was on. And due to the relatively large spread on this pair, I just managed to hit the stop I had set. Its currently trading off its highs. But I am happy the trade was executed to plan and I did not change the stop loss in anyway.
  

Trade Update - USD/JPY Short

The Trade:

• Pair: USD/JPY Short
• Date: April 07 2008, 10:10pm
• Entry: 102.269
• Lots: 5
  
• Stop Loss: 102.50
• Target: 102.02
• Reason/System: This trade is based on the squeeze setup on 1 hour chart. The candle at the start of 10pm fired off the squeeze indicator. But since I had been burned by this pair earlier today, I decided to proceed with caution. I entered with only 5 lots, and placed the stop and target points 25 pips away. I also entered the trade as soon as I got the signal.

Result:

• Date: April 08 2008, 12:30am
• Total Pips: +125
• Profit/Loss: $122.03
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 5
• Outcome: The trade was executed to plan and I managed to walk away with a profit. However I was probably a little too conservative with the trade. The stop and target points were very narrow for a 1 hour chart. I could have gotten easily stopped. And I also missed bigger move down. But the result of my previous trade of this pair was fresh on my mind and I wanted to play it safe and reduce my risk.
  

Trade Update - USD/JPY Short

The Trade:

• Pair: USD/JPY Short
• Date: April 07 2008, 7:55pm
• Entry: 102.145
• Lots: 10
• Stop Loss: 102.345 (20 pips)
  
• Target: 101.845 (30 pips)
  
• Reason/Setup: This trade was based on the Elite setup on 1 hour charts. In the 7pm candle, the 3 EMA had crossed below the 34 SMA. The CCI had also crossed below 0 indicating a move down. I entered this trade towards the end of the candle. The stop was placed 20 pips away just above the 34 SMA line.
  

Result:

• Date: April 07 2008, 8:30pm
• Total Pips: -200
• Profit/Loss: $195.42
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 5
• Outcome: Even though the trade went against me right from the start, I am happy with the execution of the trade. I followed the setup and entered the trade at the correct point. Maybe I could have waited for the next candle to confirm the trend before entering, but these are always easy to look back. I placed my stop loss and target points, and I cut short my losses early for this trade.
  

EUR/CAD Long - April 07 2008

System:
Trade based on squeeze play setup on 4 hour chart.

Reason:


The squeeze indicator signaled a buy at the start of the 6pm candle. I immediately entered tis position long at 1.5976. I then placed my stop 55 pips away (not sure why) at 1.5921 and the profit target was 50 pips away at 1.6026.

Lots: 5
Entry (Long): 1.5976
Stop Loss: 1.5921
TP: 1.6026

Right from the beginning the price moved in my favor and it was just a matter of time before it hit my target point. I love entering trades like these where the price moves immediately in my direction validating the trade. The target point was hit a little past 1am on April 8th.

Total Pips: +250
Total Profit: $245.93

Rating:
I will rate this a 5 since I followed it to the book. I set the stops and TP's immediately and never changed them.

AUD/JPY Long - April 07 2008

System:
This trade is based on the squeeze play setup on a 4 hour chart.

Reason:


The squeeze indicator gave a signal that the pair was breaking out of the squeeze range. The histogram showed a blue bar, and hence I went long on this pair. The trade was entered at 6:51am at 94.93. The stop loss was 50 pips away at 94.43 and the target point at 95.53 which was 60 pips away.

Lots: 5
Entry (Long): 94.93
Stop Loss: 94.43
TP: 95.53

Soon after I entered this trade, the price moved in my favor, and I was soon up almost 35 pips. Since then the price action slowly started weakening. And finally at 12:30am on the 8th, it hit my stop loss.

Total Pips: -250
Total Profit: $245.04

Rating:
I will rate this trade a 4 star. The entry was very close to the start of the candle. I had initially set the TP at 5- pips. But when the price started moving in my direction quickly, I got greedy and moved the TP to +60 pips. It would still have not hit my original TP, but it just shows my greed in modifying the TP.

EUR/GBP Long - April 07 2008

System:
This trade is based on the TTM squeeze setup on the 4 hour chart.

Reason:


The TTM squeeze indicator fires off a signal when it sees a price breakout from the narrow bollinger band channel. here we note that the bollinger band is actually moving out of the keltner channel, and the momentum is above 0. The green dot following siccessive red dots signifies this event.

I entered the trade at 12 noon at 0.79096 (point 1). The stop is placed 50 pips away at 0.78596 and the price target is 50 pips away too at 0.79596.

Lots: 5
Entry (Long): 0.79096
Stop Loss: 0.78596
TP: 0.79596

Total Pips: +250
Total Profit: $494.53

Around mid-night of 7th, my target point was hit (point 2) and I exited my trade.

Rating:
I will rate this trade a 5 star as I followed it to the book. And I waited for the price to do its things and not meddle with the stop and target points.

Trade Update - EUR/CHF Long

The Trade:

• Pair: EUR/CHF Long
• Date: April 06 2008, 6:45pm
• Entry: 1.59287
• Lots: 5
• Stop Loss: 1.58787 (50 pips)
  
• Target: 1.59787 (50 pips)
• Reason/System Used: This trade is based on the squeeze setup on 4 hour chart. Previous history in the pair had suggested that following a signal from the squeeze indicator, the price did move up in the direction of the squeeze. So following that, I entered long this pair as soon as I got a signal from the indicator. Since the trade was based on the 4 hour chart, I placed the stop and target 50 pips away.

Result:

• Date: April 09 2008, 7:30am
• Total Pips: -250
• Profit/Loss: $248.33
• Trade Executed to plan? yes
• Rating: 5
• Outcome: As soon as I entered the trade, it soon moved in my favor and I was quickly up close to 30 pips per lot. Around that range, it had some overhear resistance, and the pair soon started moving down. On April 8th, the pair came close to hitting the stop and was just shy by a pip or two. And it proceeded to bounce of that low and tried to retest the high's again but failed. These are marked by the yellow and blue regions in the chart. Following this failed test of the highs, the pair rolled over and hit the stop loss.
• Note: This pair was also trading in a short term range which meant we were getting a setup for the box play. I also noticed that the squeeze indicator fired off a sell signal on the lower 1 hour time frame just before the large move down.
  

EUR/JPY Long - April 07 2008

Setup:
This trade was based on the box setup on the 4 hour chart. I learnt about this setup from the book "Mastering th =e Trade" by John Carter.

Reason:


A box setup happens when the stock or currency pair trades withing a range or box for a period of time. The highs and lows due to the price action determines the top and bottom of the box. Here is how we trade the box setup.

We first wait for a box to form. This happens when we have 2 highs and 2 lots to define the range. From the above chart, points 1 & 3 form the upper boundaries of the box and points 2 & 4 the lower. Once we identify point 4 and the box is formed, we allow for the price to retreat into the box by 25% of the box width. Once this happens, we place 2 orders, a buy stop and sell stop just above and below the box. We are positioning ourselves to get into the trade whichever direction the trade happens.

In this particular scenario, my buy limit order placed at 161.14 was hit at 1:20am. My stop was almost 70 pips away at 160.45 and the target point was originally the size of the box. But I changed this later on to be just 50 pips or at 161.64. After some see-sawing, my price was finally hit at 5:15pm. I also canceled my sell stop order as soon the buy stop was hit. In the above chart, the entry is shown by the red box and exit by the white box.

Lots: 10
Entry (Long): 161.14
Stop Loss: 160.45
TP: 161.64

Total Pips: +500
Total Profit: $495.40

Rating:
I will rate this trade a 4. The entry was by the book. Identified the box correctly and placed the trades and waited for it to get executed. However I meddled with the stops and target point.

Trade Update - GBP/JPY Short

The Trade: GBP/JPY Short

• System: Elite setup on 1 hour charts.
• Date: April 07 2008, 10pm
• Lots: 10
  
• Entry: 203.196
• Stop Loss: 203.59 (40 pips)
  
• Target: 202.896 (30 pips)
• Reason: Trade based on the Elite setup. The 3 EMA is moving below the 34 SMA. The CCI is also moving below 0 indicating a strong move down. I placed the stop close to the 34 SMA line and the target point 30 pips away.

Result:

• Date: April 08 2008, 11:56pm
• Total Pips: +300
• Profit/Loss: $293.25
• Trade executed to plan? Yes
• Rating: 5
• Outcome: This proved to be one of those low risk/reward play. I had in fact entered the start of a big downward move of the pair. The trend continued for another 200 pips.
  

AUD/JPY Long - April 06 2008

System:
This trade is based on the Squeeze play on 1 hour chart.

Reason:


My first trade based on the Squeeze indicator. I learnt about this setup in the book called "Mastering the Trade" by John Carter. One of the best books on trading I have read.

As per the indicator, the squeeze was triggered at 11:15pm and I entered the trade at 94.45. Both stop and target points were 50 pips apart at 93.95 and 94.95 respectively. I just setup the trade and left it to do its job. At 5:15am, when I was fast asleep, my target was hit.

Lots: 5
Entry (Long): 94.45
Stop Loss: 93.95
TP: 94.95

Total Pips: +250
Total Profit: $243.69

Rating:
I will rate this trade a 5. The entry was perfect. Setup the stops and target and never changed. Just let the charts play.

USD/JPY Long - April 06 2008

System:
This trade was entered based on the Elite setup on 1 hour chart.

Reason:


At 6pm, the candle moved higher causing the 3 EMA to cross over the 34 SMA. The CCI also crossed above 0. I wanted for the close of this candle, and entered the trade at the beginning of the next candle. At 7pm, I was long this pair at 102.478. Stop was placed 30 pips away at 102.178 and the profit target was 30 pips away at 102.78

After an initial move down, the pair gained strength and started moving higher. Finally at 12:20am it hit my price target an I closed the position.

Lots: 10
Entry (Long): 102.478
Stop Loss: 102.178
TP: 102.78

I retrospect, I should have been more cautious in entering this trade. The trigger candle was a long one and considering that, I should have atleast kept the profit target small. In the end, it worked out fine, butthis had an element of luck involved.

Total Pips: +300
Total Profit: $293.82

Rating:
The entry and trade execution was good. The only drawback was the entry signal was not ideal. But it still was a valid entry, and I will rate this trade 4.5

USD/CHF Long - April 06 2008

Setup:
This trade was based on the Elite setup on 4 hour chart.

Reason:


This wasn't the regular Elite setup. The 3 EMA was already above the 34 SMA and the CCI was above 0. But the price was showing a pullback towards the 34 SMA. My entry was based on the assumption that the price would bounce off the 34 SMA and would move higher.

The candle at 2pm shows that we did infact bounce off the 34 SMA. The next candle moved higher confirming the bounce. I also noticed a divergance between the 3 EMA and 10 SMA confirming a strong bounce. I entered this trade a bit late than desired, but I wanted to confirm the bounce.

I entered the trade at 8:40pm at 1.01142. The stop was placed 50 pips away at 1.00642 and the price target 50 pips away at 1.01642. Finally little past mid-night at 12:20am, my taget point was hit.

There are couple of things I would have changed for this trade. First off, since this was a bounce and not a new entry, I would not have placed a 50 pip stop and target. I would have kept it at 20-30 pips even if it were a 4 hour chart. Next, I would have tried to enter this trade earlier instead at the end of the 2nd confirming candle.

Lots: 10
Entry (Long): 1.01142
Stop Loss: 1.00642
TP: 1.01642

Total Pips: +500
Total Profit: $491.88

Rating:
There is some room for improvement with this trade entry. I entered quiet late. I should have also reduced the risk by keeping my stop and target smaller. But once the trade was placed, it was executed to plan. Hence I will rate this 4 star.

EUR/CHF Long - April 06 2008

System:
The trade is based on the Elite setup on 1 hour chart.

Reason:


Perfect setup and entry. With the 7pm candle, the 3 EMA had crossed the 34 SMA. The CCI had also moved above 0. Now I just had to enter this position at the end of this candle or early next candle.

I managed to enter this candle early next candle at 8:05pm at a price of 1.58493. The stop loss was placed 20 pips below at 1.58293. This is slightly below the 34 SMA. I placed the target point just 20 pips away at 1.58693. In retrospect, I made mistake here as this trade was based on the 1 hour chart. I could have placed the profit target 30-50 pips away easily. My profit target was hit at 11pm and the pair has continued moving up.

Lots: 10
Entry (Long): 1.58493
Stop Loss: 1.58293
TP: 1.58693

Total Pips: +200
Total Profit: $197.41

Rating:
I would rate this trade a 5. I wanted for the setup for form. The entry was almost perfect, and I never modified the stop or target point. Only drawback was that I placed the target point too closed as I was trading on a 1 hour chart. But as I get more confidence in this setup, I will widen the profit targets.

GBP/CHF Long - April 06 2008

System:
This trade was entered based on the Elite setup on 30 minute chart.

Reason:


Around 4:30 pm, the 3 EMA crossed the 34 SMA. The 34 CCI also crossed above 0. Towards the end of this candle, around 4:55pm, I entered the trade long close to the top of the candle. Since the spread on this pair is large, my entry point was above the high of the candle at 2.01148. The stop was placed 30 pips away at 2.00848, and the profit target was initially placed 50 pips away. But after a few failed attempts by the pair to move beyond 30 pips, I changed the profit target to be 25 pips away at 2.01398.

Finally after more than 3.5 hours, the profit target was hit at 8:40pm.

Lots: 10
Entry (Long): 2.01148
Stop Loss: 2.00848
TP: 2.01398

Total Pips: +250
Total Profit: $246.99

Rating:
I will rate this trade a 4 star. The entry was as per setup and executed well. The stop was set and never modified. But I modified the target point.

GBP/JPY Long - April 06 2008

System:
The trade was based on the Elite setup on 30 minute chart.

Reason:


By the Elite setup, the 3 EMA had crossed the 34 SMA around 4pm. The 34 CCI had also turned positive. As per the setup, I enter the trade at the end of the candle where the cross over happened, or the beginning of the next candle once the close is confirmed. But I ended up entering the trade at the end of the next candle around 4:50pm at a price of 203.949. Since the entry candle was a long one, stop was placed 30 pips away at 203.65 and the price target was 20 pips away at 204.15.

After a brief rally higher, the pair started moving lower. Within 40 minutes, at 5:40pm it hit my stop.

Lots: 10
Entry (Long): 203.949
Stop Loss: 203.65
TP: 204.15

Total Pips: -300
Total Profit: $292.04

Rating:
I will rate this trade a 3 star. I messed up the entry. I was late in catching the trade and had missed the setup and ended up chasing the price. If I had followed the setup to the book, I should have entered this trade between 203.35 to 203.40.

USD/CHF Long - April 06 2008

System:
The trade is based on the Elite system on 30 minute chart.

Reason:


The 3 EMA crossed the 34 SMA around 3pm. The 34 CCI had also crossed over 0 indicating an uptrend. Waited for the close of the candle. Upon the start of the next candle, entered long at 1.00826 at 3:47pm. The stop was placed 20 pips away at 1.00626, close to the low of the previous candle. The profit target was 20 pips away at 1.01026. The target was hit about an hour later at 4:55pm.

Total Pips: +200
Total Profit: $197.97

Lots: 10
Entry (Long): 1.00826
Stop Loss: 1.00626
TP: 1.01026

Rating:
I will rate this trade a 5 star. I followed the setup and plan to the book. I did not meddle with the stop or profit target.

EUR/JPY Long - April 06 2008

System:
This trade was based on the Elite setup on 30 minute chart.

Reason:


On the 30 minute chart, the 3 EMA crossed over the 34 SMA around 4pm. I entered the trade at 160.351. Stop loss was placed 20 pips away just below the 34 SMA line. And the profit target was 25 pips away at 160.601. At 4:48pm, just 45 minutes later, the target point was hit and I exited the trade.

Lots: 10
Entry (Long): 160.351
Stop Loss: 160.151
TP: 160.601

Total Pips: +250
Total Profit: $244.33

Rating:
I will rate tis trade a 4.5 star for sticking to my execution. The reason its not perfect is because the candle prior to the one I entered was a long candle.