Reviewing The First Trading Week of 2018

4 min read

In this short post, I’d like to review the trades I took last week. I’ll show when I entered, how I managed them and how all of these trades have contributed to my trading performance for last week. Keep on reading to see if I could make a profit 😉

 

Note: This is an excerpt from the weekly forex outlook I’m publishing for our trade advisor members. Every weekly outlook contains a review of the past week since I like to keep myself accountable. Additionally, it’s helpful for members to exactly see which kinds of trades I took and it shows that the way I trade actually works.

 

Finally, I don’t just review the winning trades. If the trade triggered but then ended up in a loss, I will also list them here.

 

 

NZDJPY 4H short

 

Let’s start with a setup that didn’t work out 🙂 NZDJPY on the 4H was bouncing up a trend line and showed a small double top. The price moved below the neckline but unfortunately, started drifting sideways afterwards.

 

As per my rules, I gave the trade 4 candles time to actually start moving in my direction but this didn’t happen and I cut the trade for a 0.19R loss.

 

review NZDJPY-4H-short-1

 

 

GBPAUD 4H long

 

The second setup that also triggered is GBPAUD on the 4H long. The price first moved lower but then moved up with some decent momentum. It initially looked good as the price was moving up, but then got smashed down again with the big bearish bar.

 

That is a trigger for me to get out. It means that the bears have taken over control and when this happens so close to my entry, my first priority is to protect my capital. I closed the trade for a 0.07R profit.

 

review GBPAUD-4H-long

 

 

EURNOK D short

 

Just as with the USDNOK setup, we had a nice trade with EURNOK on the daily. I mentioned the 9.79 level and while we got close with the candle before my entry, I decided to wait out since my level wasn’t broken yet. The next candle convincingly broke it, but then again I realised that if I got in at that time, my R:R wouldn’t be good enough.

 

This is when I put a pending sell order a bit closer to the 9.79 handle. If the price would continue down, I’d have missed the trade. No big deal. Luckily, the level I entered (a bit below a local resistance of 9.77) got retested and I got in at a price point where my R:R was sufficiently good to take the trade. This trade is still open, for a current profit of 1.45R.

 

review EURNOK-D-short

 

 

AUDJPY 4H short

 

The next setup on AUDJPY was a losing trade as well, unfortunately. I entered after the price moved sharply lower and broke the level I indicated in my outlook, but immediately could see a bounce back up. My trade rules made sure that after the 4th candle, I decided to close out the trade for a 0.5R loss.

 

review AUDJPY-4H-short

 

 

AUDCAD 4H short

 

AUDCAD on the 4H charts was an interesting one. The price moved sharply down on Friday but since my main profit target was the big blue area at the bottom of the chart, I didn’t see any way that my R:R would’ve still be sufficient to justify taking this trade.

 

As a result, I just skipped this trade altogether. It’s important not to chase setups like this and with every setup that triggers, you need to ask yourself if the trade can still result in enough reward.

 

review AUDCAD-4H-short-1

 

 

USDCAD D short

 

This was actually a setup from the week before, but it was one of the two setups that I had kept open over the weekend so I’m including it in this review as well. USDCAD on the daily triggered my level and I got in. Basically, this was a smooth ride down. This is the kind of follow-through that is ideal. It resulted in a 1.59R win.

 

review USDCAD-D-short-1

 

 

USDNOK D short

 

Finally, USDNOK on the daily, the second setup I carried over the weekend. Already on Monday, my profit target got hit for a nice 2.35R profit.

 

review USDNOK-D-short

 

 

Trading Results

 

If you kept note, you’d see the following results of my trading week:

  • NZDJPY: -0.19R
  • GBPAUD: +0.07R
  • EURNOK: +1.45R
  • AUDJPY: -0.5R
  • AUDCAD: 0R
  • USDCAD: +1.59R
  • USDNOK: +2.35R

 

Which gives us a total of 4.77R profit! The key is to keep your losses small, cut trades that aren’t working out and eventually, there will be a few trades that work out without problems, such as USDCAD, USDNOK and EURNOK. Those are the trades that will make up for all of the small profits and losses you got from the rest of your trading.

 

Once you realise this, trading will become easier and those consistent profits will start to come in. You’ll wonder why you ever had so many problems with trading! If you’re interested in my trading style and want to catch the same trades, have a look at the trade advisor program and don’t hesitate to contact me!

 

 

sfl

FX and futures trader, using price action, market profile and order flow to trade markets. I also have an interest in trading psychology and algorithmic trading. Follow me on Twitter: @GhostwireTrader