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In this trading journal, I'm gonna be as transparent as possible, which will probably cause it to be lengthy but here we go.
What I will do here is journal the trades that I take for an indefinite period of time. I will try as much as possible to post the trades ahead of time so as to avoid it looking like 20/20 hindsight analysis. I work a full-time job and I plan to post upcoming trades every evening when there are trades to take.
I'll be starting with a capital base of $5k and will day trade mostly micro futures and currencies. I'll look to risk no more than 2% per trade while going for at least a 5:1 risk/reward. My approach is purely technical.
As the title states, "Financial Freedom...." the point of this journal is two-fold. Number one, I've had a terrible habit of correctly calling trades but rarely ever executing them out of fear of being wrong. If not for that habit, I would've been where I wanted to be financially a long time ago. So, this public journal will keep me accountable. Secondly, the goal of this journal is to get to a point where I become a full-time trader. Given my current salary ($60k) and my lifestyle, I figure that I'd need $500k after-tax dollars. My only debt is my mortgage, so I'd be able to pay that off and have enough to live off of and trade for at least 5 years. I don't have a specific time frame, but I'm gonna be as aggressive as possible to get there ASAP.
I'm looking at shorting Micro Copper (MHG) should it return to 3.425. If I don't get the retracement, I'll be looking for the breakdown. My target would be the 3.296 area with a stop that would mean 1% risk on the trade. If I'm correct, then I'm looking at a 1:12 risk/reward ratio. I'm not gonna treat this one as a day trade unless it manages to reach my target within the same day.
I'm also looking at shorting the GBP/USD at around 1.121 should it reach that level. Because that level is kind of the top of the move, I'll take a smaller position size and risk only 0.5%. However, I expect to see this pair fall several hundred pips if I'm correct. I am hesitant about this one because I see corrective action occurring on the dollar but I can't NOT take a shot at it...but in a small way.
How did you come up with the 5:1 ? So you are risking $500 for a $100 profit ?
If so, your approach better have a high win rate (+80%) or your tiny wins will be swamped by the occasional loss.
My copper short never triggered but I did short EUR/USD at 0.9830. I'm still holding on to this one. If it can clear the 0.974 area, then I'll hold until 0.954. My risk on the trade was 15 pips and I'm now up 60+ pips — stop loss moved to breakeven.
Shorted USD/JPY from 144.82
10-pip stop
Closed the trade at around 143.9
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Shorted AUD/USD from .06513
Stopped out at .06525
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Re-entered my AUD/USD short from 0.6516
15-pip stop
Price is currently around 0.6440
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No new plays this morning.
I'm likely gonna adjust my holding period to more of a swing trading approach because day trading is a bit mentally exhausting. I've tried swing trading in the past but couldn't stick with it because I don't have the mental makeup to hold for a really long time but I'm gonna work on that since swing trading is the best option for my situation.
Wednesday, Shorted Micro ES Futures and was stopped out at a 1% loss. I jumped the gun instead of waiting for the confirmation that I'd normally use for shorting an up-move.
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Today:
Shorted USD/CAD from 1.3755 with a 10-pip SL (initially). Closed out at 1.368.
