MESA Trading Method Blog For February 5, 2016

This Has Been Hell Week

Hello Traders. I am writing this blog post late, because...well... I did not feel like writing one yesterday. I will fill you in on all the gory details, and what a great lesson I learned from them, and how the market can teach an old dog that it does not have any new tricks... Stay tuned...

Thursday February 4, 2016

Today was the 2nd day in a row that I did not meet my trading goal. Monday and Tuesday were both winners, so I was feeling... Confident. Why shouldn't I? I am trading arguably what is the BEST TRADING SYSTEM IN IT'S PRICE CLASS, and it it a brand new shiny month, and I started the month off with my Inception Trading End of Day Trading Signals closing last month up over +4%, so I literally am walking on water! Looking back, ( I am writing this blog post on Friday Feb. 5, 2016, so I see ALL of the reasons why I lost pips, and I will lay it the naked truth, and will never allow this to happen again. 

1. I was unfaithful. 

I tried to watch and trade "two"too many pairs. My plan called for me to trade the top two pairs. For that trading they, the top two pairs were the GBPUSD and USDCAD. My inner trader ( The guy inside me who really knows how to trade but I do not listen to), told me to focus on just the top pair, which would have been the USDCAD. Did I listen? NO! I trade on a 5 minute time frame. THE MESA TRADING METHOD requires a decision to be made on each and every bar. Even if the decision is no action needs to be taken, that is still a decision. There were trades missed that I should have taken that were profitable, but because I was trying to follow 2 pairs, and I was not able to fully focus ( Like I am doing now writing this late blog entry), I missed trades.
Rule: Follow the TOP ADR leader only. I will only follow one pair.

2. Hypnotized, Anesthetized & Paralyzed

Hypnotized

Let's face it. Trading has an almost hypnotic quality about it. Sitting in front of a screen, you can be hypnotized, Remember the old TV shows were the persons eyes were like spinning targets and their faces were blank and expressionless? Yep. that's it. That's how I was. Hypnotized.

When I took a losing trade, I was on automatic pilot. I had to get back into the market immediately! Nothing else mattered except that next trade! I knew the market had me, because I refused to leave my seat. No bathroom break, no food, No! DO NOT MOVE!  I am so glad that breathing did not require me to move, because if it did... I would have died. I was emotionally chained to my desk, as if crazy glue had been applied to my buttocks. Buttocks? I felt that if I moved, I would miss the trade. Not any trade, THE TRADE. THE TRADE is the home run trade that goes totally in your favor that earns all of the lost pips back, AND earns you a ton of new pips, gives you bragging rights, and solidifies your place as the 4th member of the trading trinity! I would have become a trading god! I already saw the Nobel peace prize being awarded, the major news interviews, invitations to hang out with the trading elite, and they would ask what my opinion was on the markets! so, I better not move. My future depends on this next trade!!!!!   

Anesthetized

Not only was I hypnotized, I was also anesthetized.  I felt no pain. I was going to put that trade on and however it turned out, I did not care! As the pip body count was getting higher and higher ( I lost over 100 pips yesterday) , I not phased. I consoled myself by saying that the most important aspect was the % risk, and NOT the actual pip count. (This part is true), but truthfully, I was as if I were on Forex crack pipe. Crack is a drug that causes you to feel superhuman, and feel no pain. ( This of course is not based on experience, but what I have seen and heard...). What I should have done, was to get up, walk away, clear my head, and come back. The trader inside of me that knows how to trade told me to get up, walk away, and come back. Did I listen? No. So I kept trading... and trading.. and trading.. because I felt no pain. 

Paralyzed
After the hypnosis and the Forex crack wore off, I was stunned- like a deer caught in the headlights. Paralyzed. Frozen. Why? I looked at my account, and saw the carnage that was left behind after by binge. I was down almost another 5%. How did this happen? That trader inside of me that knows how to trade stopped talking. Someone once told me that "he that does not hear, shall feel". Boy, was I feeling it. Feeling like a fool.. Feeling like a newbie... Feeling depressed. Yep. I was feeling it. NOW, I was afraid to take a trade. NOW, I was worried about losing more money- I mean pips. NOW I was concerned about how I had let things get and go so out of control... and THAT is when I began to wish that  the trader inside of me that knows how to trade would talk to me again.  Now I was ready to hear. 

That was yesterday. Tomorrow  is a new day, and the game plan is not to right the wrongs of yesterday. Tomorrow, which is really today- Friday, the plan is to follow my trading rules, and to listen to the trader that is inside of me- the one that knows how to trade. 

Friday February 5, 2016

The plan for today is to listen to the trader inside of me that actually knows how to trade. 

Reduce Risk

I am following just the USDCAD. I will not try and trade more than 1 pair. Lesson well learned.

Trade 1
Long USDCAD. Trade gets stopped out. The next thing I do is cut my risk. As opposed to using 2% of my account per trade, I am cutting the risk in half, down to just 1%. This immediately takes some of the pressure off. I am now risking half of what I am used to risking on a per trade basis.

I am using THE FAPWINNER Trade Manager to open and manage my trades. I push a button, and it automatically calculates the correct lot size based on my pre determined risk. Then, all I need to do is move the stop loss by moving the line. I can also scale in and out with the touch of a button.

Trade 2
Long USDCAD.
I entered the 2nd trade of the day, and as if this writing, it is now 613am, and I have moved the SL to BE +3, meaning this is a risk free trade, and if it goes against me, I will walk away with at least +5 pips. The trade is still open and in profit, and NFP looms. It will be released today at 7:30am CST.

On another note, I am designing a Directional Bias Trade Filter that lets me know when the trend is long and short. It will also allow me to move my step incrementally based on positive movements in the markets. I began live testing it today. I will incorporate this ( If it proves to be successful), into The MESA TRADING METHOD 2.0. 

Trade was stopped out at BE +3. I need to make sure my numbers are correct. I gave up 2 pips needlessly. Waiting now for the NFP to be released. I have placed a test trade fir my trading filter. There is no better way to test trade than with a live account and real money. This way, you get both the actual market experience and the emotions that go along with it. #priceless.

Trade 3: Test Trade. I traded ahead of the NFP, and the trade was a winner. It erased earlier loss, and gave some positive pips for the day. Waiting until 745am to trade again. Currently, my Trend Directional  Bias filter is telling me to stay out of the market. I think the trader inside of me, and my indicator are conspiring against me.....

Trades 4-6
Trades 4-6 were all long trades, I entered and exited the markets numerous times-each trade erasing the loss and finally achieved a profit. I am ending the day with a +1.16%  ROI.

I did not meet my trading goal for the week

New $100K Goal Date: 8-24-2016
New $1 Million Dollar Goal Date: 11-11-2016

So what will I do differently next Week? Do the same thing that I did today. Follow my trading plan, and listen to the trader inside of me that actually knows how to trade.

Here are the rules.

1. Trade each market day from 2-10am CST.
2. Select the TOP pair, and follow ONE PAIR ONLY. 

3. Limit my trade risk to 2%, with a max of 5% loss and I quit for the day.

 4. Look for only  the best setups.

5. Use the ADR as a target for the amount of pips you want to earn. We'd  been looking for the USDCAD to hit 164 ADR. It felt good when it did. #Committed.