Well – the start to a new week, and hopefully another profitable one. My plan this week is to trade both my “Any-Time” system and my latest Trend~Following strategy, the USA Forex System. I have also got to fit in my annual computer upgrade as well – I spend a week every year installing new and more efficient/faster bits into the numerous computers I have in various parts of the house. The I.T. brains of the outfit (my eldest son Max, does most of it !!)

With the weather slowly improving here in the South-East of England, I enjoy an early morning cycle (for exercise) a lot more, so I was out across the fields at 6:30 this morning, and managed to cover around 6 miles before I returned home.  Many of you who are full-time traders will know that we can lead a somewhat sedentary lifestyle if we’re not careful, and for the past 10 yrs I have always done some sort of exercise every day. The summer is great for getting outdoors (cycling/golf/tennis etc.) but in the cold winter months I tend to be more indoors (Badminton/swimming) although after 10 minutes at full stretch on a bicycle you are very warm no matter what the outside temperature is !

Anyway – I was back at my desk at 9am, to trade my “Any-Time” system, and the first two signals came along together just after 9:45. The first was on the USD/YEN forex pair and the second was the EURO-U.S. DOLLAR (EUR/USD) pair. The first trade turned out to be a losing one when it was stopped out at just before midday, but the second came in at a +30 pip profit at 13:30. Before then I had a trade at 11:47 (GBP/USD) and a quick one at 12:15 (USD/YEN) and they were both ok (+28 between them)

So at the end of my morning session, I was ahead by +46 pips, way above my daily target, and a nice start to this short working week. Time to spend pulling some computers apart now !!

My Evening Strategy (Trade With A Day Job) gave me 2 trades and I ended the evening session a bit behind with -4 pips, so my overall daily total was +42 pips.

An important part of trading is to analyse the trades taken for the day, and even after trading for all these years, I still grab myself a large glass of wine and go and sit quietly for 10 minutes with my laptop and go over the day’s efforts.  This allows you to look at both the winning and losing trades to ensure you executed them correctly – as per the trading system you are using, and also to see if you missed any opportunities. I remember in my early days, I would nip off to the toilet or go and make a cup of coffee, and I would return to see I had missed a signal. Nowadays, I can see a trade coming perhaps 30 to 45 minutes away, so I can plan ahead. This insight comes with familiarity of your trading strategy and also many many hours watching live charts. In the end, you do get a ‘second sense’ regarding price action – and what it’s going to do next. You have to put in the work first though.

Many newcomers to trading believe that Financial Trading is a ‘Get Rich Quick’ opportunity, but as time goes by, they eventually realise there is just as much work to do in the early months and years as there is to become any other professional – be it a Doctor, Lawyer, Veterinary Surgeon.

As my Grandfather used to say – “If it was easy lad, everyone would be at it” !!! Have a look here for more  Wise words.