EURUSD 5/13/09 - New Downtrend or Minor Pullback?

I am currently holding part of a position in a Short I entered today at 1.3637. I have closed out half the position, and am holding the remainder for now to see what happens. Based on my technical analysis of the hourly chart we are now in a minor downtrend. This is confirmed by a lower low being achieved at 17:00 gmt of 1.3566, compared to the last minor down wave low of 1.3588, which occurred an 5/12 at 16:00 gmt. However, on the 4 hour chart, the low of the last down move is 1.3557, so we are still technically in an uptrend on the higher time frame charts. If Price reverses around that level, it would be an excellent time to look for a Long re-entry. However, if Price moves through that support level, I would now consider the Euro to be in a new minor downtrend.

At the time I am writing this it appears that the lower Support levels are holding for now, so this is certainly not a good time to enter Short. Try to wait for Price to retest the level between 1.3570 and 1.3550 for Long entry or wait for price to pullback to around 1.3650 for Short entry.

Happy trading!

Forex Auto Execution Service Launching Soon

I am very pleased to announce that everything is coming together towards launching my new auto-execution/signal service. This new service will allow anyone using the Metatrader platform to receive my trades sent directly to their trading platform or even have my trades auto-execute on their account. You can view my results for 2009 thus far and see that I have am having great success in the market. Now you can too! Plus I will be offering full Forex training, which is something I will begin offering shortly after the launch of the signal service.

Make sure you sign up for my mailing list to find out when you can sign up.

Lesson Three: Patience

Thank you to the members who posted the feedback. I'm glad you are enjoying my contribution.

The third lesson on patience is in my opinion one of the most important to master. In fact, I would say that without it you will never become a truly successful trader. Unfortunately, most people suffer from a serious lack of it.

The good news is that patience is a skill, thus it can be learned and improved. Some people are naturally more patient than others, and I believe those people also make naturally better traders. However, anyone can improve their patience, if they are willing to work at it. Skills only improve through practice, practice, and more practice. The Taoists have an expression. "Some practice is better than no practice. But more practice is better than less practice".

So how do you develop patience? How do you learn a skill that many people believe you are either born with or without. The best way in my humble opinion
is to take time away from trading and practice things that are naturally calming. Tai Chi, Yoga, or meditation will bring calm and patience into many other aspects of your life. The main idea is to take time out of your hectic schedule to slow down. Fishing is another great example of the type of activity that causes you to slow down and develop patience.

Patience is only part of the puzzle, but I believe that once you put that piece in place, you can at least begin to see where the other pieces fit. Consider patience as being the center piece that you build everything else around.

There is a popular English phrase that states, "good things come to those who wait". While I can agree with that statement to a certain degree, a person, particularly a trader, needs to know when it is time to act. That is why I think the Tao Te Jing, perhaps the most famous of all Taoist texts, does a better job of outlining patience in regards to trading and even life in general.

The Tao Te Jing talks about patience in Chapter 15.
Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

A trader can learn a lot from that verse. Most traders enter without their minds being clear and focused. They enter on a whim, because they are impatient and cannot wait for the trade direction to become clear. If you cannot easily tell in which direction price is trending, don't enter! Wait for the mud to settle and the water to become clear. Wait until Price moves to a logical entry point.

So the Tao Te Jing teaches us that if we wait the right action will arise by itself. In trading, I think this means waiting on the sidelines when trend direction is not clear. Let the big dogs fight it out. Once either the Bears or Bulls have won, just take the wave for a nice easy ride. It becomes very easy when you learn how to find the flow and stop fighting yourself.

Lesson One: Balance

Balance is the first lesson I learned myself that led to being a better trader. I was anything but balanced in the very beginning, spending countless hours watching charts, taking way too many trades, and watching with great anxiety as my over-leveraged trades went against me. I'm sure this is a very common and perhaps familiar scenario to some of you, whether currently or at some point in your trading endeavors.

In Tai Chi or Qigong we are always seeking balance, and trying to align ourselves with the Tao or "the way". When you are aligned with the Tao things seem to unfold effortlessly. You stop fighting yourself and live much more in the moment. Everyone has certainly experienced times where everything just seems to be going perfectly with little effort, and also times when you can't seem to get anything right no matter how hard you try.

Trading often reveals how balanced you are in a brutally honest fashion. If you are centered you will be making logical choices and if you are unbalanced you will be making emotional decisions, possibly caught up in such a whirlwind you are unable to stop yourself.

To find balance in trading the first step is to become aware. You can create awareness by simply slowing down. If you are not breathing in a relaxed manner you should not be entering a trade.

I encourage you to spend a few minutes practicing the following simple exercise before you begin trading for the day

• Rest your hands on your lower abdomon (also known as the lower dan tian).
• Close your eyes
• Breath slowly and deeply in a very relaxed fashion. Do not over-exaggerate your breath. Try to feel your abdomen slowly expand as you inhale and contract as you exhale
• Just focus lightly on your lower abdomen while taking several breaths
• After several breaths you should remind youself to be aware, remain patient, and trade calmly today

To some of you this exercise may seem silly. Perhaps so, but give it a try for a few days and see if it makes a difference. This simple exercise accomplishes some wonderful things in regards to trading. It calms you, provides focus, and most importantly brings you into the present moment.

From a Tai Chi perspective we start to shift from Monkey Mind to Alligator Mind. In which state do you think you'll make better more balanced decisions? When your mind is all over the place or when you can sit calmly for hours waiting for just the right moment to act.

I hope whomever stumbles upon this thread finds some enjoyment from it.

Happy trading!

365 Trade: Finding the Flow

One of my new goals with this blog will be to post lessons learned from my perspective as a both a trader and Tai Chi/Qigong teacher. Assuming there is any interest I will try to make somewhat frequent posts.

The title "365 Trade" is a concept taken from a book called "365 Tao", which gives the reader a valuable lesson each day taken from a Taoist point of view. Although I don't trade every day of the year, I look at my charts almost every day of the year, and lessons can certainly be learned even when a trade is not taken.

A brief background about me: I have been trading Forex since 2005. It wasn't until 2008 that I ended a calendar year with profits. This learning curve is quite normal. Somewhere towards the end of '07 I began to actually "see" the market. It doesn't mean I am now always right. It just means I enter trades with purpose and understanding.

I credit my meditative practices hugely with giving me the patience and calm to trade profitably, and I hope I can encourage others to give some sort of mind-body movement a chance. It may just improve your trading, and relieve some of the stress and anxiety that will cause you to make bad decisions and negatively affect your health and well-being.

In my next post, i will tackle the first lesson.

An Interesting Signal Service Provider

This is the first signal service provider for Forex that has really aroused my curiosity. It is a company called Zulu trade and from what I have seen so far I am impressed. This is a definite first.
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