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Quiet Times for Reflection and Development
As
we develop as traders there are often many things that we think of that
we would like to find out more about or need to develop or test. It is
a good idea just to note those things down as they occur to you, then
when there is a natural lull in the markets then this can be the ideal
moment to look back at those notes and maybe get on with one or two of
the things you would like to take further and develop or understand
better.
Today, 21st Feb 2011, was a classic day
for that if you are based in the UK or outside the USA. Being
‘President’s Day‘ in the US means that the markets are extremely quiet,
so it is an ideal day to either take off or to get on with other things,
even, dare I say it, to Back Test some of your chosen strategies!
These quiet times can
also be a great time to reflect on what has occurred and how things are
going in your trading and maybe to tighten up your trading plan and look
back at your trading record and particularly your failed trades, as
these are the ones we can learn most from. To do that though, we must
have kept a record of previous trades and their outcome.
However, if you trade in MetaTrader 4 (MT4),
then you can easily generate a report from you Trade History, just
select the ‘Account History’ tab at the bottom of your screen when your
Terminal is showing and then right click on the historic list of trades
and then select ‘Save as Detailed Report’. This will generate a full
report over the chosen time period and if you scroll down to the bottom
of the report you will see your Equity Curve and associated trading
statistics or Stats as we call them. The key stat to look at is your
Profit Factor, this must be greater than 1 if you are going to be able
to build your account equity balance and preferably better than 1.5 or
even 2.
Top Trading Tip:
When you take a trade in MT4 then take a screenshot of your setup and
save it for future reference or sharing at the time of the trade. Just
select 'File/Save As Picture/Active Chart (as is) and give it an easily
understandable title such as 'GBPUSD 1hr Regular Bearish Divergence - 11
Jan 2011' and save it in a logical folder such as ‘Past Trades’. You
can then go back and refer to them and compare them to how things worked
out and learn from your mistakes. They are also a great way to get
feedback from your peers or Trading Mentor allowing you to show when and why you took a certain trade.
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