Learning to walk

So Jordan's put me on a diet: Not more than one trade a day.

Who's Jordan, you ask? Why, he's my Forex mentor - I'm in a group of people who're taking classes to learn about trading Forex. I've been taking the classes offered by The Financial Edge (fantastic classes they offer, by the way).

I'm new to the whole Forex-trading thing. But I'm pretty sure I want to learn as much about it as fast as I can. So, with a couple of classes under my belt, I signed up for an account, stuck in some money and started. I have the beginner's eagerness for experience, mingled with probably the best 20/20 hindsight-insight ever! When I look back at the trades I've already made, I cringe. How come I can't see the pitfalls before I jump in?

I've been trying to analyse the entry and exit possibilities, but, over the past 40-plus trades that I've taken since August 8th, I've lost way more often than I've won. Thanks to listening to one of Jordan's core pieces of advice, I've only been trading micro-mini lots (a thousand units at a time), so I haven't done terribly badly, but it's still sobering to realise that unless I shape up and really digest the technical analysis, I could potentially lose a ton of money in this marketplace.

Of course, Jordan, when he discovered what I was doing, was firm about a few things:

• If you have a day job, don't try to manage your trades on less than an hourly timeframe
• Do spot your trade setups on an hourly, daily or weekly timeframe
  
• Do use the parabolic SAR to confirm your desired trade on the 15-minute timeframe
• Learn to walk before you try to run
  

I tried, I really did. But by the time this month's class rolled around, I was still making the same mistakes - my account is currently down over 50%.

Jordan, being my mentor, has decided it's time for me to really learn - so now I'm on the diet as prescribed by Jordan: no more than one trade a day. It's a simple diet, but I'm already having trouble sticking to it, just two days in! :)

The theory is that the knowledge that I can only take one trade a day will force me to do deeper analysis before I place the trade. That is definitely already happening. But I'm seeing lots of phantom possibilities that I really, really, really want to trade. The discipline must be happening somewhere, but I'm not seeing it yet. :)

So here's the idea: I'm going to post my analysis (HAH!) every day and you can all tell me what I'm doing wrong. I'll include my chart analysis as I do that, so my trade log will be public. You can all follow along and help me re-interpret my analyses. I'm probably going to make lots of mistakes, so you'll have the ability to feel superior all the time - it's a win-win situation, because I'll be learning while you're honing your trading instincts.

In case you're wondering what tools/setup I've got: I'm using Equis Software's MetaStock Pro and I have an online Forex trading account. I have a day job, so I only do the trading either really early in the morning or after work - with my crazy work and class hours that means that I typically trade between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. and again between 7 p.m and 9 p.m. with a few more analyses thrown in between 9 p.m. and midnight.

Here's to a fantastic journey over the next few weeks, months and years!

- Maya