Interdum stultus opportuna loquitur...

Thursday, November 03, 2005

EuroRant II: The Explanation...

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I love sequels that haveextra bits added to their names...

Shortly after I posted about the exit for the little Euro short scalp, I noticed two things. first, I typo-ed the entry price (it was 1.2091, not 1.2089 - so the profit was 7 pips, not 5). 

Second, I thought "If I'm going to correct that, I might as well stick ion the chart to explain why I entered and exited".

The chart below is the 'core' chart (although as I explained earlier, the hourly chart also played a part).

Note two things at the spot marked 'A'. 

First, there is a CCI sell divergence (a higher high on the chart, but a lower CCI); second, the moving average of the %R (the yellow line on the 'GT_%R' chart in the second pane) hits overbought (above 90) - the MA-of-%R condition is what paints the bar red. 

In reality, I ought to have been short at (or near) 'A', but instead I didn't short until the point where I've painted the yellow dot - almost two hours later. 

That entry was poor management - I didn't open the Euro workspace until 4:00 a.m. Australian time, and at that point it was clear that the Euro had 'rejected' 1.2100 (and that the spike to 1.2115 was a 'bull trap')... so I shorted in the idiotic belief that the Euro 15-minute chart the rejection would 'stick' and the downside would continue immediately. Silly me - volunteering to produce garmonbozia by trading like a nuffnuff.

Euro 15-minute chart

As far as the exit is concerned, that was far more sensibly-managed (that's the point marked 'B'). The MA of %R is as close as makes no odds, to 'extreme oversold' (i.e., < 10); the CCI is deeply oversold; the European market is about to open.

Note that about an hour after I outlined the exit, the market actually made a marginally lower low... and triggered a CCI buying divergence (but only on the 15-minute chart); the hourly chart is still looking for a low.

The moral of this story: if you miss an entry, don't just 'jump on' because you think that everything looks OK; with the technical setup at 'A', the secondary movement to above 1.2110 was actually an opportunity to add to the position. By entering with the market already having performed most of its rejection, I was left cradling a shit-awful entry when I should have been riding a two-contract position with one entry at above 1.2100. And I was forced to cradle it for hours (becaue you don't exit a trade until the trade conditions tell you to).

So it was almsot 12 hours of babysitting this stinker - and at the end of the day it was worth a lousy 7 pips (US$87.50 less $4 brokerage) and at one stage it was underwater by as much as 14 pips (how's that for shitful risk-return!!). 

That is bad trading, even though it worked.

At least now I can get some sleep...