Equity:1,013.34 - 1 min charts

Further to below post, I will be adding 1 min candlesticks chart. I want to see if the Bread N Butter strategy can work on faster candlesticks. The time span of the graphs is around 4 hours (17:00 - 21:00)

Equity:1,013.34 - Studying time

Below are some charts which I will scrutinizing over the weekend, to review my trading during weekdays. I put it out here is so that I have easier access to viewing them. That is one good thing about having a blog too.

The charts are 5 min candlesticks of various currencies, which spans around 20 hours. From the look of it, the Bread N Butter strategy should really work on these graphs, and all graphs. But I guess there are a few things about my strategy that I need to tweak.

Equity:1,013.34 - Job resume

Good morning. I just had my funds come in, S$1000. But I lost around $80 the last 2 days, seems like things are not easy as I thought. I will be studying Forex again this weekend since trading is not opened.

Anyway on another topic, I just had a phone training about my job resume. I signed up for it through Jobscentral, a job agency. It is supposed to help me with my resume, since I have sent out many and receive nothing in reply. Although I am expecting to hear many things that I already read on the internet, but unexpectedly there are also other things I learnt.

• Firstly he pointed out on my short objective, which is on top of my resume. It should not be so much of myself, but rather what I can do for the company.
• My work experiences, is just like listing down my job description, which many other candidates are doing the same. He recommended that I pair up each description with an achievement. Even if there is no achievement, just write something down, haha. 
• He also mentioned about the 'CAR' concept when writing down my experiences. Challenge, Action, Result. What is the challenge I face, what action did I take, and what is the result. 
• He said that hiring managers do not really look so much into work experiences (!!), but what I can do for the company. 
• I also missed out a 'Skills' section, to tell the hiring manager about my people skills. Like how I can work with the Sales team to give me their data, how I build rapport, etc. He mentioned that this section it is very important. Do not lie, as the hiring managers might ask you to quote examples during the interview. Even if you lie through the interview, in long term, there will also be consequences. Maybe just say that you are willing to learn or have positive learning altitude if you really dislike socializing.
• Around 20% of available jobs come from job agencies and job websites. The other chunk comes from networking. There is social networking like Linkedin and networking with friends and family. Spending more time on networking produces the best results (20/80 principle). 
• The reason for the above is that when a big company is hiring, they will usually ask internally if anyone wants a transfer or if anyone has a recommendation. It is only dripped down to headhunters and job websites for last resorts.
• Headhunters have different caterers. For recruit express, it is meant for lower positions. For Morgan Mckinsley, they are more for executives.
• One of the best thing I heard from the adviser is a story about a person that wants to work in the big 5. She went to the extend of sending slow mail to the hiring manager. The hiring manager was impressed and wanted to have coffee with her. In the end she got a job there as there was someone else leaving. She got the job even before the job vacancy was posted. Even if she does not get a job, the hiring manager would have recommended her to somewhere else.
• This is one classic example of networking even if you do not know the person. And it is also networking at a very efficient level, because you are going directly to the person that can help you get what you want. They can use their networking and help you. Therefore, if there is a company that you are really interested to work in, you can try this strategy.

I paid S$120 for the service, and I thought that the money is not that much as knowledge is more important. The person I spoke to worked in HR for 9 years, and is now running his own business partnering other job agencies. Not sure if it can really help me in anyway, but having more knowledge is better than none. 

Have a good weekend!

Equity:93.43 - Most traded currency pairs

Hi there! Made 3 'Bread N Butter' trades today, lost 2 and won 1.

Interesting knowledge for the day. I was trying to find out the most commonly traded currency pairs, and found this short and simple summary of it. It is taken from Investopedia, my favorite financial reference. Its like the Wikipedia of finance.

Although some retail dealers trade exotic (less popular) currencies such as the Thai baht or the Czech koruna, the majority trade the seven most traded currency pairs in the world. The four most popular, also known as "the majors" are:

EUR/USD (euro/dollar) – "euro"
USD/JPY (U.S. dollar/Japanese yen) – "gopher"
GBP/USD (British pound/dollar) - "cable"
USD/CHF (U.S. dollar/Swiss franc) – "swissie"

The three less popular commodity pairs are:

AUD/USD (Australian dollar/U.S. dollar) – "aussie"
USD/CAD (U.S. dollar/Canadian dollar) – "loonie"
NZD/USD (New Zealand dollar/U.S. dollar) – "kiwi"

These currency pairs, along with their various combinations (such as EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY and EUR/GBP) account for more than 95% of all speculative trading in FX. Given the small number of possible trades - only 18 pairs are actively traded - the FX market is much less broad than the stock market. 

From : http://www.investopedia.com/walkthrough/forex/getting-started/pairs.aspx

Equity:92.45 - The week is still long

It is only Tuesday, and it is so difficult to pass time at my work. That is why I have this extra drive to want to be successful at trading, and I can choose to do what I want to do. Currently I am still working what I am working because it is a better path in terms of money.

I am still trying around with the Bread n Butter strategy the library book taught. And the results look pretty ok. At least It does not cause me to lose a lot, and as compared to my trading in the past, this one seems more promising.

Certain pointers to remember tomorrow and beyond.

• Place the limit stop at least 2 times as much as the stop loss gap.

LoL,  forgot what other things that I learnt today. Anyway, another interesting thing that the book taught was this 10-10-80 principle. It means you donate 10%, save 10%, and do whatever you want with the other 80%.

The interesting part to me is about donating the 10%. The book goes on to say how it can actually make you a better person and make the world a better place. It also cites scientific studies about it, and says how much more money you make in return. Karma you can call it, but the author is a devoted Christian.

If it true that I, 'Singapore Trader' will really make it big in Forex, I will also pledge 10% of what I earn in Forex to people that are less fortunate than me. Even before reading the book, every now and then, I sometimes give money to elder people randomly. And I know somehow, it makes me more human and feel better. I always have this mentality when donating that 'a little bit of my money, might meant a lot of money for someone else'.

So if you want to feel pretty awesome for the day, you can try just giving some your money to someone in need. You might just feel differently about yourself and the world!

Equity:93.96 - Holy Grail?

Good day, recently I borrowed a book from my town library, which is the book below. The author of the book is actually a stock exchange trader. But the author claims that the technical strategies in the book can be used for anything that uses a candlestick chart. But the conditions to use his strategies is that the trading product has to be highly volatile and liquid. Needless to say, Forex is king in terms of those conditions.

Why is my title Holy Grail? Actually I believe there is a Holy Grail in trading. And many books that are written will tell you Dream On! Including the above book. Maybe it is just my definition of a Holy Grail. In this book, the very first method that was being taught something called the 'Bread and Butter' method. It is the author's favorite method, and to him it is the most consistent one. The author gives a statistic by testing the method in real data, and the winning chance was 13/17. That is like over 75% chance of winning using the trade!

What is the method all about? Basically, you use a 20 period and 50 period SMA (Simple Moving Average). And when the 20 line crosses under the 50 line, it is a sell opportunity. (Likewise if the 20 line crosses above the 50 line, it is a buy opportunity)

Then you go on to the next condition, which is by looking at the stochastic graph below. And if the stochastic line is facing downwards and hovering around the 80% region (for sell) , you sell!

Why do I conclude it is a Holy Grail? Because, I read another Singaporean book and it recommends the same thing! It is like people that goes through the S$3000 trading courses will be taught this method! Then why do the 2 books I read mention there is no such thing as a holy grail? Most of them have good intentions to say that, because they want to emphasize more on your money management skills, and not get complacent.

But to me, it is still a Holy Grail. Because when a Holy Grail is presented to you, it is still up to you to do whatever you want to it! You may use the cup as a mug for brushing teeth. You may find it so beautiful that you store it in your cabinet for display. You may even melt the cup for its precious metal. And to me, what you do with it is actually your money management skills.

Just like any Tom, Dick and Harry who gets excited and thinks he has found the Holy Grail, I will be depositing another S$1000 into my account. I hope this is a turning point in my Forex journey, and aim to hit S$100,000 in my account ASAP. It is because the author of the book mentions that only when you hit a 6 figure amount, then you can consider becoming a full-time trader. And that means not waking up every bloody morning at 6:30am for me!

Equity:78.17 - Sometimes there is only so much we can do. But every time, we can choose to be humble.

I did not place any trades today, as I do not see any opportunity technically. Today's haze reached another record high, at PSI 371. Today also made me feel however many rich people we have in Singapore, as a nation, we still have to be humble especially to more powerful nations.

I felt that my government really put in a lot of effort trying to balance between maintaining a good relationship with our neighbors, and also pleasing the people within the country. Many citizens, especially the young ones, just lash out at the government for whatever crisis that happens. It is even more sad nowadays when anyone can just message the ministers in Facebook, without a need to show some respect. I am not a pro-government supporter, and in the elections, opposition parties were heroes in my eyes. But sometimes I feel that, the controlling government might not have an as bad intention that many makes out of it.

Today, I felt empathy for our foreign minister, having to tolerate the abuse of local online citizens, as well as having to smile at the Indonesian ministers to help solve the problems together. It feels a little like a father, who's child keeps complaining about the loud noises the neighbor makes. The neighbor is someone strong and powerful, and all the father can do is to try a soft way to negotiate with the neighbor, so as to bring peace for the child.

I feel all this emotions today after I read how powerful figures in a bigger country than ours can make statements without considering how the people and the leaders of the smaller nation might feel ( you can read the link below). It is really a sad reality that, sometimes there are just more powerful forces out there that you cannot do anything about, no matter how hard you try. We are a small nation with just so limited resources. The only way we survive is by being realistic, and look forward to the solutions rather than the problems. There are just many things in life we cannot control. And it is really good to be humble.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/indonesia-chides/717798.html