It's official... I'm back to a new total equity high as of the close of business for the month of February (as you can see from the graph above)!
Not only was February a profitable month with a total win of 669 pips, but I also carried 4 profitable trades forward into the month of March. These trades had a current equity value of over 1,500 pips total at the beginning of the month, which means the month of March looks like it will be another profitable month for me with Forex Profit Monster.
Here are the FPM results for the month of February:
26 trades
10 wins: 1,959 pips
16 losses: 1,290 pips
669 pips total profit
38% win rate
Avg win: 196 pips
Avg loss: 80 pips
Avg R/R: 2.45 to 1
Here are the details of the 8 pairs I trade on the 4 hour chart in order of performance (best to worst):
GBP/JPY- 2 wins, 0 losses: 326 pips
GBP/USD- 1 win, 1 loss: 312 pips
AUD/USD- 2 wins, 2 losses: 251 pips
USD/CHF- 2 wins, 3 losses: 148 pips
EUR/JPY- 1 win, 2 losses: 140 pips
USD/CAD-1 win, 3 losses: (-25 pips)
USD/JPY- 1 win, 2 losses: (-43 pips)
EUR/USD- 0 wins, 3 losses: (-340 pips)
I usually try to take some time when I post my monthly results to add some insight about my trading system or trading in general. It's important to understand that trading is much more than the trading system itself... and once again I'd like to cover this topic.
Each month when I post my results I inevitably get at least several emails from people also trading the system asking why their results differ from mine. These questions range from having a different number of wins and losses on a pair to a "discrepancy" in the number of pips won or lost. Sometimes the person contacting me has fared worse than I have, sometimes the person has actually fared better than I have... but they still want to know why their results don't match mine. Either way, the answer for the difference(s) is simple... you're trading your account, not me, so of course your results are going to be different than mine!
I know that may sound like a sarcastic thing to say, but there's no other way to put it. There are many reasons why no two traders will have the same results from trade to trade (or even from month to month or year to year) even though they are using the same trading system on the same time frame. Some of these include your broker's price feed, the time your broker closes the candle/day (therefore changing your entry/exit time and price), and a broker's spread and slippage. However the most important difference isn't found because brokers are different, but that each TRADER is different. While FPM is a mechanical system, there can be some discretion involved... especially regarding exits. There are three types of exit methods for the trader to choose from; which one a trader chooses is going to cause results to be different... and not every trader is going to exit at the exact same time even using the same strategy.
For instance, I personally trade FPM as a trend following system. I never use support/resistance as an exit strategy anymore, although I did early on in my development of the system. Now I mainly use the Fast Trend cross as my exit signal, but even then I don't always exit right away on the cross (this doesn't happen on every trade, most times the exit signal is clear and mechanical). However occasionally depending upon the current state of the trend (how established it is) and my analysis of the current price action (by reading candlesticks and monitoring price divergence from the indicators) I may tighten my stop (to avoid larger than necessary losses if I'm incorrect) and stay in the trade for a little bit longer before exiting. I especially do this to try and maximize my wins on an established trend. Sometimes this strategy keeps me in a trend for a longer period of time for more profit... sometimes it causes me to accept a slightly smaller win on a single trade then I would have had by exiting right away at the Fast Trend cross, but overall I find it has a positive effect on my profitability.
This is just one example of why my results may differ from yours. Another question that I'm asked about often that can have an effect on results is whether or not I take re-entry trades as defined in the User Guide. The answer to that once again involves discretion. If I can justify a reason for re-entering a trade I recently exited (again, reading candlesticks and using price divergence) I will enter the trade. If not, I wait for another large Entry Arrow (and for the Slow and Fast Trends to agree) before I enter another trade. I don't take re-entry trades often as many times the white arrows used as part of the signal for a re-entry trade can also signal that a currency pair has entered into a range. One rule I do have regarding re-entry trades is that if the first one I enter ends up in a loss I don't enter a second one (again because the pair could be entering a tight range). My advice to most beginning traders is to avoid re-entry trades until you have enough experience to use some of your own discretion... it's better to miss a move or two than to experience more losses than necessary due to extra whipsaws.
The last important item to cover regarding this topic is this... Forex Profit Monster CAN be traded as a completely mechanical system as explained in the User Guide and still show a profit over time. However, as you become more adept at using FPM and develop or increase your knowledge and experience as a trader you can occasionally add some of your own discretion to an exit strategy to increase your profits in the long run. But it doesn't matter if you're trading the system as a "black and white" mechanical system, or sometimes using a "shade of gray" exit strategy, you must understand that your results are YOUR results. Comparing your results to my results (or anyone else's results) on a pip by pip or even trade by trade basis has no real value. To become a successful trader for the long run you must focus on your own trading plan and become disciplined and consistent so that you may become consistently profitable... that is the real key to long term success in the trading profession!
That's it for February... here are the yearly results for 2010 so far:
January: +823 pips
February: +669 pips
Total for 2010: + 1,492 pips
For more information about Forex Profit Monster (and my day trading system Forex Day Monster), visit www.forexprofitmonster.com.
To purchase either Forex Profit Monster or Forex Day Monster visit my eBay page at:
http://myworld.ebay.com/jimsgr8stuff4less
Best of luck in your trading!
Jim
www.forexprofitmonster.com
http://myworld.ebay.com/jimsgr8stuff4less
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