IC MARKETS REAL 313166 Discussion

...plus NZDJPY, GBPNZD, GBPAUD, CHFJPY... fourteen pairs is enough? I don't like seeing my account sit there with no trades open - it's too boring! I need excitement in my life - I don't get any anywhere else!

0.01 lots per $10,000 across the board.

I hope to see all my stats in green some day! 😎

Added GBPCHF - $15,000 for 15 pairs = $1000 / pair (not the rule I am going by though). Perhaps even at $20,000 I won't increase trade sizes to 0.02, since I had my margin level go quite low today (I saw 1500%, but I am sure it went even lower after looking at the charts!). 😎

BluePanther posted:
Not happy about current exposure on my account (mainly due to EURCHF). Margin 600% (6x). This is the same setup I had for the EURUSD which blew $15,000 last time because I held it thinking it would reverse sooner rather than later (reversed later). It is only a matter of time, but the question is if I have enough margin in my account to weather the movement.

No, I don't want a repeat of EURUSD incident. I have closed all positions with CloseAll script, and I am putting EA on only XAUUSD (damn, I wish I got that movement yesterday on my real account! Damn, too many regrets over all that money I could have in my account which I don't).

7 Jan is when I began using RSI as an entry criteria for opening a grid. Using Custom Analysis (7 Jan to now) EURCHF is the only pair with a loss - but this was on the old strategy without using RSI. Even with RSI, I think EURCHF trends too much to be suitable for my account strategy.

Will look to add a couple more pairs when I increase my available margin more.

GBPNZD just hit stoploss - and the basket lost me -$0.10 (including commissions)!
AUDUSD hit SL and made $0.13 after $0.07 commission.
USDCHF hit SL and made $0.05 after $0.07 commission.

Noted observation: EA seems to have stoploss at breakeven.

==================== A NEW MILESTONE HAS BEEN REACHED: 10,000 PIPS!!! ========================
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I'm really hating the look of the CHFJPY: before attaching the EA I was unsure, as this pair has some nice movements, but also some pretty straight trends. The risk is an extended trend which does not reverse. Currently exposure with this pair is 2%+ of my account - and will only grow if there is no reversal! 1000% (10x) margin is not looking too good. 😕

18 pairs with the addition of EURGBP, NZDUSD, and XAUEUR. Okay, self-control - that's quite enough pairs for now!

But I need more margin quicker! (It's almost a 'cycle of destruction'):
1. need more margin
2. increase risk to increase margin quicker
3. need further margin
4. increase risk further to hasten margin accumulation
5. need even more margin
6. ... (or maybe I am just greedy and need to reduce my profit expectations?)

Glad to see the EA finally close out the 47 CHFJPY trades...
-the longest trade was held for 11 hours (TOO LONG!) I prefer scalper to trender. 😞
-the largest trade was 0.59 lots (getting a bit 'scary-large' there!)
-total lots this grid was 6.63 - I saw it at nine levels less (3.61 lots less) than the max and I was concerned about the available margin THEN!
-it was the only CHFJPY grid for today (up to that point)
-made a total profit of ~$150

Overall I am satisfied, with two further grids in the half hour succeeding the 'big grid'. I loathe to think about the limited margin at the apex and the possible missed profits during this period. Need more margin!!! 😡

Hmm... have I reached the limit of my MT4 terminal at 18 pairs (plus two for publisher EAs)?

08:32:03 #### XAUUSD,M1: Alert: XAUUSD Cant close all orders, still left 1

That is not a good sign... I expect the EA to perform without any intervention by me. RESTART! 😞

And errors 130 and 145 with XAUEUR and XAUUSD
-mental note to self: LEARN PROGRAMMING AND FIX THIS ISSUE (one day)!

...and here I was thinking it was going to be a disappointingly quiet Friday - almost 8400 pips and growing (4471 more than yesterday!)!! 😎😉

...and with 255 trades LESS than yesterday too! 😲

YAY VOLATILITY! 😁

Something went KABOOM 2.5 hours ago... ah, that's why...

https://www.forexfactory.com/news.php?do=news&id=466030

Grr EURAUD drawdown. 700% margin. 😞 6.49 total lots exposure now.

Hmm, EURAUD drawdown is over, though the risk is never far away. Like they say, martingale is going to blow up an account - not a matter of 'if' but 'when'. 😕

The EA has a setting of maximum loss tolerable, though the risk is if I use that setting and the market turns as it expects then I have made an unnecessary loss of a considerable part of my account. It's a gamble - do I close it off early (I could have closed the EURUSD at the time at $4000 loss but I considered it would recover) or do I let it possibly recover (or possibly blow the account if I had let it continue). I'm sure I would have lost my entire account, but luckily I saved my deposits (lost $15,000 profits)... will I be so lucky next time?

The margin requirement was ~$2500, so having $100,000 would mean a margin level of 4000% (40x). If I were to have that account size with current risk of 0.01 lots per pair I would be looking at daily returns of 2-3% (today would have been 3.5%).

That is acceptable I think, and should (hopefully) survive anything the market can throw at me. Now all I need is to reach that golden milestone of $100,000 before my account has blown up and I should be safe...??? 😕 😞

On a positive note, 10,560 positive pips in one day is phenomenal! 😎

Free advertising for CashBackForex.com:

I checked my account today and I am due to be paid back $609 in commissions which I paid IC Markets on my trades over December 2013. Last year I was earning $1.50/RLT on my trades with IC Markets, but this year I expect to be earning $1.61/RLT (as promised by CBF as a price match to a competitor).

Considering the patchy performance in December I am hoping that a solid performance on my account from now until next commission rebate will net me over $1000!

I am looking forward to seeing what happens. Hope for the best, not expecting the worst! 😉

Broker commissions paid (from 12/12/13 to today) stand at approximately $4000, and with a return of $600 - that is a return of approximately 15%. Hold that thought until next month and let's see if this amount substantially improves (with $1.61/RLT)... 😎

Interesting though: I pay $7/RLT, and a rebate of $1.50 should be about 21%... hmm.

Yeah, my account is 'back in black'!!! 😉

Embrace change! I think it is strange that folks shirk volatility surrounding news events or market gaps over weekends (avoiding Friday trading)... traders should use these opportunities of quick market change to their advantage because it is these times where the most volatility can and usually does happen. It is unfortunate when a system must avoid these times of rapid market change (and thus quick profit-making opportunities). 🙄

The best system would be robust enough to survive the market 24/5 no matter what happens! 😎

nice grid trading, keep it goin!

sirius1fx posted:
nice grid trading, keep it goin!

Thanks. There is room for improvement with this EA no doubt, but so far so good! 😉

My immediate aim as mentioned before is to increase my margin available. I am aiming to maintain 2% daily returns, so if that be $2000 per day then I require an account balance of $100,000. I think that size of an account will safely manage anything the market can throw at it (still hoping though). 😕

Only then will I increase my risk. Extrapolating these results, I am 'hoping' (there's that word again) to make $1,000,000 in my account with returns of $20,000 per day.

Reached the broker limit of 200 open orders. This is obviously bad, since the grid EA cannot open further levels which in turn means current levels will not close as soon as they could have, thus adversely affecting profits. But on a positive note, margin levels were quite low (@less than 600%) and would only have gone lower in the recently trending market, thus possibly risking the entire account!

Now I need to decide. Should I:
1. Leave current positions on my account and hope it will sort itself out? (I don't think so)
2. Close all positions and keep everything the same? (possibly)
3. Close all positions and reduce the number of pairs? (possibly)
4. Close all positions and increase the grid on particularly trending pairs? (possibly)

Going forward, option 3 looks to be the wisest choice, though certainly will reduce activity and account profitability.

Less pairs = less risk and profits, so trade sizes will have to increase sooner than $100,000.

Closed off all positions, and my account balance is still above $20,000! Gone from a 10% to 6% return today. 😎

Using 'Longest Trade Length' and 'Average Trade Length', the pairs with maximum time I am removing in the hope that trades will turnover quicker (a sustained trend will result in longer trade times). The reason 200 trades was reached was because some pairs had extended trends. mt4i.com is good for these stats. 😉

Now using ten pairs: AUDJPY, AUDNZD, AUDUSD, EURAUD, GBPAUD, GBPCHF, NZDJPY, USDCHF, XAUEUR, XAUUSD.

Unfortunate that this 200 trade limit exists with IC Markets - I could have achieved another stellar day of 20%+ return ($3800+ on today's starting balance of $19,000)! But then again, I could have just as easily been annihilated. 😕

Two further changes to all pairs:
1. RSI changed to 90/10 (was 85/15) for entry criteria.
2. Grid was changed over the weekend to 8 (was 10). This could have been a minor contributing factor to reaching the 200 trade limit sooner, though not the ultimate factor (of the market trending).