First, by way of introduction, I intend to make this a regular feature, in which I recap my experiences trading the PATI criteria and methodology in the market each day. This is as much for my benefit as for you, the reader, because it forces me to reflect on the market conditions and what I might have done differently.

For background, this year (2018) has gotten off to a very rocky start for me. My first 9 market sessions all resulted in losses for the day, and a total loss of <326> pips for the month.  I have begun turning it around this week, but it still hasn’t been all roses. Monday I was 5/5, including a trade on the GBPUSD that hit my take profit limit for 39 pips, and a total of 66 pips.  That is close to, if not, my best session since I’ve been tracking my PATI results (about 3 1/2 years).  Yesterday was not so good – it looked like there was good follow through at the start of the session, but things turned south.  I was down 52 pips at one point, then got a couple medium sized winning trades to come back to only down <20>.  But then I had a couple more full stop losses, and ended up down <49> pips.

I came to the charts early this morning – about 6:00 AM  CST (I live in Dallas, TX), or about 2 1/2 hours before the NY equities market open. I observed some wide-spread clear directional moves, and tentatively “stuck my toe in the water.”   I had 3 open trades – on the CAD, the GBPUSD, and the EURGBP – that were all up prior to the start of the NY Trade Planning Session at 8:00 CST.  I was up over 50 pips combined on those 3 trades, and I elected to punch out of them and book the profits before the start of the session. So I was up 55 pips before the open.  Unfortunately, the actual session was back and forth – I had a few winners, and then a few losses.  My biggest weakness today was my impatience.  I punched out of the GBPUSD because I was anxious to book those 50+ pips before the TPS, but if I had let it run, it would have gone for additional 30 pips.  Similarly. at the end of the session, I was anxious to get it overwith, believing that nothing much was going to happen, and exited the USDJPY on a way-too-tight protective stop for +4 pips, when it could have gone +25 in the next candle.

 

So I still have some things in myself to work on, but I’m pleased with the session overall, and it felt good to get some positive numbers on the books.