If you love me

Back home, after a splendid week in France. I was listening to new cds, late in the night in the hotel room, while the family was sleeping. Among these, a masterpiece : the biggest accordionist of our time, the French Richard Galliano meets the best vibraphonist, Gary Burton, in a superb duet. Piazzola transported in Europe, with spirit, intelligence and sensibility. A must have cd.

Only a few

Only these three for today. Preparing for a 7-days trip to France with family.Hope we will  not blocked there because of the strikes.. So no trades next week, as I never trade via an unsecure hotel connection.

Poor execution

Mediocre entries/exits, on a rather easy session.

Overcautious

Overcautious, on a very strong move. But who knows that before the end of the trend?

Late entry

Late entry on the second trade and only a few pips gain as a consequence and, more important, a risky third trade.

Going down

Overtrading

My 5' clock session. Two good trades and then five unnecessary ones. I had all the pips i needed and then I continued, to follow price further down. Consolidation gave minor losses and more conmmission expenses.

The only ennemy of my method is named  overtrading. Overtrading means gambling attitude. The ennemy is inside me.

Morning

Hesitation

A good start of session and a mediocre finish. The 4,4 pips trade was late entry, due to my hesitation. The last one was impulsive, closed in time..

Cautious

Post-FOMC

The trend was strong but this is easier to confirm afterwards. When in action, and because I trade with big lots, I prefer to have tight stops and multiple entries/exits. High volatility means also deep retracements. I can't afford to go long and then get a retracement of 40 pips in the face, praying for the price to go up again. Act like a sparrow: one little piece at a time, again and again.

Post-NFP

One loss while in the range and then the big shot, on the move down . Followed by two additional moves. The entry on the third was terribly late and as a result the trade became vulnerable and  was saved in extremis from a big loss, as the violent correction came immediately after my exit.

Pre-London

London opening (again)

Quiet and peaceful London opening.

Don't play with a strong trend

Four of these many trades were contra-trend. Three of them gave small but unnecessary losses. Anticipating a correction on a strong trend is the shortest way to perdition.

One hour later

London opening

London opening becomes more interesting day after day..

Against the wave

The third trade was against the wave and I paid the price. Then the pips came on the natural flow up.

Just before LO

A few trades just before London opening. Splitting a move into several parts, for safety reasons.

Friday afternoon

A few pips for today, ending the week.

Early exits

Two consecutive early exits and some risk taken at the end of session.

Smooth moves

Post-FOMC (2)

Post-FOMC (1)

Back

I had these trades on last Thursday and then I left for a few days by the sea. I am back today, to trade the FOMC, if I can.

Quiet morning

A few pips here and there, on a quiet and easy morning. Perfection for me is just that,  to have only three trades, three little winners for the entire day,and enjoy the rest of my time. No need to trade again in the afternoon.

Trend

Not trusting the (obvious) trend lets most of the pips on the table.

Tired trader = late entries

End of my session today. A premature exit to preserve the gains of the day, followed by a late entry where I could lose everything.

Rocky

I spent some days on the mountains with family ( I can walk again!), where we found Rocky. A three-months puppy, abandoned and starving, in pitiful condition. We drove him back home and spent some days to save his life and made him feel comfortable again. He is fine now, he is very clever and playful, my girls love him. He stands on my side when I trade or read. I never had a dog before, what an experience!

A new member of the family. I am not the only handsome male in the house anymore.. -)

Rusty

First trades after my vacation. First one was very risky - low reflexes after the break. The rest were safe tries for a few pips. Gone for the day, time for my new friend.

Back from a week off, only to find a perfectlly flat market today. No trades.

Euro-yen moves again!

Having charts open side by side for the two pairs I monitor, I saw the move on eur/jpy and I traded it. At that time eur/usd was quite immobile.

7 movie masterpieces - 2

2. Duck soup (1933),  Marx Brothers.

What can I say about this.. Just one thing : I have watched this marvel 23 times in a row, in the 80's, having fun and discovering new things every time, when I was a student in Paris (in Action Ecoles tiny theater), spending all my francs. I still remember all the dialogue, I even copied the slightly yiddish accent of Groucho. Then I bought a wig to  imitate Harpo, the absolute genius for me. And thinking that the real name of the guy was Adolph... I am thrilled that yesterday my little daughters loved the film and the fellows too..Especially the classic mirror scene..

Not much

Not much today, a quiet Monday as usual, plus mediocre entries/exits.

7 movie masterpieces - 1

(I can't move from home this summer because of my accident, so every night since July 24 we have an open air movie session in our garden, with family and friends, a projector and my laptop. For the last seven nights, i pick the best of my collection.)

1. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (2003), by Kim Ki Duk.

A sublime movie from S. Korea and director Kim Ki Duk.  The setting is a floating monastery in a pristine mountain lake, where an elderly monk teaches a boy the lessons of life. The seasons, the images, the poetry. A beautiful buddhist fable wich clearly shows how close to life is buddhism, how deeply understands the human...Some of the exquisite images on the trailer here. A big  lesson of wisdom for a few bucks.

" The protagonist in this film is life, and the antagonists are time and change. Nor is it that simple, because to be alive, you must come to terms with both of those opponents."  Roger Ebert, in his fine review.

A nice move

Nice drop on eur/usd while the eur/jpy pair was stuttering again.

And this

Zen

Second day enjoying the calm and simplicity of eur/usd (and the 0 spread!). I need only 5-15 pips per day, I can play with the highest lots, as the pair is more safe, less unpredictable than eur/jpy. Just 3-5 trades per day, one hour or less, 4-5 pips stop, no stress, no fear, almost zen.

Lazy afternoon

A lazy, awfully late entry on first trade and then some pips, on a quite summer afternoon.

Plaster

I count and recount the days remaining till the day (Aug. 26th) I will get rid of the plaster who locks me on the chair all day long..11 days  left. Yesterday night  we made a projection in our garden, the film was Rear window, by the big Alfred..Splendid, as always (I have seen it 5 times). You know, it is about the photographer with the broken leg (and bigger plaster than mine), who cannot do anything else than piping with his camera in the courtyard and finally sees a crime. I have also, 20 days now, my camera by hand while sitting on the bloody chair for hours, but I haven't seen the slightest crime, only trees..

Stephan Micus

Listening all Sunday long to several cds by Stephan Micus. What a musician! How can a German understand so deeply the eastern spirituality on sounds and incorporate it, so beautifully,  in his western craftsmanship? Some of his best works, for those who may be interested : Twilinght fields, To the evening child, Desert poem, The music of stones, Darkness and light. All published on ECM.

Time for thinking

No much activity recently, I need some time to clean my mind and plan the new season. Today I was just watching charts of eur/usd and eur/jpy, side by side,on same time periods. A very obvious remark : Eur/jpy had lost most of his shine. The leader now is the euro-usd pair. It is as spectacular as it was the former in the near past. Eur/jpy is a follower now. It cannot lead the movements, its moves are only adjustments of price between eur/usd and usd/jpy. Given also its erratic summer behavior and the bigger spreads, it is maybe time to trade eurusd. But I always have a look on eur/jpy's ADX, to catch the (fewer) high volatility periods.

Risk

Good timing for these but the last trade was soo risky.. Momentum cannot guarantee anything..

Le livre de ma mere

Albert Cohen, at age 50, speaks about his late mother. A SPLENDID little book that every son should read. I re-read it yesterday and had a big relief thanks to it.

Unavailable in english right now (on Amazon). The french original is here.

Une femme douce

My mother died yesterday, fifteen days after the death of my father. She passed her last six years immobile on a bed, totally paralyzed and almost unconscious, after the horrible stroke she had on 2004. Only her eyes were vivid all these years, the eyes who gazed me, with her unbelievable tenderness, every single day since then, when I was visiting her, for an hour or less every day. I was seeing my mother dying day after day after day, for six years long.

Fifteen days ago, my father died first in the adjacent room of their house. I am sure she understood what happened, she was very anxious after this. Two days later, I disappeared myself from her house, I could not visit her anymore, because of my broken foot. At that moment, she maybe felt that everything was over for her, that the persons to whom she totally devoted her life had left for ever. She died peacefully in her sleep, a few days later, at age 81. She was kind and tender all her life long, her life was love and devotion, nothing more, nothing less.

I lost my mother and I am unable to cry now. That is the most awful.

Splitting

A move of 50 pips like this on chart gave only 19p profit, as the continuous exit/re-entry diminishes the gains (and increases the commissions expenses). Splitting is the insurance to pay against a sudden reversal of a thin, summer market, for me at least.

Just one

Just one trade for today. Eur/jpy becomes erratic or flat on summer, as the major pair, eur/usd, takes most of the available liquidity and attention.

Back to work

Back to trades slowly after several days of inactivity, with these 4 little winners and a null. Last trade was average : late entry/early exit. It takes time to believe in the continuation of opposite trend.

This is my foot!

I managed to broke my foot, two days after the death of my father. For an admirer of Freud like me, this is not simple bad luck... During all August I will be in the plaster, foot on air...It happened at the moment we were planning the so needed vacation for the family...So sad that I am laughing right now...Time for reading, music, and some trading at present.

The artists creating on plaster are my daughters..

New life

This is Matilde, the new born daughter of my friend Andrea from Italy. She is just 27 days old and already a beauty! She has the eyes of an old glory of italian cinema, Claudia Cardinale!

Andrea is also in the forex world, he is a very talented person, the most intelligent computer programmer I ever met. We worked together in the past years on some indicators and forex trading and our exchange of ideas was always VERY stimulating. We created a "trading bomb" for fun, he was Dr Oppenheimer and I was Dr Neumann..Our long conversations over the internet will be published some day, I am sure about that! Διάλογος, discussion in ancient greek, means that two minds can produce more ideas when they are in contact than separated, according to Plato.

All the best, Andrea, with the new woman in your life!