Why I am not a big fan of MQL4 or trading platform scripting

By Paul | Published: February 8, 2010

I spent most of 2008 trading futures and developing automated systems on Tradestation.  The futures trading didn’t turn out so well as I lost 40% of my account and had to call it quit.  My quant development work on the other hand, was coming along slow but steadily.  However, since I couldn’t bear the monstrous maintenance fee anymore at Tradestation, I had to abandon that work.  Then last year when I wanted to pick up where I left off on Matlab, I found that I couldn’t just continue my work.   Click here to continue reading... (642 words)

Posted in Quantitative Finance | Tagged EasyLanguage, MQL4, programming | Leave a comment

No micro-lot trading at Dukascopy Metatrader 4 accounts

By Paul | Published: February 7, 2010

Just received the following news from Dukascopy (attached below) regarding their Metatrader accounts. Basically, they are raising their minimum lot-size on MT4-enabled accounts to a mini-lot (10k). Micro-lot (1000 units) trading remains exclusive to their standard (JForex only) accounts.

Well, why do bad news keep coming to me just when I’m about to go live with a forex broker? First it was Oanda (although the problem was at my end with them), then Dukascopy. There’s no way I’m able to trade with a mini-lot because of my strict risk management rules. So I would be stuck with the JForex platform for a while if I’m going to trade with them.   Click here to continue reading... (386 words)

Posted in Forex | Tagged dukascopy, MT4, oanda | Leave a comment

Twitter Weekly Summary for 2010-02-06

By Paul | Published: February 6, 2010
  • looks like I'm stopped out of $USDCAD short @ 1.0750, another -70 pips down the drain. flat now, will prob stay that way until close #
  • #FF #forex @faithmight @RemixTrades @Ancient_Warrior @fxseekin @CrazyCanuck80 @SergeHanuma @FXJAY @4xguy #
  • sorry, that USDCAD was a short #
  • New post at @Quantisan: Paper trade: Stopped out of USDCAD long @ 1.0640 for -67 pips, re-entering @ 1.0680 http://bit.ly/b21xt6 #
  • stopped out of $USDCAD short at 1.0640 for abt -70pips, 0.1% of acct. flat atm #
Posted in Journal | Tagged twitter | Leave a comment

Paper trade: Stopped out of USDCAD short @ 1.0640 for -67 pips, re-entering @ 1.0680

By Paul | Published: February 4, 2010

Well this was awful. USDCAD continued on a rampage upward and I was caught on the wrong side of the fence.  Total loss for this was 0.12% of my account.  At least I was light in it.

In retrospect, I broke my own rule and didn’t enter at one of the 4 fundamental entry points.   Click here to continue reading... (237 words, 1 image)

Posted in Aussie, Kiwi, Loonie | Tagged CAD, entry, exit, FTC, paper trade, short, USD | Leave a comment

What to do when life gets in your way of trading?

By Paul | Published: February 4, 2010

Sometimes, things in life will get in the way of your trading. From down with a cold to your internet service provider acting up, there are times when your are not able to trade in your ideal zone. What do you do in these disadvantaged circumstances? Do you take some NyQuil or whip out your Blackberry, and then continue trading? This decision certainly depends on the severity of your handicap and your trading responsibility. If you have a massive open position with no stop, you’d better suck it up and do something about it quick. For amateurs such as myself with nobody to answer to but my own account, I would scale out of my positions and then stop trading to focus on fixing my obstacle. I am faced with this question recently and here’s what I’m doing about it.   Click here to continue reading... (555 words)

Posted in Self Assessment | Leave a comment

Paper trade: Short USD/CAD @ 1.0573, Stop 1.0640, Target 1.0415

By Paul | Published: February 2, 2010

Taking a first position in USD/CAD short here at 1.0573 on a 4-hour moving averages cross-over (Figure 1).  I’ve also placed a limit order to add more at 1.0519 below Fibonacci support (shown in Figure 1).  Reason for this trade is that USD/CAD is moving away from an upper bound channel with a overbought stochastic reading, as shown in the daily chart of Figure 2.  I’ve also considered going long AUD/USD, but AUD/CAD trend remains bearish.  So I chose to short USD/CAD instead.   Click here to continue reading... (282 words, 2 images)

Posted in Aussie, Kiwi, Loonie | Tagged CAD, entry, FTC, paper trade, short, USD | Leave a comment

January 2010 Trading Performance Review

By Paul | Published: February 1, 2010

2010 didn’t begin well for me.  I experienced my biggest drawdown so far at -3.95% (see Figure 1 for my account balance graph) in my demo account.  Given that I only risk 0.2% per trade, this is a relatively substantial setback.

Ironically, I was in the process of filling paper work to open a live account when this performance setback hit me.  Change of plan.  Now I’ll have to postpone live trading until I can at least recover my demo account balance.   Click here to continue reading... (546 words, 1 image)

Posted in Self Assessment | Tagged monthly review | Leave a comment