GDP better than expected: 3.3% vs 1.9%

+8 pips on a quick short eurusd with oil higher but off peaks.

quelques pips ici et là

8 pips , mais je n'ai pas réussi à saisir une bonne tendance de 20 pips ou plus.

En tous cas , n'oubliez pas d'investir dans un billet pour vendredi :-)  c'est plus lucratif que le fx et moins risqué

Haircuts and Diaries

Aggie is getting to the age that she likes to carry around a notebook with her to write and draw in. She likes to show us her work, whether it is her art, or her words. She copied "Relay for Life" from Munchkin's t-shirt tonight and was especially proud of that. But the other night, as we were driving home, Leslie and I overheard her telling Munch that that her diary was also the same word as when you have to go to the bathroom really bad. After laughing quite a bit, Leslie explained that her diary was not her diarrhea.

Yesterday, the girls got haircuts. And if you ask me, I think they're about as cute as they can be.

 

McGrooter had to get in on the action, but was, of course, silly!

faut arrêter de se faire des films ...

Je ne sais pas ce que certains fument ces derniers temps dans les forums , mais  on peut y lire un bon paquet d'abérrations:

faites 100 pips par jour avec mon EA
de 5000 $ à 5.000.000$ en quelques mois
 rejoignez le club des millionnaires
etc etc...

C'est ce genre de slogans  qui donnent au forex une mauvaise réputation et font passer ceux qui s'y intéressent au mieux pour de doux rêveurs  ou des  gogos, au pire pour  des flambeurs ou des arnaqueurs.

Le problème du forex , c'est qu'il apparait pour certains comme un méga-casino planétaire qui ne ferme jamais.  La promesse de faire du fric à la vitesse grand V attise toutes les convoitises et espoirs les plus fous.

Pure hérésie .

«Tuez-les tous, Dieu reconnaîtra les siens.»  A n'en point douter , La vengeance divine fera merveille.

Plus prosaïquement:  ce n'est pas grave,  la plupart seront lessivés et délestés de leurs économies puis retourneront vaquer à d'autres lubies.   Ca ajoutera un peu de liquidité au marché.  :-)

Nearly another month has flown by since my last post. As with most everyone I know, we're busy. What's new?! :-) But we are doing well, despite the continued adjustment back to the school routine. The kids each seem to be enjoying their new classes and teachers. Leslie is still regaining strength and starts physical therapy next week.

My schedule has kept me busy. My latest project has been Leslie's school website. It started out as me volunteering to update and maintain the current website, but then no one had access to the past designer's material. So I "got" to re-design the site from the ground up. It is mostly finished now with just some final content to be added as I recieve it. The website is here.

I've also been on the road a good bit, with a trip to Michigan last week. I flew in and out of Detroit, but had the opportunity to criss-cross the state a few times, traveling to Grand Rapids, Holland, up through Midland and Bad Axe, and finishing in Traverse City. It was an absoulely beautiful time of the year to be there, and I was blessed with getting a nice rental car with a big sunroof! My meetings went well and even got to visit with a pastor who (after about an hour of conversation) I realized I knew from about 20 years ago! After one of my meetings, a couple on the missions committee took me out on Lake Michigan on their boat. We spent about an hour and a half on the lake and it was gorgeous. I'm trying to get in some visits to my northern states before it gets too cold, at which time I'll refocus on my southern (and warmer) states! I took a bunch of pictures with my camera phone which I've placed on FaceBook here (hopefully the link will work).

We're getting more involved in our church in Gainesville. I've begun teaching the college and young adults sunday school class and we're starting a small group in nearby Dawsonville in the coming weeks with another couple. We have also started Financial Peace University which will hopefully help keep us focused and motivated on the task of getting out of debt. Every time we watch Dave Ramsey, a ritual which Leslie keeps us disciplined doing regularly, I am reminded how counter-cultural this idea is. Yet it is also continually humbling as I am reminded of my past mistakes. So, for any young people who might read this, take it from me...avoid debt like a plague!

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the funeral of a friend from years ago, JoAnn Calderwood. She and her husband were friends of ours when we first got married. She died, unexpectedly, of a heart attack last week. She called Leslie the night before she died and they talked for about half an hour. It has been a shock to us both, but was especially to Leslie after their talk. Please pray for her husband, Gene.

Next week, I will going through a Bible study/workshop, called Living in Grace at work. It is a course that all of our new missionaries go through and is similar to Sonship. I've been trying to do it several times since I started at MTW, but things always seemed to come up. Leslie and I were supposed to do it together last spring, but I fell and fractured my back the week before. I'm disappointed that she and I can't do it together, but I am excited about this opportunity for me to be challenged.

On a lighter note, I'm happy to say that my "new" little Civic is doing great on gas mileage. I keep track of my MPG with every fill-up, thanks to my dad's training, and my lowest measurement so far has been 31 MPG for a tank. It's never been so fun to save on gas!

I meant to write something about each of the kids but it is late, so I will just say one thing about Aggie. She is growing up to be quite the young lady and really enjoys helping. Sometimes too much for her mother and I! But we're learning to be patient and foster this desire in her. She gets her stool (the one my dad built for me when I was 2) and brings it in the kitchen to help with meals, packing lunches, and anything else we'll let her do. During one of our meals this week, she was describing something from her day to me. In the midst of her dialogue she used the expression, "and you know, that freaks me out!" Leslie and I both had a good laugh. She loves "helping" the Munch do a variety of things, sometimes with Muchkin's protest. But since we don't know how long this might last, we are learning to cherish it and are trying to point her to Christ in and through it.

Crude price drop

Jolly happy it's the end of the week; I've been sweating like hell today ;-)  .In the end , a small loss of 5 pips all included but I accept this without any problem as at one moment I was down 170 pips.  Difficult to take the pulse of the day when just looking at statements, but you can bet there was some thrill.

vite fait, bien fait

+11 pips on a quick scalp when crossing 1.4850

less trading , more thinking

Something like +11 pips . O.K for the day, but I am furious I closed my last position too early, just before the plunge that reached 1.4700.  Also I chased the market too much, I should decide one position and stick to it.

Zew better than expected

+5 pips during the last attempt of the eur to go above the 1.4700 mark.  The market has been very jumpy around that value, especially in the september future 6EU8.

eurusd market ranging most of the day

I have been toiling like an idiot all day long just to get a meager 7.7 pips. I won't complain as I was down at some point 12 pips.   Ranging markets are the most difficult to trade. I keep a short bias for eurusd, we could reach 1.4500 if oil goes lower.

end of the week

+ 6 pips . I am sure more can be done, but I prefer to start the weekend earlier. The next week will be very interesting without doubt.

trading notes

Not so long ago, I used to scribble  lots of pages to remember what I did during the trading session.  These days, I seldom use more than two pages like the one attached. Basically I follow throughout the day the prices of fx , oil, and futures side by side with some remarks.

July CPI + 0.8%, higher than expected

Quite busy on other fronts yesterday, I just made 5 pips.

Today, after a dull morning, things got more interesting with the US stats. Choppy trading.

+14.5 pips scalping on one account( +2.5 +2.5 +0.5 +9)



and + 6.5 pips  trading a "hedging" system :  <7.6>  <25.5>  +39.6

trading mistakes

Well , yesterday was the kind of day you don't want to see too often. I lost the equivalent of an average of 17 days  work in just two hours time.  I made the following mistakes:

 chasing the markets , opening positions and reversing them one minute after...
trading two accounts at the same time , this can get you confused very quickly
I traded too large amounts compared to what I do usually. Four times the usual.
revenge trading
I got furious when several orders were rejected ( "Market has moved") by a  new broker with which I have opened an account recently.  About 20% of the total loss occured because I couldn't close a position.
Not having decided in advance a maximum loss . ( new rule from now on )

A good night sleep ( all positions closed) and back to work this morning.



+15 pips with 2 scalps.  Things are back under control   :-)

eurusd gets close to 1.49 overnight

Though I was highly convinced of this imminent move, I couldn't profit from it being reluctant to have pending orders at night  .

Anyway, +19 pips this morning to start the week on a good note.

eurusd down to 1.50 - 400 pips in two days

Nothing much to say: the graph is crystal clear

If there is something trading can teach you , it's humility : from this avalanche of pips , I just made a few ones. That's the scalper's number one problem ( at least for me) : he doesn't profit from huge and obvious moves. This said , when a move of 150 pips has already occured, it is difficult to embark without fearing a sudden reversal. After 250 pips, you  say " what the hell ?!". At 350 pips: "  whatever ..."  :-)



Shame, shame  : 13 pips...

ECB: "no bias on interest rate direction"

Quick scalp during Mr.Trichet conference ;  he did not sound really hawkish  and eurusd reversed its course : +6 pips



followed by the closing of two trades started the day before :  <12.7> , +24.1

net + 11.4 pips

Oil below 120$

A most difficult task recently has been  to get rid of my scalper's reactions. Oil lost 2.5 $ in less than 15 minutes which bode well for the dollar. The break came and I cut my short eurusd only after 5.5 pips gain, when there was a clear potential for 15 pips within three minutes. Sometimes I would kick myself.

US stats: income and spending better than anticipated

Slow start for the week : 5 pips  taken right after the stats following the 5' trend , but 1.5550 not broken so far.

Yard Sold!

Okay, so we didn't sell the yard, but we did manage to sell a bunch of our stuff. The yard sale was Friday and today, and it was more successful than I imagined. I wasn't sure it was worth doing both days, but afterward I am glad that we did. Friday was actually a better day for us than today. Our neighbor up the street also had a yard sale today, and I think we lost some of the traffic to them. Plus it was just plain HOT today, so I'm not sure as many people got out. I loaded up the leftovers and took them to the Potter's House. The garage is amazingly empty!

The kids also played a part in the sale by setting up a water and Gatorade stand. They worked hard, and we worked hard on them to use their manners, look at people when they were talking to them, etc...The older two were more diligent and were able to earn more than the Munchkin, who preferred to go inside when she got hot.

Afterward today, I grilled some chicken and we had dinner and played before putting the kids down. They were real troopers to endure the past few days with both Leslie and I so preoccupied with the garage sale. We're working with them to help them manage their money that they made with an envelope system for savings, giving, and spending.

As the school year begins, I will also start teaching a Sunday School class at church for the young adults and college students. I'm looking forward to it, even though it has been a long time since I have taught regularly. Leslie and I have always enjoyed working with college students and I think this will be a great opportunity for us to connect with and share with these young people. I guess I am a little nervous about teaching since it has been so long, but I hope it will be like riding a bike. It will be a good challenge for me to get back into the habit of studying regularly after being so focused on caring for my family and my work.

One other prayer request that I'd like to share is for my mom. She has a condition where her esophagus has shrunk over the years, to the point now that she can barely swallow much. After visiting a few different specialists, she is now with one who has been stretching her esophagus. It's a real challenge as each time she must be put to sleep, and afteward the pain is pretty bad. But she called today and sounded really good and seems to be doing better after the last stretching. Please pray for her healing and for the doctor's wisdom to treat her.