Guest Trader is back!.

Please give a huge welcome to reader Jen Albrecht who has kindly agreed to be the latest Guest Trader. For those who may not know, this is a feature we run where our readers can write a post everyday for a week giving fellow traders an alternate look at life in the trenches. We're always on the hunt for Guest Traders so if you fancy having a go, email me at rlittlestone (at) the website address.

Over to Jen;

Name

Jen Albrecht

Occupation

Full time trader and student of MentorTipsAcademy

Trading experience

Live trading since August 2014 (started with stocks then a few months later, moved over to Forex). Self taught financial / trading studies since October 2013 (again, started with stock market studies then moved over to forex studies).

Why you started trading?

I started trading for 2 reasons; the first being because I've had a natural passion for the financial markets since about 16 years old after I saw the movie 'Wall Street: Money never Sleeps'. However being the rebel that I was during my high school days, I never made any light of this passion because I figured it would mean continuing school which after having barely graduated highs school was the last thing I wanted to do. Also, at the time I was more interested in a career in the Hollywood business, so I was unsure if my fascination for the Wall Street movie came froman acting and film point of view or and actually financial career interest point of view.

The second reason I started trading was because, in the words of my father "it was a better way"... being the young adult that I am and having bounced from 4 to 5 different 9-5 minimum wage jobs over a few years and needing to provide for myself, none of those jobs, even while losing my dignity and having to beg my bosses for the 35-40 hours a week needed to survive, didn't work out for me. Being 22, my life is entirely about making money right now. "Happiness", a social life -- whatever (though my friends are equally, all about making money right now as well, so it works out well for us all) Once I started to dabble in the dark arts of the financial markets and realized its all just pattern recognition, an understanding of mass psychology, and the fact that what I struggled to make in an 8 hour shift stocking shelves, I could make in a few minutes to hours in the comfort of my bathrobe.

Granted, there is a steep learning curve, as with any job, and I am still far from being as consistent with my P&L as I'd like to be. However, the ROI to invest in an industry where I can trade (literally) money for money instead of TIME for money, is really high and in the words of Sean Parker from the movie 'The Social Network' "the water under the Golden Gate is freezing cold" (If you haven't seen the movie, do so, it essentially refers to missed opportunities and regrets). To close in the words of my father, I have found "a better way".

Over the next week, I will be sharing some of the market philosophy I've developed, technical trade set ups, and a glimpse of my journey as a fairly new trader.

Time zone you trade in

(PST) I trade all the time frames. Asia during the afternoon if I don't mind sitting in a position for a few hours till it elapses and if I can manage my risk from any mid-day market anomalies. If I can hit my daily goal prior to the London season then I am done for the day, if not, then I do stay up (I am located on the West coast of the US so midnight for me is when the London session starts) to trade it and if I'm able to get myself up at 5AM or if I have a busy day planned outside the financial markets then I will trade the US session.

Trading platforms/chart systems/screen set up you use*

I use Trade Station for its Ichimoku charting and MetaTrader 4 for everything else. My current screen set up is my laptop with an HDMI cable to my 32in TV screen. I do feel it necessary to point out that I do intend on expanding my "at home" trading setup, however, I do NOT want to stray to far from the "travelling trader", "only need a laptop and Internet" setup that we are all familiar with.

Methodology

I am a scalper. I analysis my charts on 1 hour and 4 hour time frames and take my entries on 15 min or even 5 min charts. The highest I'll trade off of, and even take entries on, would be 4 hour charts and even then I still look to get out of my trades within 1 4 hour candle. I seek to take 15-20 pips per trade with a daily goal on each of my trading accounts of 40 pips (right now I trade about 2 different accounts daily to build up different book statistics). Daily dollar values mean nothing to me as my focus is my monthly ROI and as long as I consistently take my 15-20 pips per trade regardless of dollar gains then I know my books will show consistency, and consistency is what pays and consistency is what will place you apart from the 10% of traders who "win" in this game. I trade like a scared sniper who's hiding in a tree in the middle of a war. And I am proud of it. My moves are calculated, confident and each shot hits its target and in a disciplined and self-controlling manner, I take my profits and I run as fast as I can in the opposite direction. I get in and out of the markets as fast as possible as the longer you are in, the more risk you are exposed too and I make sure that all my trades count. Often I will hear of traders in 4-6 positions at once and will win 2 of those positions. For me, it's quality over quantity. I get in, take my head-shot and move on to the next.

I have been #Blessed enough to gain the guidance of an incredible mentor early enough into my trading career that has really taught me "the art of charting" and "the art of price action", as I am 98% a technical trader. Even though I am well versed in many of the Forex indicators on the market, again thanks to my mentor, I trade off semi - naked charts, using only the price action, support & Resistance levels, trend lines, daily pivot points and maybe some Fibonacci levels for added confirmations. I will also pull up Slow Stochs/RSI/Momentum after my analysis has been done and I am ready to zone in on my exact entry points to reduce my draw downs as much as possible. Confluence zones, multiple confirmations and correlating pairs are what I live for.

Part two is here