Forex

FX-180 Final Review

FX-180 costs £247. For that you get a 91 page PDF. I found this a little bloated, but as an experienced trader I don’t need all the blurb on how to setup an account and configure the charts. However, if you are new to ForEx trading you will find this information useful. There is also a members area online which only slightly improved upon the content of the PDF in my opinion.

I did change one thing from my initial setup; I stated that I was looking for a risk/reward ratio of 1:1. The vast majority of the time this target would not have been met, so instead I closed when the candle changed colour and closed above/below the line (depending on the direction of the trade). This way I was able to take some profit out qualifying trades whilst being able to run with a strong movement.

As per normal I used £10 per pip. I looked at EUR/USD and GBP/USD pairs on the 5 minute timeframe and these pairs form the basis of this summary. I also looked at US Crude and Gold using a 4 Hour timeframe, hopefully to demonstrate that the longer timeframes are a viable option too. More on Gold and Oil later.

Let me say up front that I dislike the structure of this system. I do not like lagging indicators and to build a system based on two of them is not a solid idea in my opinion. However I cannot argue with a profit over the five weeks of this trial. 300 pips were accrued in five weeks, or 60 pips per week on average. This equates to £3,000 at £10 per pip. The average stoploss was 28 pips but was rarely activated.

The maximum stop was 67 pips, so to play £10 per pip at 1% risk you’ll need a bank in the region of £67K. Obviously you can reduce this by using higher risk; you only need a bank of £13.5K at 5% risk.

My main criticism of FX-180 is the reason I am stopping this trial early; playing 5-minute charts glues you to your computer all day, and you barely have time for “comfort breaks”, meals or tea breaks.  Even then, you get a lot of false setups that never trigger. I feel this is a lot of work for a mere 60 pips per week. It is because this is taking way too much of my time each day that I am calling a halt to this trial.

So, I don’t like the structure of the system: lagging indicators, masses of computer time and many false setups. This would be a FAIL other than the fact that is has made a profit. That alone will make this NEUTRAL.

The position appears to be better if you look at the four-hour Crude Oil and Gold. These add another 1,423 pips or 284 pips per week, and takes the profit to a respectable £17,225 at £10 per pip. However the average stoploss was 350 pips. You’d need a bank of at least £350k to play these (at 1% risk), but as one trade had a stop of 739 pips, actually nearer £750K. In other words, whilst the four-hour Crude Oil and Gold worked, the size of bank requires is beyond the reach of most cash-masters readers. Four-hour Crude Oil and Gold doesn’t rescue the NEUTRAL rating. I have not tracked whether four-hour currencies work or have reduced stops, they may well do.

You can get FX-180 here:

http://www.cash-master.com/FX-180.php

Filed under Forex,Spread Betting,Trading by Arthur

Week 5 (26/9 to 30/9)

Summary:
GBP/USD this week 11 pips. Total 95 pips for £950 at £10 per pip.
EUR/USD this week  43 pips. Total 204.5 pips for £2045 at £10 per pip.
Overall (Currencies Only) this week 54 pips. Total 299.5 for £2995 at £10 per pip.

Please remember that the Crude Oil and Gold trades are purely for my own satisfaction. Crude is a strange beast and is not a recommended market for new traders.

Closing the trade that was left open last week:

Gold  last week  +1661 pips. Total 1941 pips for £19,410 at £10 per pip.

Crude this week -9 pips. Total -107 pips for £-1070 at £10 per pip.
Gold  this week  -411 pips. Total 1530 pips for £15300 at £10 per pip.
Overall (Commodities Only) this week -420 pips. Total 1423 for £14230 at £10 per pip.

Overall (all instruments) this week -366 pips. Total 1722.5 for £17,225 at £10 per pip.

Filed under Forex,Spread Betting,Trading by Arthur

Week 4 (19/9 to 23/9)

One long-term trade on Gold still open; currently some 1,700 pips up on this trade.

Summary:
GBP/USD this week 71 pips. Total 84 pips for £840 at £10 per pip.
EUR/USD this week  95 pips. Total 161.5 pips for £1615 at £10 per pip.
Overall (Currencies Only) this week 166 pips. Total 245.5 for £2455 at £10 per pip.

Please do not lose sight of 20 pips per day is more than enough for financial freedom. 20 pips times 20 trading days is 400 pips per month. At £10 per pip that is £4,000 tax-free per month.  Currencies alone are more than capable of reaching this target.

Please also remember that the Crude Oil and Gold trades are purely for my own satisfaction. Crude is a strange beast and is not a recommended market for new traders.

Crude this week -232 pips. Total -98 pips for £-980 at £10 per pip.
Gold  this week  0 pips. Total 280 pips for £2800 at £10 per pip.
Overall (Commodities Only) this week -232 pips. Total 182 for £1820 at £10 per pip.

Overall (all instruments) this week -66 pips. Total 427.5 for £4275 at £10 per pip.

Filed under Forex,Spread Betting,Trading by Arthur

Week 3 (12/9 to 16/9)

Summary:
GBP/USD this week -15 pips. Total 13 pips for £130 at £10 per pip.
EUR/USD this week  89 pips. Total 66.5 pips for £665 at £10 per pip.
Overall (Currencies Only) this week 74 pips. Total 79.5 for £795 at £10 per pip.

Please do not lose sight of 20 pips per day is more than enough for financial freedom. 20 pips times 20 trading days is 400 pips per month. At £10 per pip that is £4,000 tax-free per month.  Currencies alone are more than capable of reaching this target.

Please also remember that the Crude Oil and Gold trades are purely for my own satisfaction. Crude is a strange beast and is not a recommended market for new traders.

Crude this week 0 pips. Total 134 pips for £1340 at £10 per pip.
Gold  this week  270 pips. Total 280 pips for £2800 at £10 per pip.
Overall (Commodities Only) this week 270 pips. Total 414 for £4140 at £10 per pip.

Overall (all instruments) this week 344 pips. Total 493.5 for £4935 at £10 per pip.

Filed under Forex,Spread Betting,Trading by Arthur

Week 2 (5/9 to 09/9)

A short week for me with a US Bank Holiday on Monday. Please also note a long-term Oil trade is still open.

Summary:
GBP/USD this week -38 pips. Total 28 pips for £280 at £10 per pip.
EUR/USD this week  -8 pips. Total -22.5 pips for £-225 at £10 per pip.
Overall (Currencies Only) this week -46 pips. Total 5.5 for £55 at £10 per pip.

Please do not lose sight of 20 pips per day is more than enough for financial freedom. 20 pips times 20 trading days is 400 pips per month. At £10 per pip that is £4,000 tax-free per month.  Currencies alone are more than capable of reaching this target.

Please also remember that the Crude Oil and Gold trades are purely for my own satisfaction. Crude is a strange beast and is not a recommended market for new traders.

Crude this week 0 pips. Total -98 pips for £-980 at £10 per pip.
Gold  this week  147 pips. Total 10 pips for £100 at £10 per pip.
Overall (Commodities Only) this week 147 pips. Total -88 for £-880 at £10 per pip.

Overall (all instruments) this week 101 pips. Total -82.5 for £-825 at £10 per pip.

Filed under Forex,Spread Betting,Trading by Arthur

Final review

Although I normally like to run ForEx trials for 3 months, I am going to wrap this up after 7 weeks because I don’t believe my opinion is going to change in the next few weeks.

ForEx Hijacker costs £287 with a 30-day money back guarantee. What you get is a pdf and training videos to back the book up. I found the pdf a tad bloated with details on how to open accounts with Brokers, this information could have been put in to a separate book or left as an online resource. However, the video support is welcome and very much worth watching.

There are three systems: basic, fly-past and retrace-to-channel. The first two are very much aimed at noobie traders, and I’ll be focusing on retrace-to-channel.

I looked at the GBP/USD and EUR/USD pairs as this is what Jason, the author, looks at. I also looked at Crude Oil as my personal trading is in the Oil market.

I used the Cash-Master standard £10 per pip.

GBP/USD: A total of 576 pips for £5,760, an average of 82 pips per week. 50% of these trades were made between Noon and 4pm, 23.4% between 8am and 11am.

EUR/USD: A total 645 pips for £6,450, an average of 92 pips per week. 48.5% of these trades were made between Noon and 4pm, 34% between 8am and 11am.

A total 1221 pips for £12,210, an average of 174 pips per week. This is brilliant as 100 pips per week is more than enough for financial freedom. 174 pips per week is nearly £7,000 per month, tax free (if you are using spread betting)!

For information, Crude’s total is 1023 pips for £10,230. 42% of these trades were made between 1pm and 5pm, 42% between 8am and 11am. This nearly doubles the overall profit, but I would only recommend Oil markets to experienced traders as it is a very volatile beast.

So, a combined total of 2,244 pips in 7 weeks (£22,440), why am I not gushing with enthusiasm?

There are few weighty caveats for me I’m afraid.

I had to amend the retrace-to-channel strategy a little bit. Without giving too much away, I wait for a significant break from the channel. I found the strategy as described would provide way too many entry/stops to be profitable.

Exit strategy needs a fair bit of experience. OK, retrace-to-channel is for experienced traders, but you need to know and understand market dynamics to get out for the sort of profits I have recorded.

Drawing the lines appears to be a black art. I have drawn lines on my charts and these have been in significantly different place to where Jason draws his. This might not matter as I had to use my own lines for Crude Oil and it has worked just fine.

One final point; the pips Jason alludes too in the sales material, and in the follow-up videos are simply unachievable. I have done OK, more than OK in fact, but nowhere near the pips advertised.

To summarise then; a simple system certainly capable of providing a good source of income and one I will be incorporating in to my own trading. With a combined 320 pips (£3,200) per week average I’d be foolish not to. This would normally result in an APPROVED rating. However, I doubt that the system described in the manual would be effective, in fact I think, although I don’t have evidence to back this up, the manual might well fail. Further, I believe you need a fair amount of market experience to make this work. For these reasons I will have to categorise this as NEUTRAL.

You can get Forex Hijacker here:

http://www.cash-master.com/forexhijacker.php

Filed under Forex,Spread Betting,Trading by Arthur