note : as usual, you will be able to see all LIVE foward-test statments here : http://www.ckowyong.com/blog/statements (updated every 10 mins)

we hit a milestone today :O) since starting a FaceBook group to elevate the time required to maintain this blog, the group has now grown to 100 members. and coincidentally, the 100th member is David Robinson, creator of the PipForia Hedged Grid Expert Advisor. i’ve invited him over to the group to answer some queries in this excellent discussion : http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=6457269717&topic=3748

as a result of the thread, i have gathered the facts and figures and posted my review of PipForia. read the review here : http://ckowyong.com/blog/?page_id=92

i’d advise that you join the FaceBook group (with your real name please) to tap into the knowledge and experiences of the existing 100 members. it beats reading this blog as i can only afford to update it about once a week (that’s probably like watching a plant grow :O)

 

to be open about it, i am currently trying to negotiate a deal with David for PipForia. if all works out well, i should be able to give readers a rebate for buying/subscribing to PipForia through me. that’s what this blog is all about… finding good Expert Advisors and getting you discounts and rebates for buying them :O)

 

my mailing list members will be the first to know about new developements… so if you want in, please consider joining my mailing list by filling in the fields below :

 

 

ps : thanks to a generous coffee donor, i now have enough coffee money to subscribe to Artemis-Breakout for 2 months (€140!). will start testing it once it gets back on it’s feet and start making it’s usual gains. a good discount/rebate has already been worked out with the creator of Artemis-Breakout… but i would refrain from “selling” it to readers of this blog without first reviewing it myself to better understand it :O)

** please leave a comment if you have any queries and i’ll get to them asap. replies to emails will take longer… sorry **

 

buy ck a coffee :O)

 

to sign up for this generous rebate, please use the link below…

http://www.traderschoicefx.com/metatraderea2.html

TradersChoiceFX is registered with the CFTC under the company name NCMFX, Inc. (NFA ID: 0367174) - http://www.nfa.futures.org/BasicNet/Details.aspx?entityid=0367174

Alexander Nekritin is the president of the company, and has been very helpful in fixing this up for the readers and subscribers of this blog. His NFA ID is 0367535 - http://www.nfa.futures.org/BasicNet/Details.aspx?entityid=0367535

* applies only to :
1) existing FXDD accounts that are currently not linked to any Introducing Broker. all you need to do is to email FXDD with your account number(s) saying “Please switch my account #XXXXX to the TradersChoiceFX IB group.”…. yes!… it’s that simple :O)
2) new FXDD accounts that are opened using the above link
important : existing FXDD accounts that are already getting rebates from TradersChoiceFX via another referring party are not eligible for this $4.50 rebate. this rebate is possible because i, as a referring party, am passing my referral fee back to you! i could have gone with giving you the standard $3.00 and kept $1.50 for myself, but i’m not after that kind of money… for now :O)

>>> [updated on 6th april 2008]

NB : due to some changes at TradersChoiceFX and FXDD, this rebate is now available to NEW ACCOUNTS ONLY who sign up using the above link.

DISCLAIMER

buy ck a coffee :O)

another loss of -100 pips has done it for me. i’m staying out until William Boatright get’s it right… or when the market becomes favorable for Bogie again. i think this really drives home the saying that “past performance does not represent future performance”. everybody, including me, had very high hopes for Bogie-ATC2007-1… it’s unfortunate that it turned out like that. i hope all those who have subscribed to Bogie have not suffered too much damage. as you can see from the statement, being greedy by setting it to the high-moderate / 3 MaxOrders setting would have reduced an account by more than -70%.

that said, deep down… i still hope William continues to work on this EA and make it profitable again one day. the copy of Bogie that he has given me expires end march 2008… so that’s as long as it will get to prove itself.

i’m still thinking of Artemis-Breakout EA, but the 70 Euros per month is quite steep. will see how it performs in the remaining weeks of jan before making a decision. anyone interested to help subsidize the subscription to have this EA tested? (just trying my luck :O)

Hydra EA is making lots of trades… and the one running on USDJPY looks more promising compared to Bogie… although still below water.

PointBreak EA managed to get itself out of the drawdown! it looks like it’s performing as designed. if you have read the manual, you will be able to appreciate it’s pyramiding and averaging logic. quite ingenious really. PointBreak is slow to bring in the pips… and it’s a real pain to watch while it does it’s thing to get out of a drawdown. but if it can consistently do what we have seen it do, it should be a keeper as a longer-term growth EA.

PipForia’s Hedged Grid EA has done well too! very well in fact. like PointBreak, it got out of the drawdown nicely to get a good gain. it’s hard to tell how much the strategy was risking. will need to check with David and will update the blog about it.

still no trading activity on Steinitz… not sure what’s going on… will check with Don to get them fixed.

ps : if you are interested in buying any EAs, please do let me know, ok? i’ll try my best to get everyone a good discount from the creator/seller. with the blog’s readership growing day by day, i think we have the numbers to demand for a bit of discount if we acted as one.

please consider joining my mailing list, ok? i can’t offer any freebies at the moment, but i do endeavor to keep everyone abreast of my findings… and will give mailing list subscribers priority to information that i receive from the people that i am in contact with :O)

happy trading!! - ck

buy ck a coffee :O)

barely 2 weeks and i’m missing the joy (despite being time consuming) of blogging already :O) maybe it’s an addiction… but anyway, even though i’ve not been spending much time on the blog, i definitely have not scaled down the time i’m spending on Forex! but one thing for sure, my priorities are in order now… health and family comes first (sorry for the missed Skypes and un-answered emails).

i’m going to blog in condensed mode to avoid spending too much time.  it’s not going to be as readable as before, but i hope it gets you to the information you are looking for faster.  maybe when time permits, i’ll write more in my usual style :O)

1. Bogie-ATC2007-1 has not been performing since it started accepting subscribers.  i received new optmised settings on 13th jan from William Boatright, but there was some miscommunication… leading to a wrong StartTime being used.  for the record, StartTime should now be 1800 hrs for IBFX and 2000 hrs for FXDD.  other information at creator’s website : http://bogie-enterprises.com.  my LIVE account is once again trading Bogie-ATC2007-1 LIVE… but now with a reduced risk of 5%, MaxOrders=1.  LIVE statement here : http://www.ckowyong.com/fx/bogie/statement.htm (updated every 10 mins)
2. with the optimisation of Bogie comes some concerns.  although it’s good that it’s been re-optimised for better performance for the current market conditions, it also means that we will be expecting it to become less profitable once market conditions return to normalcy.  when will that happen?… only when we see poorer performance or more losses with the current “optimised” settings.  it’s going to be an ongoing process… but at least we have Williams commitment to keep it optimised as much as possible.  it’s in William’s interest to do so too… since subscribers have the option to unsubscribe anytime.
3. have been approached by a new player… who claims to have refined Bogie-ATC2007-1 with a better take profit strategy.  it’s been backtested with interesting results, but like i always say, i only look at forward-testing results.  the new EA is called HYDRA.  forward-test commenced today.  more information about this EA later… only if it lives up to the creator’s claims.
4. i’ve realised that there’s very little people in Singapore familiar with Automated Trading Systems.  and even if they have heard of it before, most have a misconception that it’s a set-and-forget system that will bring in money with little or no effort.  with the help of some friends, i’m organising a public forum on the subject in Singapore on 22nd Feb.  it’s going to be a session for sharing and learning… no hidden agendas.  so if you are in Singapore on the 22nd Feb, please do drop by.  details are in the earlier “MeetUp” post.

that’s all for now.  happy trading!!  - ck  :O)

 ** please leave a comment if you have any queries and i’ll get to them asap.  replies to emails will take longer… sorry **

buy ck a coffee :O)

through the fellow Singaporeans i’ve got the pleasure of meeting up with after starting this blog, i can feel that there’s a strong interest in Automated Trading Systems in Singapore.

i’m not sure where this will lead, but i’m sponsoring this event (think it will set me back about US$250 for a good venue) to share what i know about this exciting way of trading in the Forex market.

Click here to check out
The Singapore Automated Forex Trading Meetup Group!

as attractive as it may sound (ie. letting a robot do the trading and just sit back and watch the profits flow in)… i think there’s a huge misconception about the world of Automated Trading Systems.

if you live in Singapore, please mark your calendar : 18th April 2008, 7pm. if you are from elsewhere, it would be great if you could swing by and join in the fun of learning and sharing with like-minded folks.

buy ck a coffee :O)

… tip : please watch this in private if you are shy about letting others see you shed tears. shades will do too… but only if you are watching this under the sun ;O)

enjoy!

buy ck a coffee :O)

this blog has been running for about 5 months now… and i’m very grateful to have made lots of friends while journaling my experiences in finding and testing expert advisors.

i started a mailing list on 13 sept 2007. the first person joined on 14 sept… and exactly 120 days later, the mailing list has now grown to 507. in the process, i got to know a lot of fine individuals, ranging from the average man like me, to forex forum moderators, forex brokers, expert advisor creators, forex mentors, fund managers, and professional traders.

i’m receiving so many emails these days that replying to all of them is almost impossible. as it is, i’m already spending 3 hrs or more each day just replying to emails…and that’s not considering the time spent on doing research and maintaining the blog. so much so, i feel like i’ve been working 2 full-time jobs for the past 2 months.  frankly, because of this blog, my health and family life has suffered a bit lately.

i think we have come to a point where this blog has outgrown itself. the communication model of a blog tends to be “one to many”… and “many to one”… very ineffective for communicating and collaborating…especially for the “one” running the blog.

so… before i burn out, fall critically ill, or end up with a broken marriage, i’m thinking of closing down the blog and moving into FaceBook. FaceBook allows members to “see” and communicate with each other.  it’s designed with excellent features that facilitate discussions and collaborations.  i really think Facebook is the way to go moving forward.

i’ve already started a facebook group about a month ago. with just 20 members now, i am hoping that mailing list members and visitors of this blog will join my FaceBook group so that we can continue this quest together in finding the best forex expert advisor.

please allow me to invite you over to the FaceBook group… “Finding the Best Forex Expert Advisor” (what else? ;o)

see you all there! :O)

buy ck a coffee :O)

since going LIVE with Bogie-ATC2007-1 on 2nd Jan 2008, the EA has done 4 trades. details are here in my LIVE account with IBFX : http://ckowyong.com/fx/bogie

overall, it’s slightly negative… so we do need to give it more time to see if it can replicate it’s amazing performance at the Automated Trading Championship.

[ Bogie-ATC2007-1 STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES ]

without a good profit in my LIVE and demo accounts, we ca’t really tell what the strengths of this EA are. however, after studying the manual, i can understand why William Boatright has opted for a monthly subscription model to market Bogie-ATC2007-1.

this EA’s profitability depends very much on it’s optimisation. William has a section in the manual that describes how this EA is optimised. even with the back-testing tips provided, optimising his EA requires some serious knowledge and skills…. not to mention computer processing power as some of the tests can take hours to complete. i quote from his manual… “This EA’s success depends on (optimised) valid current TrailingStop value“.

so, in essence, the monthly subscription of US$49.50 (US$39.60 if you subscribe quoting ref. “ckowyong“) is paid to William for his continual efforts in optimising the various parameters to ensure that the EA remains as profitable as possible. he has committed to do this every month. i see this act of commitment is a reflection of his confidence in his EA. it works great for us traders too since we pay only if we use, and we can stop our subscription anytime we want. i am sure the man will do whatever it takes to keep us subscribed. to subscribe to Bogie-ATC2007-1, pleaase look here : http://ckowyong.com/blog/?p=86
so, in a non-monetary sense, i see the above as the STRENGTHS of Bogie-ATC2007-1.

now for the WEAKNESSES. although it’s really too early to tell if it’s a WEAKNESS or not, i really do not feel comfortable with the fact that Bogie-ATC2007-1 will still open a new trade just hours before the market closes at the end on friday. a few subscribers have expressed the same concern too. with the first weekend just over, we saw the trade that was entered late friday got stopped out early monday to realise a full STOPLOSS of -100 pips. with 2 winners following that loss, Bogie-ATC2007-1 has yet to break even. it has now just entered a SELL at 1.4654… which is in line with my inclination to favour EURUSD SHORTS rather than LONGS at this point. fingers crossed :O)

[ update on FractalWizard ]

the first forward-test of FractalWizard that was started on 18th Dec 2007 did not do very well. the creator attributed the losses to the less-than-idea market conditions over the holiday period. to be fair to Lin, i’ve restarted the test with a new run on 2nd Jan 2008 (http://www.ckowyong.com/blog/statements/fractalwizard_ibfx/statement.htm).

since the new demo account was started, FractalWizard has made 2 wins. +35 pips and +65 pips. it now has an open trade that’s +73 pips. so far so good.

looking at the trade entries, it’s very interesting to see that it made the BUYS immediately after 4 consecutive down candles. from a conventional viewpoint, i think the trade entries were risky trades. however, being a system based on Fractals and a contrarian theories, i think it sees the market in a different way from most of us. FractalWizard does not trade much… but when it does, it’s quite interesting to watch.

[ latest on the Expert Advisor offers ]

offer for Bogie-ATC2007-1 still applies (US$39.60 p.m.). FractalWizard and PointBreak offers were supposed to end on 6th Jan, but have now been extended to 13th Jan. details are here : http://ckowyong.com/blog/?p=86

i’ve heard a lot of good stuff about 2 other EAs that i’m planning to buy. if all works out, you should see one of them in action come monday. it will either be SHARK or Artemi-Breakout… still struggling with the decision.

good trading all!!

- ck

buy ck a coffee :O)

the famous Bogie-ATC2007-1 was put to the test on 2nd Jan. in fact, i traded it LIVE on 2nd Jan like what i’ve told my 450-strong mailing list subscribers on 1st Jan 2008. going LIVE with Bogie-ATC2007-1 was part of my trading plan going into the new year.

since 2nd Jan, Bogie-ATC2007-1 has managed to get +75 pips out of the EURUSD in just 2 days. this is based on a moderate risk setting of RISK=5%, MaxOrders=3. in terms of % gain, my LIVE account at IBFX has grown from $2443.02 to $2675.22. that’s a gain of $232.20 (after deducting swaps)… and if you are a percentage person (all of us traders should be!), that’s a +9.5% growth in less than a week!

please please please…. this is not a GET-RICH-QUICK Expert Advisor. with every EA, we must first understand it’s RISKS & REWARDS (we’ll talk about the STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES later) .

Bogie-ATC2007-1 trades with a 100 pips initial stop loss. it allows the trader to select his/her own risk%, as well as the MaxOrders (ie. the number of simultaneous orders to make). with my RISK% set to 5%, and MaxOrders set to 3, it made 3 trades of 0.10 lots each based on a capital of $2443.02. based on a 100 pip stop loss, that would represent a REAL RISK of $300.00 if all 3 trades get stopped out at -100 pips. so that’s an ACTUAL risk of 12.3% of my capital even though i’ve set my risk to 5%.

compared to the demo forward-tests, the same settings were trading a $10,000 starting capital with 0.50 + 0.40 + 0.50 lots (total 1.40 lots, click here to see statement). so each of the 3 trades were risking about 5% of the capital. in other words, if you set your RISK=5% and MaxOrders=3, you will be actually risking 15% of your trading capital. this is a very high risk for trading with real money.

******

in the recent days, i’ve been accused (sort of) of promoting Expert Advisors that do not work. maybe i’ve invited this onto myself… since my last post was too geared towards getting you to buy PointBreak, FractalWizard and Bogie-ATC2007-1. although i do make a bit of commission from the sale of these EAs, what drove me to make that post that was more the excitement in bringing you the discounts, rather than the intention to make you buy them. anyway, it’s every trader’s responsibility to understand the RISK & REWARDS of every system before buying and using them.

for the record (again!), i want to stress that i would not promote something that i would not use myself in LIVE trading. although i’ve been promoting PointBreak, FractalWizard and Bogie-ATC2007-1, this does not mean that they WILL BE profitable! it only means that i will put my money where my mouth is and will trade them LIVE.

i’ve been struggling with the decision about making my LIVE account statement available on the blog. and with the recent accusations in some forums, i though doing so should do more good than harm. so here it is : http://www.ckowyong.com/fx/statement.htm (only trades in 2008 are from Bogie-ATC2007-1. earlier trades are a mixture of RobinHood and DoublePlay. please note that a lot of the “drawdowns” are actually withdrawals of profits made using RobinHood back in Jul-Sept 2007)  statement updates every 10 mins.
******

please leave a comment if you have found this post useful :O) … don’t mind a coffee too! :O)

buy ck a coffee :O)