No; this is not a science fiction drama about a robotic day trader! I just like to use tragic titles to release my frustrations from time to time!

First of all, our Currenex Trading System project might have to be scrapped. It is taking too long for the orders to travel to the Currenex server. In today’s trading session, by the time the stop price to exit a short trade was reached and the sell signal was sent, the exit price wound up being about 20 pips worse than it should have been.

To avoid issues like these going forward, we are seriously looking at Strategy Runner. It works with a Radianz connection instead of through the traditional internet where data might be lost and delayed. This should decrease our trade execution times - a big plus!

More Trade Rejections at FXLQ and Weird Executions on MT4

Today we basically couldn’t get in any trades when the currency market was really moving. The same typical one-minute-plus trade rejections were the norm. The execution of the only trade today was also really, really weird.

First, here’s the section of the trading log that corresponds to this trade:

An order was sent to buy 25.00 EURUSD at 1.3142 at 17:00:13 UK time (the yellow arrow on this chart – the horizontal yellow line at 1.3141 corresponds to the bid price at that time). The order took 1 minute and 12 seconds to get filled!!! (see the log above). After the order was sent, the price of the Euro started ticking up to the high (1.3148) of the 1-minute bar at 17:00 (see the chart); there was no fill or rejected order throughout this move (like there should have been). The price then started to retrace, dropping slowly back to 1.3142 (still no fill). The price then dropped to 1.3138 and the order was filled at 1.3142! – 1 minute and 12 seconds later!

The price then started going up. It went to 1.3146 but stalled. The price ticked down two pips to 1.3144 and the sell order was sent. The price was static at 1.3144; no movement – yet no fill. The price started climbing rapidly to 1.3147 (the high of the 17:03 bar labeled on the chart). When at 1.3147, the fill took place at 1.3144; 8 seconds after the order was submitted!

Weird, isn’t it? When the Buy order was sent, it wasn’t filled as the price went up. It was instead held in “limbo” and only filled when the market price came back down and went lower than the original price. The fill occurred at a worse price (higher) than the current market price. When the Sell order was given, which would have closed out the position at a profit, the order was stalled for 8 seconds; then, when the price went higher, a fill occurred at a worse price (lower) than the current market price.

Maybe the trading platform is possessed!

We continue waiting for the new MT4 system to be ready.

Valentine’s Day was pretty active for currency trading. Both the Euro and the British Pound against the US Dollar had ranges of 100+ pips. Unfortunately, we were plagued by the same excruciating trade rejections (”off quotes”) as yesterday on the MT4 platform.

The day started at 8:11 AM London Time with an “off quotes” rejection that took a whopping one minute and thirty seconds to surface! Click here to see the trading log.

The first trade execution took 21 seconds to materialize (from 10:35:34 to 10:35:51 UK time). After multiple attempts trying to get out of that position, the exit trade took 10 seconds to get filled (at 10:38:42). The first trade of the day was a loser and the second and last trade was a winner. The second position took 14 seconds to open and 9 seconds to close - still not acceptable in day trading.

On a different note, the programmer did not provide us with the proper upgrade for the Currenex Trading System, so we weren’t able to trade on that either. It should be ready tomorrow, though. We need to see if the data from Currenex does not bog down a normal internet connection (something we suspect might be happening). If it does, then Strategy Runner (which we are testing now as well) is the only remaining option.

The forex market is moving. The EUR/USD is taking off; GBP/USD is following suit. A great day trading opportunity draws near; slowly creeping in sight of our crosshairs.

“Click!” - The trigger is squeezed. “Click, click, click!” No bang! No kill! No execution! - Instead, a freaking “off quotes” message as the prey escapes. Arrrgggghhh!

If you have been wondering why there is only one execution despite two back-to-back, active trading sessions, now you know. We’ve had two straight days where the British Pound has had a range (from High to Low) of over 100 pips and the Euro about 90 pips. Can you tell I’m frustrated?

Today’s trading log will give you an idea of the severity of this problem.

Three trades took about a minute and a half to get rejected; an eternity in the world of Forex day trading.

We are told that the new MT4 system will be ready possibly this week (maybe the 15th, as we were told last time), so we might be testing that as well. Hallelujah!

Currenex Scalping Platform Update

With the latest programming upgrade, the Currenex trading platform is performing a bit better - even though the prices become intermittent from time to time. We will continue to place trades through this platform tomorrow. We are also flirting again with Strategy Runner, which works with Currenex as well. We’ll keep you informed about the progress of our endless Forex day trading quest! Stay positive!

Today, all scalping trades positive. Comments by ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet were interpreted to mean that a rate increase next month is likely - and possibly higher rates by year end. This caused volatility in the Euro as it moved up, which generated the most transactions during today’s day trading session.

The Bank of England’s (BoE) decision to leave rates unchanged also contributed to weakness in the pound (GBP). One scalp on the GBP/USD came about as a result.

The robot trading program is making progress, although small. We need access to greater liquidity and hopefully, the Currenex system will be the key (or at least one of the keys going forward).

The DTT Robot program continued to operate in total boredom today as the market reacted very little to the US productivity numbers at 8:30 AM EST. Only one trade was executed and it was a loser. Hey; we can’t win’em all, right? The possibilities to day trade tomorrow might come near 7:00 AM EST during the UK interest rate statement and again at 8:30 AM when European Central Bank President Trichet speaks.

There was not enough price action today to finish the troubleshooting of the Currenex Trading System.

We are also looking at other traders and scalpers going forward for added diversification. This should be an exciting year.

The currency market today was as dead as a doornail! There was not much reaction to the reports that came out. Only two scalping trades were executed to finish a slightly negative day. Tomorrow, there are some economic reports that might move the market and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak at 1:30 EST. This might create some volatility, even though speeches are not that great to trade.

Currenex was monitoring our connection today and is doing so again tomorrow. I should have a much better idea tomorrow or Wednesday what the status of our Currenex Trading System project is.

We’re 3-for-3 on the Forex Robot program. Today was the third straight winning day - with 12 scalping trades executed within an hour and a half after the jobs reports came out at 8:30 AM EST.

There were still problems, though; many “off quotes” (14 straight rejections at one time while trying to close out a position) and a position that was closed out at an inexistent price for a larger than normal loss. These sort of “glitches” have occurred during some of our day trading sessions in the past, but have always been reversed in our favor. I have sent all the information to the broker and am waiting for a reply. Overall, the day was still a pretty good, positive trading day, but the loss in question is unacceptable. We eagerly await the launch of the new MT4 trading system on February 15th.

Currenex Trading Platform Monitoring

Currenex started monitoring the connection to their server from our customized order entry platform. The platform worked great during intial testing in the past, but maybe the Currenex prices are getting bogged down in transit for some reason. A few more days of monitoring should pinpoint the exact problem.

Seven forex scalping trades were executed today - all positive. This is the second day in a row since the 11-29-06 to 1-17-07 “shutdown period” of the Forex Robot program that this has been possible. We’ll try to make it three-for-three tomorrow - when the potentially market-moving US Nonfarm employment figures come out at 8:30 AM EST. It should be fun.

New MT4 Trading System Delayed - Currenex System Troubles

The launch of the new MetaTrader multi-bank system was pushed back to February 15. Bummer! We continue to test the Currenex Trading System, but had a problem today with prices failing to come through intermittently for 2-3 seconds during fast market moves. Currenex will monitor the connection tomorrow to try to determine what’s causing this issue. We are also speaking to a few other liquidity firms to look for yet another possible execution venue for our scalping-trading systems.

Today the forex market was a bit more active, giving us the chance to fire away 20 scalping trades on the MT4 platform - all but one positive. This allowed us to end the month on a positive note; a much needed jolt in an otherwise very inactive and boring 31-day period. I pray that February brings us many more trading opportunities.

FXLQ’s new MT4 trading system with multi-bank liquidity might be launched by February 1st (in two days). This is what I was told last week. This might improve the quality of execution of our scalping trades significantly.

While we wait for the above to happen, we continue to trade lightly on the existing MetaTrader system. We are still experiencing a lot of problems with “off quotes” and trade rejections (but at least we are trading). The forex market hasn’t been that great in the last few weeks, but the tide changes quickly when it comes to currencies. Wider market moves might just be around the corner.

Day Trading on Currenex

The progress of our Currenex Trading System (CTS) project has slowed down a bit. The CTS platform wasn’t originally designed with charting in mind. We started testing it the minute the order entry functionality was complete. Now we realize that charts would help a great deal. The problem is that there’s no easy solution to chart Currenex price data and programming is involved. We are working on that now and will let you know how that goes.