This week is turning into an interesting week. I start off by losing money with my forex trading. Then I went to school to change my schedule to be able to work on Saturday and the morning classes are all filled up. As I reflect back on the last week of the new year, I thought it would be good to write a book.

Have I under estimated my trading abilities due the the losses I incurred last year or am I a better trader because of it? I believe it’s the latter. I had anticipated trading this morning when the unemployment rate came out. When the market reversed and started an upward short term trend, I backed out because I didn’t know what was going on. The unemployment rate remained at 10.0%. Why did the EUR/USD jump 100 pips? It wasn’t the unemployment report at all. It was the non-farm payroll report that the market was reacting to. Staying out was probably the best move as I didn’t know that the report was coming out. Secondly, I learned how important (along with the unemployment report) that non-farm payroll is. 

As a beginning trader, I made a lot of mistakes. The one I’ve learned from was getting in the market when it’s volatile like today. My first week in the 2010 year, I gained 203 pips. I did that without getting in. Of course, when the next month report comes out, I might be a little more confident to jump in. I will know to be aware of both reports.

The first week in the new year. How did I do in terms of my goals this year? I suppose it went pretty well. I was able to secure a part-time job that I start training for tomorrow. I made money as a trader. What I wasn’t able to accomplish was exercising and really eating well. I also fell kind of flat trying to work my Send Out Card business. I need to figure out how to use social media since that is the hottest marketing concept going on now.

This is the forth day of profitability for me. I’m knocking on wood as I write. Today the unemployment claim report came out. The number of claims was 434K. One thousand above what was forcasted. No real movement in the market.

The EUR/USD droppped around 100 pips overnight. I was still in a trade from yesterday morning. I was able to gain 22 pips. That make it 156 pips gained for the week. It really is starting to look like a good year for 2010.

No matter what you do, no matter how much you try and do the right thing, someone is always going to treat you badly based on their expectations of how they think you should behave. I’ve never been good at fulfilling the social script roles that are put on men. Make sure to watch out for someone at night. Make sure the door is open. Now I have to balance my personal priorities with an additional problem I have to solve.

I got the job as a waver for Liberty Tax. Yes, I’ll be waving at cars in the Chicago winter cold for $8.00 per hour. But that is what needs to be done to resolve my financial problems. None of the wealth books I accumulated said anything about this.

Even friendships can be tested. I hate the tension that it brings sometimes, like now. Over what? This is why I feel it’s best to be alone. I can avoid the guilt of being responsible for errors that I make.

I’ve had  a three day winning streak that I’m trying hard to not become over confident about. But to gain 134 pips in three days when my goal for the week was to gain only 50 makes a person’s head swell. It might be due to just being pure lucky.

Last night, I right before  1:00 a.m., I had a short on the EUR/USD and between surfing the web and watching the charts stagger, it dropped close to 60 pips for no reason that I could find. I got out at first to gain only 35 pips but then I doubled my position in a second trade to gain another 13 pips before walking away. I didn’t want to chase the market. This disipline might be the reason for my lucky streak. 

I’m beginning to create a life for myself that is satisfying. This morning, I repeated the same routine I created for myself on Monday. Get up, read between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m while enjoying a cup of  hot morning coffee. Between 8:00 a.m and 9:00 a.m. I write. I’m writing the daily diary, the forex diary and my Send Out Card blog. And  I’m doing it consistently.

The job market is pretty tough  out there. I’ve been looking for a part-time job for the evening to be able to fund my forex account. I’m very fortunate to have a part-time job that is flexible, to be able to work around my school schedule. However, I still worry about that.

Yesterday night was another successful trading night. The ISM Manufacturing report didn’t have a major impact on the EUR/USD. The reading was 55.9 vs the forcast of 54.1. I placed a short trade in after the report. Within 10 minutes it reversed  itself and traded higher. It’s not the report I’m willing to trade on.

Yesterday was a glimpse of what this year will look like. I got up, read, cleaned, ate breakfast and worked at home until 11:00 a.m. Then I got ready to leave for my other job. I worked until 5:00 p.m. But when I got home, that is when things feel apart. I didn’t want to work on my home business. I made one call. I was unprepared to  get on the phone. I need to fine tune my day.