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A pair by pair review that made me drop two of my favourites

I like trading certain pairs. I find them fun to watch, I know their personalities, and I feel comfortable with them. But last month I finally broke down my results by pair, and the picture was not what I'd assumed.

Two of my favourite pairs were my weakest performers. After costs, they were about break even at best, and they contributed to many of my rule breaks. The pair I considered boring was quietly doing most of the work. Looking at the numbers, I could see I was trading the ones I liked, not the ones that worked.

I made a simple change. I cut the list from five pairs to three, and for the two I removed, I'm only allowing myself to trade them on a demo. If the demo results hold up over a good sample, I'll think about it again.

It felt like a loss at first, because I enjoy those charts. But fewer pairs means less screen time, less noise and more focus on the ones with an edge. I'll update after a month.

For anyone wanting to do the same review, I added a pair column to my journal and grouped the results by it. For each pair I looked at the number of trades, average result in R after costs, and how many rule breaks I had on it. The rule breaks were the surprise. My favourite pairs had far more of them, probably because I was more excited watching them and took trades I should not have. Excitement and discipline do not mix well for me.

On the demo plan for the two pairs I dropped, I am keeping the same rules and the same journal fields as for live. If they still look weak on demo after a decent number of trades, they stay off the list. If they improve, I will look at what changed, whether it was the market or my behaviour. Either way, it means I am deciding based on results rather than on which charts I enjoy watching. It is a slower path back but a more honest one.