mike21

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Q: What do you get when a blonde stands on her head? A: A brunette with bad breath.

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Hi Bluehorseshoe, In your opinion what is the 'best way' to enter pullbacks within a trend?

joshdance: You thank Mysticforex for posting the video, and yet you criticize rforexdad for sharing his first hand experience with Rob Booker. I don't get it. In my early years of trading I spent (wasted) a lot of money on trading courses, workshops, mentors, etc. So I appreciate when someone like rforexdad shares his experience with a vendor. And Mysticforex: I noticed your avatar is a picture of Rob Booker. Are you Rob Booker?... or just a groupie

About 6 years ago I attended a couple free presentations by Rob Booker at different trading groups in the LA area. Back then it was obvious, to any experienced trader, that he was a snake oil salesman preying on newbies. After all these years I'm a little surprised he hasn't figured out how to trade. But as they say 'those who can, do: those who can't teach.'

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYrpROr9Gmk]E-Trade Baby Loses*Everything - YouTube[/ame]

If you're going to day-trade stocks you need to be aware of the PDT rule. The PDT Rule | The Small Trader

Limit orders are held at the exchange, stop orders are not. IB holds stop orders on their server. With IB the stop orders are time stamped so they are filled in order when sent to the exchange. With some brokers, Lightspeed for example, stop orders are held on your computer. Personally, I would avoid this type of broker.

I don't use IB's data feed for my charts, but since IB's data appears to be correct on IB charts I assumed their data feed was not that bad. Apparently I'm wrong. I'll take Kiwi's word that there are still major problems with IB's data feed. Kiwi, who's data feed do you use?

joshdance, I think the trader you know may be exaggerating a bit. IB does bundle their data. (I think 20 times a second). But all that means is, if there are transactions with no price movement, they may not show up as tick data. So, for example, If you compare a 100 tick chart with unfiltered data next to a 100 tick chart with IB data, the unfiltered chart will have more candles, BUT time and price will be the same. If you compare 5 minute charts they will be exactly the same. I use ensign for my charting with a TraderBytes data feed, but I also have an IB chart up when trading. (I like the 'drag and drop' feature on IB charts for adjusting stops and limits). I have never seen a price print that didn't show up on the IB chart. I'm not saying it can't happen but I haven't seen it. ~Mike

Kiwi, Another saying... 'There's more than one way to skin a cat.' If you prefer to enter trades with limit orders... great. I don't. The majority of my trades are buying/selling pullbacks. You don't have use limits to trade pullbacks. And guess what... I never miss a winning trade, but by using a buy stop I avoid some losers. Yes I try to keep things simple. Warren Buffett once said "trading is simple but not easy" I completely agree. ~Mike

No, I don't work for IB, but I've used them for several years. I read steve's post but I'm not sure I completely understand his approach. Typically, a limit order (for a long trade) is placed below the current price and is filled if price moves down to your limit price. But just because price prints at your limit doesn't mean your order will be filled. Limit orders are time-stamped and filled in the order they're received at the exchange. (the queue) So when price prints at your limit -- first, market orders are filled, then the limit orders are filled in order. If there are not enough sellers, price will move back up without filling all the limit orders. Personally I don't like limit orders because you are guaranteed to be filled on all your losing trades, but many of your 'potential' winning trades will never be filled. Back to steve....By the time his limit order reached the exchange, price had moved down giving him a better fill. Couldn't price have, just as easily, moved up leaving him behind without a fill? Maybe steve could chime in. ~Mike

Carlton, I trade live everyday with IB, and 95% of my entries are with a buy-stop or sell-stop. So maybe I can clear a few things up. First of all, I see you're trading sim, so its possible you got a goofy fill that would not have been filled in a live account. A typical buy stop is a market order placed above the current bid/ask. When the price you set your order at is printed (the last price) your order is sent to the exchange as a market order and your order is filled at the ask. If the market is moving fast, there's potential for slippage. I don't trade the YM but I see it has decent liquidity, so the 6 tick slippage you received is probably unusual. ~Mike

Carlton, If you put a limit order at 11824, you would have been filled at 11824 or not at all. You obviously used a market order. A market order will be filled at the best bid/ask at the time of the order. Once your order was filled at 11830, that became the 'last print' so 11830 had to have been reached.

A little off topic, but your commissions seem a little high. IB charges 50 cents per 100 shares, which includes ECN fees. Who are you using?

I'd look for stocks with volume greater than 1m. Too much bs in low volume stocks. ATR of 50 - 75c is low. It may be ok for scalping but low ATR stocks move slow and there's not as much potential for a big move. I like an ATR greater than $1.

What's your definition of scalping?

Hi Dan, From your post I'm not really sure what type of trading you plan on doing. Intra-day, swing, position? I day-trade stocks, so my comments are based on my style of trading. I'm a technical trader and don't care about fundamentals. From my experience most technical stock day-traders only trade stocks that are 'in play.' e.g. - earnings, guidance, upgrades/downgrades, news, etc. My watchlist is typically about 30 stocks or more and changes daily. 30 stocks may sound like a lot but I can scroll through my list in seconds. Right now it's earnings season so, for me, it's hard to keep my list that small. First you need a stock screener. FINVIZ.com is probably the best free stock screener. Also most brokers have a screener. Screen for the types of stocks you want to trade and go from there. I typically look for stocks over $20 that average over 1m shares a day. You can find an earnings calendar at Briefing.com and other sites. This should get you started. ~Mike

Lessons from the Pros - 08/30/2011 Issue - Featured Article: Spot Forex vs Forex Futures? saw this on another forum.

Hi MadMarketScientist, I'd love to know who you consider 'the good one's.'

IB has a nice demo, IF you have a live account. If you think you'll be trading live in the near future, IB's not a bad choice.

Good post... Although I don't think #4 is good advice, especially for someone new to trading. .

Hi cuttshot, Nice trading. Any chance of you posting a chart and showing some of your trading techniques? Thanks ~Mike

Have you heard of the 'Pattern Day Trading Rule' ? .