Mavrik00

thanks for the great advice. Does anyone else have anything they would like to add as advice?

Greetings Everyone, In my opinion, developing into a confident and consistant trader takes careful planning and a mechanical approach to this process. I like to use the analogy of a baseball pitcher. The first game of the season you cant go out and throw 200 fastballs, you need to 'ease' into it so you dont a. hurt yourself b. lose conifdence in your best pitches c. save soemthing for the season I think the same is true for new traders as well. When learning to trade it seems to be very important to "scale in" with your level of participation and take it slow and steady. here is what ive seen in my own trading: 1. Mental Capital is a valuable resource. This means that once you lose your confidence it can be tough to get it back. How many times would it take an 8-year old to be scared of the water if he/she was thrown in 2 times without learning to swim? The same is true for traders. Preserving mental capital simply means that we dont want to go ALL IN and try a million things at once, b/c we will fail, and that complete failure by a new trader will rob you of that valuable confidence in your trading. 2. FOCUS on Keeping it simple I tried to do too much when i first started, and because of that, i missed the opportunity to focus on only 1 thing and master it. I now look back at years of trading that i consider wasted b/c of the fact that i was simply trading, i wasnt studying and looking for only the best opportunities, and its no wonder why i didnt succeed, i didnt have a chance. 3. Start Slow Should new traders limit the # of trades they take each day? I started off firing off hundreds of trades a day and the only person laughing was my broker! It wasnt until i started taking only 1 trade each day that i was able to develop the discipline to then ADD more trades to my toolbox. In closing... The 'art' of becomming a trader is a tough thing to do, this we know, but tell me this... is there a better way to get started? Does anyone have any tips and tricks we could share with the group? Recap... 1. Protect Mental Capital (Confidence) 2. FOCUS on ONE thing first, and master it 3. Start Slow...perhaps only 1 trade each day Your thoughts?

I guess you're right, but remember, swing trading has almost jsut as much risk, if not more, than lots of smaller trades taken during the day, so you could assume that you would want to spend the same time in preperation as you would as a day trader. All the same, hope it helps, best of luck Mav

hey guys, No, im not affiliated with them, just a client that found them to be a great solution to my needs as a trader. The problems I had with IB were... 1. Account Paperwork was extremely difficult and not user friendly at all 2. They were so large that customer service felt like calling TradeStation at 930am EST 3. To trade futures you had to log into their data manager, and then log into Ninja or any other platform 4. Margins were higher 5. They charged for Data Feed 6. They lost my wire 3 times, took me 2 weeks to find it, only to have it returned, again, customer service was too "big company" and it really felt like i was getting nowhere. Ultimately, if you want to trade everything under the sun, than i guess i can see value in IB's ability to cover all the bases, but man...who needs that much flexibility in this difficult world of trading? Too many moving parts and lack-luster service meant it wasnt a good fit for me. Now with Mirus, i was greeted with a great guy named Sean who got me set up quickly, set me up with Zen Fire Data which is FREE, and is AWESOME for Futures Data for most any day traders needs. In the end, Mirus was a great solution, my account went to RCG, and Ive been a happy client ever since. I dont mean to bad mouth any IB users out there, but look at what you need, and you may not need to deal with the little issues that come with such a huge company. Hope my feedback can be of help guys, and sorry for the confusion. Mav

I completely agree with the statement that you DO NOT always get what you pay for. I have heard educator after educator tell me that their course is priced so high because it works, when in reality, a profitable course would give the educator every reason in the world to DISCOUNT his methods to get more people involved. The bottom line: there isnt a magic course out there or a magic auto system that will work for your trading...they dont exist...at least not for a long term. they may work today, tomorrow and next week...but one day you WILL give your money back to the market if you dont learn to trade YOURSELF. You will one day realize that YOU can trade better than any computer can, and hopefully you realize that BEFORE you spend money on an automated system that delivers bad signals. To do this, you need to watch and trade a LIVE market as much as possible. Repeat after me: I will focus on the market and only the market while i trade, and i will use the simulator with the goal of replicating REAL LIVE TRADING as much as i can. Get a simulator from Ninja Trader with Zen Fire Data, its free, and its awesome! then start by watching the charts and looking for patterns watch carefully only 1 timeframe on 1 market, using only simple indicators, momentum, movign averages, and maybe some trendlines, thats it....until you learn a little about how price moves and why....then you can litter your charts with those gizmos...which you wont need....but you wont beleive me....so do what you please :) Once you watch your charts, you need to find a mentor, someone who can help save you the trial and error you need to be successful. this mentor doesnt need a flashy website, and doesnt need to charge you a dime, although those are hard to find, but remember, a $10,000 system will likely work WORSE than a $2000 system...so buyer bware. Ive shelled out WAY too much money in the recent past lookign for the best education money can buy, and I would be more than happy to relay my experince to you all. I can refer you to a quality broker that can set you up with Ninja and FREE Data, and I can also provide feedback on the many (dozens) of educational courses i have used in the past. Hope it helps guys! Mav

Dave, The key to using these types of sentiment indicator is how they relate to specific points in the market. For example, a 1000 tick reading isnt so special these days, however, if you see that at 935am price trades at HOD and tick is 700, and then 2 hours later the prices attempts to break the HOD once again, but this time the TICK reading is 1000, there is something to watch there...and it has to do with the 1000 reading, relative to its reading at the same level earlier in the day. Using readings at specific levels are one way to use these, there are many more effective ways to use both. Hope it helps! Mav

i would highly recommend the following: 1. Get yourself a DEMO account with Ninja Trader and Zen Fire Data. (PM me for the right people to call on this, i have references for you) Ninja trader has TONS of free learning webinars held on line, so attend those and ask questions. You will need to learn how to USE the tools of this trade before anything else, and NinjaTrader.com will be a great resourse. Again, PM me for a direct phone/email to the person who can set you up 2. Get a comfortable chair and some fresh coffee 3. Watch the markets from open to close, looking for price patterns and try to pick up on the personality of the market you wish to trade. 4. Find a mentor you can trust to educate you with the basic fundamentals you need to learn how to trade. (PM me on this as well, i can send you a few to consider) The bottom line is that you will need to learn how to use your chart package, youll need to watch the markets consistently, and you will need a mentor that knows what to do. PM me for referals, i would be happy to share my experience with other new traders...we've all been there before, and I always like to help.

sorry guys...here you go! Hope it helps! Daily_Trade_Worksheet.pdf

hey guys, i keep a daily worksheet of all my trades and it works really well. Attached is my own worksheet that I use for my trading. As you can see, you can tailor this to fit your needs, but use it as a start for you. the key is making notes on the market internals and the specifics of each trade you took, that way you can look back at the end of the day/week/month/year and see where you made mistakes. By keeping the market internals every 30 minutes on a worksheet you can then notice low volume days ahead of a bad trade and possibly avoid takign trades that occur during times when the market has shown lack-luster conditions. Hope it helps! See attached Mav

for more information on the delivery date of this specific contract you would need to check the exchange website. Currency Futures are CME Group, so try http://www.CMEGroup.com hope it helps! Mav

if youre trading futures i would highly recommend Ninja Trader w/ Zen Fire Data. then call Sean @ Mirus for an account....best bet 100%

Ouch...stay away from IB, they are a HUGE comapny with lots of thigns going on that will only drag the average trader down. IB has to be one of the most difficult brokers i have ever funded and account and traded daily with....what a mess they were. My best solution: Ninja Trader w/ Zen Fire Futures Data, and open an account with Mirus and RCG. No more mess like IB, just trading the way it was meant to be. Call Sean at Mirus futures, they will take care of you.

Market Profile is one of the most powerful tools we can use as traders, but it is widely used incorrectly as s/r on your charts. I beleive the MP is best used as a direction filter from one day to the next, whereas many MP traders try and use these levels to execute trades, which is risky to new traders b/c they havent the experience needed to understand what they are gettign involve with. One reason why I stay away from MP levels such as VAH and VAL is b/c of the following: 1. Different Market Profile calculation methods mean that these levels can be inaccurate, and due to the fact that traders want to be part of the 'crowd' rahter than be right, this inaccuracy makes for 'blurred' support/resistance levels. compare VAH to a Pivot... The Pivot calculation is simple and is always using the settlement information from the exchange. this tells me at the end of the day MOST traders will have this calculation nailed down the same way as the mass majority of traders, which gives me more confidence in this level 'holding' with price. Now look at VAH...different story... this is calculated off volume, meaning there is plenty of room for error there, and then we have the many different varitions of how to calculate it, and you have a potential S/R level that is 'blurred' because of the different ways in which OTHER traders have calculated these levels. SO rather than using these levels as S/R to take trades, i use this the way it was designed to be used, and that is to identify the overall market sentiment as it applies to value that was determined by the previous day's trading. Hope it helps! Mav

Im using Dell Precision 690, 2 vid cards, tons of memory, super-fast processor, 4 x 30" Dell HD/High-Res Monitors. I am a well aware that this set-up rocks the house! hehe

Classic Rock works best for me. They sing about the 'tough times back on the River" and about "being a cowboy", haha, which puts me in the mood to relax and focus on the markets. I like to stick to calm and relaxing music with a light tempo to keep me away, but not too fast to get me anxious. Also, stay clear of cafeine if you have a hard time focusing, and stick to doing routine excercizes that will condition your focus. For a list of excercizes I do, you can PM me Hope it helps, Mav

go get yourself a copy of 'CoolTimer', you can get it at download.com i set it to go off every 30 mins so i can re focus on my set-ups. You can customize it to do almost anything

gotta go with 3 x 30" Dell monitors all the way. stop messing around on the playground...these are made for the big boys best of luck out there!

Get rid of IB, save your sanity Go with Mirus, i have multiple accounts with them. PM Me for contact info to my broker at Mirus, they rock!

i found woodies CCI to be a breathe of fresh air when i first met them, i even met Woodie a few times for local meeting of the 'club'. This is a system that has a very small few doing well with, and the rest are all trying to get it to work. this may be true for more educational sites, but this one is a little different. Due to the fact that you are learning a system that is SO far away from most technical analysis systems that it feels as though you are sacrificing your overall development as a trader by following Woodies instructions to "ignor the damn price bars", which has a good reason behind I understand, but it still is a little strange and a hard way to make a living as a trader....you feel as if youre leaving the proven systems that govern our industry behind...only to watch the Woodie's pattern for the rest of your life....yawn....zzzzz This community can be a great first experience for a trader b/c they will accept new members with open arms, however, I dont see them as being equipped to train people to trade the way it appears. with a free community comes the addition to ego-trip moderators, new traders who think they can teach others, and of course the question on everone's mind is always....where is all the money going? Certainly not all to charity! Like anything else, use cautiion and dont get locked into it for the rest of your career, but use it for what its worth, and you will be the one to find out how much value it will bring to your trading. Best of luck!

I am consistently profitable and would gladly answers any questions you might have.

Ive attached a snapshot of my charts from today that illustrates what a sideways market might look like. I also did a short video on this for you guys to better-illustrate what im trying to say here. Below is a video that i added to this forum: TL! Videos Hope it helps guys! Mav:)

i agree, great article for sure. I use tape reading for my exits more than anything. I find that volume (relative volume that is) is ideal for entries, but to see a winner about to turn against me i look at price action and the tape. Rather than trying to watch all of the information as it speeds by on the tape, i blur my eyes and pay attention to the speed and frequency of it all. I use Ninja, and they allow you to change the colors depending on the order itself, so you can color things accoridng to how they are executed, which will give you more of an idea of what is really going on. TIP: stop watching the small details, blur your eyes and just watch the overall speed of it all and you will see the pattern of slow....to fast...to confused patterns, to trending patterns. Hope it helps! Mav

ill take a snapshot to illustrate what i mean....ill post it over lunch session today

detecting a sideways market is essential to traders and is always something difficult to learn...this is can sympthize with. here's a tip... use multiple timeframes to see the bigger picture. take my trading style for example... I trade a 1-minute chart, which means I need to use a longer term time frame to "zoom out" on the market and get the bigger picture to see where my potential trade falls within the short-term trend of the day. I Use a 3-minute chart to get a better feel for the highs and lows of the last few hours of trading, which enables me to make sure i am always trading with the trend, and the support of the momentum in the market. the most successful trade set-ups will typically occur outside of tradign ranges, in other words, when the market is trending, rather than sideways trading, so the ability to see the bigger picture will make sure you are only taking the trades that exceed the sidways chop. Hope it helps! Mav

market profile can be a really powerful tool for traders, but many use it incorrectly. The technical aspects of how market profile is calculated can be quite difficult to understand in a book, so it may be helpful to use this analogy.. Market profile, specifically the value area bracket it produces can be used to increase the winning % of trades when used as a directional tool. for example... If price opens above the value area, one considers this bullish, and long trades are taken if price opens below, we consider price to be bearish, and short trades are taken using this simple barometer as a filter to ensure you are always trading on the "right side of the market" can be an easy tool to help a new trader actually USE this tool to benefit his trading results with winning trades. Beware using VAH and VAL levels as opportunities to take trades, and dont even think about the POC....but that reasoning will have to be another time... hope it helps... Mav