method

So....how to determine when the market is really trending?

Man, I keep having this exact same problem. On Friday I made 3000 euros in one trade in like 2 hours but then at the end of the day I lost pretty much all of it in 3 trades in the same amount of time near the end of the session. Sometimes you just need to know when to quit when you're ahead. The biggest issue I have is not being able to cope with 'mistakes'. I use ' ' tags because sometimes what you perceive as mistakes aren't actually mistakes; they're just a part of doing business. Variance if you will. This problem of overtrading usually strikes when I think I have made a 'mistake' or just made some bad trades. Basically it's a state of mind that you need to be able to recognise and prevent, or subdue it when it appears. It's pretty hard though, any advice? The only thing I can think of is to try to try not to think about the money too much, and physically distancing myself from my trading platform by shutting it down, or the whole computer.

Here are 2 more lessons: - Don't carry overleveraged positions overnight - Take profits as the market gives you them.

Ok so I have topped up my account and ready for a fresh beginning. Lessons learnt from the last time round - 1. Limit losses. 2. Limit losses. 3. Wait for low risk entry points and get out at a fixed point. If you miss it, oh well there's always more opportunities around the corner! Here is the first trade that I took:

Been a while since I last posted but I have been trading, and losing, and learning! My account equity is at an all time low, mainly due to blindly following a 'winning' strategy that involves letting losers run (and winners) without having backtested it sufficiently. Nevertheless it was a good lesson on risk management (although how many times have I said this now?) and hopefully I can get back on track by trading the FESX. I have lost a lot of money trading currency futures.

I have $50k I would like to move from one country to another (from a fund in South Korea to a futures broker in the US). What is the best way to move this? Through the bank or is should I open a forex account?

Been on a downswing since the 7th of jan. I think I am overtrading. I am still limiting my losses to 10 ticks per trade but I am trading more and losing more. I will try to be more patient and get in at more 'favourable' spots. Still focusing on the FESX. On another note, is it just me or has anyone else noticed the decrease in FESX volatility over the past year? The currency futures just seem so much more exciting......

Like I said, open a futures account and start trading. Blow it up, then decide whether you still want to pursue this dream or not. Don't be afraid of failure ps I may or may not know what I am talking about

Ok so I haven't been recording as many trades as I am in a foreign country and will remain so for the next month. I don't have access to a desktop (OK, I am lazy) so I won't be posting as many screenies. But I still have been trading, and into it more than ever. One thing I have noticed is that my little foray into forex futures might be doing my bottom line more harm than good. I will focus on the FESX exclusively for a month or two and will see how it goes. I continue to focus on limiting my losses and letting my winners run to an extent. Nowadays I exit positions on the same day because of TTT influence. Happy trading

Hi. I'm using NT as my platform. When I read T&S for the FESX, I notice the larger orders (80+) have BLOCK written beside them. What does this mean? Edit: Just realised this is an inbuilt feature of NT to alert you of large trades.

I started with around 11k, velocity futures. Really cheap commissions for eurex futures (DAX, FESX). I don't trade the ES but it is around 4-5 per RT. Just trade with your 5K. You can paper trade if you want but it will not hurt if u blow away your 5K, as long as you learn something from it. Trading is a long haul game. You can't expect to be making $$$ after just months of 'study'. btw you will probably lose your stake so don't feel bad about it, just take it in your stride and learn from it

I trade the 6B and FESX futures almost exclusively Usually 30 min graphs I usually go for 1:3 risk to reward ratio trades When I'm feeling greedy after on a winning streak perhaps I will let it run (this is especially the case with forex futures, mainly because they are more volatile

I've been trading for about 2 years and I have gotten to the point where I can enter in reasonably profitable spots and limit my losses quickly. However, one sticking point I have is knowing when to take profits vs letting profits run. I know that most of the greatest traders (livermore, soros) advocated and practiced going for the homerun and this is what I have been trying to implement into my trading. However, there have been several incidences where the trade initially went very well (I'm talking 10 tick risk : 100+ tick running profit) and then promptly reversed. In fact, the see saws in my P/L graph is because of these movements. I have been reviewing some of my profit taking patterns and it appears the most solid, consistent growth in my P/L curve occurred when I was taking profits in a reasonable timeframe rather than letting them run. Of course I would like to complement this solid growth in P/L with some extra spurts here and there by letting profits run, but I am struggling to do this in the timeframe that I trade (usually 1 to 2 days). I am interested to hear what TL'ers thoughts are on this topic.

Here's an update. I haven't been trading as much because of other things in life keeping me busy but I have been trading. First off, here's a few on the 6B: Good short followed by a failed reversal trade (in hindsight for the reversal trade I probably should have used tighter stops and tried small probe trades rather than risking 40+ ticks on one single trade). If its any consolation I was actually right in the reversal, but I did get stopped out so it resulted in a loss. Next we have a series of unsuccessful trades, mainly with 10 ticks stop loss each. I think there were 4 or 5 in this SS: During this period I was probably quite stressed from other things in my life and I probably should have stopped after the first trade or two. I haven't touched the 6B since. Anyway, onto the FESX: An unsuccessful short (notice how I would have got murdered had I not placed a tight stop): A decent short followed by a good reversal trade (good as in good timing): In case anyone is curious as to my performance I am happy to say I have turns things around somewhat since the last time I posted my P/L graph:

I am holding a similar short at the moment but in the 6B. I will probably hold it for a few more days, unless it reverses and takes out my stop. I may move my stop to BE soon though.

Another trade on the FESX. For once it is a profitable long. I have an open trade on the 6B currently.

Time for an update! Made several trades over the past week. So first of all we have the FGBL (bund): It looked like the market was going to retrace a bit because the price seemed higher than it should. So I placed a short, but I didn't really like the price action so I closed it out, and instead shorted the FESX. Here's the mistake - my assumption that the two markets were inversely correlated led me to close out an otherwise profitable position. They both fell that night. Here's my trades on the FESX. The initial short on the 15th turned out kind of profitable, in that it gave 1:2.5 rr. I closed it at about 2820 then went long. I did this because it looked like the market was going to be locked in a tight bracket (the FESX seems to like being indecisive after rallies recently). I was correct in the trend, but I was stopped out at about 3 ticks above the low of the day. The last trade - I thought a HOD had been made and shorted. Set a 10 tick stop and went to bed. However, the HOD was breached about half an hour later before descending. This meant I got stopped out at about 4 ticks below the HOD. This may sound frustrating but I am more happy that I got the general intra day trend correct. I just need to calibrate my timing of trades. Perhaps I need to set larger stop losses, or set lower stop losses and trade more frequently. Perhaps I should wait for a comeback in price before placing the trade. Who knows. I'll think of something

After some research it appears velocity supports sugar futures on ICE US, ticker symol SB.

I have an idea on sugar futures but my broker (velocity futures) does not support it. Does anyone know of a broker with low opening capital requirements that supports this product? Its ticker symbol is YO but I'm not sure on what exchange it is traded.

Made a short on the 6B, first time ever trading the market. Didn't even know the tick value before trading. Even though it shows a profit I made a grave error in closing it out early.

Hey youri, thanks for the input. I disagree with the 10 tick stop not being big enough- if you look at my losers I was wrong on the direction of the market and my tight stop cushioned me from extra loss. I will take a look at the 5-min chart next time I am trading. Happy trading

Made a few trades since my last post. One was a particularly profitable short; the rest are losers that I got stopped out for 10 ticks each.

Three new trades, as shown in the SS below. Ignore the first trade, that has already been posted. Focus on the next three. First is a B/E; I didn't feel good about the trade after I made it and I got out a few mins later. Second is a short, which I get out for a profit of a few ticks. Third is a long after a sharp decline at the open. Got out with about 9 ticks profit. Pity I came late to the market to see the sharp decline happen without me

Ok, time for a major update. Been busy/lazy over the past few weeks, but have been trading intermittently. Here's a recent one on the FESX: Also, I got a margin call on my CFD account because I bet the whole account on a gold short. As you know, it's still on the rise........ I have been reviewing my mostly losing trades and the most striking things that stood out for me: - holding trades too long, even ones that initially start working in my favour that eventually revert to my stop loss. ACTION: babysit my position so that I can move my stop, or exit the position when it starts to look like it's not going to go any further in my direction. This is hard to do as I leave most of my positions overnight. Perhaps I should decrease the length of my trades. - setting my stop loss too far/risking too much on one trade. Looking back at it, risking 250 euros+ on one trade on a 5000 euro account is too risky. ACTION: Around 15 ticks sounds more reasonable, depending on the context. - trading multiple contracts when I can't afford to. ACTION: Only trade 1 per set amount of capital (1 for every $5000 in FESX) - not having a proper understanding of how the market will behave and what my reactions will be once I am in the trade. ACTION: Write up an action plan before I enter each and every trade. This can help to capture my thought processes before, during and after the trade. - don't trade in markets which you know nothing about (gold). If you do, risk small amounts. More importantly, don't bet the whole account on it :crap::crap::crap:. After reading so many trading books and reading the same stuff over and over again, I felt I had it all under control. I was wrong! Here's my futures account balance for the curious folk:

I will join once my gold short clears on my CFD account :E why...won't...it capitulate!