MidKnight

sdoma makes good comments on what Steenbarger is saying here - it is quite a general observation. It is a line graph of the RTH (c - o) correlated against the overnight session (o - c(1)). It compares nothing about what happens in between those start and end times periods.... My best regards, MK

Sorry for the bad info above...I guess what I read in my brief morning skim read was what his holdings were when he was with GS. My apologies. The morning news skim is a speed read glance at best... All my best, MK

Hi cowpip, Yesterday bloomberg disclosed the value of his GS holdings. Stock and options total was nearly 1bln I believe. Talk about a vested interest huh.

Welcome to the aussie SPI. Because today is seeing some extenuating circumstances though, it is probably thinner than normal. In general though, it is as thin market with 3-4 tick spreads no unusual at all. All my best, MK

Hi Suri, Very comprehensive post, thank you! My best regards, MK

Just a quick update here. IB have the product all ready to go. I recommend the bundled the comms for all ¥ products for now. The comms are 300 RT. I have word direct from a reputable IB source that the unbundled comms for all ¥ products will be getting a revamp within 1-2 months. Expect even better comms then. My best regards, MK

To my knowledge the options are so liquid because the contract size is much smaller than the future. I hear they are used heavily as day trading substitute to the future.

lordbinder, Tickers will vary from one data vendor to another. I'm sure you could look up the markets listed above for the data vendor you use.

lordbinder, I guess your question is in specific reference to Asian markets with liquidity? If so, there is good liquidity on both the full size and mini Nikkei 225 in Osaka. The full size Topix in Tokyo also is quite active. The Kospi 200 in Korea has great volume and activity. If you are frenetically inclined, you may enjoy the Hang Seng in Hong Kong. I hope that helps some. With kind regards, MK

Pretty clear when lunch time was over Thanks for the charts!

Thanks for the PDF. I don't understand most of it, but the parts I did were pretty interesting! All my best, MK PS, good to see you have it setup for charting - looks good too!

Hi gooni, The mini topix was only made available since June 16th this year, so its a new product. The tick increment is 1/2 the full size topix. The spread is usually 0.50 (2 ticks mini ticks), sometimes 0.25. The book reads 400-700 totaled either side 5 levels deep at this time. Because topix seems to have better ranges than the nikkei, I think this mini product will be similarly well received that the mini nikkei was. It will just take a little time. The full size topix on the other hand has a spread virtually always 0.50 (1 full size tick). The book total 5 levels deep either side is is the 500-800 area usually.

How do you define night? To me this is the day session.

The product is now trade able through IB, but there seems to be some commission issues. It seems to be on the wrong commission schedule. I'm in contact with an IB rep who is working to resolve and will update once it is done.

Excellent quote there DT2.0. I must remember that! All my best, MK

It depends what you call a scalp really. On that market...I would consider 10-20 ticks a sclap. Its daily range is enormous. You can check the IB website for an idea of the comms.

What does that tell ya about how hard it is to measure... :\ All my best, MK

Psychological capital, I mean other things besides gutting your house. For example, how many losers in a row can you tolerate? What is the max draw per day, week, month? What do you do when you have reached a max draw - how do you cope and move forward? Do you have a daily (or weekly or monthly) percent or dollar target? If so, what changes when that is reached? Just a few ideas....this is an enormous area in itself and goes towards ones success I believe.

Might I add that you will also want to consider various trade management things such as position size determination, stop management, profit target determination, rules for scaling out/in if interested, non-confirming factors after you are in the trade. Also asses your unique psychological capital requirements. What you have outlined above is a very general description for recognizing opportunity, once it is recognized though, it needs to be managed both technically and psychologically. With kind regards, MK

To add to Kiwi's list, I'd also recommend something like NoScript to protect against malicious javascript.

There is one prop firm I have heard of in Aussie. They are at http://www.propex.net.au/index.html

Hi blowfish, Exactly - that is the problem. I have tried to do this before. I'd need to automate this in some way (maybe screen scrape website like bloomberg) to collect the dividends. Also have to figure out what to use for the interest rate. I've wanted this for a long time, but it'd be a big project.....I was hoping it was already done somewhere Thanks for the comment. With kind regards, MK

Hi James, I'm not sure why...but the audio seems to stop after a short way into it. Shame, it looks like a good video!

James, Do you know of anywhere to get the fair value for the Nikkei225 or Topix500? I have looked for these before and came up empty - maybe you know?

I found this post on "Re: Edge VS Mentality" interesting and have nominated it accordingly for "Topic Of The Month August, 2008"