TinGull

I think you're missing the point I'm making Jerry. I know the market doesn't give a crap about me or anyone else. EVERYTHING is in ones mind, though. If you can program your mind to think that something is going with you instead of it going against you, then you're going to be more apt to grant it trust. Thats what I've done, and you don't have to if it doesn't work for you. I'm just shooting out an idea. So, no, I wasn't kidding.

It sounds like he's got a plan that he knows is a successful one, its just he might be always thinking that the market will outsmart him. The fact of the matter is that one has to have trust in things. The market will outsmart everyone from time to time. Thats just a fact. If he's got setups that he SEES are profitable, but just lacks the confidence to take them, I think its more a lack of confidence in the markets rather than just the setup. Treat the market as a friend rather than an adversary. If it goes against you and you get stopped out, just think of it as a wrong turn to the mall with your friend at the wheel. You know how to get there, right? Just trust that the way will be found and you'll be fine. I battled this for a while and realized that I can't have the market build trust with me, I just need to grant it trust until it breaks it. It hasn't broken my trust yet...sometimes it just takes me down a wrong road, but I know next week, or next month, or maybe tomorrow, I'll get back to where I want to be.

Tevtrader...you just explained EXACTLY what it's like during a week of my life. To a T!

Very nice. Welcome aboard.

Yea, NQ was almost 40 ticks above value. I knew I had to get long, I just got long and had too tight a stop, and couldn't get the nerve up to get back in.

HAH! Thanks Walter

Hey Nick, The initial entry was fine, my stop was just too tight. As for watching range extentions...the IB had just been formed and price was currently inside the IB when I went long. After that I think I might have been too focused on NQ wanting to revert back to it's POC. Ah well, I'll catch some cash today. Just funny now...wasn't yesterday, but now, really pretty amusing to think about.

Youre right...I was just frazzled and misquoted.

HA! Yes, 2012.25. I'm still frazzled from it all. The basis for entering was a 50% retracement of the 30min opening range. All other markets took off from that point, but NQ wanted to retrace a little deeper. My stop was pretty tight, and usually is on NQ. I realized after I should have placed my stop below the opening range low, and also used less contracts. I went in double what I normally do (which is 1...so I used 2) and got freaked. I should've scaled in which is what I've been practicing as of late.

cooter, a lot of it has to do with how most people have an inherent desire for struggle. You always hear growing up that you need to work hard, go to school, earn a living. Everything involves much work, and when people enter into almost anything, they automatically try and find the ways it's going to be difficult in order to overcome those difficulties right off the bat. Lots of people, myself included, feel that things can never be as easy as they really are. I have struggled with this my whole life, only knowing I've been battling it for the past few months. Trading has brought that to the forfront of my mind. I tend to think that the market will outsmart me. It's really *not* showing me what it is, but instead I should think the opposite because the market really is going to fool me. I constantly battle with the need for struggle. Today was a perfect example. I was in on the rally very early on NQ, at 1912.75, and was stopped out for a small loss. Did I get back in? Nope. Why? Because the whole day I thought, this market is gonna reverse right when I get long because the money can't be this easy to make. Was it really that easy? Yup, sure was. I kicked myself the WHOLE day. When the YM was up 88 points, I said...it can't go up much further...120 points is good for the YM so I'll start watching for short opps. None panned out. Instead YM rocketed higher. So...I am in that 50% that the doc talked about who has a desire to struggle/fail. I realized that maybe 3 months ago and have been working diligently to overcome it, which I know I will. It'll just take practice with regards to trusting myself.

WEll, I just wanted to say that it take a very special person to go long in todays market and still lose money. I, apparently, am at the top of the special list. Yes, I went long NQ at 1912.25 and had too tight a stop apparently, as every other contract did a 50% retrace and went higher...except for the NQ. So, I was stopped out of that and couldn't get back in as I felt "certain"...oh yes, certain...that the market couldn't go higher. How newbie do I feel right now? Terribly. I started to feel uncomfortable when the YM was at 88 points thinking...wow, normally 100-120 is a decent day. So, how do others combat this type of thinking? How do you get in when price is already "extended"? Yay for me!! I've got my party hat on!

I went through this exact same thing and very recently have started to really come out of it. Once again, I'll plug Anthony Robbins book "Unlimited Power" because it was one of the biggest helps to me in trading and in life. Also, my coach always says...trade with 1 contract. You aren't going to blow up your account with one contract. James, you've got the knowledge, the skills, the plan...the "everything" you need to become a great trader. You first need to ask yourself: Are you much more than you're demonstrating? A couple of weeks ago I asked myself that. I know I've got the skills to pay the bills, I just didn't have the "courage" to always pull the trigger. Am I much more than I am demonstrating now? Sure, I am. I've still got a ways to go, but the most important thing is I KNOW I am there. I'm not close...the goal isn't just out of arms reach...my goal has been reached. Now I just expand upon that goal of being successful. So ask yourself: In this moment in time, are you successful? Absolutely! You still have a trading account right? You're young, have a great car and other material things, too. When you wake up, think of those things and ask yourself "Am I successful, right now in this very moment?" ABSOLUTELY! The more you keep telling yourself that you're successful (not that "one day I want to be successful") the more success you're going to breed. A fellow trader on this board said to me recently "Chris, get it out of your head that you aren't a success yet. You may not have the money yet, but realize you haven't blown out a single account and you've been at it for over a year" (including options trading...10months on minis). So many people will blow out an account and give up. And that happens lots of times within the first few months. So...am I successful for being above water still? Absolutely! Success isn't dependent wealth, nor is wealth dependent on success. Don't measure your success in terms of dollars! While it's great to have fancy things and all, you really want to get to a point where you measure your success by the amount of value you can add into other people's lives. So, maybe instead of thinking "I'm successful when I have a million dollars" I tend to think "I'm successful when I am able to teach others what I know to get them to where I am...independent". I personally don't need craploads of cash. I live in a teeny place and my girl and I share one car (Scion xA), are extremely frugal, grow most of what we eat ourselves so we don't' have to buy stuff at the store...my success is measured in terms of what I can give back. And this board helps me give just a little each day, so lots of my success lies here. Hope that helps. Thanks for letting me ramble on!

The one biggest thing that helped me along (and this was within the past 3 weeks) was reading Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins. Applying those sorts of techniques that he outlines in that book (much to do with NLP) has been the biggest breakthrough I've had not only in trading, but with life in general. Take a peek through that book. Since I've just started out with trading (almost a year now) I have had many many mental roadblocks to get through, and I wanted to get through them quick. Having a supportive family has helped tons too. And...dogpile...you rock dude. Your analysis is always top notch and you really seem like you've got your head on straight with trading. I think either way you choose you'll be successful and don't have anything to worry about.

I've got 3 people who have helped me tremendously, 2 of them help for free, one I pay. Leroy Rushing on these boards is my trading coach that I pay for his time. He's been critical is helping me define my high odds trading opportunities and risk management. Another is my girlfriend. She's been instrumental in helping me with the emotional aspect of trading. Amazingly cool and collected and really wants to see me succeed at it. She realizes how long it *could* take to get to where I want to be. The last person whos played a major role is just a fellow trader who cares enough to want to see me succeed. I guess he sees it's possible with me, so that's awesome. We chat pretty much every day during the market hours. As for finding one and how to go about it...I just used Leroy because he came to these boards offering help. I know James (soultrader) wouldn't allow any loony onto the boards and collaborate with them unless they were top notch, and Leroy certainly is. His prices are certainly fair for the guidance he gives.

For my 2 cents....I still consider myself new at this; it's been about 10 months now since I started day trading futures. I had started out trading option spreads before that and learned a lot about the market during that period. Day trading is intense, and I'll give my little bit of advice assuming the thread isn't a joke. Like brown said...these markets are serious professionals who are out there to take your money...and they don't even send you a "thank you" card!! On the first day of learning how to play the violin, do you think you could go and play with the Boston Pops? Nope. I'm still in the "high school" orchestra with my trading....maybe moving up to the collegiate level soon. 10 months later and I'm now just getting the hang of things. I've been trading 1 contract for almost this entire time, and really just this week have started trading 2 since I feel MUCH more comfortable with how I'm trading. So, my first bit of advice...trade as little size as possible. Even maybe start day trading something like a few shares of SPY or DIA or something where your account can't get hit hard while you learn. You'll be learning forever...seriously. Use a hard stop. There's very few people who are consistently disciplined enough to use a mental stop and use it each and every time without fail. I know I'll never do that. Hard stops are the way to go IMO. Definitely get a mentor. I wish I had done it sooner. Someone who can guide you through the learning process.

Again, very much looking forward to this discussion. Looking back, this is some pretty powerful stuff. Nice area to be aware of for sure. And Nick, I believe you're right. I've been looking at the prior days VWAP and PVP and that seems to work very nicely.

Whole heartedly agreed.

Brown, I completely agree and understand your point. What I personally didn't know is that this guy had a "motive" behind his posting. For someone to read that post, not knowing this guy from your average "joe", there would be no inference of anything commercial in it. I guess that's where Im coming from with regards to it. If there was any hint of anything commercial in that post, then for sure....do away with it if he's not gonna pay for the advertising. I just think it could have easily been you or torero or jperl or anyone whos name couldve been atop that post and we wouldn't be having this discussion. Hope that helps to clarify my points.

I completely agree, however the post in question was never made to be a commercial type post from my perspective. I'd never heard of Joe Ross, so I figured it was just another trader giving some information that many of us have heard many times over. If someone was to begin posting their website or other services, then by all means, the motive is known and if he's (or she) is not paying for advertising on the site then either get them to pay or have them be gone. I have since closed that thread, btw.

Rolange, if there was any bit of commercialism in Joe Ross's post, then by all means I would be the first one to shut it down. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I see not one sentence in his post asking people to visit his website to buy his indicators. Is that correct? And yes, I saw your post before someone deleted it. And yes, I felt it was offensive to the original poster. He in no way was advocating his services. A pity? It's a pity that this conversation is STILL going on. Thread is now closed.

I have no idea who it was that removed your posts. If you don't want any part of someone removing posts that are seen to some as callous, then by all means, take that sort of talk away from here. That kind of post that you made belongs on EliteTrader.

Rolange, On this forum we don't condone negative remarks towards anyone. If you have an issue with someone, you can take it up with them personally. This is a forum for sharing, not creating a negative image.

He left to pursue a position more geared towards what his passion is.

Soul...this is the one time I've got to disagree with ya. I've been trading NQ the past few days now and I wish I started out on this one. It's a great contract for beginners because the tick value is the same as YM but the range is less, so the risk ends up being less. You can find great setups that could use a 2 point stop on the NQ based on what the market tells you, and that equates to 8 YM points. Is the reward going to be smaller? Absolutely! BUT it gets your feet wet with real money without having to risk AS much. This is a contract I've been testing a new strategy on and instead of risking play money and not getting that emotional thing that we all love...I'm risking real capital and seeing how my emotions play into the strategy. So far, so great I vote for NQ or YM, with preference to NQ.

a 5min used to put me to sleep too...then I realized that my trading style wasn't conducive to the small time frames I was watching, and changed things up a bit. Now a 5min seems quick to me and a 15min is nice. and james...great to hear you liked the 5min. Taking larger profits really needs a larger time frame IMO.