Soultrader

Great post Raul. Traders should not limit their life to just trading. Having a social balance is also important. I am still young and do not have the responsibilities of raising a family. Eventually I will, in which I plan to devote a good amount of time to my wife and children. I think with age I may find it harder for me to be trading as much as I am right now. I plan on having multiple things on the side and I may limit my trading to only the morning session. The feeling of accomplishment and being productive is more important to me than money. So I don't think my ambition will ever die.

hello Deb, I recommend taking some free trials at Linda Rashcke's room or Hubert & Carters trading room. I think the websites are tradethemarkets.com and lbrgroup.com. Also luke24.5 recommneded a good trading room for the futs. I don't quite remember the link but you should find it if you do a search with his name. What's important is to find a trading style that fits you and then expand on it. Although the mentor may be profitable, if the persons style does not suit your trading style, you will have a hard time incorporating it into your methodology. My advice is to find what suits you, adjust it to your style, and develop your own. There is no need to be creative and come up with your own methods. Trading has been around for quite some time now and you easily make a living by copying other people's strategy. Just make sure you find what fits you.

Make sure you test drive their execution platform. It is unbelievable fast and you may need some time to get familiar with it. Also, if you need a direct contact info to one of the brokers at Infinity, please let me know. I have a contact info for a broker there who was helping me out in the past and if you are interested he will lower your margin rates.

Do you have a link to their website? I will take a look and do some research on it. I personally have never heard of it but I may have some friends who do. Thanks

I also have the same problem. 1. The family are clueless of what I do and are not supportive. They continue to tell me to find a job. 2. My friends are supportive but are absolutely clueless. 3. Strangers I meet are absolutely clueless to a point I have got tired of mentioning I am a futures trader. 4. GF's tend to think I am a gambler. But honestly... who cares?

I literally spent hours and hundreds of days staring at price and tape until my eyes hurt. At first I didn't understand anything. But I figured I could forcefully brainwash myself to understand price action. Eventually I did manage to understand it and somehow get a "feel" of price. During my early days, I met an intraday trader who seemed to know the short term market direction all the time. I was so impressed by the way he was able to look at price and determine market direction. He used no indicators. Just price and tape and seemed to know whether the market was going to lift of fall. This motivated me since I thought his method of analysis was pure. I realized that by gaining skills to interpret price action and tape, this method will never get old or replaced. Hence, the key to longevity. One of the key wisdom he taught me was: "The only surpise is for the trend to continue. If the trend in the morning is strong to the upside, expect a continuation of the trend in the afternoon." This simple wisdom has helped me save thousands of dollar as well as make thousands. Watching him trade was a true honor.

As a intraday trader, I know of traders who will hedge their position by taking a long/short in the index futures and going long/short ETF's. This is a common strategy. On a longer time-frame.... try holding an index futures for more than a few hours. It will scare you. I don't think I can hold on to the S&P's for more than a day. The YM... I can swing trade.

I find it easier to predict price on a shorter term timeframe like several minutes to a few days. Once it exceeds 2 weeks... I have no idea. My vote is: Not Sure.

You are very welcome nishant

Does your family, spouse, gf, or friends accept or support you as a trader? This is a profession unlike many other professions. Most naive people will assume we are gamblers with a unstable income. Also for some reason chicks dig investment bankers over traders. All comments are welcome!

I have always been interested in this strategy as well. Just not familiar enough with options. Anyone know?

Yes you are right... it is based on a purely chart/TA point of view. Im not much of a fundamental trader (my weakness). Will be waiting to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks

Interesting... because I find the matrix very distracting. I hardly ever use it. You can simply place orders from the matrix and drag your stops or target points on the matrix. You might want to check into the Infinity software. They have a better version of the Matrix and excecution is unbelievably fast. It was created by traders so they know what they are doing. What are the things you look for in the matrix? Is it size? Thanks

Interesting comment Raul. I may need to look into crude since you mentioned how its works good with pivots. Also what software do you use? In terms of price ladder, I am picturing something like the Tradestation Matrix? Take a look at the attachment.

I would have to disagree on the Dow comment. The Dow has been in a steady uptrend since July. I was cautious of the May high but yesterday the markets broke above it on high volume at the first attempt. This is a very bullish sign. If there is price acceptance in this new zone, I would look for a further lift in price. I believe we have reached new highs on the futs. With crude slipping down, I would not be surprised for the Dow to continue is uptrend. See picture (attached)

Adapt or Die! What do we do now? The “Bubble†burst, Single Stock Futures, Pairs Trading, Automation, New Platforms and Access. Professional traders are adapting to the new climate. By Don Bright from Bright Trading - Welcome to Professional Stocktrading I’m often asked what traits are common in a successful stock trader, and although there are many, the single thing that I find binds us all together is “adaptabilityâ€Â…plain and simple. We all thrived through the euphoria of the DOTCOM phase, and the NASDAQ meteoric rise through common sense into obscenity. Many a genius was behind a computer when the “buy and hold†mentality permeated the shell of proprietary trading. Swing trading was born from the attitude that “it’s gonna go back up, wait and see!†TV and Online Brokers found gigantic audiences in the new “stock market aficionado. It seems that everyone has an interest in the market these days. It was only a few short years ago when we who made our living trading were thought of as blurry eyed speculators and freakish market technicians. Who were these “Market Wizards†and what do they really do? The early editions of many stock market classics stayed on bookshelves, never making their way to the homes of Middle America. I personally relied on my brother to read the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, and all the related market oriented publications (I would drive to the floor of the Exchange, he would read and give me the “Readers Digest†version of the day’s events. In the late 1970’s there were Commodities traders in Chicago, and a few Option Market Makers on the various (new) option exchanges. I was brought into this trading world by my brother who had entered only a few months prior. He had developed some option strategies based on research done by the early pioneers. He “adapted†his innate abilities for risk/reward evaluations to the “back spreads,†“front spreads,†“straddles,†“strangles,†“conversions,†and the like to the Commodities based trading that was taking place in 1978. We young (then) market makers would do our best to “outsmart†the “old guys†who came from the CBOT and other commodities exchanges to the new options trading floors. I recall actually changing prices on certain issues when we saw certain people come into our pits. We were “so smart†using our “sheets†with computerized valuations of every conceivable combination of puts, calls, and underlying securities….ah, yes…so, so smart! These “old guys†would come into the pit, and buy calls from us that were overvalued (by our evaluations), we would sell what we could until we had to then go buy the stock to hedge ourselves. Little did we know that these guys had already placed orders to buy the stock way in front of us….causing us to scramble to try to buy back these “over-valued†options….resulting in our own little “short squeeze.†We soon learned that we were playing “their game†in “their houseâ€Â….and we better adapt or perish As Bob Dylan wailed, “The Times they are a Changingâ€Â…and boy have they changed over the years. The one constant that we can cling to is adaptation. You had to adapt quickly in this high dollar psycho-drama we call trading in those days, and you have to adapt even more quickly today. After a decade in the markets, trading had become more than an enterprise, it became a passion. After spending more than a decade trading on the exchange floor, and watching the new products turn to “old standards†with little room for exploitation, I thought that the trading world would come “full circleâ€Â….back into the basics of single stock equities trading. I shared that with my semi-retired brother, and he shared the feeling. Adapting once again to market conditions and technology changes, trading resumed in the family…this time it was DOT based (Direct Order Turnaround) electronic trading. . The “bug†bit harder than ever with this genesis. Having “single digit†numbered DOT machines, with the same access to the markets as we had on the trading floors, the electronic trading revolution was begun. A few short years later, the newly aware public became involved in the world of electronic trading. It was from this short lived phenomenon that “daytrading†as many of us perceive it, was born. (I always smile when I hear people talk about the “birth†of daytrading having taken place in the 1990’s, when in truth daytrading has been going on for some 200 years). Several factors collided in the 1990’s that helped grow the ranks of those who call themselves “traders.†Everyone seemed to have a 401k that needed watching, IPO’s were all the rage and topic for cocktail party discussions, and the Internet had become the vehicle for bathrobe attired traders to ply their new found craft. This is also when the markets were flying and everyone was writing books about their successes in various trading endeavors ranging from “online trading†to “covered call writing.†Paper millionaires were sharing their exploits in chat rooms and video tapes. Mainstream movies and TV shows portrayed young traders as pretty hip, and who doesn’t want to be hip? Pretty hard to stay out of a game like this, right? You bet it was! As the masses got involved, something rather unique happened. Rather than causing a dilution of trading strategies as had happened in the past, this addition of new “traders†actually fed the fire for those who made their living from trading. Much akin to having a newbie in a poker game or new tourists on the boardwalk, this “new blood†created fantastic opportunities for those who, once again, adapted. This adaptation came about in an almost round about way…sort of a “back to the futureâ€Â..type of thing. Basic strategies were never learned by these new “electronic daytraders†since who needed solid trading fundamentals when you could use a cool looking execution platform to trade with. With everyone jumping on the band wagon, profits came easily to those with the fasted “guns†….for a while. Professional traders found themselves in a familiar circumstance, one that they had seen before….they better adapt or perish. New strategies based on new platforms and new access capabilities emerged in this new century. Although somewhat recycled, the results speak for themselves. These strategies included mergers/arbitrage, pair trading, opening techniques and all the rest. Now we have new “stuff†in the mix. Single stock futures (SSF’s) are coming online soon. Mergers of Exchanges (NYSE-Archapeligo) Mergers of ECN’s and execution platforms (REDI/ARCA). Licensing requirements for traders who want to do this for a living. And yes….AUTOMATION! No limits! Traders and software developers have been looking for the magic pill, the program trading software that will bring us riches with the click of a mouse. I cannot count the number of “trading programs†out there being sold to the unwary under the guise of technical propriety. “Buy when you see Green, Sell when you see Redâ€Â…Use trailing stops, “Filter for Fortunes†gee, if it were only that easy. Let’s try to bring some reality to all of this. Let’s get off of that cloud of fantasy and take a look at the things that make sense: Serious involvement in the markets. Learning real, working techniques. Trade for a living, or enjoy another field of endeavor. Trading can be fun and profitable, if you’re willing to adapt. More to come! Good Luck with your trading.

Here you go nishant. If you want the best fills, go with infinity. They have a super fast execution platform. I did a test run before and I was impressed.

Looks like we have alot in common feb. I do use alot of market profile. Never really touched crude although I have always been interested.

I didnt know Infinity offered Forex. Im planning to clear through them as well. If you need a contact info, I can hook you up with a Infinity broker who is helping me out. Let me know.

Welcome Juanmar! Welcome to Traders Laboratory.com. We have a variety of educational resources related to trading and investing. Please feel free to start a thread, post comments, and discuss with other members of the forum. If you are looking for a particular topic, feel free to use the search function located in the left hand navigation module. If you have any questions about the website or your account, contact me via private message and I will help you get started. Looking forward to your participation here at Traders Laboratory.com All the best, Soultrader Founder of Traders Laboratory

Understanding how to read market internals is a key element to trading success. One thing I always watch for is the strength in the TICK's. Whenever you have the TICK above the zero line for the majority of the day, you are better off focusing on long setups. In today's action, the TICK's were screaming for prices to lift. We had a nice trend with prices easily breaking above the value high pivot. The trend is your friend. But the TICK is also your friend.

I use a very simple method to play the opening play. This is good for the initial setup. The TICK's are like the horsepower and price the car. The higher the horsepower, the more likely price will lift. The first thing I do is to look where the TICK's open. In this case (see attachment) the TICK's opened up in positive territory. The TICK's then retraced and held at the zero line forming a TICK hook. This is my first signal. Second, I look at the closest line of pivot. In this case this would be the daily pivot. Since price broke above the daily pivot, this gave me the second signal based on price action. Hence, my long signal and a long setup. I enjoy taking this setup because I can always use a 10 point stop somewhere below the pivot point which I feel comfortable with. Of course this setup must be praticed and used in conjunction with your daily homework/analysis. For Oct. 4th, the daily pivot was a key pivot level I was going to be watching. Once price held at that level my bias for to the long side.

Thank you Raul. Your compliments mean alot It's good to have you on board especially since we share similar methodologies. I will look forward to your posts and comments in the forum. All the best, James / Soultrader

My bias remains long as price will most likely test the May high at 11872. However, I a consolidation may be expected due to the high %TREND at 60.91%. By taking a look at a MP chart (attached) we have a higher value placement compared to Oct. 2nd. However we are still overlapping from the 9/27 - 9/29 value areas. It looks as if price has entered a new zone from roughly 11785 to 11820 (see attachment). Thus, I will look for a possible rotation to both ends. With this in mind I will be looking at two key pivots for the day: daily pivot and the value high pivot. Both pivots offer opportunities for a fade. Overnight market has held at the daily pivot indicating possible support. A break below this and I will look at the next line of support at 11765 - 11770. This is the POC from 9/27, 9/28, and value high pivot of 10/02 cluster zone. Any break above yesterdays high will lift towards the May high at 11872 for a good 50 point move. Update: premarket action is trading at the 11770 level. Next support level I will look at is 11720.

You know moving average crosses only work in a trending market which is 30% of the time. You will get CHOPPED around majority of the time. Not a good strategy to live by. You should apply different strategies under different market conditions. I also don't think in terms of oversold or overbought. Better to think in terms of supply vs demand or price rejecton vs price acceptance.