Reaver

Perfect timing- I was just recommending that movie on another thread. Thanks Cooter

!!!!!! Wow man that is rough. He is struggling. I work in the mortgage industry...and in my opinion, people shouldn't have been so greedy. Just like in trading- Pigs get slaughtered. I am not trying to be callous, but hey, if you go and act like these homebuyers did in the trading arena, you are going to get your @$$ handed to you and someone is gonna take your money because you are not using your brain to make educated decisions. The company I work for doesn't do subprime lending and we don't have any issues at all right now. We do not lend on those crazy terms that you see on TV and in the news and every time you log into Yahoo Mail. I see it all day and every day in the lending industry ( Consumer lending and mortgages) it all boils down to people overstepping their means. This has been happening for years and years and years, and now the market is suffering and the country is in chaos because of this debacle. As much as I believe the government should have said something to consumers or prevented the misleading advertising from these mortgage companies. It all boils down to personal responsibility. If you make $45,000 a year, you know damn well you can't afford a $450,000 house. If you have to do stated income and embellish your income levels to get into a house, then you know damn well you can't afford it. It is common sense, and now all these people with a victim mentality want to blame the mean old mortgage companies for their financial woes. Sorry but where I come from, you read contracts before you sign them. Period. Nothing happened to any of these people on their mortgages that was not on the contract and closing docs they signed. Shame on the predatory agencies and the government regulators that fell alseep at the wheel and allowed this to happen, but any way you cut it- no one signed the contracts but the buyers. And now its time to pay the piper. But this is no different than trading the markets- YOU are responsible for your financial decisions. If you want to shoot from the hip and make dumb trades without having a solid basis, then YOU take the loss and its no one else's fault, no matter what the course or book you bought told you to do. Just like in trading- if you blindly follow what someone else tells you, you will get fed to the wolves. It pays to do your own due diligence, whether trading, shopping at WalMart, or buying a house. Sorry if this sounds callous, I don't mean it to sound that way. I just have a unique perspective, as I work in the industry, and I see some major parallels to trading. P.S. I seriously suggest you all check out the movie "Maxed Out" it's a documentary about the credit situation in America and how it is so political and predatory. There are some major eye openers about how the government is mixed in with the lobbyists to set this whole game up. Once again though- No one can make you sign anything but yourself. You have to think to survive in this world. Mods please delete this if it is too offensive, I just feel very strongly on this issue and believe individuals should be educated on credit more than they currently are. The odds are against us, unless we take responsibility and study and fight hard. Just like in trading.

There are some good ones on this site under articles.

Are you using Quicktime?

Thanks for the link. Not knocking those who choose automated systems...but if I am going to lose my money, I want it to at least have been my call to do so.

Awesome. Thanks!

It's not every day one makes a video showing an error they made. Thanks for the good lesson. It's something we all must remember.

Excellent video. The videos are helping me out big time with my new studies in AMT.

Yeah, like T said- it's really means just going back and testing out the proposed method to see if it is valid. ie setting up 3 moving averages and replaying through historical data on the charts to see if the moving average crossovers would have been good entries or not. it helps check the efficacy of the system or method. It can get much much more complicated depending on how far you want to take it though. Best of luck, and I hope this helped. Any questions, feel free to ask.

That is serious dedication. There's nothing like going balls to the wall man. I respect that big time. You're right, if it's your life, then there is no other option. That is pretty inspiring. Especially because alot of people I know of who have traded in the past started out with like $100G's they either had from their six figure job or from an inheritance or whatever...that's not even remotely inspiring to me. That's not to knock on them at all, as there are some excellent traders out there who didn't bust their ass to get their trading account built up..I am just saying that their story isn't inspiring to me....It makes about as much sense to me as thinking some kid in high school is cool because his parents bought him a brand new convertible. lol Once again-to reiterate, I am not knocking on people just because they didn't have to go to extremes to fund their account. Nothing wrong with that. It is still hard as hell to be a successful trader. I just think that going all out to get a stake makes you appreciate it more because you have a much more intimate understanding of what you had to go through to get it. Good luck Darth Tradar.

DarthTradar, yeah man I have heard Rutten is pretty psycho when it comes to PT. Like a SEAL once said "Pain is good, extreme pain is extremely good". LOL I am actually considering checking it out....thanks for the info....

Just wondering if anyone had read Pete Steidlmayer's books on MP and would care to comment. Thanks!

I firmly believe that if a system were able to be automated to the point it could make money...eventually it would end up with all the money in the markets, given enough time of course. That is why I do not believe 100% fully automated systems are feasible as far as profiability goes.....just doesn't make sense to me. Although of course, the paradox lies in the fact that many system traders are in fact profitable...so to each his own...Yes I am aware that I contradicted myself...life is full of mysteries, huh? But I have my own beliefs, and they preclude me from automated trading. I prefer using my brain and my understanding of the market-however small it may be- to make decisions...maybe it is the challenge of figuring things out that makes we lean this direction..but I find it rewarding to make money based on my decisions, and not the decisions of a formula, system or computer....

Alot of this has already been covered by posts above, but you've helped me out a lot so I wanted to at least offer some confirming opinions....answers in bold... 1) Tell me about forex trading. I've read horror stories of bucket shops and such. How do you avoid this? I'd say go with either Oanda or MB Trading/EFX group (same people really) Oanda is a Market Maker, but it is all computerized (supposedly and they hedge all positons, making money only on the spread (supposedly). I use them and have had a good experience-all things considered. I have had my issues with them, but nothing blatant so far.... 2) I like volume, esp Volume Based Charts. Is there anyway to translate that to forex since it's not trading centrally? To my knowledge volume is very unreliable in forex as the way the market set up, being uncentralized and all....the information would be too esoteric and unreliable..... 3) I've read that forex can trend more in comparison to indexes. Do you find this true? If so, how often would you say that a trend can go? Looking at a chart, yes, forex does seem to trend well...general rule of thumb I have found, is the larger the market, the more propensity to trend....with currencies having such an enormous amount of units being traded, it does have the ability to trend better, in theory...although as mentoned on a post earlier in the thread...it doesn't mean the currencies will always trend, as I have found out painfully in the past. 4) Assuming it does trend more, is it better to swing trade here or is it possible to daytrade. I've also read that brokers can 'get mad' or 'blackball' you if you trade too quickly. It really depends on the type of day trading..I would say as long as you're not scalping you should be okay....though the fact that MM's can manipulate the price, I wouldn't want to scalp anyway personally....I have found that as currencies are a larger market and do have the propensity to trend so well....swing trading seems to work well for me at least. 5) How about during econ news... I've read that the spreads can get ridiculous. Oh yes, they can get really insane.....in forex I would advise sitting on the sidelines to avoid getting ripped off...but of course it all depends on the style and method and what your approach will be..I am sure some people still have a way to take advantage of a market with enormous spreads..... 6) What's a good charting platform? Metatrader 4 is good and cheap...I would only use it for swing trading, that way it would minimize the chances of getting burned on bad data, as it is free...and we know how that can go sometimes....but Ensign is very good from my experience...and they offer forex data free with the platform ($40/month). 7) How does leverage work here? I understand futures, but have read about 'mini' accounts and such in forex, so not sure. I prefer Oanda in this case, as you can adjust not only your leverage from anywhere between 1:1 to 1:50 ( I also like the fact they don't let you go higher than 1:50 to be honest)....but you can also trade any lot size you want, even $1. This allows for very precise risk management as well. But that is just my opinion. 8) Who are stable, recommended brokers? Once again, I recommend Oanda, because I use them, but it is just my opinion. I also like the fact they pay out interest in a very accurate second by second basis and don't screw you on the rollovers, etc 9) What else should I know? Watch out, because a lot of people think of forex as a kindergarten version of trading, when in fact there are some of the biggest traders ever out there moving tons and tons of money around. Central Banks, Institutions, etc..It's kind of like the Kaiser Soze quote in Usual Suspects...."the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist"..kind alike that...no one really thinks about who is really out there in the market, so they don't take it as seriously as they should...and that's what can kill em. I appreciate the help guys. Just looking to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks!

That's what I am worried about as well....the fact that I have heard so many things about NT being buggy... I imagine having bad info on a daytrading scale can be pretty disastrous and I sure wouldn't want to be investing into software that didn't do the job properly... The MP plug-in is $250, and has a 7 day free trial...it is pretty sharp, I'll give it that. Has anyone used to market replay feature with NT? is it pretty reliable?

I am the same way Blowfish....If I would have spent this much money on fixing a car or something I would have flipped out...but for some reason it's okay for me to have spent it on trading stuff. ha ha Something's wrong with me, I know it. I have some good ebooks I can post if James is okay with it. They are about Pitchforks, and all kinds of stuff.

Roger that. Thanks.

Any updates? I am looking into this currently and was wondering if anyone else had tried it...

I am currently in my search as well cborjon...each one I find has its major pros and cons that almost preclude each other to point I can't find what i am looking for. I am considering Investor RT right now.

I am the same way, I just happen to be trying out shorter term timeframes as the MP/AMT thing really appeals to my personality..but longer term equals less stress, generally. Oh, and the HEAVY BAG. Now that is a stress reliever.

Cool! Thanks man this will come in handy.....

Thanks for the encouragement! This fast paced stuff is scary for a slow-poke trader like me. ha ha

Definitely. Thanks man. And yeah the part you said about having a partner that is down for whatever is necessary is an invaluable asset. My wife is definitely in it too. She even puts 10% of her check into my savings to open my "big" account. She is completely supportive and that's priceless. ( I use the word priceless too much ).

Hey Brownsfan, Thanks for the post. I definitely appreciate it. I see exactly what you mean. Life is truly too short. Tomorrow is promised to no man...so we have to do what makes us happy, and never look back. It sure would suck to know 30-40 years down the road that I was too scared to follow my dreams. Very insightful post. I have been discussing this with my wife and we are getting a lot of preliminary planning done. It's going to be some time, but like was mentioned earlier- it takes time to run a successful venture. The posts from you Tin, Soul and everyone else are really helping. It's easy if you are a longer term trader to know when you can quit working...because it is simply a matter of making enough big trades and looking at the finances, as you have the luxury of working full time as long as you need to since you don't have to be in front of the markets all day every day....but this daytrading thing is a totally different animal and had me lost....so thanks for the insight ya'll. It's priceless info.

Thanks for the info Torero. I found TradeMaven last night and am going to check it out when I get home from work....it has MP and volume analysis and market replay accoring to the ads...does anyone have any feedback on it?