thalestrader

So if you get to $2600 even, and then you add the second contract, how much do you have to lose to reduce yourself back to one contract? You said your broker requires $900 daytrade margin for fx futures, so theoretically you could add a second contract once your equity rises above $1800. Is $1800 the line beneath which you will reduce your size because you are forced to do so by the broker, or would you reduce your size at a level somewhere between $1800 and $2600, and if so, what would that level be? Best Wishes, Thales

If you have the dough, and spot is really going to be your thing, I would not hesitate to open an IB account. But you must be prepared, if I am not mistaken, to trade 25K lot size minimum to trade Idealpro, and you will need kiwi or Blowfish to explain IB's forex accounting to you. Make sure you know what you are doing when you make the move to IB, otherwise you'll find yourself buying Aussie's and selling dollars on Ideal and getting clipped for an 80 pip spread. Best Wishes, Thales

It's not how you start, but how you finish; and the finish line is a long way off for all of us. Viel Glück! Best Wishes, Thales

"There is no watch, only do" - paraphrased from the wisdom of Yoda I have been hoping to see more of the gang from the Reading Charts in Real Time thread throw their hats into the ring. There is certainly room for you here, forrest. But Yoda's wisdom aside, a proper race is about having fun, and it needs both Racers and Spectators, so pick the seat that's most comfortable for you, and have some fun! Best Wishes, Thales

Current view of the 6E. The hashed blue line is a short entry at 1.3236, and the solid blue line would be a place below which I'd be tempted to add. This could develop into a tremendous short. However, while I am not ready yet to do so, I am tempted, given how this looks, to stop and reverse if price breaks and holds above 1.3237 ... Best Wishes, Thales

One trade yesterday on the 6E. The 6E and ES both gave an additional short signal during the AM, but in each case the initial risk far exceeded anything I'd take on this size account. I did not trade the PM session. My initial stops are typically between 8-14 ticks. I am currently employing a trailing stop, though I have considered using a fixed 2-3R profit target as well. Yesterday's 6E had an initial risk of 9 ticks, and was stopped on a trailing stop for +20 ticks. Best Wishes, Thales

Here is the updated list of all those who have thus far declared for the race along with the posted starting equity of each Racer. yeaheah $ 137.80 fxThunder $ 453.43 sicktrader $ 941.31 thalestrader $1537.75 daedalus $1653.85 enoch benjamin $2036.36 bathrobe $2542.38 Best Wishes, Thales

We'd like to have them posted by 9:30 AM EDT (US equities RTH open). However, we will allow some slippage. Best Wishes, Thales

I would suggest taking a screen capture and posting a .jpeg rather than the actual .pdf of your statement. Best Wishes, Thales

What you have outlined here is very close to what I have worked up on my end. I have several weeks coming up where I will be unable to trade much if at all, however, so my pace will be hampered somewhat. But I am having great fun puzzling this out. Best Wishes, Thales

Hi folks, I know that sick will, at some point, explain to us his approach to money management and how he manages to trade a small account. I have no such secrets to tell. Someone mentioned in a PM to me this evening that he is looking forward to learning how to trade a small stake to one million dollars. Well, so am I! I am here to learn by doing. Taking 1k to 1 million is, admittedly, a seemingly insurmountable task. Certainly it is a rare feat. But it has been done. Typically the time span is measured in years if not decades, rather than weeks, but it has been done. It is well known that Richard Dennis parlayed an initial $200 stake into an estimated $200 million fortune. Of course, this was done over many, many years, and not over the course of a 20 week contest. While I intend to give it the "old college try," I know the odds do not favor me parlaying my initial $1500 to $1,000,000 during the initial 20 week period, I am going to try. But in order to try, I must learn how. In another PM I received, a TL member said he'd like to participate, but, perhaps fearing failure, he did not feel comfortable making his attempt in so public a manner. Here is what I said to him: I think a thread tracking our efforts to grow a real trading stake from a small stake is a worthwhile thread on its own, whether any of us turns a million or not, don't you? I started trading stocks with a mere 5K in 1986, added options in 1987 when my balance was but 10K, and I funded my first futures account with a paltry $3K taken from my stock account in 1995. We all have to start somewhere, and most of us start small. While I'd love to make a million out of my sand box, I am starting off with a much humbler goal of doubling the $1500 to $3000 without falling below $750 in the process. We'll see how that goes. After all, if I am to make a million, I have first to make $100, right? Making a $100 profit on a $1500 stake hardly seems ridiculous, now does it? If $100, is reasonable, then, given some time and opportunity, is $500 ridiculous? Hardly. And if $500, why not a double? A $1500 stake run to a $1500 profit? No mean feat, but certainly not insurmountable, wouldn't you say? The secret to this thread, I feel, is this - too many are overwhelmed by the sheer ridiculousness of attempting to run 1K to 1 million. However, if you break the ridiculous up into less and less and less ridiculous goals, eventually you will get to a level that not only is no longer ridiculous, but is downright reasonable. Trade for the reasonable, and at some point, you may astonish yourself to find you have accomplished the ridiculous. Best Wishes, Thales

Office? You mean you work for a living? Sure, we can allow for some slippage a couple days a week. I think we do want to maintain some degree of uniformity and hence credibility, so we should all try to post our statements by 9:30 AM whenever possible, and if not by then, at the earliest possible chance one gets. Best Wishes, Thales

Here is the updated list of all those who have thus far declared for the race along with the posted starting equity of each Racer. yeaheah $137.80 fxThunder $453.43 sicktrader $941.31 thalestrader $1537.75 daedalus $1653.85 bathrobe $2542.38 Best Wishes, Thales

That's great, Fxt, we're glad to have you join us, and I wish you good luck. I would like very much to see you pull One Million Dollars from the vaults of FXCM (via trading, of course, no dynamite and tunnels allowed! Best Wishes, Thales

No problem, bathrobe. Remember, there is no requirement that you trade everyday, every week, or even every month. The only requirements are that you start with 3K or less, and you post a screen capture whenever your positions/equity changes. As a fellow migraine sufferer, I truly feel you pain. I hope it passes quickly for you. Best Wishes, Thales

The market had a lot to give yesterday, but you were not the only one who didn't take advantage of all it had to offer. A word about how I am trading this account. If you have followed the "Reading Charts in Real Time" thread, you know I primarily trade the 6E, and I look for what are commonly referred to as 123's and 2B opportunities. For this account, at least initially, I am doing something completely different. A couple of weeks back, in a discussion with a couple of my trading friends, I was asked whether or not I thought it were possible to trade an indicator based system profitably, whether automated or manual. I said yes, because I truly do believe that psychology more than system or method is what ultimately determines whether or not someone can turn a profit. Well, the challenge put to us by one of my friends was that we each come up with an indicator based system using indicators freely available to anyone and see whose sandbox could perform the best over a three month period. So, you see, I have called upon my little sand box to perform double duty. So these trades are based upon what the little indicator combination I selected signaled me to do. It is a simple system, entirely made up of a combination of moving averages. Nothing startling, new, original, etc. and so on. I do not want to go into exactly what I am using as my friends, while steadfastly refusing to participate here at TL, nonetheless have become devoted lurkers, I do not care to let the cat out of the bag to them until the conclusion of our little side competition. Yesterday, I took three trades, all on the ES. The first was a long trade that was stopped for a 2 point loss. I am applying this system to both 24 hour data and RTH data for the ES. The long was signaled on the 24 hour, but not the RTH. That trade was one contract, for a 2 point loss. Soon thereafter, both the 24 hour data and the RTH data signaled short entries. That trade was for two contracts (one for each signal). Soon thereafter, the 6E also signaled a short entry, but as I was already short two ES's, I did not want to add any further position to the little account. This trade resulted in a three point profit on one and a three and a half point profit on the other contract. I thought I had set the DOM for multi-trailing, and instead had set it for multi-bracket, and thus I was taken out of the trade prematurely. Such is the nature of pilot error. To be fair, I had my hands full trading my regular account as well as the fund account. But I will have to be more careful moving forward. I will not typically be this detailed when I post the daily blotter, but I wanted to make sure no one thought I was simply "doubling down" after losing the first ES trade. My intention is to keep my size at one contract/signal until the equity is greater than $3K. I counted the ES short as two separate signals as it appeared on both the 24 hour and RTH. This will likely be an AM session phenomena, as the MA's all "catch up" with one another by mid-PM session or so. The system also gave two short signals on the ES in the PM session and two on the 6E as well. I did not trade the PM session yesterday. I never paid much attention to this TA statement, and I have no idea what the deal is with those timestamps - my trades occurred about four hours earlier than noted on the statement. At any rate, a positive start, but not nearly as positive as it would have been had I exercised a bit more care. But I take heart knowing I have only $999,787.90 to go! Best Wishes, Thales

Hi Folks, So far I have the following folks who have posted an opening statement and declared themselves in the race. Let me know if I am missing anyone. yeaheah $137.80 sicktrader $941.00 thalestrader $1537.75 daedalus $1653.85 bathrobe $2542.38 Best Wishes, Thales

Hi bathrobe, That's great to hear - I was hoping you would join us! Best Wishes, Thales

I'd love to see you take a million from Oanda! Good luck! No problem daedalus, there is no requirement that participants trade every day, week, or even month. All we have to do is post when there is a change to the previously posted equity. I hope you ring the bell for a million as well! Best Wishes, Thales

Sounds great, rcossey! I look forward to you joining us. Best Wishes, Thales

Profit target 1 has been filled ... Best Wishes, Thales

And here is how it looks with the risk reduced to .25R ... Best Wishes, Thales

Here is how it looks in a Ninja demo account ... Best Wishes, Thales

Current view of the 6E ... Best Wishes, Thales

Hi Folks, I have gotten a good number of PM's from folks telling me that they'd like to participate, but they feel they are not "at that level," "not good enough," or, in a few cases, "too shy" to risk blowing out "publicly." First of all, this is an anonymous internet forum. Who cares who blows out? Why should I care if I blow my first $1500, and then post another $1500 and blow that too, all while "everyone is watching"? The short answer is I shouldn't, and neither should you. Secondly, I certainly have never done anything like this before. What makes me anymore "qualified" to give it a whack than anyone else? The short answer is nothing. Playing with such small stakes puts me at just as agreat a risk of ruin as the next small stakes holder. My balance could very well be $0 before the week is out. Remarkably, many of those who say they wish to participate but feel unqualified are already trading a sub-3K account! My goodness, then why not play along, post your daily results, and if someone does by chance hit the million, you at least get a free trip to meet some TL folks? By the way, as mentioned in the "Let's Trade" thread that started this all, in order to qualify for the trip, you must participate for at least 10 weeks of the 20 week contest, unless you blow out an account. If you participate starting today, and post a blown account tomorrow, you are still welcome to participate in the trip if we do get a winner. Best Wishes, Thales