rcossey73

I am not sure if there is a broker out there that is going to fit your needs completely. Maybe Tradestation would be a better fit? But I wanted to help explain the possible concerns with IB data. IB does not send tick by tick data, they aggregate it and send it every 250ms (I think that is still the number). There are really only 2 concerns with this. I no longer use IB, but for other reasons and I never really had issues with their data... 1) Some people feel aggregated data is a disadvantage since other data providers send tick by tick. It is possible to not get all ticks as electronic markets are extremely fast and many trades can happen in a 250ms window. 2) The internet is not a guaranteed service so you could lose packets at times, if you lose a data packet from IB you are losing 250ms worth of data and not just one tick. Also along these same lines, if IB's servers are under stress like after FOMC announcements then the server may inadvertently skip one or more data cycles. This is likely to also be the case for a tick by tick data provider, but in that case you will lose a couple ticks, instead of 250ms worth(may still only be a couple ticks)! I have no direct experience with MB Trading, but I would suspect they also aggregate data. I also know when I was using IB with NT there was an issue that if TWS stopped receiving data NT would not know and you could think everything was fine when in reality the market just passed you by...

My expectation is that there will be manipulation.. My plan is to try and take advantage of it.. I generally trade with smaller sizes and take less setups on quad day and fomc day as well..

Thanks for opening up your journal. I think I may need to do the same thing as I am horrible at keeping records and often want to go back and look at things only to find I didn't record anything! Just yesterday I was thinking I need to go back and see how I did during the Christmas to New Years break and although I traded during that time I didn't keep any notes.

1) His videos are made using a simulator and NOT real trades. The problem with this is some of his fills will never happen in a live environment. 2) His posted losers were based on a 5 point loss, however many of his winners retrace at least 7 points against him before reversing. He doesn't address this in the course and refused to answer why. 3) The system is based on a variation of the ORB. He doesn't know the entry before the open, it is based on High/Low of first 30 minutes or so.

Just wanted to say Thanks for such a great thread. I struggle with s/r because of #3. My head tells me "Nah it can't be that easy" and I keep searching for something else only to let the trade pass me by. Hopefully I can figure out the mental part and get my trading back on track.

Hey Thales, I have been thinking about buying Mike's eBook. Just curious if you recommend it? I haven't found much info about it other than his site and came across your post mentioning it and thought I would ask. Thanks Rick

I went through p90x last fall. I had got in a rut and needed a change and p90x was perfect for that. Although, I didn't see much in the order of results it was well worth the money. I was already in fairly good shape and was running 15 miles a week and doing moderate weight lifting. I did lose about 10lbs., but more importantly it kept me from gaining another 10lbs that I normally do every winter. I will probably give it another go this fall or winter as I am already getting bored again with my regular workouts. Good luck and stick to the routine as much as possible, depending on what your goals are that is.

I had problems with itunes crashing during the day so I bought some portable speakers for my ipod touch and use it now. I never used the visualizer though.

Thanks, I agree with this statement. However this seems to indicate I don't need to look at volume at all. I can determine this by watching price.

The best traders I know don't use an actual stop at all. When they get a signal that it isn't working out like they thought then they exit. They base that signal completely on the current PA. I use a 7 tick stop and I will adjust it if the current market conditions are more/less volatile than average. However it is always in the 5-9 tick range.

This is exactly where I get lost. 1 unit of volume = 1 buyer and 1 seller. Correct? If so how in the world can you attribute gradual rising volume as "more buyers"? You could just as easily claim it is more sellers. It seems to me there is an equal number of sellers and buyers, but maybe not. I often see a 10 point move on the ES with declining volume and then a few minutes later see a 2 point move on rising volume. Not sure how that is possible if rising volume means more buyers.

Sure 1. 300 2. 250 3. 950 4. 949 5. 948 Does that change anything?

So you have 1 trader who thinks the price is going up and he buys up 1000 contracts. On the other side you have 1000 traders who think the market is going down and they each sell 1 contract. What exactly is that 1000 volume telling me to do?

I have often wondered if I should start taking volume into account with my setups. It is interesting that when I look at your charts I see the exact same thing when I cover up the volume or look at them with the volume. Not sure I could find a way to trade those charts any different taking the volume into account. I see the following... Price goes up on low volume Price goes down on low volume Price goes up on high volume Price goes down on high volume There are big price ranges on low volume There are small price ranges on low volume There are big price ranges on high volume There are small price ranges on high volume ... Am I missing something?

Just an example of one of my trades today to show how bad this is. I shorted aapl 1000@91.95 and covered at 92.10 for a .15 loss. Total loss was $150 Brokers commission was $10 Transaction Tax would be $230.25. So instead of being out $160 I would be out $390.25. In other words even if the trade went in my favor I would need to make more than $230 just to come close to breakeven.

I use Amp Global, can I use the plug-ins? Like for custom indicators and Excel integration?

Your statement is true and honest people should pay their taxes. However, offshore accounts/companies are not required to report your trading to the IRS. So it is fairly easy to hide. There are several ways to do this, some legal and some not.

I am in the same spot as you. I am looking for a better solution with nearly the same requirements. I have been messing with NinjaTrader and it is ok. I am considering IB as the broker with Ninja for charts and Bracket Trader for DOM/order entry. This solution is nearly free with much lower commission compared to TOS. MB Trading could be done the same way, although I keep reading horrible stories about them. I hate IB's TWS platform but they have a good API and alot of vendor support. Tradestation is on my list as well since the data fees are offset by the lower commissions, but like you I am not a big fan of the software package. I really like Multicharts, but I just can't justify the price at this point. If it had in support for Zen-Fire as well as a trading interface (DOM and Time & Sales) then I might consider springing for it as I would eventually make up the cost in commission savings. Infinity along with Ninja/TOS is also an option I am considering. I just wish the Infinity AT platform was able to show your account details. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is to me. Also why doesn't any of the pure futures brokers offer ACH/ETF? I hate having to pay them for wire transfer or take chances waiting on checks in the mail... Ninjatrader will allow me to build my automated trading strategy and then test it against live data for free. Once I am ready to go live then I can pay them to start trading. Tough decisions, as I have gotten spoiled with the TOS interface.