dam5h

what is that supposed to mean? i agree with first response, more info is needed

when you think you are ready, i would open up the smallest reasonable micro fx account that you can. wait until up are consistent with that small account before risking any significant amount. i only suggest fx since you can trade small and not have to deal with pattern day trader rules. some may say to start with futures trading 1 lot and around 5 grand, which is feasible but you won't be able to scale and your entries will have to be excellent to have reasonable stop sizes. why overpay for your education if you don't have too? leverage is for advanced use only.

velocity futures connected via TT to sierra chart is a nice combo. 3.5 / rt for es i believe sierra has since introduced rithmic feed via optimus as well but i haven't tried it

if you use the TT FIX adapter, velocity round trips on ES is 3.5, and 3.8 with Ninja Sierra chart offers a good front end for the connection type.

xebo, you wouldn't happen to be from jpmorgan would you?

kiwi, can you elaborate? i know you use sierra and i use sierra now but am not impressed with the selection of forex brokers that i can trade via sierra. currently trade futures via TT FIX with sierra on a discretionary entry/exit after getting an automated alert during times when i may be at home or awake. i would like to try a fully automated system (but obviously with much less leverage in testing mode), so thought about doing a trial run with a micro account. but the options are limited for sierra so i started looking to metatrader. what don't you like about it? i am also not impressed with the backtesting in sierra, although i do like the acsi a lot.

sierra chart would be perfect for this. code in C++, alert can sound or even send you an email. FX data is included in the basic package, which is very reasonable.

sage math nuff said

TOS is a great platform for equities and really great for equity options. don't use it for futures, personally i wouldn't use either for futures.

say wha oh well ???

synergy is pretty sweet. even cut and paste works now. and it works with different OS's. i have it running on windows and linux.

CTA's trade other people's money. to put them in the top dog category just doesn't make sense. they don't get to keep the majority of the profits they make at whatever size level their strategy allows them to be effective at. first of all, nothing against them as they are mostly great traders evidenced by their ability to stay in the game. but MM all you do is talk about CTA's as if they are the best traders in the world. if you had an edge and were very consistent, why would you give 70-80% away on every trade? sure you end up tying up more capital. but with brokers/clearers offering 500 bucks per lot on the es, it may just make sense to trade yourself some 100 lot trades rather than 500; especially if your strategy was liquidity limited and the 500 lots started to work against you. admittedly that's an odd example but it makes the point. perhaps the es is the worst example since its so liquid, but if your strat worked best on less liquid instruments the point i make is even stronger.

3 losses in a row is nothing, especially for a mechanical system. personally, 10 would start to drive me nuts, but i know it'll probably happen sooner or later. it's important to treat each trade as a new trade not allowing it to be effected by current pnl or drawdown. i know its not easy, but it's important. fwiw, i finally turned the corner around 18 months and it had absolutely everything to do with finally deciding to stop gun-slinging and stick to one setup. i think there is a lot of truth to what linda r. says about the 2 years to consistency. you have to pay your dues and just like anything else this potentially lucrative, dues are expensive.

i've done it before, and now realize in hindsight that i was much luckier than good. now if i do it again, i can claim it will not be luck (although i'll take any i can get). mainly because it will take far far more trades as my holding period is drastically shorter now, as well as different markets/instruments. down to 30 min from what was months when i went on that run.

it's directly proportional to how many trades it take along the way.

so far all this discussion has centered on trade to account risk. what about the dynamics of the trade based on the system once the "trade to account ratio" method is adopted, whatever it may be. if a trader uses 2 lots and does well by scaling out (helping to create a smoother equity curve), does that trader then go to 3 lots at a certain level; or wait until the level that would allow 4 lots. the 4 lots would obviously keep the multiple the same. with a different multiple the system changes and there are now several ways to scale out rather than 1: 2/3 then 1/3, 1/3 then 2/3, or 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 this isn't an argument about the merits of scaling out.

absolutely, wish that was the path i took.

i like velocity at 3.8 rt with nt and 3.6 rt with TT fix adapter that runs through sierra chart, now just data but adding trading in next week or so. the min acct is 5k with velocity though. one of their ib's (futuresbroker.com) does 3.5 rt with nt, thats damn cheap. not sure on opening acct. amp (another velocity IB) is 3.8 with nt with 2.5 k min. 9.95 is astronomical, esp for a small acct.

none of my bidness, but.... atilla, those fees are outrageous! is that for 1 rt e-mini nq?!

thanks Thales, that makes sense. seems awfully pricey. i guess the advantage for small accounts with fx is the ability to trade smaller size (10k rather than 100k lots) and scale. as well as the obvious non dollar denominated crosses. like the freaking eur/cad today; good lord the thing moved what looks like 5000 ticks after the first flag! would you consider an ECN forex broker a bucket shop as well?

where does fxcm fit into this picture? i'm trying to learn more about forex and the various brokers.

Thales, I'm in a similiar situation. Starting a new gig on Monday that will become my primary focus during the daytime here on the east coast. I've never traded forex but am contemplating it for the same reasons you mention. How do execution costs differ from the futes on FXCM? Currently pay 4.72 a rt on currency futures with velocity. BTW, this race is pretty cool; I may have to jump in. Will need to figure things out with new hours though. thanks

i'm fairly certain that velocity is not an IB, they do their own clearing; for instance AMP is an IB for velocity. i currently use velocity and have no issues what so ever. with my former broker i was on the phone dealing with data and platform issues here and there. velocity been much better to deal with, as in completely uneventful-just the way i like it.

i just had a thought about overtrading and revenge trades. it seems that the times that i am most vulnerable to fall into that mess are the times that i am eager to correct a mistake that i have made. in a traditional work/communal environment it is important for one to correct ones mistakes, and pronto if you know what i mean. if effective in this manner much repect can be earned from one's peers. i'm beginning to think that this is yet another way that an ingrained work 'ethic' can be detrimental to one's trading results. just like folks say that a new trader needs to get used to just sitting and waiting rather than actively "working"/trading. i contend that after a poor decision; this wisdom rings even truer.

you seem very comfortable in your shoes as successful traders for having only been in the game less than a year; most would agree it takes a good bit longer for most.