brownsfan019

momentom - I like OEC's software, but get a demo for yourself here - https://www.openecry.com/software/download1.cfm

But what you are discounting is the ability to re-enter a trade. I would much rather exit trade A at an acceptable loss and re-enter trade B (in the same direction as trade A) and allow that trade to work. I have no doubt that if you are trading hundreds of lots that you can be more flexible as described here. Personally, I am usually in the 30-50 lot range and personally, I don't want to be averaging into a loser or sitting on a 50 lot wondering when I might exit at a loss. My stop losses are predetermined and measured. And as long as you have the flexibility to re-enter in a scenario as you've outlined, that's a much better proposition in my opinion. I'd rather be wrong once and then right, than wrong once and holding onto a large loss that just gets larger. And larger.

That's one theory Jerry. I personally would never put on a trade w/o a hard stop. Takes those emotions right out of the trade when stops are placed in a protective position. And by protective I mean where your position has a 'get out' place that is respected and protective in case of power failures. Stop placement is just as crucial as the entry and exit, if not more; however I would never recommend trading w/o one.

Dog - it sure sounds like you are advanced in this wonderful biz, so I would caution you to abandon ship now. I mean, you sound like you are at a point that others dream of achieving & obviously paying the bills right now is not a concern (which can often lead to immediate failure). Just learn how to deal with the stress a tad more and I think you'll be fine. I would not give up now, it sounds like you are close by how refined your last post was. Many noob's could never write something like that.

Here's the problem if he takes the job - he'll always wonder 'what if...' Which of course can lead to a new form of stresses. I suggest following your heart. You get one life to live. Do what makes you happy. For me, that means I cannot work for a corporation. Tried it and it destroyed me from the inside. The safe option is obviously the job. While the markets will always be here, you also can't buy the time back that you lose either.

4 Euros = 5.45 U.S. dollars For anyone else that wasn't sure.

My view is simple - if you are a technical trader, there's no need for the fundie's to mess with your mind. Reason being that there were good long opportunities on Tuesday that produced profit. I think people forget that you can in fact make money in a downtrend going long and vice versa - mainly due to what I call the 'micro-trends' of the day. Rarely is it a straight shot up or down. So I am going to disagree future as a futures daytrader myself. I really don't care why the markets are moving, just as long as they are. I understand your idea as I used to sell those ideas and theories but in practical daytrading, I don't see how useful fundie's are. In other words, if I am going for 2-4 pts on the ES per trade, I don't believe the overall fundie is going to get me there before a possible stop out. Now, swing trading and buy/hold is a different story.

Jerry - what's IB charge round trip for these contracts?

wave - one question if I may - sorry to ask something that you explained, but how are the 'WRB alert' things at the bottom being formed? I don't need your exact numbers, just general ones are fine. I'm a numbers guy so if you can explain in # format, that would be great.

wave - another interesting observation of your highlighted candles - many are also traditional candlestick analysis signals as well. Point being that if guys like me are trading those and if others implement something as you've done here, there are plenty of times when we are initiating a new trade at the same time, even though we got there in different ways. Just an FYI if you are not using candlestick analysis, you may want to consider it simply b/c you've highlighted some great candlestick trades as well. Perhaps that's a good filter for you. Just an idea. RE: WRB's for exits - I still stand by that these are good exit points. Keep in mind that my version is simple - when I visually see a big body, it's an exit point. These are not bulletproof by any stretch; however, for the way I trade, they work well. And I am only using visual WRB's for exits, they do not impact my entry criteria at all.

I've recently begun discussions with Open ECry about moving my biz there. In this process I now have an incredible amount of data and markets available to look at as OEC provides data and charting to clients. And the amount of markets and data is impressive! The reason for this thread however is to bring your attention to the DAX and STOXX futures contracts. Why? Simple - VERY LOW COMMISSIONS. It seems counter-intuitive to me that as a US based trader, I can get much better rates by trading in the Eurex. And we are not talking about pennies. For example, the difference between the ES and Stoxx is $1.34 round trip, per contract for the personal quote I received. Yours may vary, but it's worth looking at for sure! My personal opinion of each and their US counterpart (in terms of price action) is: DAX = ER2 STOXX = ES, NQ Now, keep in mind these are NOT mini's and the actual tick value changes based on currency exchange rates depending on where you live. During US based trading hours, these move in very close tandem to the US indexes. Depending on your trading methodology, it may or may not transfer over to the Dax or Stoxx so take a close look before trading real money. Liquidity is also great, esp on the Stoxx. But for a savings of $1.34 round trip, it's got my attention!!! :thumbs up:

Easy on the law school grad cooter! :p I learned while I was a broker and schoomzing attorneys that while they think they know everything, they know very little. Many assume that graduating law school equals infinite knowledge, but it doesn't!

I don't think anyone was trying to be negative on purpose (myself included), we were just taken back by how 'newbie' this thread was. We're not talking about whether to trade the ES vs. YM or trading w/ pivots vs. mov averages. We are literally talking about trading with real money after browsing some books at B&N. Hopefully Abe has learned his lesson and realized quickly how serious this game is and how quickly your funds can be eaten away if you don't have a solid game plan. There's some suggestions here for Abe to consider and over time things should improve. Abe just needs to understand that it may take YEARS to get there.

unleashed - there's no such thing as 'clues' that work for all traders, all the time. I personally like candlestick analysis and would recommend books by Steve Nison. Others would recommend a variety of things and no one is right or wrong. That's part of the learning process - finding what works for you.

You're right Cooter, I meant to say that Abe needs to find a trading style that is profitable and works for him. The markets will teach him quickly whether he can cut it or not.

Great points Tin! Here's my question and I'm sure others are thinking this - for those recommending a mentor, where do you go/start? I personally never really had a personal mentor and I'm sure many would like to know where you went and/or how you found one. There's your obvious vendors out there and who knows where to start there... Just wondering how you guys found a worthwhile mentor - whether paid or not - and if you want to, post contact info here for others to consider.

If it's a joke, Abe did a great job with the story as he got me! If it's not a joke, hopefully he will heed to some of the advice here and start at square one.

I don't even know where to start Abe. Honestly, no idea. Based on your other post: 1) Have a firm stop loss. If your software is too slow, get rid of it. Consider Open ECry - nice software that is free and great commission rates. 2) 8.52 round trip on the YM? Wow, you get a terrible deal. What broker gave you this 'deal'? Again, check OEC. 3) No backtesting = good luck winging it. 4) Trade on the SIM for MONTHS. JUST DO IT. No real money yet!!!! All I can say now Abe is that you are just learning how to crawl, but playing with professional sprinters. You have to learn to crawl and walk before considering running, let alone sprinting with the pro's.

ABE - HERE'S THE BEST ADVICE YOU WILL RECEIVE TODAY AND I'M SURE COOTER AND OTHERS WOULD AGREE: STOP TRADING REAL MONEY OR NOT. I can tell by reading your posts here that you are literally winging it thinking you can outsmart the pro's from a quick read of a couple books at B&N that you didn't even buy!?!?!? Remember Abe, futures are zero-sum. That means while you are losing, another person/bot is taking your money from you and vice versa. There are many good traders, some even here, that will take your money all day long as you wing it. I don't know how much you have to play with, but if you lose $200+/day, it's not going to take long to eat away your account. You need a foundation to build your trading 'house' and right now you have money to burn with no regard for starting w/ the basics.

Welcome to the futures biz abe. I'm not going to comment on the trades as you will find over time if your trading plan can work for you. No one else can decide that. A few observations: 1) Why no firm stop loss? 2) What is your commission round turn for 1 contract? I wasn't exactly sure looking at the snapshot. 3) Have you done backtesting on this trading plan and is a day like today to be statistically expected? If so, no worries. If not, I would worry. One last question - this was done on a simulator, correct? Today should have been a good learning lesson for you since NO real money was on the line. You should be on a simulator for MONTHS before ANY real money is at stake or you will quickly be out of this game.

Make sure you are aware of the pattern day trader rules. http://www.patterndaytraderrule.com/ http://www.sec.gov/answers/daytrading.htm

Depends on what you need. If you are doing the occasional trade, any online broker will suffice. If you are scalping daily, different story.

James - good question. The best simulator I have found is T4. Very realistic. I need to preface this by saying I am considering moving my biz to OpenECry however. OEC is being very competitive with rates and it's hard to ignore that. OEC's sim is not nearly as realistic as it should be however, which is disappointing. Simulator trading is not a major selling point for me at this point, so the move to OEC may make good biz sense.

Abe - welcome to the board. My suggestion after reading this thread - being in the very infant stages of your trading career, tread carefully and slowly in futures. Many traders would suggest doing well in stocks/options before considering daytrading futures. Having done both myself, I can tell you futures require quick decision making and the ability to accept a loss quickly. Letting a loss run in futures can take all/some of your account in a very, very short period of time. If you think a bad stock trade hurts, be prepared for a very wild ride in futures. Do yourself a favor and educate yourself and trade on a simulator before putting any real money at risk.

James - glad to hear things are moving along! If you can, could you share what is being worked on, what is planned to be done and what is being scrapped? There were a lot of ideas in this thread, so I'd be curious to know what is in the plan.