Cory2679

I disagree. Period. It depends on the traders strategy/approach. It all depends. It's all relative. I hate it when people make all-incompassing statements of "truth" that implicitly apply to all. I'm not going to argue...my time and mental energy can be put to better use. I'm done with this thread.

Something that should be added into the mix is that it's possible, though the intial risk is set at 2%, that the trader will frequently cut the losses before a full stop is hit (depending on the style, I suppose). So, a trader's average loss could actually be something like 0.5R, rather than a full 1R (which would improve risk:reward).

Update Trading has been going great over the last week or so. I quickly went back to live trading. I actually only demo/sim traded the first day and had had enough. I thought it would take lots of time to rebuild my confidence, but luckily I was wrong...I'm feeling a LOT better now. Therefore, I have a new and improved accelerated plan... I will begin this plan Monday, August 2. This plan will have me back to where I was very soon (trading a $5,000 account, risking $100 per trade)! Cory

It just depends on the trader. I'm not saying that it's practical all the way up to a $200 million account (due to liquidity concerns). Also, at a certain point, a trader may not wish to risk 2% on a trade...he or she may go into capital-preservation mode and risk something more like 0.5%.

Since it was my quoted example, allow me to respond. My example is not invalid, you have simply misunderstood it. I'll try to clarify a bit... All I said was that the trader risks 2% per trade, and (on average) over the course of a week, ends up with net #R (a multiple of the total amount risked per trade)...in this example 5R. For further clarification on the concept of tracking performance via R-multiples, refer to Van Tharp's work on the subject. That's a net 5R after commission/slippage/mistakes/losers/whatever. I didn't say anything about how the trader arrives at that result (risk/reward, winrates, what one trades, how many ticks/points one makes, etc.). The trader may have a low winrate with great risk/reward, or a high winrate with a more modest risk/reward...to me, that's personal preference/style. I'm not going to take the time to calculate different hypothetical scenarios of how the trader can arrive at the net result. No, it doesn't. Hopefully my explanation above has cleared this up. I was only talking about bottom line numbers...that may be where some of the confusion has stemmed from...that, and possibly unfamiliarity with the concept of tracking performance via R-multiples. Hope that helps, Cory

I'm sorry but I don't use it...I can't be of much help. My only advice would be to just practice...study it and demo/sim trade with it until you feel 100% comfortable. If I ever watch a DOM, it's the Ninja DOM...I use NinjaTrader for charting/analytics. I just use MBT Desktop to put the orders in. ...and if I watch a DOM, it's only to watch price. I currently trade only the EUR/USD during times and at a size small enough where liquidity is never an issue.

I do trade S/R, but I wouldn't say solely "longer term." The way I would sum up my strategy is to say that it's derived from thalestrader's Reading Charts in Real Time thread. I basically took everything I possibly could from his thread, I've stuck with it and focused on solely that approach for months and months, and at this point I've basically made it my own...so I probably don't trade exactly like Thales (and I'm certainly not the trader he is), but my strategy's based on the principles in his thread. -Cory

Update Well, my attempt to move to a "full size" $5,000 account has unfortunately not gone well at all. Thankfully, I haven't lost money...but I haven't really made any either. I had been doing very well lately...I was very pleased...I was doing well week after week. But, I was still trading small size...and eventually no longer really had a concrete plan of exactly how to scale up to "full size." I was getting impatient and increasingly confident...at the end of each week I'd think, if I would have been trading larger size I would have made such and such!...I deserve to be properly conpensated for my time!...so I foolishly made the sudden leap from trading a roughly $1,000 account to a $5,000 account...suddenly multiplying my risk per trade by 5! It was too much for me to handle. It actually threw me way off, but I think I've pulled myself back together. For the last several days, I've been doing a mix of taking a hard look at myself and what went wrong, studying charts, watching charts in real-time, and demo/sim trading. I've decided the best thing I can do now as far as scaling up to "full size" is to start from scratch/rebuild from the ground up...I have to rebuild my confidence, which will take a little time. I honestly think I'm a little too "damaged" from this experience to just go back to trading a $1,000 account and everything be fine. So, I have a new official plan now...a plan to scale up to full size...the plan I should have had a long time ago. "Full size" will once again be a $10,000 account, risking $200 per trade. I've attached a picture of my "plan." I think it's fairly self-explanatory if you look at it closely, so I won't go into details explaining it. All it is is basically doubling my risk each time I accumulate 10R (10 times the amount of money I risk per trade)...as I progress through the phases, hopefully the stress of adding more size will be balanced by the confidence I'll have gained with another 10R under my belt. I'll have a full 50R of live/real profits under my belt by the time I begin trading a "full size" $10,000 account. You may notice that under the tentative "actual results" (which I'll fill in with actual results once I have them), the balances are different than under the "plan"...that's because I don't feel like making a withdrawal and multiple deposits (and a new MB Trading demo/sim forex account begins with $10,000 and you can't subtract money)...the way I'm doing it is more practical/efficient. The balances under the "plan" are more like theoretical balances. I am beginning this new plan tomorrow (July 22). Make no mistake...I am firmly convinced, now more than ever, that I will make a living as a trader (sooner rather than later). I just have to be patient and do it the right way.

This is what I just found in my inbox. :doh::o:roll eyes:

This device will allow you to run multiple computers with one keyboard and mouse, but it looks like you've found software to do it that doesn't require any additional hardware which may be a better/easier option. I just thought I'd share this anyway... https://configure-cart.com/tradingcomputers/Products/KVM-Switch-with-Cables__KVM-X.aspx

MightyMouse, First, I don't care at all what so and so does and what such and such fund does. All I'm worried about is me...so I'm not here to discuss that sort of thing. Anyways, I want to present a scenario... Let's say you're a day trader who risks a constant 2% of your account per trade (and you have a handful of trades each day)... Among profitable day traders, I'd say a good/very good trader can make, on average, 5R (5 * 2% = 10%) per week...an excellent trader can make 10R or greater (10 * 2% = 20%). Let's say you're able to make 5R per week (10%), you trade 40 weeks per year, that's a 400% return with no compounding! Am I just naive/delusional? Where have I gone wrong with my logic? Don't tell me what such and such CTA does...just examine my scenario... EDIT: And if we're talking about 15% per year, that would only be about 0.1875R per week (without compounding). ((15%/40)/2%) 0.1875R in a week is break even in my book.

I had to see that monster move for myself!

God I hate Elite Trader! lol I'm so grateful for TL. Every now and then I open ET and read through some of the threads...did it just now...and I just had to close out of it. I really think a more appropriate name would be Elite Anti-Trader! There may be some good content, but it is certainly ruined by all the negative, bitter losers who appear to hate trading. Why do they waste their time on a trading forum? Who knows?

Well, it's time...time to go "full size" (the point where I won't add any more money to my trading account...only growing the account with profits from now on). I had a total of about $10,000 available to devote to my trading account, and my original plan was to eventually deposit it all, but I've changed my mind... I've brought my account to $5,000 and I'm not going to add any more. I'll begin trading that amount on Monday (I actually didn't trade today). I risk 2% of my account per trade, so I will begin with risking $100 per trade. I'm solely daytrading the EUR/USD during the 6E/EC regular trading hours (8:20am-3:00pm ET) with MB Trading. I've decided to stop the deposits at this point because I think it will be better for me psychologically if I do it this way. Cory

I think it has more to do with how the person arrived at their returns...I personally know of someone who bought some stock near the lows of the crash and held it....they've quadrupled their account (so equivalent of $5k to $20k)...and I'll tell you something...I bet they'd hold it all the way back down if it fell. They're returns tell nothing of their trading ability....and who knows, if the market continues to rally they may hit the equivalent of $100k!!...but yet, in my opinion, they aren't by any means good traders/investors. However, a daytrader who has achieved the same returns is totally different...a daytrader who takes a handful of trades every single day, week after week after week, with reasonable leverage, who turns $5k into $20k (or $100k) is a real accomplishment. So, I don't think you can go by money/returns because it really just depends... I'd say as a rule of thumb: the higher frequency the trader, the less time that's needed to determine mastery/skill.

For me, context is very important...it is what has made the difference for me coming from consistently losing weeks to consistently winning weeks. My entries are based on "123" and "2B" setups, but that's only a small part of my trading...I don't think I'd be profitable trading every perceivable "setup," but I'm selective because of context. Context, for me, is all on a chart...nothing fundamental...I focus on waves/swings/highs/lows...where are we in relation to the last swing high/swing low, are we in a prevailing up/down trend, is price basing, are we at major support/resistance...if so, how is price reacting to it, are we in a "chop zone"...and so on... However, a lot of my contextual decisions are somewhat subjective...

I think for a competition like this to be legitimate, there would need to be some sort of criteria/screening process for participants. I think if there were some rule that only wildly successful traders, with stratospheric performance track records and at least $10+ million net worths (from trading) could participate, the competition would be a lot different. I don't mean to offend anyone...I don't know anyone here's story, really...but I was just thinking about this because if a lot of people like me got on here and gave this a shot...people who haven't even made a $1 mil before in their lives (yet )...it's not really a fair representation of what's possible/acheivable by top traders. PS: I wish sicktrader would step up his level of participation...he claims to have done this before multiple times!

For me, if I try to fade a strong trend, and I fail, I just reverse positions (under the right circumstances...depending on context, S/R, etc.). This happened to me just yesterday...I caught a long in the EUR/USD yesterday that was the start of a reasonable intra-day trend...if I would have ridden it to the top, it would have been nice profit...however I kept attempting to fade it (reverse short)...but as soon as my fade attempt failed or began to fail, I quickly switched back long. This happened a couple times. I would have been more profitable to just hang on to the long, but it still ended up profitable...it would have been a lot worse if I had only attempted the reversals and didn't jump back in to the prevailing trend. EDIT: Ideally, I would detect the strong, prevailing trend and avoid fade attempts unless there's a really good contextual reason (S/R, etc.)...however, I'm not always able to do that.

I hate it when Friday's don't go well...it ruins my weekend. This week my only losing day was today (Friday). At the close of Thursday, I was up 8.26R, but I lost 2.16R today and am finishing the week with a net 6.10R. 6.10R is nothing to be ashamed of...it could be better, of course...and only one losing day out of the week is good...but the fact that it was Friday will ruin my weekend because that will be what I remember and think about all weekend. I HATE that! There was actually some really good opportunity that I missed out on today...the market did exactly what I anticipated it would do...and I lost money! I know what my problem was, though. My problem was that I really wanted to make 10R this week, and I only had to make about 1.75R to achieve it...so my mindset was to get in, take 1.75R with one trade, and be done for the day and have 10R for the week. However, the problem was, since I really wanted to do it in one trade, I wanted a trade with "no risk," which didn't happen of course...so I watched opportunites play out that I normally would have taken that I instead passed on because I perceived them as too risky. It's ironic...if I wouldn't have been so determined to finish with 10R for the week today, I would have easily finished with 10R for the week! :o Oh well, I'm really not that bummed I guess...could be worse. Live and learn. I just had to vent a little... -Cory EDIT: Reading back over this, I realize a reader may wonder why I'm down for the day rather than even...well, after missing out on opportunity, I realized I'd missed out and reacted by forcing some trades that didn't work out. Furthermore, I pulled out of a trade prematurely for a loss...instead of waiting to see what would happen and possibly re-entering, I was frustrated so I went and took a shower...I came back and the original trade, had I stayed in (or re-entered), would have given me my 10R for the week. That was when I called it a day. I just traded all around poorly today.

That's so funny!...I just saw this car for the very first time in a magazine yesterday while I was waiting for my girlfriend at the doctor's office, and then you made a post about it today! haha...well maybe just funny for me

Better than ever! Thanks for asking. I've been trading currencies (well, still only the EUR/USD for right now) live with MB Trading and am currently in the process of scaling up to full size. Per my current schedule, I'll be trading full size beginning June 21! I haven't posted much because I don't want to jinx it, start counting my chickens, etc. Perhaps in a few months, I'll make a "what I've been up to" post to this log. How are things going with you?

If you want to trade smaller size and crosses, I would suggest going with MB Trading for a small account...spreads and commissions are competitive with futures, it's an ECN broker, the minimum initial deposit is a mere $400, they offer 100:1 leverage, and they offer flexible lot sizes...I don't think this is well known...under their settings, you can turn off fixed lot sizes and trade whatever number of units you like. I've been trading live with MB Trading every day for a week now and I'm very pleased. Also, the largest spread I've seen all week is 2.5 pips (news spikes), which is reasonable...99.9% of the time the spread is around 1 pip or less (you can watch their spreads on their home page). I know you asked thales, but I thought I'd share my thoughts: It depends what you call a "bucket shop"...if you mean market maker, then no...ECN forex is not a bucket shop. But, if you mean a market that has no central exchange, then all spot forex is a bucket shop. Personally, I think market maker when I think bucket shop. Be sure to check out the link I posted in another thread, ECN brokers list | ECN/STP Forex brokers ...scroll down and read about the different types of forex brokers. Futures have the added comfort of a centralized exchange and tighter regulation.

FXCM is not an ECN broker. This link was provided on another thread that I thought was useful in my research: ECN brokers list | ECN/STP Forex brokers It'll probably help answer some of your questions. EDIT: Well...I take that back...if you're trading with FXCM Active Trader it's an ECN according to the link I provided.

Just curious if anyone has any idea what's going on today. I'm only watching the EUR/USD, but it's crazy...crazy impulsive moves, spreads through the roof, etc. I'm even for the day right now, and I think I'm just calling it quits for today...to preserve my capital! I'm not used to this. I'm going to sit back and observe.

Pretty volatile PA on the EUR/USD today! I wonder what's going on. I've attached a 1min chart. Crazy moves and wide spreads (I'm constantly getting 2+ pip spreads with MB Trading!).