MadMarketScientist

One thing that would be nice with Multi-Charts is if they had an inhouse reliable datafeed - best I can tell you still need to connect with a third party feed? Though there are a number of choices and brokers that seem to supply one assuming you have an account. That's one thing that Ninja did which is convenient having Kinetick available if you don't have that broker feed or other 3rd party paid feed to hook into.... MMS

Great point. I don't think any of us are saying you can't approach trading systematically but there is a place where instinct/art/adjustments have to enter the fray. MMS

Several years ago I bought a few off of there -- pretty much what you would expect. Still the fantasy for "set and forget" 100% mechanical remains but still waiting to actually see it in reality. I think you can get to 90% mechanical - not believing you can get to 100%.

Some change for me: Buy @ 1.0218 Target 1.0245 Stop 1.0187

I can see what you are looking at - that upside move might be getting a little overheated. I'm looking at trying to grab some more of it if it keeps going: Buy @ 1.0228 Target 1.0255 Stop 1.0199 But going to check in next couple of hours and see if any changes.

There's almost no telling over the years how many of those late nights I've had -- which usually go into the early morning -- 2am, 3am --- testing and testing. Guess I can't get those back but it's gotta be done!

I have a long going on AUDUSD now from 1.0046 target 1.0073 stop 1.0013. We'll see how it plays out. Exit end of day no weekend hold. On my longer swing trade did get the profit target down to 1.0000 area so that was a nice one and went flat there. MMS

As TAMS mentioned it's probably good just to have it out there that it's your product and this thread will need to be informational and not meant to steer promotional in any direction. With that said if it's done in an educational non-promotional way we can have the discussion ongoing.... MMS

Stockmaster, Yeah you hit the nail on the end. This crap is a lot of work! Which is why the attrition rate is so high. Forget whether someone has a good system or ability. It's simply hard. And, high intelligence isn't any guarantee of success. I figure if you cannot be honest with yourself even in demo/simulated trade you'll never have a chance or the discipline to make it in real-time. Of course it's hard to do this. I'll be the first to admit I like jumping right into the line of fire in a real-time account - hey, it's more exciting that way. But, if I would have followed my advice at all times in the past there's no telling how many tens of thousands of dollars I would have saved. It's probably north of five figures easy. So is it worth the time and honesty? MMS

I don't think you'd see many, even the most conservative of traders who would say you need $500K to trade the ES. One persons opinion. MMS

Good point Stockmaster - could be an excellent opportunity to use that weekend downtime to do some simulation trading. Just not knowing for sure "what comes next" on the right edge of the screen can really help give you an edge when it comes to real-time trading. You won't experience all the emotions but if you're competitive you'll certainly experience some of the tension even in virtual mode. Make a game out of it and give yourself a nice reward if you reach some objective -- and taketh away if not MMS

Make sure you sign-up. This one is being presented by NinjaTrader and they always do a nice job. It's a free training webinar so those of you who want to learn more about trading intraday this is a nice opportunity - you do need to reserve your "virtual" seat to attend: http://traderslaboratory.com/ninjatrader Proven Techniques Used by Successful Intraday Traders Tuesday, March 15, 2011 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM EDT See you there! MMS As an active trader, the trading tools you select will have a dramatic impact on your success. Whether you trade futures, forex, or equities, you can significantly enhance your trading efficiency by utilizing proven techniques used by successful day traders. Attend this event to learn how to incorporate these techniques for an immediate benefit to your trading! -- Maximize profit potential by trading directly off your chart using automatic trailing stops -- Use Fibonacci tools to find predictive areas of support and resistance -- How to understand your trade results for better money management and the importance of keeping a journal -- How to scan your own custom watch list for high probability trade setups every day across all markets -- Be ready on every FOMC day with a Breakout strategy to effectively trade news events -- Added Bonus! Learn to fine tune your trading strategies by recording the day's action and replay at your convenience, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

GBPUSD short for me from 1.6157. First target 1.6117 which has been hit after a brief scare of stopping out earlier this morning. Second target 1.6075 with my current stop at 1.6137 to lock in just in case it bounces back first. That would end my trade. I had a second short on a bigger picture from 1.6179 from yesterday - first target 1.6100 and second target 1.6020 -- first target almost hit so would lower stop to 1.6179 as soon as that's met. A little strange for me to have a short inside a short but that's what you get from 2.5 days of sideways trade. MMS

I'm also short at this time. Short from 1.0049 - first target 0.9997 but usually I'm afraid of that 1.0000 area so I'll raise my target to 1.0002 just to avoid having to break that level - after that I have 0.9942 for my stretch target. So I hope it gets to your objective. Stop for me now is 1.0091 which I'll lower to 1.0052 if I hit my first target. MMS

Let's set the record straight (again) Nobody is banned at this time. The door is wide open. We've groveled and emailed and wooed, etc... went way overboard and come on, it was for a day. Second, the "vendor" you reference is not paying us anything. We receive no compensation from who you mention, we're not protecting and we've never received a dime from him/them, etc... I know maybe it feels better to assume that and it looks more like some kind of conspiracy but I'll put it in clear virtual print and guarantee that this is simply not the case. Perhaps I wish there was some compensation after all this but there has been zero. MMS

Sleep is a whole other story. That's something I need to figure out how to get more of -- I know 7-8 hours is what is considered ideal. I'm lucky to grab 6. There's just too much to do. Thankfully after all these years I still really enjoy trading despite the ups and occasional downs, and I still have little trouble motivating out of bed in the a.m. but you make a good point - - diet and exercise matter -- but sleep is probably as critical. Just don't ask me to take my own advice! MMS

For me I've never really found a way to channel emotions in trading in a positive way. I'm sure there are others who have had that breakthrough but in 20+ years the best case for me is when I get robotic about things and my trading plan/rules. I suppose one could argue that things like fear of loss, risk aversion, etc... could be channeled properly but if I'm smart about my plan that's already built in. I still haven't cracked the code though of being an emotion-free trader and I find I am constantly working on improving my approach. One of the hardest things is getting that emotion out. Today, case in point. Market I trade (Crude Oil) took off quickly and I didn't have time to adjust my short entry - so I went short sooner than I should have based on my rules. Ideally I should have just covered and taken a small loss but I held on thinking, maybe it will work out - after all I only got in 2 ticks higher than my intended entry. Instead, it stopped out. Now the emotions start to play a part. Then it takes me extra trades that I wouldn't have needed since next trade wins - - usually where I quit - but now I have that extra loser. So I have to keep going. In the end I finally scratch back to positive, on a day that should have been firmly positive. What do I do? I let the emotions of just feeling good about getting back positive and I quit there. My rules though said objective not hit yet but my emotions said stop, good job. Next trade hits full target. With me on the sidelines. Emotions took over. MMS

I'm sure all of you guys can understand we run a fine line between allowing people to say anything they want -- and us getting in some trouble for it. I can tell you I've personally received more than one letter from lawyers as a result of posts on this forum. Now, we can debate freedom of speech, etc... but we have to be careful when the critique becomes what could be considered slanderous and not able to be backed up. So, with that said, we welcome all critiques and yes, they can definitely be critical/negative but things like personal threats, accusations of fraud, etc... we have to be careful with. As for Kiwi he's an awesome contributor and I'm sure this will blow over, we just have to make sure we're keeping things at a certain level on the boards or it can easily take a tone that none of us would enjoy. This too shall pass MMS

One of the best things I've done is set-up a treadmill desk. It's not my main desk I work from -- since you can't be 100% effective with other work from it, but for trading it's great. Basically a treadmill that slides underneath a work surface that is cranked to a desireable level -- meaning you're standing and walking on the treadmill and you can use the keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc... while moving. I'm not saying you'll get into a sprint, and trade but you can walk fairly briskly and what I've found is I can slow it down when I need to make a trade/changes and then a lot of the time (80%+) I'm just waiting for the market to do something. Those times I just hit the up arrow for more speed. This way you are putting in no additional time, yet you can get in several thousand steps over the course of a normaly daytrading session (let's say 1-2 hours) -- most people avoid exercise because of the time as well - but this is a great way to put in no additional time and you're basically just multi-tasking while trading.... MMS

This pair has been driving me a little crazy this a.m. long from 1.10168 trying for 1.0195. Came close but missed - still long but stop at 1.0134....

Nice catch on that. I got suckered in early on that downswing but managed to wash it with the punch higher. MMS

This is a good discussion. Sometimes just talking about it and being consciously aware is all it takes. Case in point - today is probably some of my worst trading in a few months - trading Crude Oil futures - it's jumping all over, slippage is terrible today and no move seems sustained - I've been whipsawed numerous times, and had price hit my limit price and not be filled multiple times - which almost never happens in Crude. So I might just want to eat some garbage to make myself feel better But, in the spirit of this thread I'll acknowledge my woes today but not make that leap to the darkside -- at least that way I'll have something positive today! MMS

Here's a tip from me that I'm guilty of not always following. There's a lot of anxiety with trading. There's a lot of immediate satisfaction with eating garbage - sugar, fat, calories. I've been known in an especially stressful or lousy trading day to toss out all the rules and eat horribly, including while trading. What works for me is always trying to have some healthy snacks on hand. If they are there, convenient, etc... it's a lot easier and I find I don't always reach for the crap that way. When however it needs to be prepared, etc... -- I'm going to reach for the sugar bomb. Speaking of sugar, there's plenty of "fake" healthy foods out there, it's shocking how much sugar is in a health bar. Keep it single digits on the sugar grams. MMS

Hugely important topic. We all spend so much time stuck to your desk and computer that you start to forget just how bad that is on your body. I know when I go exercise and comeback my charts just seem clearer and I'm able to function at a higher level. Unfortunately I get bogged down and sometimes spend a whole day at the desk and hardly move except for the bathroom or food/drink break. I know my posture goes to crap, and my neck and back start to hurt. A few solutions that have worked for me or I try to implement. I wear "Fitbit" basically it keeps track of how many steps I've taken in a day - uses Wii type technology - I'm sure you can search for it online. It's easy to lose so be careful given the investment - however, I have to keep score with everything (maybe why I trade?) and this is a great way to use technology. You should be taking 8,000 - 10,000+ steps a day -- bad news for today? I've only taken 1500 so far. Not good so I use that to motivate myself to get out of here (when this post is done of course!) and get some exercise. My neck and back will thank me. I like a book named "You Are Your Own Gym" -- find it easy on Amazon. It's really easy to come up with some exercises you can do by your desk while you trade. If you're waiting on a set-up it will give you some things you can do without any equipment needed and it's as tough as you want it to be. Great book for that. Another good piece of equipment is a Kettle Bell. Do some swings with a kettle bell in the office takes just minutes, can be super tough but you don't have to leave your trades. I've also set-up a treadmill desk before but that's a topic for another post! MMS

Your Community Managers here at Traders Laboratory held a free forex training webinar this week. If you missed it, you can catch it on replay by going to this link: Free Forex Training Webinar - Pivot Points & Forex Question & Answer Give it a few seconds and it will start replaying. Thanks and enjoy. MMS