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MadMarketScientist

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Everything posted by MadMarketScientist

  1. MadMarketScientist
    Mysticforex Meant to ask you did you mention where you trade? Maybe I missed it above.... MMS
  2. MadMarketScientist
    That is a good spread - though I wonder if it is just occasionally there -- does it average 2.7 or does it range from x to y pips? That would be what matters most -- at any rate, if you can get the spread to stay narrow throughout trading on any pair that brings it more into the realm of daytrading even though I still think more people would be successful with forex if they didn't focus on daytrading as much. MMS
  3. MadMarketScientist
    GTNew - thanks for the post and giving the specifics of what you look for in the trade - that's valuable. MMS
  4. MadMarketScientist
    I respectfully disagree. If you have a trading system/style that can be attached to limitless number of charts I don't think you can say that you should take every set-up. Nor do I feel a system/strategy has to always be responsible for also having you trade the ideal number of positions. If it works, and is effective across dozens/hundreds of charts over time than as traders it is our responsibility to trade it responsibly - meaning using the correct leverage, using the correct number of pair and not over trading. I think this was a case where someone had over-used the system they were following. Which I think many do and get themselves into trouble when it turns out it's not the system itself, more likely the abuse of it (and I mean that tongue in cheek) MMS
  5. MadMarketScientist
    Great thanks for making the effort to document that. It's great. I'm with you on the simplicity. I actually feel in trading there is great power in simplicity. People think the more indicators you layer on top of each other that somehow you have a more complex and effective system. You don't. I think your approach clearly has merit. MMS
  6. MadMarketScientist
    Great post Rainmaker - well done. I think you sum up really several of the most important points that any beginner trader should really take to heart. I won't reiterate what you've written because I completely agree. Even though most will struggle to follow the advice because some of it goes against human nature -- but you must battle those urges not to follow it. One thing I find important is to understand that though there are clearly books, courses, software, strategy, etc... that might overstate their value, there is a place for education, there is a place for purchasing products -- sometimes I have found that what I've purchased maybe didn't live up to my expectations (which sometimes were unrealistic anyway) but it does something that gets you thinking and getting creative and many times inspires an idea that proves valuable. Just realize you shouldn't go overboard since like you mentioned, gotta protect that capital to last long enough to make it. MMS
  7. MadMarketScientist
    We just overhauled the whole look of the site so I didn't see that happening before -- it might just be tied to the transition so I'll have the programmer take a look. Thanks.
  8. MadMarketScientist
    elovemer - have you found that to work in most market conditions? Maybe if you can provide a few stats on how it does over time that would be helpful to some here. I do see the top level view of it -- you're fading an overreaction against the trend -- which puts you back in the direction of the bigger momentum after that overreaction completes. Would you consider this 10 points any 10 points that occurs including if it occurs over two days for example?
  9. MadMarketScientist
    I feel the point he was trying to make was his win/loss was fine with the system, just when he hit a short losing streak he was way over-leveraged - not necessarily on an individual trade basis but by trading a large group of currency pairs all at once that tend to follow the same pattern/direction. It would be like daytrading the Nasdaq, S&P, Russell and Dow e-Mini futures all at the same time with perhaps modest risk per trade, but in sum you will likely see them all move in same direction - increasing risk substantially.
  10. MadMarketScientist
    Most traders lose long before they make a trade. They enter their trading day with their minds already clouded by a fear of loss, a fear of not being able to make up for prior losses, or an urgency to make up for prior losses. Entering a trading situation from this state of mind is a set up for losing that can become an avalanche. Learning to manage this is the difference between success and failure. If does not have to be this way. You do not have to be like the vast majority of traders who lose because they do not know or refuse to know how brain, mind, and trading inter-relate. This book takes you on a journey of discovery into the inter-linked world that shows up in your trading room as "you". In re-organizing the mind for trading, a transformed "you" coordinates your platform, your methodology, and the perceptual map called your brain/mind from a learned calm impartial authority -- the trader's state of mind. Excerpt of Mindful Trading is available at http://www.tradersstateofmind.com
  11. MadMarketScientist
    Great discussion so far. Following on GTNew I do agree in your discussion of forex and stops under 50 pips. Whether it's hunting or just the volatility of the markets when stops are below that you do have a much higher tendency of getting barely taken out only to watch your market take off on you. I've found when I trail, and it's not that often, I make sure I have a way/rules to re-enter after a stop out on a trail in case I get whipsawed - many times those second entries tend to be stronger than the first as well......something to consider. MMS
  12. MadMarketScientist
    Agreed commissions usually aren't the make or break for most people - sure it would be nice not to have them but these days they are small enough that they won't be a difference maker. Slippage issues would probably be bigger than commissions.... MMS
  13. MadMarketScientist
    Clearly this is a case of not the system that got you in trouble but way, way, way overdoing it. And, you really don't need a spreadsheet to tell you that. It's a lesson learned. Consider it tuition. No matter what trading approach you follow you will get yourself into a world of hurt if you think trading forex at 2% risk x 10 pairs is just 2% risk. You could have a system that wins 90% of the time - and none do - and I guarantee you'd end up with a 40% - 60% drawdown in the first 30 days. Forex pairs do correlate and if you catch in a choppy period you basically are not risking 2% you are risking 20% per trade -- probably not quite to that extreme because it's not really that correlated but for dramatic impact you get the idea. Don't give up on your system but you have to give it a chance to work. Have to have staying power to last a while -- and you need to cut your pairs way, way, way down. Trade 1 -3 pairs max. 1% - 2% risk max. Good luck! MMS
  14. MadMarketScientist
    You just need to login and it's gone.
  15. MadMarketScientist
    Great feedback Kiwi - thanks for that. I don't want to be too "New Agey" but something that works great to give you that calm you mention is to breathe out everything through your mouth until all the air is out. Then resist the temptation to draw a breath right back in for as long as you can. Once you resist just breathe in slowly through your nose and feel the calm. Now hopefully that trade will work! Otherwise repeat! MMS
  16. MadMarketScientist
    One of my best things I do? I turn off the volume and put my browser over the chart so I don't have to stare at the ticks going buy, nor do I really need to hear the sounds of a trade hitting a stop, etc.... Psychologically this works for me. I'm with you on that -- distract yourself once the trade is on -- you only need to know what's happening if there's a reason to adjust a stop -- otherwise let the trade do its thing and do NOT watch every tick. Like you mention, you want to be here 5 years from now! MMS
  17. MadMarketScientist
    Good point on the number of stocks - that could be fairly challenging especially for an individual trading account -- commission costs, etc... plus a lot to track... MMS
  18. MadMarketScientist
    I'm not sure I will follow/answer your question correctly but here's my take. I have found if I am trading a daytrading system that likes to take entries right after the opening bell of the floor it is better to chart the Globex, especially if I'm trying to get in synch with the pre-opening. If I'm following an approach that waits a few minutes until after the opening bell I have found filtering out the globex is best. For me that has been the way to go -- the idea is if you trade immediately and get that gap, you almost always will get trapped by a technical system going in the direction of the gap, and more times than not you'll be faced with a quick fade and loss. Doing the above prevents that. MMS
  19. MadMarketScientist
    Good reminder - thanks. If you're daytrading don't forget it since it could catch you in a very bad way -- my rule is to always exit 5 minutes before, and not to trade it usually until 15 minutes after unless the reaction seems muted - then I might push that up to as early as 5 minutes after. If it's volatile I wait. And is it me or does it seem like everything trades really funky the morning of the FOMC? MMS
  20. MadMarketScientist
    I'll just pass along my experience. I have run into and talked to a lot more busted traders who did not use stops, who could not describe their stop/risk strategy, who had no idea when to exit -- even some who were masters of the entry. I have never run into a highly successful trader without a stop strategy. MMS
  21. MadMarketScientist
    Great data and thanks for taking the time to coming back and following up on your research. Hopefully you'll get some more tips/advice on your screen here but appreciate you taking the time to come back in and update us. MMS (One thing that might be interesting in your screen is to tweak it and add something that would also look for a stock that is undervalued relative to PE or growth so you could have it as a value priced screen as well perhaps)
  22. MadMarketScientist
    Yes to answer the question above with a 10K account it IS insane to trade 4 ES contracts. I always say just because your broker will let you doesn't mean you should. Their business and it's totally fine that it is this way is to make their money on commissions. They know most will blow up so I understand that they will try to maximize what they get out of you in the process of you blowing up. However, make it tougher on them -- and really better on you and them by being a surviving trader and avoid crazy leverage/risk. $10K account? 1 maybe 2 contracts. MMS
  23. MadMarketScientist
    Mario Welcome to TL. You want my top tip on how to improve as a trader and be more profitable? Participate in the conversation here - many lurk and read - hey, that's great, but you'll do yourself a favor by getting in there and posting whether it's a question or an answer to someone elses. Have fun! MMS
  24. MadMarketScientist
    Gotta say that's pathetic -- if we can't even hold onto jobs like that there's just nothing left...... MMS
  25. MadMarketScientist
    It's one of the hardest things to get used to. In life usually the harder you work and the more you do the more successful you are. In trading it's strange to think sometimes the less you do, and the more you cut out the work the better you can do overall. I'm not saying it's a recipe of success for everyone but I'd bet anything that more people would survive and make it, even if that's still a smaller percentage of they scaled back their frequency. MMS
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