atrader123

Troy, Sounds good. I think having a coach will help tremendously in reducing your learning curve and gain trading mindset. On other hand, coaching will not help you if your coach methodology does not fit your nature or if you have doubts about his coaching/capabilities/method. What you listed above is well thought and written. If I were starting out, I would do the steps you mentioned above for few months. This will then give an idea of what type of trading you like, which instrument and what kind of coaching you need. If you already have a trading plan and method then ignore otherwise if you need, following are some good options to start - (a) Search Google for "Linda Raschke - Five Basic Trading Patterns". I think PDF and audio copy available on INO TV. (b) For a well rounded good trading plan, trade setups and how to use simulator, search on CME website for Jeff Quinto. There you will find his videos and a great trading plan. © Another good method would be search for "Ryan Watts" emini trading. Note: Just pick one method that suits your nature and try to stick with it. Don't fall into trap of searching for holy grail. All exploit same concept but in different ways. Side note: Trading not necessarily has to be painful unless that is what you want:-) As long as you remember trading is a journey, have patience, realize market pays you for discipline & consistency, specialize in technique & market without switching every couple of months and not compare your progress with others, you would do fine. As you can see finding a method is not that difficult. The difficult part is above paragraph and that is the main reason IMO many aspiring trader remaining aspiring. Wish you good luck in your trading!

Troy, You have a good time horizon. Keep your trading simple and concentrate on learning just one setup. Ignore returns till you master. Markets are there to make money. Not to pay tuition fee. Use simulator well!!! Most aspiring traders are intelligent and hard working. Yet most don't make it even with incredible amount of information available on net, books and in forums like these. Why? If you are committed, find a mentor who is trading for at least 15 years or so and can train you for next 3-6 months. Not a black box system or signal service or trading rooms or 2 days/2 week seminars. You cannot learn that way. The above IMO will save you good amount time, frustration and money in the long run. Good Luck

MMS, Sorry to hear. It pains more especially when loss is due to something in retrospect could have been avoided.One thing that helps me as quick aid psychologically is to think/write what would I say to a good friend of mine who is currently in my situation. I try to side step news issue a bit differently. May be dumb rule but simple and so far worked for me - Daily I take a 5 minute break from 6.59 AM PST - 7.04 AM PST . (Note: My trading hours are 5.35AM PST - 8.00 AM PST). Who knows it might happen you recuperate the loss faster than you thought with an added benefit of more stronger resolve. Good Luck.

Ninjatrader with Ameritrade as data feed connection. Requires account with Ameritrade though.

CType, Sounds good. Some times when I read, even if I already knew the concept it triggers some small idea I can use. In that spirit, I hope you will find following observations useful. (a) Assume it will take at least several months and may be 1000-2000 trades (if day trading) just to break even consistently. Realizing this will help you not undermine the progress you make and save you from lot of frustration or giving up. Many times especially in the early stages it may happen you are actually making progress but just PnL results not reflecting them. (b) I feel what majority don't do or believe often works in trading. IMO most aspiring traders are smart, committed, hardworking and try to give their best. But on downside, try to master multiple setups at once or impatient and not stick long enough with a setup to truly make it theirs. © Markets are there to make money, not to pay tuition fee. Don't hurry to trade live or undermine power of learning on simulator. Trade on simulator exactly as you would do in live trading. Not only it will teach for free but also help to ingrain discipline & consistency enough that you won't even think about it when you trade live. (d) Sometimes it helps to identify and make progress in stages instead of in PnL especially for struggling traders. Stages could be : Struggling -> Trader with plan -> Trader with plan & discipline & consistency -> Trader profitable before costs -> Trader profitable after costs -> Live trader -> ... (e) It is difficult to believe especially when trader is still working their way but IMO fitness, balance and quality of life outside trading will have as much (if not more) impact on trading results as technique in long term. I wish you good luck in your trading.

Fibtrade resistance retrace is a good tactic for low risk trade. Building on that, one way I would play that example is (a) Make an anticipation entry on retrace (b) Automatic tight fixed hard stop like ~6 ticks on ES/6E (typically 1 bar length) © Aggressively tighten stop to break even in next couple of bars or get out if it stalls. Many people wait for confirmation bar and enter above it. My preference is to be part of confirmation bar. Similarly many people 1st identify entry and then determine stop. My preference is to 1st identify a stop point and enter only if price comes within hard stop range. Basic idea is to have many break even trades, few losses of 1-2 ticks/contract and few runners of 3+ points. Obviously the numbers need to be adjusted based on the timeframe, instrument and volatility. Anyway the example is more to describe the way I understand and typically apply the age old rule "cut losses short and let profits run". There is no one correct way. I am curious to see how other traders apply this rule in their trading. Good Luck

CType, In my opinion, risk control is a must to survive. There are many ways to control risk - price stops, time stops, far out of money options etc. I think the problem is most people trade with notion they are right till market proves wrong i.e., wait to get stopped out at their hard stop. Better way in my opinion is to aggressively manage position to break even. The goal should be to play the game for free (i.e., with stop at break even) as often as possible. Not many people do that or think that way. Myself and other professional traders I know do that. I see you are looking for a system. My suggestion, pick a simple trend-pullback method, one market, one time frame and spend next few months just trading on simulator only one setup making around 1000-2000 trades. Then the method will become yours. Challenge is not finding a system but ability to do the above. I don't think realistically an individual trader can compete with professional firms on mechanical or fundamental based systems. Better bet would be discretionary trading. Good Luck

CType, In my opinion, risk control is a must to survive. There are many ways to control risk - price stops, time stops, far out of money options etc. I think the problem is most people trade with notion they are right till market proves wrong i.e., wait to get stopped out at their hard stop. Better way in my opinion is to aggressively manage position to break even. The goal should be to play the game for free (i.e., with stop at break even) as often as possible. Not many people do that or think that way. Myself and other professional traders I know do that. I see you are looking for a system. My suggestion, pick a simple trend-pullback method, one market, one time frame and spend next few months just trading on simulator only one setup making around 1000-2000 trades. Then the method will become yours. Challenge is not finding a system but ability to do the above. I don't think realistically an individual trader can compete with professional firms on mechanical or fundamental based systems. Better bet would be discretionary trading. Good Luck

mark167, Good luck in your future endeavors. There is nothing new in rest of the post that you were not already aware of. For me, some times reading something I already knew triggers good ideas that I ignored before. In that spirit, I hope you will find rest of post useful. Trading is not end of the world nor the only way under sun to earn a living. Many times it helps to take a step back to move forward. May be you are working/forcing too hard to succeed. Or may be you are burdened by other pressures that each trade and session becomes more important than what it is. I feel people make trading more complicated and struggle then it is. Majority approach trading as something they should struggle day n night sacrificing themselves, pocket book and quality time with family etc. They are determined and will do whatever it takes to succeed and also analyze too hard everything. If you noticed, interestingly majority don't believe in keeping trading simple, accepting ambiguity about success and developing detachment. May be this is a factor in why majority fail in trading. My personal opinion is developing these attributes automatically cultivate patience, consistency and reduce greed, fear and frustration based trading. Mind is a powerful tool there to help you and when it is not burdened by these extraneous stuff it will develop much more easily the skill needed to trade well if you still want it. Bottom line, I think what you are doing is a good idea. Who knows you might find something altogether different from trading that you enjoy or you might find yourself back in trading with a deeper perspective on trading and yourself. Good Luck!