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Hi Team - I'm trying to switch from trading hourly charts to weekly charts but on my first attempt trading NZD/CAD (short) I'm loosing nearly a full pip every day in the swap rate. Had I gone long NZD/CAD would I be gaining a nearly a full pip every day? How can I figure this out before I trade? If I see a setup on one of the many pairs I trade, how can I tell what the swap will be before I trade either long or short? I'd like to get into only trading pairs in the direction that their swaps are either positive, or neutral (or very close)... Can anyone help me figure out how to do this? Is there a list somewhere that tells you something like: Positive Swaps: EUR/CHF (long) Neutral Swaps: ?? Negative Swaps EUR/USD (long) NZD/CAD (short) I look at about 29 pairs so this would obviously be a huge list. Any help is appreciated!

Thanks all. I know it will be said to trade what you are most comfortable with and what suits your personality - but looking at these instruments objectively: Do any of them have a clear advantage? Are any of them a clear disadvantage? (i.e. "stock volatility can be met with futures volatility so the opportunity is the same, however with futures you are able to execute on that opportunity with much less commission cost" - this is a wild guess and probably not true... just an example of the type of advantage/disadvantages that are probably out there) I want to trade stocks, it's what I know -- however, I don't want to be fooling around with trying to succeed in a game that is much more difficult if there are easier arenas out there.

Thanks for the thoughtful responses, tradewinds. When I realized the consistency of losing my system was producing the thought of doing the opposite crossed my mind and then I realized how bad of a system I was trading. Reversing my entry would still have resulted in failure because my exits just plain stunk. How do traders formulate their system? How do they find the edge? I'm confident once practiced I have the fundamental skill set and tools required to trade successfully a system with an edge I am confident in... Problem is finding the edge. How is finding the edge best tackled?

Emg, what I meant by that was why did you choose to trade whatever it is that you trade, opposed to trading something else.

How do you find your symbols each day to trade? Do you scan for certain criteria you like, constantly monitoring hundreds of stocks to find good setups? Or do you have just a very small number of stocks you stare at and wait for those few stocks to give you an entry?

What do you trade, and what are the factors that led to that decision? I trade stocks, my reasoning is (admittedly) stupid. Stocks are all I know. I'm looking forward to hearing why some people trade stocks, choose not to, why they choose to trade other instruments. I think this discussion could provide a lot of insight on the characteristics of these instruments.

Thanks for the responses guys. Uex - interesting points on QQQ, I haven't heard that POV or thought it myself. All I ever hear is the more liquid the better. It makes sense that at some point the liquidity would turn against you. That logic would explains my current struggles. I have found "edges" (if it could even be called that) in QQQ that hold up, but only for a period of days or maybe weeks... then it turns around and yields consistent losers, even in the same general market type - leaving me baffled. Do you have any suggestions of some stocks I should be looking at? Or even perhaps a range of ideal volume for day trading within which I should be looking at stocks? Thanks again, any insights/thoughts to help me get on the right track is greatly appreciated!

thanks for the responses guys. Uex - I appreciate your insights on QQQ, I hadn't considered this before, hadn't heard it before but it makes sense. That is essentially where I'm getting hung up - I've been infatuated with QQQ due to its liquidity -- but I am struggling mightily to find an edge that works consistently. I find one that could be profitable, even ultra-profitable but only for days possibly a week or so at a time, then it turns wildly unprofitable and yields consistent losers. Your logic makes sense. Anyone have suggestions of some stocks I should consider or any other insights to get me on the right track? Perhaps what level of volume I should look for - volume where I would find stocks that aren't so liquid the competition its too fierce but liquid enough that it is day-tradable? Thanks,

So I've had the dream of day-trading for over 10 years and have casually been researching it in that time frame. Several months ago I found myself with more than the needed 25k (~75k) to be a day trader and have begun the process of actively working toward that goal. I set up an account with TOS, loved the system, not the comissions so I switched to MB trading. Their commissions were better but fill price and customer service was a joke so I am switching to a lightspeed/Esignal solution and probably keep MB as a secondary broker. I also obtained a powerful PC w/ 3 large monitors so I'm set for tools. I've studied the psychology of trading and am confident I know what is needed mentally to win, I'm also confident I know general trading principles that are needed to win. I userstand excecuting on this knowledge is a different story. I trade qqq exclusively since I like it's price, liquidity, and speed/level of volatility. I may add another stock later but am undecided... Something like appl which is similar to qqq but seems to be more volatile. So my question is specific to the trading SYSTEM you use - that is buy, sell, hold signals. How complex is it? How often do you see these signals? When I was starting I tried trading simple MACD crosses (modified) but found that taking each opportunity was guaranteeing faliure... So adding in a pieces to the system such as only trading with prevailing trend and only trading after the price has broken out of a range lowered those opportunities but they were still too numerous to be successful without a very good system of exit. How simple or complex is your system? I am still honing in on a system for me that would work well day trading qqq. Any system-related insights are very appreciated and would be very helpful. Not sure how green this post makes me look, I am definitely new to this but have treated trading like a FT job with the ammount of time I have given it recently so in spite of my newness I know I have the intelligence, drive, determination and passion for trading to be successful at it - I may need some help along the way, so if anyone is willing to provide insights beyond what they would post here - feel free to pm me. I saw a post a while ago about the 38 steps to becoming a day trader or something like that and I've been through most all of those steps so I know I'm not far off and am lightyears ahead most wide eyed newbs. Thanks all! Firm