shooly76

I started a very small acct in august ($3000)..and am becoming very discouraged..Ive been learning about trading futures for over 3 years..in the last year concentrated mainly on technical analysis.. I know it is unheard of to start this small, but its all I have. I just cant seem to get anywhere, some weeks Ill do ok..I got acct up to $3900 about 2 months ago. but that was it...since then its been back and forth..I cant EVER seem to reach any kind of monthly goals (160 ticks/month). hell...I cant even reach daily goals anymore..account seems to always stagnate at $3000...never can get ahead.. seems like my strategies works well for a few days, then I start hitting stops, then I switch it up, gain some ticks, then hit stops. I just feel like a hampster on a wheel lately...any input? should I just start taking big risks (multiple contracts)? because honestly at this point it seems like its getting to be a lost cause trading a single contract.

ok..but I read help section a few times..and went thru strategy wizard and developed a strategy to backtest (on strategy wizaerd). I chose market and set my to/from dates...and hit backtest strategy....and NOTHING. so then I hit optimize strategy, and a pop-up came up stating that there were no paremeters set. ?? I may have to call tech support on monday

thanks tams...but not the answer I was hoping to get.. I am hoping to get some some feedback and specific info regarding inputing my strategy parameters. feedback and input...isnt that what this forum is here for? I have already gone over the tutorial a little, but I cant seem to find exactly what Im looking for as far as specific strategy backtesting w historical performance and stats for custom strategies.. maybe Im missing something.

I use NT7...I know there are tuturials on this...but I need a shove in the right direction. I have 'backtested' by simply looking back on charts to see if my strategies work in theory. but I need to learn how to backtest a strategy the correct way. I want to use a couple different strategies for starts... for example: trend strategies w ZLEMA and SMA crossover.. price action.. momentum indicator, 20 EMA and BB as well, volatility breakouts, channel breakouts, v-bottom buys...etc.. how do I learn backtesting w NT7? I want historical, statistical data

ok..so my brokerage states trading hours for corn are 6pm-1:15pm...but there is never any price action after 7pm (EST) for corn. never until the next morning.only action is from morning to 2:15pm EST. however, my NT7 corn charts (15 min and 3 min) do not have an exact time for the morning open on bottom of chart (3 min chart). it shows only the date of new trading session and the next time print stamp after that is 11:30am EST. basically my question is this: when does the pit trading begin in chicago for corn? Im guessing 8:00-8:30 EST...please help

although, i like the ZLEMA so far, I think it is a bit niosy using a 20 period BB.. by noisy I mean that the 20 period ZLEMA is usually too far away from the 20 period SMA (which is what is standard for BB. so basically Ive been getting mixed signals when using BB. So when using BB I prefer to use a standard 20 period EMA, which is closer to the SMA and therefore less noise (for me). keep in mind Im still a newb..and have much to learn I only have sim trade and backtesting results...here r some screnshots w backtest..I cant find my sim shots..may have not saved them.

does anyone here use this EMA? Ive been tinkering around w a 20 period ZLEMA w pretty nice results (so far). if anyone has any info and input on this indicator, or strategies using this, please post here...thanks

oh I almost forgot, the yellow circle on the chart shows where price broke both EMA and SMA, I gathered this shows uncertain or hesitant direction in trend movement.. so I chose NOT to enter again.

thanks for all the helpful replies! I had 2 nice trades (live) for a total of 35 ticks today w TF I am going to stick w what worked for me in the past.. a 5min, and a 30min (for overall movement), trend... (or lack thereof in some cases). I reworked trend-following system a bit.. and now I wait for retracement back toward EMA and SMA

will someone please explain the difference... and pros and cons of these 2 time frames? less noise w a 10 min chart= higher probability trades?? Ive been trading 6E, 6A, CL, GC, and TF on a 3 min chart, and havent been doing well at all. I was trading a 5 min chart, but decided to try a 3, now Im thinking about a 10 any input much appreciated

nevermind...I found it...Soultrader has a thread in the futures forum titled: "rollover days"

when is the last trading day for a forward contract? I am an intraday trader for instance, If Im trading TF 09-11, when should I stop trading that and move onto the 12-11 contract? I was sim trading TF, NQ, and YM 09-11, and then unknowingly to me, NT7 switched the default contract to 12-11..just noticed this today I tried the search, but couldnt find exactly what I was looking for

I havent seen any safe set-ups in the markets today (NQ, YM, TF, or 6E)...too choppy so far..I guess the monthly job report is a good day to stay out completely..

you can see I got in on the 6E trade a little late, if I was had the chart up earlier, I wouldve entered on I think it is the 7th-8th candle after my set-up signal. I would have waited for it to revert back to EMA a bit, then pulled the trigger.

here is a 5min 6E chart and a 5min NQ chart..16 ticks on the 6E and 20 on the NQ

I saw a nice set-up on the 5 min 6E chart tonite>> I went for 16 ticks, I tinkered around w trailing my stop (manually). I ended up w only 6 ticks of risk on the table...shouldve been zero ticks, but I got distracted w price movement..

...that is after relative high w higher close

just saw I made a mistake on the long set-up..I shouldve placed entry arrow on previous green candlestick. as this is the candle after the second consecutive higher close.

thanks for the replies! I didnt get a chance to sim trade my strategy today due to girl probs and job sked...lol.. but I was able to do a bit of quick 'backtesting' from todays 5 min chart of NQ..I also had backtesting images of YM and TF but now I cant find them on my comp.. anyway here is an image of NQ..I plan on sim trading this strat for a couple more weeks..so I will try to post my sim results daily

sorry, after looking at the 2 last posts (about exit and stop/loss), they dont really make a lot of sense (Im a bit confused about placement), I suppose I will have to figure out my exit and stop strategy based on my own risk tolerance. even though I need to figure this out on my own, I would still greatly appreciate any input on exit strategy and stop/loss placement.

I will also be tinkering w a trailing stop> any thoughts on what is a good tick number to trail it? example> if price moves in my favor by 10-12 ticks, move my stop closer to entry by 5-6 ticks so 5-6 ticks for every 10-12 ticks of price movement in trend direction?

Ive been tinkering w another aspect of this strategy> Im thinking about my exit strategy> if I choose to let my trades run, or to cut losses if that may be the case> when price reverts back to EMA and or SMA> when this happens, would it be a good exit point? but only if price closes beyond EMA and SMA. so regardless if substantial profit has been gained, or if breakeven, or even a small loss... in most cases, it will still be a safe place to exit. furthermore, my stop/loss should always be above/below the EMA and SMA anyway. so I would actually close position before my stop is hit and losses will be minimal. I realize the trend could go back and continue in my favor, but why risk it? or maybe just set my stop a few ticks above EMA and or SMA, rather than a set 10-12 ticks from entry? any thoughts on this? I realize stop placement is subjective depending on risk tolerance, but my risk tolerance is low... obviously, Im trying to preserve my capital, not lose it.

some info about my strategy> 1) stay out if price goes bk and forth over EMA and SMA (choppy)...then wait.. 2) wait for a higher/lower close beyond EMA and SMA...if above, look for longs... if below, look for shorts 3) wait for a new relative high/low, but it must also have a higher/lower close than previous candlestick ( I go back 1 hour to look at recent candlesticks) 4) EMA should cross SMA, if above look for longs...if below, look for shorts 5) Momentum indicator above/below 0...if above look for longs... if below look for shorts 6) wait for 2 consecutive higher/lower closes w/in supp/resistance, if outside, then this is usually more risk.. after 2 consecutive higher/lower closes, enter on open of next candlestick 7) enter after above rules are met 8) stop/loss is set between 10-12 ticks 9) target is set between 16-20 ticks

here are my sim trades for today> 5min chart this strategy is something I came up w in the last couple weeks...today is the first day I was able to sim trade it. glad I didnt pay for an expensive indicator software package. this seems even better IMO..but I will admit, the trial of the indicator helped me come up w this, I have nearly identical buy and sell signals w this new strategy. but I have added a 20 period EMA and Momentum indicator..still learning about the Momentum inicator though.. backtesting seems to be on point. but I have no real structure in my backtesting- I simply go back a few days in the 5 min charts, and look for set-ups. I only go for 16-20 ticks per trade...for now, when my skills get better I will let the trades run a bit..as long as signals are there. I would greatly appreciate any input on this...Im still learning and need all the input I can get..thanks