chaostrader

Well said. Traders with a good feel of the markets will always be above other traders who rely on signals but never have a feel for the markets. A batter with a good eye for the ball is a much better player than a .250 slugger. Just read Money Ball.

I dont think education matters in trading as long as the individual is somewhat intelligent. What is more important is that he or she must have a very independent and strong mind.

I agree... traders like the action. I personally have a hard time dealing with boredom. I need to keep my mind stimulated constantly. Its good to get other things done during lunch hours to fresh up your mind.

3 years until I started seeing profits.

Yes, alot can happen from the opening to close. However ,even if the range was 10 S&P points if the market closed half a point from the open, this indicates a neutral market. Neither the bulls or the bears were victorious.

To the downside, a stock can only got to zero. To the upside, a stock can go to infinite. Although this will never happen in reality, you need to consider the possible loss when going short. Let's say you owned a stock at $1 and watched it go to zero. Your loss is $1 per stock. However, if you were short a $1 stock just to watch it go to $100, your loss is $99 per stock. This is just a simple example. I dont think any trader is stupid enough to hold onto a loss like that. The good part about shorting is that stocks tend to fall faster than they rise. Money can be made more quickly in a downtrending market if you are short than an uptrending market if you are long. People panic in fear and rush to dump a stock causing swift declines.

You say you trade the firms money.. are you a prop trader? Do you work for an investment firm? You seem to have full discretionary control of your trading capital.

lol yea i agree.

Nicely said. Practice makes perfect. There is no other teacher in trading other than experience.

Market profile works with the 30yr bonds also. I am not sure about the forex markets. This is because government policies affect the forex and price willl move because of fundamental reasons.

Thousands of hours. I think to reach peak performance, one must be actively involved in the markets day in and day out for over 6 years. Stick with your strategies and plan. Intuition will develop naturally.

Somethinng that we can all relate. Good post.

I am sure if you are good at one market, you can easily switch to a different market if it hits a dry spell. Money is made only where the action is. Gold was a very good market to be trading a few months back. I don't think you will have trouble with a dry spell if your speciality is index futures.

Forget the seminars. Spend that money in actual learning of the markets. If you interested in Forex, open a mini account and spend that money on your educational fee. Educational fee = market donation. Be prepared to lose. Once you learn not to lose, you will learn what is required to win.

Depends on your speed of learning and passion. You really need a thick skin to go through the massive pain in the early development stages. I suggest you get a mentor. That will reduce your learning curve.

Look in your trading software. It should offer a brief description of all the indicators they include. Tradestation has one.

Why don't you backtest it and obtain the data yourself? The best way is to study it, test it, and devise your own trading methods.