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MrPaul

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Posts posted by MrPaul

  1. Posted

    Just a quick thread to talk about opening outside of value but within range. The ER today was the winner of the "Action Award". Everything else was slow as all heck.

     

    Notice how we opened outside of value, but within the range from Friday, and then we auctioned lower. It did take a little while to get to the value area, but when we entered it, it was a signal that we may in fact trade through it to the VAL pivot. Whenever we have an opening outside of value and we trade back to the value area and into it, there's a good probability of it trading through the value area. We had almost a 4 point value area in the ER, or 400 dollars per contract. That was reached in a little over 2 hours.

     

    Just another good thing to watch out for when watching MP levels.

     

    Thanks for the post Tin! I was reflecting on that same concept today, very interesting to say the least...A great method to employ.:cool:

  2. Posted

    MrPaul, you mentioned e-mini futures. Would you mind elaborating on this comment?

     

    I am interested ever since you talked about e-mini's in another thread. I think it would be good for me, MPBigley and other new traders to understand the differences; the pros and cons. Thanks...

     

    Sure I would be glad to help,

     

    Here is a short presentation on e-mini trading from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and another website with other video links:

     

    Trading E-mini Stock Index Futures

     

    http://www.teachmefutures.com/archive.asp

     

    If you have anymore questions after that ask away!

  3. Posted

    I recently came upon this website and forum and have found it to be a great learning tool and resource. A couple of questions for any of you seasoned traders when you have some free time. I've been a short term and long term investor for some time (about seven or eight years now) and have always wanted to dabble or day trade. I've read quite a few books in the last three years on the subject. I tend to be a good short term and long term investor, but I fully understand this is a totally different animal. I'm willing to pay some 'tuition' in learning the trade and perhaps find a way to make a living doing something I've always enjoyed. In the next year I will have an equity account that approaches around 100K to begin to trade. I have accounts at AMTD and also Scottrade. Fine for what I do, but in looking into day trading I realize I'll need a much stronger platform. Best choices available? In the next year I am going to 'paper' trade. I've followed about 50 equity symbols for the last few years some liquid enough to daytrade and some not. I'm comfortable trading stocks. Is it more important to trade stocks you follow closely and know or seek out momemtu.m each hour, day, week, month? Of the fifty I mentioned above, I probably know twenty like the back of my hand, trading patterns, the business, the expectations, the growth patterns, and business cycles. I would be comfortable enough trading them, and have been, just not on a day to day basis. Is 100k account enough to survive, paying some learning tuition and perhaps turn a decent years profit? I'm not going to quit my 'day' job until I can prove to myself I can stand on my own two feet. Thanks for responses, and thanks for the resource of information here.

     

    MPBigley

     

    Well first off welcome to the forums MPBigley!

     

    I don't know if I'm seasoned quite yet, perhaps still marinating :p . I can throw out a few answers none the less.

     

    As far as your broker is concerned you might want to look into direct access brokers for intraday trading, those such as Interactive Brokers, Tradestation, Thinkorswim, MBTrading etc.

     

    As far as it being more important to know the companies you trade, thats ehh..up to debate really. Some folks don't mind the alerts and the scanning etc. some loathe it (like me, although I only day trade index futures). The other things mentioned don't really apply to intra day trading imo, thats more of a swing approach. Day trading is more about psychology and hardcore technical analysis.

     

    100k is more than enough, really. If I were you I might even take 65k and put it in a money market account and start with 35k (you'll need at least 25k to meet pattern day trader status)

     

    Most of all, be patient with yourself, day trading is hard. Focus on execution of your trades, your money management, and your mind first. Profits come from those things. Stick around here and you'll find more than enough people to help you with those aspects.

     

    Have you looked into e mini day trading at all? They do offer advantages over stocks.

     

    Hope that helps a bit, if you have anymore questions feel free to keep askin'!

  5. Posted

    Hey everyone,

     

    I was thinking since tommorow is Martin Luter King Jr. day and the markets are closed, those of us who have some free time might want to have a casual chat session regarding different market conditions etc. Perhaps even a Q&A on some topics now that we have chart posting enabled...

     

    I'll be in the chat starting 9ish EST:cool:

  7. Posted

    I have made a couple of observations lurking around this forum.

    -Most trade e-minis not stocks

    -Most trade one e-mini and not the others.

     

    What are the pros and cons of trading the YM vs ES vs ER2?

    -Is one more profitable?

    -Is one easier (more predictable) to trade?

    - Or is it just personal preference?

     

    Buck

     

    Hey ryounkin,

     

    I would also say that it all comes down to preference.

     

    the YM is a great income producing contract

     

    the ER2 is good for big profits, but you gotta use really good M Management

     

    The NQ is kinda, eh just not my style

     

    the ES is a sideways market most of the time i think, allot of big hitters in that market.

     

    I tend to watch them all during the day though, see what kind of ebb and flow the universe of indexes is having for the day.

  8. Posted

    Cool. I figure I prolly won't get audited for 3 months worth of trading...

     

    You recommend doing a hometown accountant? Or something like a big box H&R Block or something?

     

    I use a local guy, he's not a powerhouse or anything but he's smart and really good at what he does. I used turbotax and him to compare he maximized my deductions and got me 2.5x what turbo tax estimated.

  11. Posted

    On average, not even one. I'm just learning. I've been using ScotTrade but just got approved by TS to get going on their platform. I'm sure I will trade more but I have to watch out not to do 4 round trips within a five day period.

     

     

     

    I don't have that much money, yet. My plan is to learn the ropes while I slowly build up my account. I've had some luck trading and have a better than average understanding of what's going on but still have a long way to go.

     

    My first goal is to learn to choose winning trades consistantly with 100-300 shares or so with stocks from $2-$10. Next would be to average more than 5000 shares traded in a 1 month period so that the TS platform fees would be eliminated.

     

    If I can get over those hurdles, I should be able to build my account up pretty quick and will jump in with both feet. My focus now is carefully learning as much as I can and have successful trades. Once I able to do that I will worry about the money.

     

    Welcome to the forums Robert!

     

    You know, if you trade emini's there is no pattern day trader regulations? they also have better tax treatment than equities.

     

    Something to look into if you are interested...

     

    If you have any questions feel free to ask, everyone is here to help :cool:

  12. Posted

    Got this in an email today, looks interesting

     

    The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT®) today announced plans to launch a new stock index futures contract based on the Dow JonesSM U.S. Real Estate Index. The electronically-traded Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate (DJUSRE) Index futures contract, to be launched during the first quarter of 2007, will allow market participants to capitalize on changes in the real estate sector of the stock market, and better manage commercial real estate exposure.

     

    The new contract, to be launched under a licensing agreement between the CBOT and Dow Jones, will settle to the value of the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index, an index comprised primarily of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). REIT securities serve as an accurate proxy for the underlying U.S. commercial real estate market because lease rates, vacancies, development costs and property transaction values are all reflected in REIT share prices.

     

    Robert D. Ray, Senior Vice President of Business Development at the CBOT said, “Commercial real estate remains one of the largest classes of tradable assets not currently served by an exchange-traded futures instrument. We developed this contract after researching the U.S. commercial real estate market and conducting various conversations with real estate portfolio managers and pension funds who seek new avenues for managing the risks associated with property ownership. Moreover, since the underlying instrument is an equity index, it also provides investors with an efficient means to express their views on movements in the real estate market, with the added advantages of transparency, leverage, liquidity and the ability to more efficiently short the market.â€Â

     

    According to Michael A. Petronella, President, Dow Jones Indexes, “The Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index is a transparent and rules-based tool to measure the performance of a U.S.-based real estate equity portfolio. As a benchmark recognized by commercial real estate owners and foreign investors seeking exposure to U.S. real estate markets, this index is an ideal underlying for a futures contract."

     

    The new DJUSRE Index futures contract will trade on the CBOT electronic trading platform from 6:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. CT (the following day), Sunday through Friday. The contract, which will be settled in cash, has a value equal to $100 multiplied by the value of the DJUSRE Index. The CBOT is also creating a market maker program for the new DJUSRE Index futures contract to ensure a two-sided market will be available to market participants.

     

    For additional information on the DJUSRE Index futures contract, please click here.

  17. Posted

    Thanks ant, and I definitely will be keeping it up :)

     

    And yes, if we can break through that area...here we come 300! Aren't bearish times more exciting than those bull days of yesteryear?

     

    Thanks for the volume profile, definitely appreciate it!

     

    fear is more fun to trade than greed:cool:

  18. Posted

    Excellent article. Looking forward to reading his latest book, "Enhancing Trading Performance".

     

    I highly recommend it. The one thing that struck me the most about his new book is how seriously he takes the trading profession. He drills these points allot...

     

    * Finding a Niche – Identifying a performance field that takes maximum advantage of your skills, talents, and interests;

    * Deliberative Practice – Rehearsing skills in increasingly realistic settings to prepare for the challenges of actual performance;

    * Constant Feedback – Intensive review of performance to identify strengths and weaknesses, so that you can capitalize on the former and address the latter.

     

    Anyone knows his work compared to Elder or Mark Douglas? Any difference at all?

     

    In my opinion Elder will tell you about the gamblers and amateurs vs. the experienced professional. Douglas will tell you in a somewhat abstract way why many people fail at trading, Dr. Brett Lets you know the hows and why's.:D

  23. Posted

    TraderFeed: Three Pieces of Trading Wisdom

     

     

    Over the years, I've been the fortunate recipient of much good trading advice and wisdom from those far more experienced in the markets than me. Here are three gems that have stood me in good stead in up markets, down ones, and everything in between:

     

    1) Focus on being profitable for the week - Individual trades may go against you and individual trading days can offer little opportunity. As a senior trader once explained to me, for the active trader, however, there are enough fresh opportunities in a week to make it reasonable to set a goal of being profitable for the week. You won't reach your goal every single week, but the mere act of setting the goal keeps you focused. For example, you don't want to lose so much money in a single day that you can't make it back during the other days of the week. You also don't want to lose so much money on a single trade that you can't come back during the remainder of the day. When you really push yourself to be profitable every week, you don't let individual days get away from you. And when you don't let individual days get away from you, you start managing each trade carefully to ensure that your largest loss won't exceed your largest gain. Time and again I've seen a consistent sign of progress among developing traders: they stop digging themselves into holes.

     

    2) Take what the market gives you - Today I peeled out of several short positions after a spate of very negative TICK readings in the afternoon. I've learned that such concentrated selling often precedes nasty short-covering rallies. My S&P position hadn't made as much profit as my NASDAQ and Russell positions, but the market doesn't care about that. I took what the market gave me and started the week green. Did the market go down even further after I exited? Absolutely. As one experienced trader explained to me, when the market rewards your position right off the bat, you want to take something off the table. You might let a piece of your position ride if you have a longer-term opinion, but never give green a chance to become red. A winner that turns into a loser is a double loss.

     

    3) Always have something to "lean on" - Scalpers will notice heavy and persistent selling at a certain tick, accompanied by large offers in the order book. They'll lean on that information to find a good entry to sell the market. If the offers disappear from the book or if new buyers start lifting those offers in size, they can get out quickly. Knowing you have something to lean on, however, allows you to ride out the noise between entry and exit. As long as what you're leaning on doesn't vanish, you stay with your idea. Today I leaned on the inability of the Russell to make new highs on Friday. When we got some morning buying, but could not break above the early AM highs (and also above Friday's highs), I added to my shorts and vowed to stay short unless we broke the highs with expanded buying. Leaning on the pattern of Russell weakness enabled me to stick with a good trade idea during a choppy morning.

     

    So let's restate the pieces of wisdom in reverse order:

     

    1) Before you put your capital at risk, have a well-formed trade idea;

    2) When your idea pays you out quickly, take some profits;

    3) Don't get caught up in individual trades; focus on profitability over a series of trades and days.

     

    I know, I know. These things sound ridiculously simple. But it's only been in the last couple of years that I can look myself in the mirror and say that I'm doing all three consistently. The spinning reverse dunks get the attention in basketball; the long touchdown pass makes the evening replays; and the big winning trades are the ones we like to talk about. The greater part of success, however, boils down to Xs and Os on the basketball court; blocking and tackling on the football field; and following basic fundamentals about framing and managing trades. It may not be sexy to execute on the fundamentals, but it gets the job done day after day and builds a career.

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