Hlm

I agree, most true daytraders I know that were in the markets back then did not get hurt. For most of them it was quite the opposite. A day trader cares about volatility and will trade in either direction. I believe that many of the professionals that did go broke were highly leveraged in positions longer than a day. The whole "it can't go lower, buy more" concept. However, most non-trading baby boomers I have met will use the word "daytrader" when talking about all the people that went broke. Maybe someone with more market experience (ie older ) can give some insight.

If you are looking for the values take a look HERE. Just click on the "Value Areas and Point of Control" thread. It's usually updated late in the evening or early in the morning.

Yep, it does get annoying to have to break messages up with "..." all the time. I would guess that it's just a simple setting. In this type of chat environment I would highly doubt it would be abused. Of course if it lags down the server or becomes a problem, we can always shorten it again.

This brings up a good point. Maybe it appears that 80% is psychological because +80% of traders are over leveraged. If that "$10 million" (I assume it's MY 10 million) was the correct % of my total wealth, I would not trade it differently. If the money was not mine it would depend on how leveraged the lender is and their expectations. The problems people have with scaling (psychological wise) usually comes from not keeping everything even across the board. As for my thoughts on the whole topic...I do believe that there is a decent room for psychology, but I do not feel that it's as high as 80% when you are talking about finding an actual edge (if you remove the highly leveraged gamblers ).

I will post some pics after I knock out a couple more stages which should be within the next month.

Ah yes, the touch but no fill game. The best thing is when the market touches your target...pulls back...you take profit several ticks lower thinking you missed your target...and no more than a few seconds after you exit the market runs past your target. I always enjoy those and get a good laugh. Hey, if you can't have fun with what you're doing then maybe you are in the wrong business. Create a statistically sound plan and stick to it.

They just added another interesting feature over at finviz. Now you can get "live market coverage through various news and blogs feeds". To read more about it click HERE.

Sorry to hear that.

Have you ever heard the quote "Trend is your Friend"? At that point I would just wait on the sidelines. If you want to look for a short you would make your middle time frame the highest and add another time frame below your lowest and see if you have a setup in the opposite direction. This will give you a correct idea of the risk/reward you should be looking for. In my opinion, when traders are first starting out they should remove "counter-trend" from their mind. They should try to think of everything as "trends". It's all about the theory of fractals...the same setup, different time frames, different sizes.

Hey atto, I just saw that your analysis got mentioned on the 7/17/08 SnP500Trader video located HERE. It starts around 1:15.

First of all I did NOT see smwinc's, TradeRunner's, or MC's response when I first posted. I would of obviously not have made a comment about the links. It appears that atto did not see them as well. Is this some kind of bug? Over the years I have learned a great amount from unsuccessful traders. Many times people come up with excellent concepts or create interesting tools, but don't have the right knowledge to correctly and successfully use them. However, other individuals that are at a different level of understanding may have a use. You also have the reality that just because one individual can't trade a system, it doesn't mean someone else can't...and the other way around. Most successful traders I know are not against helping people for free. The problem is that most newbies want their instant riches via the holy grail. The reality is that most newbies can be showed exactly how to trade but they still end up screwing things up in the long run. This quickly burns out a big portion of the successful traders. And obviously you are not going to find anyone posting code to their black boxes since what motivation do they have. Trading has learning stages just like a child. In order to become successful you must progress through them all. Some individuals progress faster than others, while most just give up before the finish line.

One more thing to add (for now )... Your time frames do not have to all be tick charts. By mixing up the type of time frames, you can add extra insight and checks and balances to what's going on. An example is as follows... Smallest(Entry) - Tick Chart (21-144 depending on instrument) Middle(Formation) - Time Chart (3min or 5min) Largest(Bias) - Market Profile Value Areas

Absolutely correct. However, that doesn't mean it can't be done or at least assisted with MA's or indicators. Especially if you take a more advanced approach and are watching/measuring several different instruments to take the opportunity on the one with the highest probability and best risk/reward structure.

Also, in my opinion all of jperls threads on Market Statistics are worth reading. They are some of the most organized, detailed, and informative threads I have seen on any trading forum. They are also quite unique. Note: If you want to link to all threads started by a user, go to their profile, click on statistics, and copy the url for "Find all threads started by". This url should contain a user id that does not change. When clicked, it goes through the search process and then comes up with a temporary search id which you DON'T want to link to.

Note: I DO NOT condone using averaged indicator systems without first understanding the raw ebb and flow of the market. However, the question was asked so I will proceed cautiously with an answer. The theory behind momentum trading is that one enters in areas of least resistance between different time frames. This increasing directional bias with the alignment of time frames gives a skilled momentum trader the ability to enter on a small time frame (using it's small stop) and exiting on a larger time frame (using it's profit). I agree with BlowFish's comment about the time frames being a little more than four times each other. I use an easy system that uses fib numbers to determine time frames. For example.... Fibs: 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597 So if I wanted my main chart (pull back pattern) to be 144ticks, my entries would be on the 34tick and my main bias/trend/targets would be on the 610tick. I just put two fib numbers in between my trading time frames. As for moving averages, I am not against them and have a use for them...but be warned that you must understand what information they can and cannot give you. I know some very successful traders that use moving average systems. However, every single one of them can trade without them. If you ask them why they use them their answer will be along the lines of "Do you not own or use a calculator? Why not just do it by hand?" Their point being that one can possibly get better results, depending on trading style/strategy of course, by increasing their speed and efficiency in the data mining process. However, you first must have the knowledge to separate the bad data from the good in the process. I have not used a Hull Moving Average past some simple back testing (ie no live trading). My rule of thumb is SMA's for Time Charts and EMA's for Tick/Volume Charts. There are a couple of ways to look at moving averages. You can read the time frames based off of turns, crosses, or bounces. One thing to take notice is that many times the market will pick one or two moving averages and use it as S/R for the morning or possibly the whole day. Now which moving averages to use you ask? Well the best way to figure that out when first studying is screen time - screen time - screen time. Throw up a few variations of fib numbers and watch them across the three time frames. Where is price bouncing? What happens when the MA's cross? What happens when they get spread out? What happens when a larger MA is broken with force? What happens when price gets squeezed in between several MA's? Then go a step further and try to answer "why". These are the questions you should be asking yourself. You were asking about entries...well, I will quickly show a simple system based off of MA crossings (again, I do not necessarily condone using). Take the time frames above and throw up...lets say...a 13ema and 55ema. So to put simply, for a long to take place the 13ema has to be above the 55ema on ALL of the charts. What you look for is first the cross on the 610t chart. This shows the bias is up. Next step is to wait for the 13ema to pull back on the 144t chart. This is the start of your continuation pattern. Finally comes the entry point which is the up crossing of the 13ema on the 34t chart. You could also add a 5-3-3 stochastic to each chart and use it as a filter by only taking a trade when the stochastic is pointed in the correct direction on all charts. Now what about those consolidation areas you ask? Look at the chart, do you see anything interesting? What happens a lot of times when price gets in between the 13ema and 55ema on the 610t (trend/bias) chart. Many times we get consolidation in this area because that's where you have many time frames (forces) coming together and trying to transition/decide direction. If you add the missing fib numbers in between it may also become more clear. In my opinion this is one "legit" way to use moving averages. Moving averages can be a good way to estimate potential consolidation and volatility. Targets can be obtained from many places. Maybe a turning of a stochastic or a break/test of the 13ema on the 610t. One could also throw up much larger fib numbers on the 610t to see if there are time frames that we may be heading towards to test. Note: Again, this is just a very simple example. I do not condone trading such a system without first understanding exactly what you are looking at. I will leave this topic on a note about combining everything into one chart. Depending on your strategy this may or may not be a good idea. For example, you could combine all the moving averages on to the 34 tick chart. However, sometimes you then get too much information with the bigger time frames. A moving average on a 610 may never show the slight dip that an equivalent moving average on the 34 tick does. This could be a good or bad thing. That's just something to keep in the back of your mind. I hope this gives a very basic insight to multiple time frame trading using averaged indicators.

The last two were search strings over at forexfactory.com

Another way to look at it is that Matlab could be an answer for those that... want their own charting software. want full control over their software. don't want to worry about software updates. don't want to worry about uncontrollable bugs. don't want to build completely from scratch. want the ability to work with large amounts of data efficiently. have no problem with getting a little dirty. Those are some just off the top of my head. Again, it's not for everyone.

Matlab is in between C++/C#/VB/etc and your charting software when it comes to ease of use and efficiency. If you do it in C++ then there is more manual labor involved. If you have worked with analyzing large amounts of data with both you will understand what I mean. It is many times used as a testing ground before programmed in another language (if needed). In Matlab you have less boundaries than most charting software in such things as advanced data mining, analysis, datafeeds, etc. If you have no intention of needing this then just stick with your current charting software. There are plenty of programs out there that do automatic trading and give you the ability to insert some of your own code. As with trading, ask first what you don't have and need, then go looking for it. Many people get in trouble because they put the cart before the horse.

I guess the real question is what indicators are you wanting that were not found in the toolbox, newsgroup, or file exchange? Also, the majority of indicators are fairly simple to write in a program such as Matlab. Put simply, if you are wanting a nice charting platform with a large amount of indicators then just use one of the many charting platforms out there. Matlab is geared more towards those that don't mind getting their hands dirty and doing some of the manual work in exchange for very few boundaries.

If you are looking for a quick way to mimic your current charting platform, the Financial Toolbox would be a good start. However, it requires the Optimization and Statistics Toolbox. This toolox has many indicators and also simplifies the charting process. Again one must just read through the product list and look at the specifics of the toolboxes of interest. I would urge anyone to first make a list of required items and then do the research to find the ways that they can be obtained.

Hardware requirements pretty much depend on the type of analysis you will be doing and if it's time critical or not. Matlab itself does not require much (actual requirements HERE). It shouldn't need more than any other charting software. By nature you may be doing more advanced calculations across a larger amount of data, which then the amount of time required to accomplish a task will be directly related to your processing power. Also, it depends on how your program within Matlab. If you use standard loops instead of vectors it may go slower unless compiled. This is an interesting topic that I have had with several people. It's just like my feeling towards using indicators...find out exactly what information you need, and then look for the indicator that gives you that information. And many times you can't find exactly what you want so you have to build your own. The same can be said with toolboxes. I do own a few of them, but with my current project I am not using any of them. You have to imagine that they would mention as many as they could in the webinar since that's their business. I would figure out what you specifically need and then search the newsgroup and file exchange for answers. However, if you want to know a couple of the popular ones, I would say the Optimization and Statistics Toolbox. I hope that helps some.

Yes, much of it depends on how you decide to organize data for your needs be it within the database itself or having separate files.

The main reason why MySQL is being used is because I am very familiar with it and my programming friend and I have been using it with other projects for years. MySQL can work with a lot of data if done correctly, but if you are looking at storing years of raw tick/volume data without splitting up files it may be beneficial to go with hdf5. To be honest I don't know much about hdf5. I guess I will add that research to my todo list.

Well, it depends on what you are looking for in your charting software. Retail charting platforms are great for when you are first learning and want to look around and experiment. Once you figure out and decide on what exactly you need to become consistently profitable, you should carry those over to the new platform. Of course I mean for only those that want/need such an environment (not for everyone). Since I am still in the process of moving completely over to Matlab, I am still using SierraChart to take care of my data storage. In SierraChart there is a study called "Worksheet Study/System/Alert" where it uses DDE to constantly update an open Excel file with x amount of data (drops last bar when new one added). If you want multiple time frames you just add the study to another chart with the same Workbook name and it will automatically place it in the second Sheet. This is nice since only one Excel file has to be open. Sample Excel Data from SierraChart... ESU8 144 tick - #1 Date Time Open High Low Last Volume #of Trades 39640.67705 1239.75 1239.75 1239.50 1239.75 625 56 39640.67689 1239.75 1240.00 1239.50 1239.75 1965 144 39640.67662 1239.50 1240.00 1239.50 1240.00 2849 144 39640.67626 1240.00 1240.25 1239.50 1239.50 2106 144 39640.67601 1240.00 1240.25 1239.50 1240.00 2398 144 39640.67572 1240.75 1241.00 1240.00 1240.00 2873 144 At which point you can grab in Matlab with... ExcelFile = ddeinit('excel','c:\data.xls:Sheet1'); ExcelData = ddereq(ExcelFile, 'r4c1:r8c7'); %started with r4 because r3 isn't completed yet To check for new data you could do something like... CurrentTime = ddereq(ExcelFile, 'r4c1'); if CurrentTime ~= LastTime i=1; while(CurrentTime ~= LastTime) NewData = ddereq(ExcelFile, ['r4c1:r' num2str(i+4) 'c7']); CurrentTime = NewData(end,1); i = size(NewData, 1); end LastTime = NewData(1,1); OldData = vertcat(NewData(1:end-1,, OldData); %adds new data Note: I'm currently not on my Matlab workstation so code above is just a quick example and not necessarily efficient or error free. One can also grab from Excel using ActiveX if you don't want to use DDE. Everything is well documented on their site. That is one of my summer projects I am currently working on. I will be using MySQL. The great thing about Matlab is that there is an abundance of information on their site under the Newsgroup and File Exchange sections. I am currently automating one strategy that has multiple filtering and analysis steps. Being able to have full control of how data is analyzed and manipulated without boundaries is a big reason why I started using Matlab.

If your current data feed can output live to excel then you should have no problem. Matlab can grab data quickly and efficiently from an opened (via DDE/ActiveX) or saved excel file. It takes literally just a few lines of code to check, grab, and add new data from excel to a database. Of course there are other ways to accomplish the same task. The price is pretty steep unless A) You are a student or B) You have a decent income. For awhile now I have done all my back testing and system building in Matlab. However, just recently I have started transferring all my charting over to it. It wasn't my original plan, but at the moment it seems to be the best (only time will tell). My current plan is to be fully charted with Matlab by the fall.