Use stops,if the trade goes your way just keep chasin it with a stop, if u get stopped out u can always get back in, the way this mrkt is acting u need to use them anyway, just for a safety net,takes a lot of the anxiety out of the trade, allows u to relax a little and think more clearly, sounds like yor just gambling, this aint vegas so dont plan on losin that 10g like it was vacation money,take your time and learn how to trade, the commissions can eat u up too,so dont overtrade. On your indicators, i use the macd histogram and slow stoch,and i use a 3-5 minute chart and constantly draw channels,i start with a day chart draw support and res lines, then change it to 30 ,draw some more lines, and then draw the little channels on the 5 min or 3, usually use the 3 min for the last hour, i dont trade between 11 and 1 cst,its slow and i get fooled a lot, so i just stop at 11 and restart at 1, the lines set up a lot and give u plenty of chances to trade, when they dont u just work on yor discipline, the trades u dont take are trades too, trades that u didnt lose any money on.....good luck
hey, ammo, and everyone else, really appreciate the comments. ammo: I know i referenced poker in my first post, but i wasn't trying to say this is like going to vegas on a vacation. When i play poker, I don't gamble, I play the odds, and I win through discipline and NOT taking crazy gambles. That's the edge i think I have over someone who is completely new to this sort of game. I have taken huge hits to my bank account, and i know what it used to feel like. I would feel like shit after taking a few hits, and sometimes chased my losses. But that was the learning curve I had to go through, and soon I started winning and I could make cool decisions even under losses. I'll admit the first trading day was pretty shitty, in fact the first week. But this week, I'm trading 1 contract, picking my spots, and letting profits ride as long as I feel they can. And, by your suggestion, I'll try stops tomorrow. I know I should be using them. Thats the biggest leak in my game right now, not cutting losses when I should. edit: Ammo, btw, my only loss today was trading in that fucked up time frame right at lunch, when the market turned. I'm considering not trading during lunch hours until I understand it more
good luck pal...I'll posting some of my strategy to my thread...so check it out and let me know if anything.
thanks, supervol. holy crap, caught a HUGE dip in the Hang Seng tonight. HSI Feb Short 24050, Close 23923 +$806 Okay, now it feels like vegas :eek:
vol, i use Interactive Brokers, so i'm not sure. but i saw on TS you have to pay for all your data feeds, so you probably have to pay for the hong kong feed, and i think the tokyo data feed to get the nikkei and hang seng. i trade them free with IB, hongkong is free. and i use the singapore exch to trade the nikkei, cause i get the sg data feed free too
Traded the narrow range before lunch, got a few ticks. Short 12264 Close 12271 Short 12259 Close 12257 Short 12280 Close 12267 Long 12269 Close 12275 +52.96 after comm. Waiting for the fed minutes, and hopefully find a trade or two more.
completely broke my rules today, let a short trade ride until afterhours. still unable to cut losses short. Total 5 trades today, lost 201 for the day. Balance currently at $10,122.75 from $10K. kind of angry at myself. going to force myself to use 8 or 10pt stops tomorrow and see how that goes.
Completely fustrated today, traded the Hang Seng last night and got hammered for 900 and change. Chased the market down today, 32 round turns, took in 800 after commissions. Beginning balance 10,000 Current balance 9,867 (-133) Went out of my bounds and shorted 3 contracts at the last 1/2hr and took in 600. That reeeally relieved me alot. Sigh, i can see how people fail in this, i know i should not be trading but i can't stop