She also said she'd be going to the other side a month ago but she returned. If she's a trader at heart, I doubt she'll ever leave the world of speculation; she'll be back i bet.
I thought Liver made a great point talking about going to decimals. The market was switching from long term bull to serious bear market during the transition which made things even worse. To succeed in daytrading fulltime, you need a rate that is round trip = one tick. Meaning, back in the day when there were fractions one tick was .125 or 1/8. That was why so many amatuers were able to masquerade as daytraders on Ameritrade/Etrade ect. because their rate was well below the needed one-tick/one-round trip. Now, with spreads only a penny, the trader needs a rate of round trip one cent, which is very hard to get even with a sizeable account. This rate will cause days that are small losses to become break-even. and days with winners to be even bigger winners. Anyone who trades even over a 1/2 million shares a month knows what I am talking about.
I am on this thread only because of bobcathy1. Hate to see her go out and not get this thing. I'm hoping she will see my posts and see if my trading approach, as much as I'll disclose, will send her in a new, more successful direction.
Cathy feels she's had enough of mentors, and I agree. I hope she begins to let the market teach her how to trade.
I day traded the SP 500 and Nasdaq 100 on and off for about 8 years! Now, I trade stock and commodity markets on a much longer term! Days to Weeks! I've got better things to do with my time than watch 3 monitors all day long! I think that it's very difficult to stay focused and disciplined all day every day and make money consistently! 1999-2001 provided some very good opportunities to day trade (large range days). Now, the ballgame is much different with lower range days, decimalization of equities, lower commissions on e markets it seems more competitive to make money day trading equities and the mini's! Too many Big $$$ players tick "phuckin" for a 1/4 pt ($6.25) here or there in the mini's. I always get a chuckle when a newbie says he wants to day trade the mini's! Day trading those markets is a sure way to the "nut and poor" house, IMHO. "Good luck", is what I say to those who wish to conquer the mini's! Now for those who wish to "Day trade" a market, I suggest you look over at the CBOT Interest Rate products, especially the 30yr T-Bond and 10 yr T-Notes. You may find it easier, but still difficult to make money in these products. These markets provide some really nice intra-day ranges, and the tick size ( $31.25 for the 30-yr and $15.625 for the 10 yr makes it a much more attractive market to day trade verses the equity e-mini's, IMO! In the end, all I really can say based on my experiences trading many different markets and time frames is that I am doing much better personally and financially as a longer term trader! I like to follow trends! Good luck.
Oh so now you speak for cathy too? DB, go away. Let cathy decide when she's "had enough mentors" that's not for you to decide.
That's for her to say not you. She started this thread not to quit but in hopes of getting some new ideas one last time. Don't you realize this or are you really that obtuse? If you have nothing more to give her then go away.. Go complain some more to Baron or something.