I almost would rather not even say, the way my method works given my average loss of X ticks I have 50 bets. So theoretically i can be wrong 50 consecutive times w/o a winner before im knocked out of the game. Sim results were very solid. When I first started out I would treat each day like it were my first day going live, after a while i said ok now its time to simulate what would be realistic once I am into a groove of things. What good did come out of the sim was that I am able to do ok even in choppy markets that cant get a trend to sustain, I would say that about 80% of the days were range days and 20% trend days. I firmly believe I will be able to capitalize off those trend days by catching as much of the trend as possible. Lets face it some days are easier than others to make money and it seemed like every day that was a trend day i was otherwise occupied. I think being able to committ to this full time without daily distractions is going to help a lot. T Minus 5 weeks till I begin.
Brent I would strongly advice waiting until after Labor Day to start. The markets often suck quite bad the last 2 weeks of August IMO.
Started the paperwork process, decided to go with greenstreet, Alarons Deep discount division. Hoping i atleast get futures trading approval, if not i am going ot have to search for someone to let me on board.
Brent, Nothing you've done will prepare you for what the market will throw at you. However, the best way to start trading is just to start trading. If you believe in yourself and have the courage of your convictions you can become a bigger success than you ever dreamt. There's trillions of dollars out there for the taking and all you have to do to get it is conquer yourself. That's what success in trading means. You will find that you are your own biggest obstacle. Until you actually put money on the line you won't know what this means but trust me you'll learn very quickly what trading is all about and how the market will do its best to fool you. Take smart entries, stick to your guns and don't get shaken out. And never ever break your money management rules (you do have those, right?). opm8
I strongly recom. sim trade using Ninja Trader, since its sim trade is way harder than real trade. If you can make it in NJ sim trade you will make it in live trade, guarantee.
I don't understand something... You were practicing on a simulator that's not your broker trading platform because your now (after using a third party simulator) preparing to open a futures account. This most likely will be problematic because a trader should always (if using a simulator) use the same platform they will be trading live with real money. An analogy is like training for the marathon when the weather is 75 *F at low altitude. However, the actual race will be at high altitude and the temperature will most likely be in the upper 80's. My point, you will need to go back to using your new broker's simulator (when you get a broker) for one purpose only... To learn their trading platform and don't let any broker sales rep try to con you via saying you can learn their program in a few days. Learning and applying it correctly (no order execution mistakes) will take several weeks for you to be confident you know what your doing during the most stressful durations of the trading day. Once you learn the platform and feel confident in using it...stop using the simulator and traverse to real money trading. Mark
Thanks for the replies. Mark that is a very good point you make and i am going to take some time to learn the SIM. For the first time in my life i am able to devote the entire day to trading. No distractions. I have used various sims all with roughly the same type of results. I am comfortable using almost any platform and placing various types of orders and making adjustments. I plan to use the CQG trader Sim as soon as I can. To the other poster, I do have money management rules in place. Thanks for your post.
Good luck to you. I was in the same situation in early May. It was rough, very rough and money was lost but then things started to turn around and once you get a handle of doing it with real money, you might have a good chance of making some serious $$$$. Once again, good luck.
Well it looks like this is going to be a headache getting this account opened. Alaron is asking for employer name and address and while i am employed now I do not work during school. I may have to look for another broker if they deny me and are unable to accomodate me. I realize my financial situation is not very good but honestly is my case any different from the guy that makes $50,000 a year but spends that entire $50,000 a year to live off of. In fact I am better off than him because i am a net saver as i consume less than i make. Hopefully Alaron is about to make accomodations for me.