You are. First of all, numbers are not numbers when comparing sim to live. And Futures are not FOREX when it comes to capital requirements and "lot sizes". And brokers are not brokers when it comes down to a comparison between the two. So how much money do you "think" you need to trade 10 YM contracts, and which broker would you be using? That makes a WORLD of difference there, for sure.
Overnight, I am not the noob you might think I am, and I do know the difference between all of those things. I know futures is not forex, I know the capital requirements for futures trades ($6,610 for 1x contract of /YM thru TDAmeritrade), and I know the difference between market orders and limit orders. Through TDA, I would need $61,600 in margin to live trade the 10 contracts I paper traded today. I like TDA, but I know there are other brokers out there, and I have not yet compared margin requirements for all. Today I used market orders to trade /YM starting at 23,892, made 7 quick trades as the Fed announcement slammed $DJI down. I know limit orders are more accurate in fill price, and I do not care about a tick here and there with slippage using market orders as I was able to get in 7 quick trades in 5 minutes as the Dow tanked. All I wanted was for someone to look at a set of trades I made and tell me if it looked right. But I can see I do not stand a chance against all the veteran traders on this forum, so thanks for the contribution and I will try to delete this post and move on.
Are you sure? It is not in their margin handbook...Are you SURE that is how it works there? https://www.tdameritrade.com/retail-en_us/resources/pdf/AMTD086.pdf
Post up your log here and people will comment.. You are kind of making a big deal out of it..just upload it. do you want people on this forum to beg you to see your paper trades? i will tell you what i think right now.. paper trding isn't real and what you did during the fed meeting you might not or probably wouldn't have done if real. everything looks great on paper.. INCLUDING new businesses that are not TRADING. and they still fail. I want you to succeed we all do but paper trading is the easiest way to ruin. open a pike micro fx account for like 300 to 500 bucks and trade your system for real on that paltform and see how you do first since it is LIVE. everyone should be trading micro FX instead of paper other wise you are leaving out the most important equation= YOU and your emotions.. obviously your paper trades must be pretty good right.. so what do you need us for other than to tell you.. tell you what go get a revolve. a 6 shooter.. make sure it is empty okay.. now point it at the wall and pull the trigger? were you scared? nope.. now put in 1 round and point it at the wall.. I bet you don't pull the trigger...now put in 3.. 50/50 chance .. i bet you are scared of getting in trouble or that it might go off huh.. see that is REAL versus PAPER. Good luck
I created a thread about sim journals ~two weeks ago, post them there maybe? https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/the-bs-sim-journal-add-your-own-bs.327728/
Wow you guys are harsh. I have done live forex trading so I am well past the emotional stage. Not at all going to find some third-rate forex broker and open a crappy little account. I did fairly well with live forex, but just wanted some help with futures. I was just trying to ask if anyone wanted to see a couple of days worth of paper trades, not asking to get my ass handed to me. Jeez, take a pill dude. I'm not going to load up my .38 and aim it an any wall to teach me how to live trade, wtf are you thinking? I am new here and did not know you simply post something for people to comment on, so would it have killed you to just explain that calmly? I guess you-all just love ripping new people to shreds because you are all such wonderful humans. OK, I get it, I am an idiot, you-all have made your f-ing point. Last time I will waste any more of your precious pro trading time. I guess for some people, just posting a decent, helpful answer is not in their wheelhouse.
I'm an astute observer of posts, and I can tell you that NOBODY who has ever posted on this forum has ever proffered that they were a "pro" trader"", that I have seen. Believe it or not, we are trying to help you avoid problems and pitfalls. It is an interesting addiction, isn't it?
P.S. I just noticed...Because of all the scrolling I do on this forum with the mouse-wheel (on Win platform), it is now squeaking. It takes a LOT of mouse-wheel scrolling to get the graphite lube to wear away to the point the mouse-wheel squeaks! MS lasermouse, too!
I get that. Seems the tone is pretty rough, not at all necessary or helpful. Some people just get off on cutting others down. This has turned into a garbage fire, and all I wanted was someone to be congenial and offer to look at a few of my trades, I did not know you post it first and let everyone pick them apart. I have very thick skin but will never waste time on forums like this when there are many out there with people willing to help each other without insulting them. I cannot delete this post as far as I know, so I am checking out, not following it, so no need to continue posting anything. Apparently cannot delete my account either, so you guys can just keep pounding away, have a ball.
There is a reason for this... You have gone from trading FX to YM futures at a very bad time, and come here looking for advice on what you may have been doing right/wrong or what you may have been missing. You caught a lucky break on a down move with Powell's comments today. The tone is rough because Futures since early Oct will mess you up bad. Looking at the entries and exits you made on a day like today is pointless, because how would you have fared when the market did not move, period? I do not think one can go from FX to Futures and expect to have the same grasp on the problems involved. No insult intended Mr. Klingon. Where is that thick skin, and the warrior in you? Wanting to take on the futures world? Ease back man, and realize that your sim results mean totally nothing. You MUST understand this. It is VITAL to your survival in the world of the real.