Please don't categorize all people into one group. The thought had never occured to me to use the VIX specifically for what was mentioned. It was novel to me - not to you clearly - but I havn't been around for very long.
this market got me today. I really did not think that Bear Stearns would call for a conference call and whine the whole time about how they are getting plugged. I was up until about 2:00 and then proceeded to bleed away my gains from the past two days.
Congatulations on the moronic post of the year,and that is a tough task.. Without spelling it out for you,it may be an interesting exercise to incorporate the slope of the VIX as a filter in ones systems. Various elements(time frame,stops,profit targets) maybe adjusted depending on the slope or other derivative measures.. And thanks for stating the obvious regarding market direction and VIX..
Hi, Then limit your trades to three a week for now. Not a bad idea if you're trying to think of new stratagies anyway. As long as your don't day trade 4 times in a five day period, you're fine. Good luck. K
Once again though... I scale in/out and am right only 60% of the times. This will be awfully hard to even close all my positions without violating the PDT rule. On a positive note though, the market breaking down has given me plenty of signals to go short. I have no idea if we are going to be down next week, but a signal is a signal is a signal and I have to take each one.
" I feel like every trade I am in ends up being a loser." i reread the OP. i find one can get amazing insights into the psychology of the losing trader, by the words they use. police interrogators, job interviewers etc. know this as well. note: "i ***feel*** like every trade I am in..." (emphasis mine) what does he reference? his FEELINGs. traders who rely on their feelings are inevitably losing (retail) traders. a professional mindset wouldn't say this. what you should be concentrating on is what your trades are telling you. NUMBERS. RESULTS. not that you FEEL they end up being a loser. now, even a winning methodology (positive expectancy) will have strings of losers. you need to KNOW what %age of your trades are winners vs. losers. how big your winners are relative to your losers. etc. then, you don't have to FEEL you KNOW!!!
Well, if you trade for a living. You must understand by now, that there are good times and there hard times. There many different weapons to bring to the fight, somedays only a slingshot, other days a bazooka... but sometimes just a shield works best.
This is NOT a market with a clear trend. Neither clearly bullish, nor clearly bearish. Why fight it? I'm on the sidelines now, just rolling 4 week t-bills.
you don't need a "clear trend" to trade (at least if you are trading index futures) play the tape. and pick up value on the selloffs in quality stocks
Its funny how I point out some discrepancies in your knowledge base and you get offended. Its okay to get upset, however, it might be helpful for you to let go of your ego. One day when someone tells you that you need to work a little harder, you'll thank them, it will help your bottom line. For anyone that wants to get a general sense of market/vola principles, this is a good starting place: "Asset Price Dynamics, Volatility and Prediciton" by Taylor. The "Prediction" in the title means nothing more than forecasting. Mike