Too funny. Believe it or not, I also learn from reading posts and the information here. Not so much technical but about people. OldTime, what do you trade? Price action only? You mentioned that you don't use charts but doesn't that help establish the momentum or finding a channel. Is any of that useful? I'm in no hurry to get trading. My account funded last week and I haven't even begun setting up TWS. I want to take it a day at a time and just learn. I guess I shouldn't have said I know nothing. Kind of a troll but knowing a little bit is probably worse than knowing nothing because you have just enough information to blow your account. If it's going to be at least 2 years before I make money, I plan on taking it slow. Hey, don't think for a second that the thought hasn't crossed my mine that I may be one of those "elite traders" that is successful right of the bat. I think success early on might be worse than if I had actually failed. I like what I read the other day. In the beginning worry less about how much you are going to make and be more concerned about losing the least amount you can and still stay in the game.
I took some time off from the market and just started trading a year ago. At first I just went back to trading what I always did, wheat corn and beans, but the market had changed and I was consistently losing. I had never traded forex and kept that going in my paper account and was consistently winning. Now all I trade is forex. I only use charts to see what happened when I was a sleep. foex is nice because you can trade very small min with ib is 25k (although you could trade even smaller than that if you wanted to but it is not advisable)
if you think you might have any interest in forex, there is one book I would suggest Currency Trading for Dummies. I just read it and wish I had read it a year ago.
when they invented globex, and I saw what a great deal it was for the small trader, I moved out of wheat and started trading ES exclusively. Until I had my mental breakdown. I don't trade it anymore because that's what I was trading when my wife divorced me and it reminds of those bad times. Plus, I am superstitious about it. My last ES trade involved a tremendous amount of luck and was highly successful, and I am still living off that money. I fooled around a litle bit recently with ES vs YM. I like that spread, but whenever I would leg into ES the old memories would creep back in, so I'll leave that to some new young trader.
Very very interesting. The mental breakdown; was that a result of trading or outside influences? I ask because the moment I began trading years ago I was a nightmare to be around. Always on edge and took everything out on my wife and kids. So totally unfair. As I said, I have not started doing anything but that part of me I really dread. I do not know how to control that part and leave trading at my desk and not take it elsewhere. The other problem is that I traded from home and even though I have an office, my wife and children have free rein of the area which can be an issue. Hey, if you were successful in ES, my hope for you is that you will be able to overcome the superstitious and trade in what you like and what you are successful in. Perhaps it is forex now. If though you prefer the ES or the YM, just acknowledge the past and move on. My wife also believes that everything happens for a reason. While some things do happen based on cause and effect, some things just happen for no reason. Not everything is a sign or needs to be.
What do you like more about forex than the ES? I have never traded the ES. I traded the YM. Is Forex easier or just different? I believe they both are not considered when pattern day trading so that is good. Just wondering what you like about Forex. For me, Forex has this stigma. Seems like everyone that stops playing poker starts trading the Forex. Maybe there is a reason for that but it just screams newb to me. I don't for one second consider you a newb. You have been trading for years now. Just from what I read in the forums, it seems to be popular with new investors.
when I started trading ES exclusively, my account was worth 28K. Today I would consider that extremely undercapitalized. Number one reason for failure is undercapitalization. 25k is more than enough to trade forex, because you can control size. I really think if I had to, I could make a living (if my expenses were modest) trading forex starting with 25k, as long as I didn't have an unusual string of bad luck the first year. ib is a good broker for forex. so you already have 2 out of 3.
I appreciate the kind words, but I am not the charlatan known as T6A. The REAL original Stealth Trader.