Hey guys, Tomorrow (11/1/07) will be my first day going live trading futures (YM). I've been studying the markets for a couple of years now and decided about a year ago that I want to make a living by trading. I've spent months preparing by paper trading, reading ET posts, reading books and just overall being obsessed with learning the markets. I won't be trading full-time due to college classes and a job but I'm confident I'll have enough access in order to give myself some kind of a chance at being profitable. I'm basically starting this thread to ask for any advice you might have for me...other than have realistic expectations because I've already accepted the fact that theres a good chance I might lose my initial deposit. Thanks!
Nothing like a trial by fire to see what you're really made of. Welcome to the big leagues kid! My advice, don't ever trade more then one contract until you've proven, as indicated by your daily P&L, that you can make money!
Thanks mschey. One of my goals is to keep it simple and safe by trading 1 contract at a time. I'm more concerned with trying to stay on the right side of trades while dealing with the emotions of having real money at risk rather than trying to quickly make money. I think I have all of the popular newbie mistakes to avoid drilled into my head by now. Do you guys find that it's distracting to think about trading in a monetary sense? Is it better to think of ticks as just ticks rather than as cash?
Good luck to you Drew, I just started as well! Very hard to trade with my schedule right now, but I need to learn the ropes somehow. Only down -$59.30 right now so I'd say I'm doing pretty well - all things considered. The things I have learned so far have been well worth sixty bucks. I'm going to continue just trading one contract until I feel confident to move on. I feel very confident about being able to break even in the mean time. I've been ghosting these forums and watching the markets for the last year or two also. I started a Roth IRA a few years back and it somehow got me extremely interested in the markets. I have so much to learn, but what better way than trial by fire?
Drew, I will give you a few pieces of advice if you follow them you will do better once screen time is at the thousands of hours. If the trend is up, buy low sell high, do not short if the trend is up. If the trend is down, short high cover low, do not buy if the trend is down. If no obvious trend, sit on the sidelines, patience is rewarded in trading. If price is chopping you will only trade for your broker. Do not call tops because no one can do it consistently. Do not call bottoms because no one can do it consistently. Do not use big stops, if stopped out you have the luxury of re-entry assuming the trend is still intact and you were stopped out due to noise. Become an expert on price not on indicators, in fact don't use any but bars, trend lines, support or resistance. You will not beat this game unless you allow the runners to run, price has a much easier time going through previously known areas, new territories should be treated with respect and only for examination. Try to stay out of breakout areas, the in between is far easier to trade because price will either go to support or resistance and in the middle they are clear and rarely unknown. Protect your capital at all cost, protect your profits but be very greedy when you are right. Don't you ever move your stops unless it is to secure profits. Small losses are inevitable and very much required to succeed, large ones your doom. Risk management at all times. Go find your edge and do not fall prey to indicators price is and always will be king. It speaks in highs and lows, listen to him, he owns the market. Learn about reversal patterns and look for them at major support and resistance areas. Multiple confirmations on entries are the key to accuracy nevertheless this game is not about being right but about making money. Use two charts, one for a clear understanding of the main trend, if any, and one for low risk good reward entry. Buy the following books: Trading in the Zone by Douglas Trading Chart Patterns by Suri Duddella Good luck, if you make it, you will be an exception but impossible it is not. Anek
Yeah Drew listen to Anek. He will cut your time in learning the eminis by about 2 years. Thats if you really work extremely hard. Just read the AHG journal here at least two times all the way thru. And take notes on it . Also, be sure to have handy the use of that Simulator. In my opinion any decently intelligent and analytical person can become successful in eminis with just a 5k account. However, to do this you MUST trade with 1 contract until you can have at least 3 months of solid profitability. the thing is you just need to survive as long as you can and learn before you run out of money and blow up. Thats the key !!And to do this you will constantly need to be switching back and forth with Sim. and Live when you start losing at the beginning during the learning stages. Dont be in a rush to learn. With each month that goes by that you still have an account the more probable you will make it. The main problem I see people dropping out and quitting is because they are impatient and do not have a proper plan in place in being successful at this. They will start out with a 25K account but not only have to trade with it but have to live off it and pay bills. So they feel this rush to learn to make money and start betting too big too soon. And poof they blow up. Take it slow and easy. And if in a year you are still a survivor and just still trading one contract. So be it !!! You are probably doing better than 90% of all those if have attempted this difficult endeavour. Good Luck !!
Anek, I'm sorry to say that I missed that entire AHG thread (a little late to the party). I'm wondering if you can give a brief overview of what it was about? Or is this basically it? I'd love to learn more from you. Thanks, Jas
Dows, How do you mean you missed it?? its still there waiting to be read.. I mean, give the man a break..personally, I don't want posts like that to put him off from futher contribution which is of value here.. thanks in advance,hope You'll understand and go to some effort to overcome your laziness..
Agree 100%, Anek's summary above is a road map to success and the information he so generously shared in his thread is priceless... You will benefit from years of his hard research, trial and error refining a simple but effective strategy.