what makes charts happen....traders buying low and selling high. no one wants to find out what is high and what is low. any wonder 95% lose
Scalping on a simulator equates to driving on a computer. The reality in heavy traffic is something completely different. It will serve mostly just to teach you bad practices. A very typical path is for a new trader to move from the rush and action of small time frames, to longer holds that require patience and confidence, and are often more rewarding financially and psychologically.
Hi Frank, You may want to consider as a next step to get an account with Interactive Brokers and trade in there paper trading account. The reason is that you will have to make your decisions in real-time and, most importantly, you will get a realistic idea of what your fills (slippage) will be like. I think that IB uses an algorithm that takes into account where your order is on the queue. Some other brokers may do the same, but when I read posts from others that their profitable sim trading turns to losses in real trading, it doesn't sound like it. I have run identical systems on real and paper trading accounts at the same time and the fills in the paper trading account are quite realistic, averaging out to about the same. On low volume symbols, I have seen it take 20minutes to fill on both accounts. Except for large volume symbols, you can expect some delay and possible slippage. I tend to trade symbols with greater than 500k average daily volume, so I don't have much of a problem, but you would be surprised sometimes. Good luck. P.S. Your approach of not trading until you show you can be profitable is very good IMO. P.S. #2. Bob's book is very good. P.S. #3. Though lower time frames should work, They may not be profitable enough to overcome slippage and trading costs. Test to find out on IB paper-trading account. Let us know how it goes.
I can't begin to tell you how many simulator scalpers have flamed out in live markets. The execution latency and order queue functionality are not comparable. In low volatility scenarios - buying at the bid and selling at the offer are important. During periods of higher volatility - you're going to have to step out and hit a bid or lift an offer in order to participate. Problem is - most mere mortals cannot compensate their execution styles, stop loss limits, and profit targets to optimize for the variance between high and low volatility market environments.
Understood. Thank you for your opinion. I'll start with higher time frames and hopefully someday move on to the lower ones as the 1 min or 5 min as thats where my true passion is tbh. I lovee the action that i see in those. I could be sitting for hours and staring at those time frames.
Sure i can show you multiple charts. One thing i realized in Elitetrader....a lot of skepticism. Just because one has not been successful in intraday doesnt mean everyone will have the same results....but anyways one who who really wants to achieve something really bad must block all the pessimism and continue the journey. I actually met someone who has been in this business for 2 years now......the guy makes about 20-30K a month trading the 1 min to 3 min time frame. and yes he showed me his centerpoint securities account statements. Anyways here are the charts