aphie, I'm glad to see you so determined for success. That determination will carry you through the ups and downs of this business. But you should give more credit to some of the veterans on this board, who are only trying to help. Sure there will be fakes, but guys like tntneo and dottom (among others) are guys I've grown to trust and I value their input. Being relatively new to the board I can understand that you wouldn't know that at this point, so its no big deal. A common mistake that I made initially was to link hard work with success, just as you are now. And it is true in almost every area of life, so its logical that we all start out that way. We are trained in school or college that we can be anything we want to be with enough study and hard work. If you want to be a doctor or lawyer or janitor of the month, then this is true. What I have found is that trading success is not at all related to how much time you put in, but rather how you are able to manage your psychological state when you implement what you have learned. Now don't get me wrong, you won't ever be successful if you aren't constantly learning, but the learning itself won't make you successful. When you said you wanted to scalp for half a point until you built up your account, everyone here that has tried that wanted to scream "No!" (well, at least that's what I wanted to do, lol). The guys who replied did so for the same reason. Its not bitterness towards your success. Its people who have "been there, done that" trying to save you a few coins. Should you listen to them? Only you will decide that, and I wish you the best. Everyone must eventually make their own way. But don't write them off as old and jealous. Rather, as part of your learning, go back and read their old posts...some of the best education you'll find will come right off this site. Yeah, there is crap to weed through, but that's the case with 95% of the other sources of trading education too. Best of luck, and I hope you'll share your experiences with us once you start trading live. It may help someone else that will be in the same position you are in now.
I've got the perfect solution. We both know we can make money so this is what we will do. You give me YOUR strategy and I'll trade YOUR account, and I'll give you MY strategy and you trade MY account. I have no emotional issues with losing someone elses money, so we're golden in that respect. aphie
I believe you are in Germany, right? Just to make sure we can't bail out, when we log onto our accounts, we'll change the passwords so only I know your password and only you know mine. If we are confident about our paper-trading, then this solution is ideal. Even if we blow up each other's accounts, we're in different countries and we'll be too poor to fly out and kick the other person's butt. aphie
WarEagle, Thank you. I am still learning who to listen to in here. I took his post seriously about scalping the half-points. You are right -- what it will come down to is the end-result from a live day of trading. Then I will report back to everyone exactly how I was feeling compared to how I feel now -- the differences in expectations, etc. I'm sure everyone will be very excited to see me go live since I've been touting how easy trading it has been on paper. I don't feel any pressure to make a net positive total my first day of trading, and if I do, I will consider it just one day -- far from the time needed to evaluate the performance of a trader over the long-term. If I'm positive one day, great. If I'm positive one week, even better. If, after one month, I am still able to trade one contract off my initial 5k, then I'm probably doing good. I'm assuming my first month or first several months will be filled with mistakes -- if I make them paper-trading, I will make them when I go live -- but with the added psychological dimensions. I've just got to get myself in the "zone" and trade the system. aphie
All right, I certainly have no problem with trading your crappy, silly strategy with YOUR money. But do not be so sure that i can't kick your butt in the US, because half of my family lives there
LOL! Now my strategy is crappy?? They said do the opposite of what you normally would do, so I'm going to try and buy the highs for the day and sell the lows. :eek: aphie
(thanks WarEagle) Aphex, A adjusted remark on my previous post. Just to make sure I expressed it properly. I am not saying emini scalping can't be done. I assume it can. and as I wrote, I even know precisely how to do it and did it and made quite some money. But, as mentioned, I can do it only in certain market conditions. What I was saying, in chorus with wareagle and dottom, is this : backtested, reliable, profitable and lasting scalping is very difficult to achieve. I see you are working on proprietary software tools to help you, that's a good idea. of course I wish you success. why would you doubt. You know, trading does not limit the number of profitable traders. so why would you think one would prevent you to get there. on the contrary, there is a lot to learn on ET. sometimes in unexpected threads or comments. and I am looking forward to learn from you too. tntneo
tntneo, Thanks tntneo -- I really appreiciate the kind words. I am looking forward to the futures trading experience, even if I do lose money. I cannot wait to go live shortly, start my journal and see what it is like to actively trade futures with real $$$ on the line. aphie
i would never say that it cant be done, i just wanted to point in the direction of those "magical forces" (i really have no better word for this..."subconscious" perhaps) that grap you, when you cross that fine line... another piont. offering or seeking advice or information is a bit critical IMO, because - to be honest - most traders are advice-resistant. and information is very time-sensitive. i love the markets and all, but i would not hesitate to call myself a "hobby-trader" right now, with respect to all, how struggle to become or stay a pro...