Ozzy - agree - if only I could do that indeed - I'm afraid the secret weapons are not easily automated - they are very visual and relative comparisons against price/volume. I agree they are sometimes too frequent - but they seem to catch the key intraday reversals so I'm trying not to tweak them ... E trader - thanks for that - very interesting cheers guys
"very visual and relative comparisons against price/volume" Are you sure that you're not even using 1 bar of hindsight? In other words, is the "S" labeling being done before the close of its bar, or one bar after, when the (reversal) pattern is obvious?
I am getting $4.80 RT CME globex vs $2.62 RT Eurex USA for bundled rates on IB ... you must mean unbundled rates then before additional charges ? -IB breaks out the exchange fees and passes it thru exactly as it is.- -Russell on CME/Globex costs $2.28 a round turn. Russell on Eurex costs only $1.00 a round turn.-
I'd say the lower margins and commish were an enticement to bring volume away from cme. It didn't work, that market is almost history, often less than 1000 traded now.
if you can't automate your "secret weapons" then you're toast. good discretionary traders are rare. good discretionary daytraders don't really exist. they are a myth. brokers keep pushing the technology envelope in hopes of gettting your cash via commissions. automate or burn in the flames. revisit you psych books because it is apparent to me you forgot everything. i did not bother to read every single post so maybe all of this has been mentioned. if it has then maybe reading it again will make a difference. aside from that i think you're a joke if you think that you can be a successful discretionary trader. harsh but true.
you can't follow your rules because you have no discipline. (i'm not making a judgement about your rules here, nor am i making a suggestion as to whether or not you should strive to be a pure mechanical or pure discretionary trader)... what i will say is this... you know that you need to do that 20 trade excercise in douglas' book in order for you to KNOW that you can trust yourself to execute your plan correct? well then, if the goal RIGHT NOW is to be able to execute without fail, then that's what you must do. how? simple. just define some very simple entry criteria on a 5 min chart of whatever product you like. come up with some simple trade management for that trade. then execute. forget all the secret this and secret that for a moment. forget your current 'system' for now (i'm not saying scrap it). focus on what you need right now...which is a consistent disciplined approach that you follow regardless of whether or not you make money during this time. shoot i'm not saying anything different than what douglas suggests. right now you are meandering. you're in gear but you're just spinning your tires. you ain't getting anywhere! i'm tired, so if anyone has any dissagreement in semantics with what i said, please save it. if there is dissagreement at a core level however, please use constructive (i.e. offer alternate semi-detailed views) criticism. thank you.