I have been trading the YM (mini) futures along with a service (chat room)for a month and although they are great people and do okay there are too few trades--subsequently I have been trying to trade the e-mini Russell. Well, today, I have twelve losing trades and 0 winners for a loss of 600 bucks. I try the tick charts with MACD, MA crossovers, slow stochastics etc. Nothing is working for me. I just want to be somewhat successful because I love the market. Iread everything I can get my hands on including Mark Fischer's books which is why I still have my shirt on. I just want to jump out a window. I traded stocks for 3 years and did okay but got tired waking up at 3 or 4 am to look at reports and charts etc. Can anyone help me?? I went to a 7 day seminar (paid $4499.00) and statistically am worse off now than before I went in. I am willing to do any and all work necessary to accomplish my goal which is to trade with more winners than losers. I can travel and will pay anybody that can help me even if it's just to watch you for a day. I'll even put duct tape over my mouth and sit in the corner so I wont disturb you if that's what it takes. Just e-mail or PM me if you can offer me any advice. Thanks ahead of time. GT
You'll never make it as an index daytrader. You can start by ignoring the very existence of "indicators"....
from the sound of it, you haven't read everything on ET, probl is (in your mind) you don't have to pay for them so they might not be as valuable as something you paid.
well, for now.. walk away for six months. Shut it down and really think what you want during this time. You can pay for whatever you want, but that is not going to help you. First thing i saw when i read your post is that your lost,almost panicky. Would it really hurt to stop now and save yourself some money for six months? You love the markets.. ok.. watch the charts for six months. I am not talking paper trading... just watch them. Toss out the indicators, pivots, fibs, MA's etc etc. Watch the price. Think about the price, and it's movements. There is NOT a secret someone is going to hand you. There is not a secret you are going to read in a book, or on a chatboard. There is ( to my knowledge ) no system out there you are going to pay 499.00 to 9999. that is going to make you successful. Think about it....... challenge yourself..... Take care... Knyyt
This from a guy who banished himself from ET because he got his ass handed to him by trying to call tops in the ES. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. TA indicators do work. The trick is finding the right time frame and indicator for the type of market you are in at the time. But, having said that, indicators are just that, indicators. Trade what you see, not what you think. If you are in a choppy sideways market, then you need to realize that and act accordingly. Its hard to imagine the OP was using any half-way decent indicator today and made 12 losing trades, unless he was using some ultra-short time frame, and was getting chopped to death.
The Trick is , theres NO Trick Go back to stocks, it sounds like the only reason you were successful before is because you did a lot of homework and preparation. Sorry but there are no short cuts.
my advice is to stop looking for the the holy grail or perfect indicator because there isnt. The best thing is not to follow signal services and learn to trade yourself. First you have to pick 3 or 4 setups and have a trading plan for each . ( ie abc retrace or break out , ) . Then know what your stop is and what your indicators will look like when you think the setup is going on. Then every night print out 5 charts and study the setups if there were any . Get to know your setups perfectly why it didnt work or what made it stronger than regular times. .. Only study your setups and if they dont happen as to how your plan says dont trade it . Then the 2nd thing which is my biggest problem is taking losses . You will only be right 50 -70% with a good system . I had 3 weeks of big winners and last week i had a loosing week and i felt like a failure then i started doing trades that werent in my plan to play catch up then lost 50% of what i made the previous 3 weeks. When i reviewed the trades they were not according to my plan .Thats the mental part of the game .. You cant win every week . . After you have your system down you then have to deal with the mental part. I have been in this game 4 years and still learning every month . I figured by know it would be as easy as driving a car but it still is a struggle . It is not an easy proffession .
This is also from a guy who started trading in December of 1982 with 10k and by July 84 was up 1.2 million and by Oct.87 up 2 million. But of course I know very little. I've only traded the past several thousand days. I'm also a guy who went into a prop deal last year trading 1 lots in NQ and now goes home with 20 lots spread over a half dozen different markets and YTD earnings of 80k. Indicators do not work over the long run. I defy you to find even ONE trader who's found wealth via "canned" indicators.
Let me try to be a voice of reason here: 1) It seems like you have no idea of your trading personality and style. You're trying to trade like everyone else wants you to and not developing your own strategies and style. My belief is that if you want to be successful at trading, you have to be somewhat of a loner and realize that you can't look at what everyone else is doing all the time. Granted, there are some people that I respect and have a good sense of the market that I may want to understand their perspective, but the trades and setups are still my own. 2) Here's the deal regarding indicators. The trick is to know when to use certain indicators and when not to use them. This is the "secret" of technical analysis, if there is one. You have to develop that over time. There is an argument that once you develop that skill that the indicators aren't important because you understand the ebb and flow of the markets. Indicators are just tools. Tools don't "work" themselves. It's the person using the tools that is key.