Background. Trading futures equities fx corporate bonds and crypto manually for over 20 years combined with an emphasis on futures and intraday trades. This account is going to start out as a small account challenge which will be new for me. I have many different styles that I trade intraday in the futures from scalping to day swings with an edge in index futures. I will be utilizing the tradeovate platform for this challenge due to the low or zero commission offered on their monthly plan. I do not think the platform will make that big of a difference in my profitability, but the amount of money in the account and intraday margin rates as well as the fees all in and all out could make a significant difference in profitability as well as my skill or my edge. ALL of my edge is in my skillset. In an effort of being completely transparent I will share daily or weekly results depending on my free time to post on this site. I will be posting strictly NET gains and losses for the entire account. But understand this is my time and my money and in no way or form am I obligated to follow my plan or the weak rules i have posted in this journal to satisfy the delights or dismay of complete strangers on a public board. i can add money to this account if i feel stifled by such a small account thay it negatively effects my gains or losses. i will state if i add money! so that this will remain completely transparent. I will be transparent and from time to time I will share some time and sales of some trades but i wont be detailing and annotating charts or writing up my strategies. I might throw some clues out though from time to time as well as some words of wisdom. My hope is that my journal proves that with enough smarts courage and 10,000 plus hours of screen time that you who ever you are who is reading this can possibly succeed at the toughest job in the world from a guaranteed income financial stand point. I dont have time for paragraphs and spelling checks or correct grammar on a journal like this..questions and positive comments are welcome but I ask that if your comments with each other or me turn into individual battles or a gang up of users against me repetitively then I will just delete or ignore my account here at elite trader. I am looking forward to all of us growing and rooting for each other to make and take money from the big bank trading desks and the hft corporations who think they own the futures markets! once my account is opened and funded I will state the day i am starting the live challenge as well as my results and the exact platform fees etc and starting dollar value of the account!
This sounds interesting. I will be following this thread. May I ask why u decided to start out with a small account instead of a bigger one since u are already a profitable trader?
well 2 reasons. 1. i have never used tradeovate before and initially i always start with a small account to test their infrastructure and the fcm is different than my other 2 accounts so i am reducing overall fcm failure risk a little by spreading out I have 3 different fcms now. 2. I like the challenge part of a small account challenge. over the years i had to laugh at guys doing small account challenges in mini sized futures it seemes futile to me but now with the successful introduction of micro index and micro vix futs among others i think there is a probability of success. time will tell right?
I will from time to time like i said throw out random thoughts and ideas or items i deem important and i think profitability needs to be addressed. Profitable traders. Lets assume 85% lose money like they say and let us not in this journal get bogged down by tit for tat details unless absolutely necesary ok if 85% lose then by what amount. some will quit when down 50% some will blow out and some will get hooked and keep on adding and losing but the winners lets now talk about the 15% who win. the winners. the winners are also on a bell curve with a skew of course so you have a profitable trader who made 50 dollars at years end and you have one who made 500 million on the other. My point is that MOST if not all novice traders associate massive gains and wealth with being a successful trader. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I have worked prop and i have worked brokerage as well as been privy to some highly successful traders in my career of trades and there are successful full time traders who make 50k a year consistently as well as those who make 250 to 500k a year or more. It is plain dumb to think that just being a successful trader means you are in the top highest earners of all traders! my success has varied over the years and as you will come to learn I am emotional at times i am.humble at times i am.ittational at times but i keep my eye on the goal of ending the day in profits everyday! it doesnt always happen but it does happen frequently. a few of my gains n losses over the years 32k gain on am error trade out of an option grant in the big sp500 over 15 days.i didnt know i had it until the floor called amd said hey this future is expiring tomorrow what do u want to do? 6000% on some options in 2 days..not much money overall they were very cheap options 16k in a week gained nq and sp options written snap stock and jmia up over 500% in both right now. still holding. losses. 270k in 3 days 55k shorting 1 stock over 3 months
I never understand these posts, why would you not want to provide value and teachings instead of solely boosting ones ego?
has zero to do with EGO. if you actually read my words i said would intersperse some take aways but again what do i owe you to teach you? a challenge is just that a challenge and i am not sure how you could have possibly assumed this was about ego? a chump change account for an ego boost??? wake up. ego in trading is when i slap u in the face with a 2 pound band of cash to wake you up. its a challenge..most likely i will fail because this is a very small account and it usually takes money to make money. I wont be upset if i fail at this challenge as far as my ego is concerned but ut sure as hell will be bruised because i hate to lose and i am your competition so in order to teach i would have to weigh out what my potential short run and long run opportunity risk would be. im not mad at ya for your question but what do i owe you?.....absolutely zilch welcome to the real world
hopefully this journal of live trading will be activated on monday or tuesday of next week. Dorman was wited the funds and my account should be open by Monday at Tradeovate. just an FYI
You're completely right, you owe nobody anything. Just eager students here hungry to learn. Its like a Topgun performing amazing F18 maneuvers, the rookies are impressed by the show but much more eager to learn every detail and how they too can become a Topgun.
I like the way you stated that and I understand except the bug difference is that in order to get into the air force academy you must prove yourself as being the best of the best starting with intelligence and test scores and extra curricular activites and maybe the dedication of rotc in high school along with sports and clubs. even if you do all of this you might be passed over if once at the academy your actual flying skills are not as good as your classmates. The key points here are that it takes time to learn and energy and would i teach a a north korean fighter pilot my best moves knowing that once he has my knowledge base that he could shoot me down out of the sky with my own moves! or maybe he was born better than .e or has more money than me. that is the problem with having a room or teaching people. How would someone who is a successful trader put a price on the teaching or a price on the calls in a room? edges are razor thin at times after losing trades and fees and slippage! why would i invite competition into my exact strats however from a coaching stand point or psychology stand point or analysis of the students own ideas and trades i could see some merit from an expert analysis but to show someone or sell a highly profitable system doesnt make sense because of the amount of money you can make trading a particular mkt set up..these set ups arent there for days on end or even hours so it is difficult to put a price on teaching them. you also need to understand or know your student if you are mentoring vs coaching. im all for me looking at someones work amd showing them how to tighten it up or maybe this would do better than that but actually mentoring you really need to know the students intemtions because maybe he wants to write and sell an algo to the masses or maybe his dad has millions and he can take the liquidity i wanted! i am not anti mentor or anti teachers or anti coaching or even anti room..they all have merit but it is suspect at times because what is the COST the potential cost to the teacher giving out tricks or excellent tips in such a focused manner that the determinism in his system could be exploited by the masses thus ruining possibly years of studying and thousands if not hundred of thousands of lost dollars from actually trading or not climbing the corporate ladder. there ate huge opportunity costs associated with learning to trade and im not sure anyone realizes how much it takes day in and day out to be successful at trading. it never ends your work is never truly finished.