Hi everyone, First, a little background about myself. I was first introduced to futures through the famous (or infamous) Ken Roberts course back in the early 90s when I was a university student. Unfortunately, being young and naive, I believed all the hype that you could basically become a millionaire overnight. I made it through the course and attempted to paper trade but being a broke student, couldn't afford to subscribe to a charting service (this was back in the days when the Internet was still in it's infancy) I tried to get around this by making my own charts using the commodity price information from the financial section of my daily newspaper.I eventualy gave up. due to the sheer effort involved plus I lacked the focus and organization which made all my efforts wasteful and inefficient. I basically forgot all about commodities for a few years until 2001 when I came across another company selling a trading course. I can't quite recall the name of the company (was something like "Securities International or "Investments International). They were based out of Vancouver, BC Canada. The course was somewhat similar to the Ken Roberts course but went a bit more in depth with technical analysis. Unfortunately, like most courses out there, they were also heavy on the hype so I ended up abandoning this one also. Suffice to say, both these experience soured me on futures trading for a while. Plus, every book or article on investing would basically say to avoid futures like the plague. One book I had just gave a one paragraph blurb on futures basically saying it's just another form of gambling, let's move on. Then you have others saying that you can be successful by using the right strategy. Being a total newbie, I just want to be able to separate the "wheat from the chaff", so to speak. I just want to know how I should get started in educating myself about futures trading. I realize the learning curve is fairly steep, so I want to give myself the best chance of success.
My suggestion, since you began your quest in 90's and you still are nowhere, this venture is not for you. Too much half heartedness. Futures is predominantly short term trading, that's more difficult to begin on than longer term. But anyway, you're too wishywashy for trading imo.
Learn "Price TA"... best chance you got. "Buy Support Sell Resistance Chase Breakouts Trade With Stops" Anybody who tells you different is either a fool or a charlatan trying to get some money out of you.
This. Yes. Treat it as mathematical game. As I've said many times, my win rate is less than 50%. I'm not proud of that, but my risk management is superior to most. And that and my results are something I am very proud of.
50%-ish is OK... but if you learn "Price TA" better and execute with discipline, your win rate will be >50%.. and always with a favorable r/r. Don't listen to the Bozos on ET who disagree... they are dumb-asses who don't recognize it yet (if they ever will).
Depends on your personality and how you want to spend your time. Lot's of folks got hooked on hype and started with Ken. Successful one's moved on and kept exploring, applied critical thinking, kept an open mind and didn't give up. When you are considered the message, also consider the messenger, their motives and how they get paid. For ET posters, scan their message history, find those that you resonate with. For me, the greatest value I've found is attuning to those that "pay it forward" and don't rely on selling courses to earn their bread. They exist on all the various socials, just be like the salmon and swim upstream.
Start here with this 3 minute lesson. https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...t-right-here-baby.335635/page-31#post-5776910
I don't think i've seen a journal of anyone who has done at least 100 trades with >50% wr with at least 1:1 RR.
Good Morning Scataphagos, You are correct my friend. Yes, you are correct. I have tried to run from your "Price TA" conclusion, but I always come back to it. Keep it Simple Baby.