By fading every move up you've missed one of the most favorable trend this whole year in stocks. Instead of trying to pick tops and trading what you think will happen, trade what you actually see. For counter-trend trades look into incorporating entry buffer zones. ie, if you want to enter short at 10800, add an extra 20 points and wait for the market to confirm your directional bias by breaking below. Personally in my day trading I use an opening range criteria which not only keeps me in the direction of the main trend regardless of my idiosyncratic bias for that day, but also tells me which tools to use to trade that day. Most people lose their account picking tops and bottoms and then averaging down on the losing trading. Also try writing down what you're doing wrong, take a break and then devise filters to minimize those defects. eg. the buffer technique I use for counter-trend trades, many a time this has saved me from putting on a marginal trade. Hope some of this is of help, I've noticed you've been having a difficult time lately trading.
thats what happens with faders. the markets in a tight range for weeks and months and fading makes all look like a genius then one day we break out fo the range and bamm one keeps fading it time and time and time again and gives back all he made. i'm sure few on here went long much of this massive 800 pt 3 1/2 week rally as most tried to short the moves. its jsut the nature of the beast to not belive something can keep going in one direction without a pullback up or down. its no difference than the momentuem chasers of 1999. they bought every dip and made fortunes and then when the fatal drop occured they keep bottom fishing till they went broke. this is a cruel game
You fail to look at the whole picture. How much have I made fading every rally for the last 10 months ? I had a decent week last week fading the rally, made 37 points and covered last friday a few points away from the low. My recent losing trades have all been between 10 and 20 points profitable but I let them turn into losses due to poor risk management. I think from now own I will move the stop to break even once it is 10 points ITM but I have a feeling I will get a great amount of BE trades. But I am stubborn, I know before and after Thanksgiving is historically bullish and with most of the smart money gone for the week yet I still tried to fight the trend. I know that after oct is generally bullish yet I still fight the trend. I think next week I am going to quit holding overnights, go back to just scalping 10- 15 point trades and perhaps adjust my stops down to 10 points to see what it does to my equity curve. This move reminds me of the one that occured last nov after the election.
Can anyone here give anything they have learned from this forum that has been beneficial to their trading........real money not demo trading...........this is a question that must be answered for forum to have relevancy in this business, unless it is all for grins, and that's worth something.........answer must be specific or no cigar............u can ignore that but that begs an answer.....if no answer, it will speak volumes...
"smart money" in 5 years...I have never heard that term used regarding emini trading.....did I miss something? I have heard of smart trading........today was just one of most beautiful trading days ever, so what does smart money mean? the money that was used to buy @ opening bell this morning? Ego's are the #1 obstacle to emini trading success. I finally booted ego out of trading room........the smarter we are the harder and more cruel this business is. Smart is not a factor......
The only thing beneficial on this thread, is to gain experience from others mistakes. To be able to see what others have gone through and how try and think about how they did it, and then think about how you would do it better. Other than that, I have learned everything else from my mentor, and from personal experience. Now the only factor left in my trading are emotions, which are almost non-existant while i'm trading. That is what you can learn from this thread. Everyone trades different ways, different strategies. What works for them, may not work for you, and if you can't find your own way, you will never find a way. Even though my mentor has shown me how he trades, I intend to take what I have learned and trade on as many timeframes as possible. Hopefully be able to open up 2 accounts and trade on a longer term basis (maybe 1 or 2 trades per day on that one account), (or just do more of an investing role), and then use my other account to trade support and resistance, and scalp or momentum trade. I have taken what my mentor has taught me, and applied it into a way that I know I can execute, and have been able to take the emotions out of my trading already. I suggest you do the same porgie. I don't know how you trade, if you trade, if you are successful or not. I personally can't believe you either way you tell me, because some days I think you are a good trader, and other days, I think you are a hopeless newbie. I don't know what to think about you with these regards, and I don't bother doing so. But, maybe from my standpoint of what I have learned so far in my insanely young trading career so far, can benefit you some how.
I'm not even going to argue about this, but there is no possible way to prove any of this true. If being smart is not a factor in trading, then is being dumb a factor? Is calculating good risk management being smart? But yet it is not a factor in trading..... yet it just was a factor, and one of the main factors in trading. Just don't get how you could make that statement. Not much thought put into it. It is only my opinion. Same thing as people say you must have an "edge" to be successful. Yet no one has given me the definition of an "edge", which is only an idea. Consistantly profitable = edge? What about those that are just extremely well at guessing 60% of the time or even better, which is entirely possible. Not probable for but the smallest amount of people, but still. Is guessing an edge? Is flipping a coin to determine if you are long or short an edge? Is trading off of support and resistance an edge, or just smart trading, or even just an area where hundreds of traders are determined to protect or defend a position, and hundreds of others are trying to take advantage of, just as I am. So what is smart money, what is smart trading? If I wasn't so interested in technology, I'd definately want to study psychology or something along those lines. Speaking of which, I should probably start a discussion about this on the other forum.
JM...............you are 100% correct.........I just wish you could sit beside me and watch the systems work........ I truly hope you become the best trader in the world.....seriously........you must do a few things in order for that to happen...........if u would pm me i can help you....I am not your enemy.......you love this business as much as I do....I can see that.............I can show u things that can help u avoid the years and pain i have been thru......
Oh no worries, I just feel like adding discussion to the thread while I can't trade. Trying to get people to think about things. How it really is a battlefield where traders are battling for control. I'm not aiming to be the best trader in the world, just be a trader that can survive, and make a living off of it. I still have incredible respect for people that have been trading as a career for years. I hope I will be able to do the same.
An "edge" is nothing more than a "system" and or "set of rules" that allow you to have a higher probability of making a successful trade than just flipping a coin.