Actively trading??? NO. However, actively paper trading. I have never purchased or sold a futures with real money.
I am using quote.com's qcharts program and have it set up with six live streaming charts. I am attempting to develop a trading style and for now realize that position trading these things is not my style. I usually enter and exit a trade within 15 minutes to 1/2 hour. Sometimes a lot less. I have been working with the mini due to the lower margin requirements, but due to the quick hits I am doing am beginning to think I will have to trade the large contract once I am ready. The commissions on the small make it impossible to scalp a 1/2 point here and a point there and put much ching in the pocket. It only makes the broker well off. I think the place of the mini is more for positional type trading and I have proven to myself so far that that is not my style.
I have noticed some set-ups for good position trading, but most of my stuff is the quick hits. For example, in a choppy volatile market, Lisa's TRIN indicator is a great tool for identifying turns in the market. However, it doesn't work in trending markets, which is what we have been in the last couple of weeks.
The paper trading on auditrade is very good. It is as close, in my estimation as you can get to real trading. The only thing absent (and it is a biggie) is the emotion you have when real dollars are on the line. I have tried to psych myself up as much as possible to believe the trade is real dollars. I have experimented a bit with differing styles to try to see what works best for me and that is the only fashion in which I have deviated from attempting to make this as real as possible. Once I set-up and trade for real I would not just attempt a trade to see if it works which is something I am doing somewhat with the auditrade system.
One thing that has been invaluable is the help I have received from experienced verterns of the markets. I would imagine you have found some of these people as well. You should read them, study them and formulate your own opinions once you have integrated some of their thoughts. I of course speak of Patrick, Nemer, Tom Trader, Donald Sew and others (sorry if I did not mention your name, doesn't mean I don't think highly of you, but just that I am not awake yet!) This is a never ending learning process and it requires you to be able to change your thoughts along with the markets.
Two keys that are critical I think to being able to do this for real are money management and discipline/patience. I have noted in the past that I have problems in both arenas and will do what is necessary to fix them or I will not make it as a trader. Plain and simple. I think identification and correction of weakness is not only critical, but is probably the most necessary component to being able to trade successfully. Weakness's if held on to will be exploited by the people who do this for a living. The professionals will eat us up!
The hardest part with that is recognizing when you are entering a trade with the proper reasons and when you are entering a trade to make up a past loss or for some other stupid reason. For example, yesterday the charts looked like they were breaking out at 1176.25 in the 3:00 pm hour of trading and went long. I was wrong and they fell back. I cut my loss at 1175.25 and immediately went short. Was that to make up the loss I just incurred or was it because the indicators said down? Well, I still am not sure because the decision was made in about 2 seconds, but I do know that I closed that trade at 1174.25 and made back my point. The way I trade, things occur just that quickly. Had the indicators turned on me again, I would not have hesitated to dump it at a loss either. At the time Patrick was long, so going short in a market that a professional was long seemed foolhardy, but it worked. These are things that need refinement on my part. I will restudy that trade specifically to make sure I had the right reasons (in hindsight) for entering the trade.
What is your experience and background in this arena? What style do you possess?
Good Luck.
-Scott |
