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Trading...

2008-09-04T23:43:00.001-04:00

I have been out of touch with trading futures due to work. My school is starting soon and I will have time again to focus on trading. You might hear from me in the future...

Oil Hits Record High

2008-04-18T16:20:00.004-04:00

Run away gap .. realized but still thought the technicals were sayin otherwise. I am getting tired of these string of loses .. I don't think I can trade anymore if I don't find a solution to this ahole market. =)

s&p strike..

2008-04-17T12:01:00.003-04:00

NASDAQ first, market was in a downtrend since 7 or so in the morning.. thought it might break that when things looked bullish from undersold but quickly touched the trend line and starting to fall.. I covered very quickly on first hesitation. Usually that hesitation either gets me out of the move early or gets me out with a minor loss and the market goes on in my favor.

Then traded S&P, market looked to have a bit of mo mo falling from the trend it touched on NASDAQ and made a minor double top as well.. waited until I thought the move was actually going down and then entered... took a tiny bit of heat and the market fell in my direction. I stayed in as long as I could but after the big move down and the retirement on the last bar I felt that it might retrace back and I exited early. As you can see I would've ripped a few more dollars had I stayed in.

Now, one thing missing from the picture today are stops.. and yes I didn't use any. I have been feeling the stop-burn alto lately and they have almost always.. 90% of the time kicked me out of the moves. About 20% of the time I thanked the stops but the rest of the time I have hated myself for using it. Some say that even warren buffet uses stops but does he trade futures. It's wrong of me to preach this but I do have a platform stop-loss in place, once that amount is hit I will be kicked outta the move and go back to stops I think.

I will also be using 1 contract from now on, tried to increase my size but that only decreased my profits. I want to completely learn to make money with one contract before I jump onto another one.

Runaway Gap

2008-04-16T15:55:00.002-04:00

Realized that it was most probably going to be a runaway gap as soon as the market opened up but wasn't expecting an early sharp breakout so stepped out for something.. by the time I came back market had taken off and I didnt join in half way.

Then waited a while for another break out.. got in with a good entry and placed stop right after, next few minutes .. stop hit and took me out and market went up without me. Pain, misery and frustration are not words that define today.. 'cuz it's worse.

Green Day

2008-04-14T16:23:00.004-04:00

+120
-7
a little confident, larger downtrend
overbought and losing momo, entered with a stoploss (blue line)
will be trading with 1 contract for the next little while
when the price retraced at the end, the market seemed exhausted so bailed out and market turned around.
working and testing a few stoploss placements, today turned out to be good but again needs tons more testing
left right after the trade so couldn't trade further.

Not gettin better...

2008-04-10T13:10:00.004-04:00

+ 15 profit
- 7 comm
not too confident, upward momo was strong
shorted, anticipated a weak down move, turned out to be weaker
overbought and losing steam.. ended up in the right direction
blue squarish line is the movement of stop, still working on it, almost got hit.. right there the trade was a write off... next time itll hit so need to adjust stops.
es, ym and er dont want to break down to bailed out.

I shorted all the wrong break outs.. my feeling is that well have a good shortin opp at the end of the day.. cuz its been playin around all day..

Another day and more frustration..

2008-04-09T14:31:00.004-04:00

- 40

- 7 comm

fairly confident of the trade, loss

counter trend trade

mac, stoch crossover

15 min, 200 MA bounce anticipated, failed

2 pnt stoploss, hit in 20 secs

would've stayed in as MAC showin weakness, proved wrong.. out on stoploss = good decision.

Potential Trade

2008-04-02T17:57:00.003-04:00

I haven't been able to trade very much lately due to overnight work shifts and sleeping through the market hours. So I have decided to post potential trades that I would take from time to time. In hindsight, yes they will look good and all but when the market is live.. it's a different story altogether. Nonetheless, we will be looking at the most common setups/patterns that trigger me into the market and I hope to hear your setups/patterns/indicators that also point out the same exact move in the market. When there is an opportunity and more then one system/trader recognizes it then there's hope for us. :)

April 02, 2008
Today the futures were a bit slow and sideways due to the large move yesterday. It seems like a pause day as the market adjusts to the changes happening and balances out.

My potential trade came at 10:10 AM ET. As you can see, you have to be really patient with futures as they aren't like stocks where you can enter and exit on small 'cent' movements. If I had logged on in the morning I would've sat there watching the market until 10:10 AM ET today waiting for the right move.

Here's ESM8 5-Min.

Two bounces off .. confirming resistance. [Yellow]
M shaped pattern with ST having /\ shape on second leg touching oversold (exhausted) [Yellow]
A hammer patterns that follows with a big drop. [Yellow]
Divergence in stochastic as the price action moves higher. [Blue]
First exit target broke through. [Green]
Since the drop became steep and the stochastic was falling sharply I wouldn't have anticipated a large follow through in this move and would've exited as the ST reached undersold and turning up. [Yellow Box]
This would've been a good move as there would be no heat taken if entered late as well.
NQ confirmed the double top as well.

Alive N Kickin'

2008-03-27T11:07:00.002-04:00

Haven't been able to post for a while and really havent taken any good moves in the market. It's been choppy and confusing for my style of trading. Also the fact that I am running on the other half of my account... I am only looking for high high probabiliy trades. Most of them have managed to stop me out almost always lately. Since the loss earlier in the month I havent caught any good moves to write home about.. so hopefully it won't continue like this and we will soon be seeing a trend in the market. Will keep you posted... much much more green ahead so don't miss out. :)

70% Account blowout.. deep in red.. not much to play with...

2008-03-05T19:04:00.002-05:00

An overnight limit order caused a serious blow out to my account, down 70-75% in half an hour while I was away.. blew through my stops. Today made a trade in the right direction bailed out at 1.25 ES point of loss only to have the trade go back in my direction. I don't know what to do lately and how to deal with it. I might take a break or maybe not.

Importance of Trend lines..

2008-03-03T16:18:00.003-05:00

For a last month or so I have been using trend lines based on pre-market data and using it very successfully during intra-day moves. Today I couldn't trade because the move I wanted to get into started before I was able to get to the trading desk and I never jump in an active move so I stayed on the side lines kicking some good profit for the greater good. :) Anyways, so the trend lines have been working wonderfully lately and have almost given a point or so of move everytime a trend line is being hit..never expected more then that and so far they haven't disappointed me at all.
Following is a picture from today as I came in at desk around 12:40 and drew trend lines based on pre-market data. These trend lines are more like the secret inner resistance/support that are very different from pivot points. Pivot points are always a straight line and very unlike the market action which is up and down so I use trend lines instead of pivot points to make my decision when to enter/exit. As you can see below, until the very end of the day the market kept bouncing off of the trend lines and when penetrated the move continued strongly in the direction of the trend.

There has been a recent talk about how market has changed and a lot of old traders are taking time off and might've to go through the learning curve again. So in light of that, I have been collecting small material/indicator to fall back on if my setups start to deceive me. In my opinion, it's good to make a $50 down from $500 then to not make any and these small indicators can help do just that. Try for yourself tomorrow and let me know how it goes.

Gap..

2008-02-28T15:55:00.003-05:00

Wanted to fade the gap again but the market didn't fill me in and I didn't get in once the move had started. I didn't completely fade. I was down about -562.23 something overnight due to a mistake limit order. Managed to finish today at -212.00 something. Not bad.

Gap fill..

2008-02-28T01:14:00.003-05:00

I haven't been able to take any snapshots of my trades lately due to work and sleep. I work overnight.. trade in the morning hour.. unlike before which was totally afternoon. This morning when I got back from work I saw a gap with a clear indication that the market would turn around.. I longed 1 contract, then another one just before the pivot and I was up about $412. I covered 1 contract at the top when the gap seemed to have filled but then the market turned around sharply leaving me with only a $200 of profit when I covered it all. I will try to update this post later on if I get a chance to take a snapshot of my account to show you the numbers of buy/sell. This blog doesnt seem fun without any pics.. :)

For Feb 26, 08

2008-02-27T01:26:00.002-05:00

Made a small profit of +185 but couldnt take a picture as it was a limit order and got fullfilled while I was away. It was a short taken at 1385 just went the market slipped down a bit.. i think about 5 points.

Suprise party..

2008-02-25T14:41:00.003-05:00

Was in a good trade but didnt think id be invited to the suprise party.. and bam the market shot up in my direction made me $1250.

I guess I am the only one on this site lately.. let me know if you happen to come by. :)

I have been AFT for a while..

2008-02-19T21:50:00.002-05:00

.. sorry I couldn't update and let you know but I have to be away from trading for a while, not long.. will be posting results very soon. :)
In the meanwhile, let's enjoy the good things in life..

Water - The best bloopers are here

If your curious...

2008-02-12T17:02:00.000-05:00

Hey Tyler hall, thanks a lot... I appreciate the nice words even though I don't think I deserve them. Honestly, I have only been trading for a short while myself and have just started to pick up patterns and what not in the market and as always learning everyday. I make mistakes all the time and sometimes I write them off and learn from them and sometimes I just don't trade for a few days to avoid revenge trading. Also, if I am having a winning streak I prefer to take 1-2 days off too... it pushes your over your head and u start making silly mistakes.
You can tell I needed break this week because last week was good for me. So I guess... my advice is to just learn from people's mistakes and avoid looking at their winners unless they explain what they are doing or you'd have unrealistic expectations. If you starting goal is to make $50, don't change it unless you achieve it. Also, if you’re the kind of person who gives up pretty easily (like quitting gym after a couple days/weeks) then you’d need to change that attitude and focus entirely on trading. Fortunately, I have had the luxury to take time off and actually just sit down everyday and trade; I literally obsessed myself with trading from august to December and in October started live trading once I'd had enough of paper trading.
If you are starting futures trading, paper-trading is probably the best thing you can do for your trading career. Observe your behavior when you lose or win and have a blog or journal where you show your results so you have some motivation to do well. For example, when I post on this blog I do realize that people read this blog and makes me want to take good trade and make more money but if I was just sitting at home and trading by myself I'd probably lose my motivation every now and then and lose all my savings and have nobody share it with or makes tons of money and forget about how I did it two weeks later. You go on a vacation, you come back you can always look back at your trades to get some idea of where you left off and start in the right direction.
Also, don’t make trading complicated. I remember before I left on a vacation recently... I had tons of pivot points littered on my charts and I couldn’t tell which one the price would bounce off of but I had them just to be sure when to enter and exit but that never happened and I usually ended up losing on a lot of trades because I wasn’t able to make a decision comfortable. Whoever says that trading has to be complicated either doesn’t know what they are talking about or they have spent 20 years working on some system that has a 10% winning rate and they don’t want to give it up because it took them 20 years to come up with it. Trading can be done with just MACD and Stochastic but taking default settings and functions won’t get you anywhere.
Keep it simple and always look at the bigger picture. I have seen future traders focus on each candlestick to scalp out small profits which makes it very difficult for them to come out profitable at the end of the day/week/month. Reason being, that they allow their losses to run in opposite direction a lot longer then they allow their profits to run. If you look at my trades I don’t focus on candlesticks I focus on the entire move. If an intra-day down trend has started I like to get into that and ride it out. This allows me to keep my winners running and cut my losers as soon as possible. This also allows me to learn the bigger patterns that happen before a reverse is on its way... I think about 60% of time I am wrong but I don’t leave without any profits/losses or at least learning something from it. I think another important thing to do is to look at the charts over and over and over and over again after market, if you have time, and figure out what’s the best course of action you could’ve taken to avoid the pitfalls. I prefer to look at the charts for individual days as I am an intra-day trader and never take huge 100 points or so trades stretched out over a span of few days.
I have gone through, like many others, the process of trying out every indicator out there for days/weeks/months and then chucking them out the window because eventually they don’t make sense and make things too complicated. When a new person starts trading they think that there is some kind of Holy Grail hidden somewhere and only some people know it and they make tons of moneys… which is completely untrue. There is not one holy-grail… there are TONS. Yup, if there was only one holy grail and shelling out 1k, 2k, 10k spend on some ‘this book will make you filthy rich’ could buy you it then we’d all be rich right now. I am willing to shell out 100k on a product if it promises and guarantees to make me $1000 a day in futures market. Sadly though, there is no such Holy-Grail… those TONS of holy grails I talked about earlier are your own individual systems or I prefer methods that make YOU money. I think I have my Holy Grail down and like me other equity/future traders have their own holy grail. Figure out your EDGE (Holy Grail) and you won’t need anyone’s help or books or products/systems. Avoid buying e-books, video chats, live signals, market commentary and SYSTEMS especially… because they all make money by selling you products and not trading. However, if someone has a method to teach you instead of a system then it worth a look and you should look into it. Methods differ from systems because they can’t be automated or they could be but still require a person behind the screen to initiate, they are based on events that are always changing and based on many variables that change throughout the day. I have a method of making money and I don’t have a system, system basically is when a moving average crosses over you buy/sell. Method on the other hand, requires the MA to crossover then meet certain criteria’s like trending day/ranging day then I use my intuition, experience and lessons I learn everyday from trading to make my decision. Unless you can keep on updating your automated system over and over you will never be able to turn your system into a method and it will be very time consuming and off course a few years down the road will not work. I would prefer to have my energy spent on trading then on programming but again Methods require you to be attentive and focused on trading you have to basically learn to love the market regardless if you win or lose.
Lastly, if you lose money then you have officially entered the world of trading. Where emotions rule, mistakes are rampant, lessons are rarely learned, egos are sky high and being wrong is considered death. So don’t mind it and move on... find an alternate course of action to tackle the market the next day. Specialize with one set of indicators and one method and you will come out on the top.

P.S. Don’t quit your job until you’ve been trading at least 2 years with about 6 months of profitable months. I am working 60 hours a week and trading, getting about 6 hours of sleep but because I love to trade I sacrifice my sleep sometimes.

Tuesday :)

2008-02-12T16:21:00.001-05:00

I didn't use any tekinal analisis today. Just thoght the market might crash down further. Oh well.. :)

Beautiful Monday

2008-02-11T16:03:00.000-05:00

+350 to -212.50

Couldn't sleep played the afternoon too...

2008-02-08T15:53:00.000-05:00

11 some S&P points..

Early weekend...

2008-02-08T12:30:00.000-05:00

Am I exhausted or what.. pulling a 60 hour work week (20 bonus and over the coming weekend).. and trading.. getting about 6 hours of sleep and just about to hit the floor. Been working because it feels good to have a constant source of income that doesn't just evaporate the next day and when you have it you can actually go out and spend it... some of you know what I mean. :)

But, man oh man, it's been hectic doing all this.. not over yet 'cuz I got weekend to look forward to that Ill spend working... well at least the futures aren't letting me down.. now that's what you call a 'soul market'.. there for me when I need it to be. :D

Anyway, today I am miraculously done early and will be attending other matters that require my attention at this very moment (tons of sleep). So wish me good look and here's the chart for today... about 13.25 S&P points.

Heated Thursday

2008-02-07T16:11:00.000-05:00

Good day profit-wise, abuut 17 points (850).. but again I have been taking so much heat lately that I have lost every strand of hair on my balls. You can see how much heat I took today and what it must've felt like. The only way to not feel the heat is to know that the move will surely move in you direction but futures is very volatile and sometimes doesn't make sense at all. So I usualy end up standing on toes even if I know it's eventually going to go in my direction..7 points is huge amount of heat. Do you guys know of any methods or tricks that would allow me to enter after a breakout has established.. when I try doing it myself I get caught in the false breakout which costs money.

Last ditch effort paid off...

2008-02-06T15:58:00.000-05:00

Made three trades, 2 for losses and eventually the last one for over $455.00 profit.. that covered the previous losses.

If you guys are seeing a pattern in the way I am making mistake do shout out and let me know. I want to progress faster because eventually I am going to need this money like the rest of the people but I want to go through the this learning curve asap and with you help. Keeping journals have done me a lot of good too.

* INTRA-DAY UPDATE *

2008-02-05T12:53:00.000-05:00

12:55 EST Feb 05, 08

I am up +6.75 S&P, had to leave so I cut my profits short. Just letting everybody know that the market is in a serious channel and spitting money at the moment. This could change anytime so I will jump on the wagon and lock in some profits before the channel is broken or chopped out.

Tops and Bottoms -$225

2008-02-04T15:25:00.001-05:00

Did the market suck today or am I completely off beat?.. I didn't get today! :(

Today.. I gambled big time!!

2008-01-31T17:45:00.000-05:00

So today I gambled and fortunately beat the house...I missed yesterdays fed move altogether and couldn't enter the market.. so this morning a guilt feeling came over me for losing out on easy money and I decided to gambled. Gamble as in to use up more contracts and wait out longer to let the moves work out in my favor. Average contract size today was 5.. In the morning, I lost over 2G's before I made back that amount and another 1300 or so.. still kept going in the afternoon and ended the day at +$2475 which is great becaue I had been holding back a lot.. being very conservative with my contract sizes and profits.. trying to get over the learning curve with little P&L's. Check out the picture and let me know what I should've improved on. :)

Small loss

2008-01-30T02:50:00.000-05:00

Made 165 or so in Nasdaq this morning, then lost over 190 in Russel.

+300..in a hurry..

2008-01-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

Take a look at the pic and figure out the buy and sell.. in a bit of a hurry :)

+$200..gave some back to the market

2008-01-24T16:13:00.000-05:00

I was over at my 'rents house for the week so I decided to activate my account for the while.. today being the first day I made my first trade after a long time and already made an old mistake. Honestly, it was good to take a break from the market 'cuz it can get really frustrating if you are losing money and can't find any way out. I wouldn't say I lost money everyday but everyday was or is another day and no two days are the same in the market so you need to always come with a fresh and open mind and forget the past even if you have lost a lot like my bruh over at HPT. I am no expert but he really needs to bring down his contract size.. many times when he has made money if you calculate how much net he comes out with.. it'll surprise you that given my commission rates he doesn't make much.

Anyways, today wasn't really a day to talk about 'cuz the market kept going up and down in a channel pattern and it was mostly sideways except one good move that I missed in the afternoon. However, I did catch on when the market was about to close I drew the Fibonacci and realized that the trend might still continue up and bought 1 contract with a $1.5 stop loss and when it broke the next fib level bought in another one.. alas it wasn't meant to make me money. The second contract ended up giving money back to the market. Should've been a bit more patient (hard to be patient when you trade after a long time). Anyway, I hope you all had a good time in the market 'cuz we all have a tendency to be happy when we see someone or something crash or go down the drain and that's what's happening in the market at the moment.

+= Back but Inactive =+

2008-01-16T15:41:00.000-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have managed to somehow return from a grand vacation. If money wasn't running out I would stretch it for months.. However, due to unstable Internet connection and a new place (Buffalo, NY).. I won't be able to trade for a while but will update the blog from time to time. At the moment, I am trying to get a reliable high speed Internet connection but it's taking forever will update pretty soon.
-ciao-

= Gone Till January =

2007-12-13T16:02:00.000-05:00

So what did I decide to take with me on my vacation? You guessed it.. the biggest loss of my trading career. You can save the applause for later but I gotta show how the market can mess with your head even if you think your good.

How does -$450 sound? Sounds good if it ain't you. :)

I always say that there will be a tomorrow but this time there ain't no tomorrow.

------

Going on a vacation for a month.. then busy moving my stuff and won't be able to get back to trading until I have a reliable Internet access at my new place and a good place to trade. Until then click on some AdSense ads if you like something there and I guess that's it.

- ciao -

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Finally the end of ranging days...

2007-12-12T16:21:00.000-05:00

Today was quite difficult to trade to be honest with you. I had my last minute doubts until the very end and I was able to make 2 trades both for win, first wasn't big enough to be mentioned here but the last move was quite something. A lot of other futures trades were expecting another run down to make a new low but quite the opposite happened and I was able to take advantage of that. Unfortunately, I also called out the down move at 13:50 but just wasn't sure enough to get into it and missed it completely.. I don't like to chase the market if it's moving too fast without any entry indicators.

Also, tomorrow would be my last trading day for the year as I am leaving for a month long vacation on Friday and when I come back I will be moving to the US so I may not be able to get back to trading for a while ..probably until mid-January or so.

FOMC; Fed Days

2007-12-11T06:45:00.000-05:00

Fed Days are days when the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) make announcements on interest rates. These FOMC days usually see a low range and low volume day up to 14:00 EST when the announcement is made and then the day changes into a volatile high volume afternoon. The FOMC change (or leave the same) the Fed Funds Rate.

This is what the E-Mini S&P500 Market did after the last FOMC rate change announcement on 31 October 2007 when the FOMC cut the rate by a quarter point from 4.75% to 4.5%.

Here is a list of charts from the last 3 years of all the fed days from MyPivots.

http://www.mypivots.com/articles/articles.aspx?artnum=11&page=2

-----

I don't plan to have any open positions before the Fed announcements and will probably join the move in the making if my indicators confirm a safe entry. I have known people who bought 5 minutes before the Fed announcement on the last meet and emptied their account in the next 10 minutes even when the Fed cut the rates. The market becomes very volatile so special attention needs to be paid on thee days and don't go off fixing yourself a lunch with just a trailing stop in place.

For beginners trading the FOMC day, including myself, below is a video made by PureTick.com on playing the Fed move safetly.

http://puretick.com/video/fed/

Here are the pivot points for tommorow used by price-trend which are the closest to real floor pivot points.

PP: 1513.5 R1: 1533.3 R2: 1526 S1: 1506.3 S2: 1593.8

Update: 9:22 AM Eastern

On September 18 after a 0.5% cut in the fed funds target, the S&P surged 43 points. On October 31 after a 0.25% cut in the fed funds target, the S&P gained 18 points. The market has rallied more in advance of the announcement this time compared to the two previous occasions, however, so a subsequent rally of similar proportions is a long shot. There is even a chance that some "sell the news" reaction occurs following the announcement.

Just a few risky moves..

2007-12-10T15:46:00.000-05:00

.... Few risky moves and the rest of the day has been very choppy. Everyone is looking forward to the FOMC meet.

Time is Money..

2007-12-10T02:49:00.000-05:00

..presents the 'Holy Grail Setup' and much more. I came across this interview by a sucessful trader on the Time is Money blog.. and I have to tell you that much of what she uses is also used by me and works wonderfully well in Emini markets. It's hard to explain one by one as to how it should be setup but for those who understand it will surely benefit from it.

http://www.lbrgroup.com/images///raschke_pt2_0304.pdf

Here are two charts of S&P both with EMA and SMA, decide where it's heading.

IMO, it's heading sideways Monday then heading higher on FOMC announcement. I think it has a long way to go and will probabaly be making a new high in the 1600's.

December 06, 07 - Day Trading Futures E-mini

2007-12-06T16:22:00.000-05:00

Double Bottom in stochastic & Momentum, sharp bounce off the multiple-Ma's, pierced resistance with a solid candle, calculated 6-7 point move to the next pivot level, upward trending day, multiple time frame confirming the move and I didn't take any trades today.

Well, isn't that wonderful.. Got back from work around 3:00 pm est and this classic move had already taken place, I didn't get in because the momentum started to turn down but price kept making higher highs. You shouldn't follow divergence/convergence indicators on trending days because they fail like stochastic but I like to be safe then sorry so I didn't go long and just watched the market struggle up and up. However, if you look back at the chart I posted of the S&P, you will definitely notice that we have broken through the MA lines or have come up to them to retest, very interesting time in the market.

Day Trade Emini Blogspot S&P, Russel, Nasdaq 100

2007-12-05T20:49:00.000-05:00

Don't ask, I was bored!

Timing is everything!

2007-12-05T16:04:00.000-05:00

Again, another sunrise another day..December 05, 07

Got back from work around 12:40 pm est and ate something.. then started watching the market and boy did it mirror the financials today. I logged on yahoo to see what was up and found out they provide free real-time charts for National Investment Brokerage index.. well that helped me decide which way the market was likely to go. Check it out yourself,

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=^YHOh760

As for the trades, I took one today and added one more contract which again cut into my profits like yesterday. I got up to average $150 and gave about half of it back to the market and ended up with 1.50 pnts of profit with 2 contracts. Saw a great move in the making with financials confirming the move I got long well after I should've gotten long... (don't know what happened to me I just couldn't trigger at that moment).. and then another contract only to switch back to the financials chart on yahoo and realizing that the Yellow MA had been hit and the market was likely going down. Took a bit of my profit and walked away.

I think the reason I didn't enter on time was because I was scared of taking a loss, you know my statistics, one win and one loss.. so I made sure.

Market timing is everything..

2007-12-04T16:05:00.000-05:00

Again a very choppy day in the market. Overall, it seems that we maybe heading for a retest of the yellow MA or 1450 area in the chart from yesterday and if that the case then December may end on a good note. A retest and then a move up before the end of the year but what do I know.. I will let the price-action speak on behalf of me.

Today I took a trade after I got back from work and I learned a hard lesson about Market timing. I went short with 1 contract on a good move then went short again when market seemed to be in a strong downtrend and the next second the bar shrunk and those two contracts cut into my profits. I was in a loss until the last few bars broke down again, wish I had more time to wait out because I still think that it may continue down.

Anyways, there was another opportunity around 1:00 pm est for short but I couldn't avail it as I was at work.

Anything goes Blog - Did you make money today?

2007-12-03T20:17:00.000-05:00

Monday December 3rd, 07

Stocks Struggled on Monday

Market was very erratic today and obviously the sellers were strong. Last night I was looking at a few charts that mirror S&P emini and it seems that we are hitting a major Resistance point. Today's price action agreed with my analysis and I didn't take any trade as I wasn't sure of the market direction. I plan to stay on the sideline until market decides it's direction then I will likely get involved again. I find it a bit risky at the moment and you may have also noticed the chop in the market in the afternoon and around lunch.

There were a few short opportunities at time but I couldn't take advantage of them as I had work in the morning and only watched the afternoon when the market was very choppy with momentum all over the place.

Noticed the positive divergence as market made lower lows? The Chart Pattern Trader utilized that opportunity and made hefty gains on that move.. However, at the moment there are a couple of things going on here; Long-term MACD crossover, RSI positive divergence, stochastic moving away from the undersold territory and there is strong upward momentum.

The problem lies with the price-action. Two major Ma's are pushing market lower and there is a major resistance at the current price. It is likely that we may have either more choppy side-way days ahead of us or a rally into one direction that should trigger a new trend direction.

Nov 30th, 07 = -$100 + $337.50

2007-11-30T16:16:00.000-05:00

Hey guys,

Today was a good day I kept watching the market as I had time in the morning (got up on time :P).. Around 10:15 am est, the market started to make a side way but really if your long through it you would've made some money. Then at 1:00 pm Est the market fell and momentum went down with it which lasted till until 14:30 just when I had shorted and took a two point loss. I pick the bottom again without paying much attention but i managed to cover it when momentum turned itself around and I reversed and caught the up move, covered my losses from the previous trade and from Tuesday + covered all the commission for the week.

PnL: + $5.50 = Double whopper with Xlarge coke time!

Btw, I took the short because it bounced down from the moving averages and for the moment it seemed the momentum was hitting rock bottom as well but again the price action is always the leader so it turned around.

Nov 29th, 07

2007-11-29T17:55:00.001-05:00

Hey guys,

1 trade = B/e (Close call.. took $3.5 heat before break-even)... Market is just all over the place lately it needs to decide it's direction or whipsaws like these would occur more often..

Btw, I don't rmr what I was doing yesterday so I didn't post I think I didn't trade.

- $200

2007-11-27T15:59:00.000-05:00

Bit too early.. should've reversed..

Dangerous? Indeed.

2007-11-26T16:15:00.000-05:00

Monday November 26Th, 2007

I hope everyone is doing well and ripping money off of wall street but I am not doing too well. Actually I am because zero is better then anything negative. No trades today because I couldn't trade in the morning and turned on my PC around 1:00 PM est and saw a great charting indicator in the making.

As you can see above, I expected a double bottom and then a move up and since there were no news effecting the market this decline was very unexpected. Although, as I looked at the charts and thought about how I would've been trading had I been someone new to the trading game.. I realized that today would've been one of those days where the newbies make money.

The reason I didn't trade was because my trading method didn't give out any signals for me to enter except one around 14:55 to enter for a short but since there were only five minutes left I stayed away and it fell down for another $150+ move with one contract. Also, the move down was not triggered by any major news or any economic report so I didn't expect it to last but being wrong in the market is very healthy at times. ;)

Again, today has been tempting yet intimidating!

==================

"Dow -173.45 at 12813.10, NASDAQ -43.83 at 1415.53, S&P -25.63 at 2551.22

Equities extend their late-day sell-off as the major indices hit fresh session lows. No particular news item triggered the selling and bonds continue to rally in a flight to quality. The S&P 500 is now trading slightly below the unchanged mark for the year.
The latest selling pressure has been widespread, but once again the financial sector (-3.5%) is leading the way, giving up all of its advance on Friday and then some. Financials are the worst performing sector year-to-date, with consumer discretionary coming in second.
Tomorrow, the Conference Board will release the November Consumer Confidence reading at 10:00 ET. Economists expect the number to come in at 91.5"

Weekend Trading Lesson #1 - Introduction

2007-11-25T00:42:00.000-05:00

Hey guys,
I promised you guys some material that I would post from time to time that I have learned during the past few months that could help you out ..but I was just too lazy to get started. I noticed that over the weekend when the markets are closed I should continue to post some instruction material to keep you guys coming back and contributing because you all seem to just disappear...

First of All I'd like to post a very cool video. Oscar here uses the 200 SMA/EMA to trade and they work wonderfully well, it seems. I will be doing more research with moving averages and hopefully will come up with something that can help all of us out.
Here's the link to the video:

He seems like a legit guy but I cannot recommend his products or services as I haven't subscribed to them. If you have had the privilege to do so then you are welcome to share with us.
==========================

DAY TRADING

The world of futures trading has become increasingly dominated by short term speculation. Since the early 1970's, virtually all futures markets have become increasingly volatile, and the time window of market moves has steadily narrowed. Nowadays, large intra-day price swings provide a consistent source of opportunities for an increasingly popular form of trading known as day trading.
In addition to the increase in market volatility, a large decrease in commission costs in recent years and significant advances in computer technology have become powerful driving forces behind the growth of day trading.
Commission cost has historically been the single largest overhead factor in futures trading. With the advent of negotiated brokerage commissions and discount brokerage service, it is now possible for traders who do not seek the advice and input of a "full service" broker to pay greatly reduced commissions, thereby following for more active trading as well as trading for smaller price moves.
In addition to greatly reduced commissions, the combination of advanced computer hardware, charting software, and a wide array of “real time” market quotation services accessible by computer, all affordable to even the novice trader, has enhanced public participation in an area which was historically the exclusive domain of professional off the-floor traders and on the floor pit brokers. The increased pool of short term and day traders has increased market liquidity which, in turn, has facilitated short term and day trading.

What is Day Trading?

Day trading is the process of making trades during the course of the trading day with the intention of making short-term profits. True day traders will not hold positions to the next trading sessions regardless of how they have fared during the day. This means that a loss is a loss and a profit is a profit and that all scores are settled by the end of the trading session win, lose, or draw. Day trades may be entered at any time during the day, but they must be closed out by the end of the same day.
While it is true that leaving a trade open for as long as possible increases the opportunities for profits, it can also result in greater losses. What is critical in day trading is not the length of time the trade remains open but, rather, the range of prices traveled during the period the markets are open from opening trade to closing trade. Successful day trading requires, amount many other conditions, a wide trading range. The task of the day trader is to forecast price movements within the confines of one trading day using technical analysis tools. Many opportunities to profit arise in the course of every trading day, but if, and only if, you know what to look for. This is why the proper training is essential to anyone wishing to trade in this manner.

Why Day Trade?

Given the volatile market environment described above, day trading offers several advantages over position (i.e. longer term) trading. They include the following:
1. Day traders get many opportunities each day.
2. You don't have overnight risk in day trading, so there is little or no margin required even in big markets.
3. High-probability entry systems, which most people want, work with short-term trading.
4. With good money management technique, the risk of losing huge amount of money is well controlled by using tight stop loss.
5. There's always another opportunity to make money.

===================

What are futures ?

Futures are all about future prices. People who trade futures essentially trade agreements about how much they will buy or sell something for at a specific date in the future - usually the nearby future, within a few months or less. These agreements are contracts that also specify the quantity and other details of the commodity being traded.
A futures contract is a legally binding agreement between two parties to buy or sell in the future, on a designated exchange, a specific quantity of a commodity at a specific price. The buyer and seller of a futures contract agree now on a price for a product to be delivered or paid for at a set time in the future, known as the "settlement date." Although actual delivery of the commodity can take place in fulfillment of the contract, most futures contracts are actually closed out or "offset" prior to delivery.
Futures contracts are traded through an auction-like process, with all bids and offers on each contract made public. Through this, a prevailing market price is reached for each contract, based primarily on the laws of supply and demand. You might be surprised to know that the futures markets are rarely used to actually buy or sell the physical commodity or financial instrument being traded; they're used for price estimation, risk management, and for some people, investment and profit.

How do I go about trading futures ?

When first considering trading futures, it is important to gain a thorough knowledge of the market. Information about futures contracts, the clearing house, margin calls, and the nature of the futures market are all readily available from all Futures Exchanges and certified futures brokers. Attending seminars, reading books and keeping up to date with the financial market is important.
The process of actually learning how to trade futures contracts is more time consuming. It involves being aware of ones own strengths and weaknesses, and then developing a trading strategy to best suit the individual.
To be successful in futures trading, one needs a planned, disciplined approach. It is important to know your entry and exit levels before placing orders, and hence your profit and loss goals. Having the confidence and discipline to stick to these levels is an integral part of trading. Successful futures traders always acknowledge the importance of psychology in their trading. Traders must be disciplined and remain emotionally detached from the market.
Futures contracts must be executed on or subject to the rules of a commodity exchange. You can either trade futures through your broker or Electronic Trading System. (Only applicable for certain futures market ).
Our daily life involves buying and selling of commodities and they fluctuate in price. These price fluctuations are how we benefit and profit. In stock market, you have to buy the stock at a low price and sell it at a high price to make a profit. In the futures market, you can sell high and buy low, i.e. you can short the market. (For example: assume gold prices are too high, we can sell gold at the high price and buy it back when it reaches a lower price, thereby making a profit.)

This is it for now I will be looking for more information to share and have a good amount of material here in the coming weeks to help new and intermediate traders advance their trading skills.

See ya Monday, hopefully. :)

thank you.. thank you .. thank you..?

2007-11-21T16:07:00.000-05:00

..you guessed it, Happy Thanksgiving...
Nov 20th, 07: I couldn't trade because I was in Niagira Falls and then drove to Buffalo for some loonie shopping but I have to admit I should've chosen a better day.. incredible moves in the market...

November 21st, 07: Last day before the long-ng weekend and I managed to cover my losses and end the week in profit.

I enetered the move after I saw the double top and 15 minute charts showing downtrend in the market but I took a lot of heat in the first trade and exited after 2.24 pnts as I wasn't sure where the market was headed.. turns out to be correct.. huge sideway for about half an hour after that I waited until it broke the previous support and another $1 downwards.. entered again which resulted in taking a lot more heat and wiping out my gains from the previous trade but I held onto it to and it bounced down again after 2-3 bars which registered some nice profit before the weekend. At 15:00 I exited when price lost its momentum and couldn't travel down to 1417.. but it eventually did after 15:00 and I close off all my positions at that time before the market closes and I'd advice you to do the same... Time to withdraw!

Happy Thanksgiving..

Weekly PnL: $150

Disappointing Monday -$250

2007-11-19T15:59:00.000-05:00

It was awkward and I really wanted the trending day curse gone but it's here to stay.. I need to study trending days real hard!

2 trades - 2 losses

November 16, 07 $350

2007-11-16T16:01:00.000-05:00

No trades on the 15th... the price action was very choppy and I kept getting the same choppy signal that I took a few days back for -$140 loss so I stayed out. Also, the day was kinda trending and my system gives up on those days and so do I.. anywas, today was a good day but I couldn't enter the market with any confidence during its short-trending ups and downs and I left around 1:30 Est came bac around 3:00 Pm est and saw that the price action was very choppy and the market couldn't decide the direction.. the moving averages were very close to each other and I knew it was going to break out to one direction.. I hoped for it go downwards because resistane was much further then the support above but the market bounced up from the moving average... I made sure it was going up and longed 1 contract around 1487.75 and another 1 at 1462.75 and close my position at 3:55 Pm est when the price started to reverse from the pivot point and resistance on nasdaq.

------------------------

So that was the week:

+$1510

------------------------

Loss -$140

2007-11-14T15:49:00.000-05:00

What an cheesy day today!

Usualy I am not this emotional but I just had the chance to cover it and it didn't fill me in by a tick and dropped like 7 points!

Lol, what was this guy talking about yesterday..

2007-11-13T17:09:00.000-05:00

..25 years of trading experience and this is what you come up with.. lol.. check out the video and compare with today's resultss..

Btw, no trades as it as a trending day and I couldn't pull the trigger... richards computer is doing a better job then me! x)

Today was tense.. $1300

2007-11-12T16:07:00.000-05:00

I was busy throughout the day but I was able to check the market every now and then and kept looking for most probable signals for entry.. missed a few in the morning and when the market was coming to an end I was able to enter and cover my losses from friday which was great .. here's a picture for the visual learners x)..

-$325.50

2007-11-09T15:37:00.001-05:00

Biggest loss as of today... two trades and both stopped out.. $3.25 each.. didn't take the major move as the market rallied up.. had the signals but didn't pull the trigger.. so hope to either cover this monday or do some thinking..

November 8th, 07

2007-11-09T03:56:00.000-05:00

Wasn't around in the morning and I was only able to trade around 3 PM est time and saw a great move in the making.. just took a deep breath and entered the market.. after taking a bit of heat I was able to come out profitable for the day and covered my position on the first red.. could've waited longer..

My Loonie Gone Mad..

2007-11-07T12:20:00.000-05:00

Today's S.W.O.T

Industry Watch

Strong: IT consulting & services; gold
Weak: thrifts & mortgages; tires & rubber; consumer finance; real estate management & development; automobile manufacturing; advertising; investment banks & brokerages; healthcare tech; construction materials; diversified banks

Moving the Market

Renewed credit concerns

General Motors is taking a $39 billion non-cash charge; posts dismal third quarter earnings

Dollar falls after a Chinese official states that China might adjust its foreign currency reserves

Oil trades in a choppy manner following the EIA report that showed a smaller draw than expected

----

Don't feel like trading..

2007-11-06T14:18:00.000-05:00

My trading system is giving me alot of false signals and the market is movin up and up due to oil prices and a number of better-than-expected earnings reports.. and I haven't been able to enter cuz every drop seems pretty huge and could blow out my stops anytime.. rather stay out of this market.. hope all the rest of my fellow bloggers have a good time today trading stocks/future and what not... am gona go outside and spend some money while i can.. ciao..

I wish I was born in the 50's..

2007-11-06T11:03:00.000-05:00

16:25 ET

Market Rallies as Financials Bounce Back

Dow +117.54 at 13660.94, Nasdaq +30.00 at 2825.18, S&P +18.10 at 1520.27

- Credit concerns were set aside on Tuesday as the stock market rallied in the face of rising oil prices, which rose 3.3% to $97.10 per barrel at their high for the session.
Oil prices fell back some to end the trading session at $96.70. Their upward move was fueled by multiple factors, including anxiousness that the government's weekly inventory report on Wednesday will show another decline in crude stockpiles. A bombing in Yemen that shut down an oil pipeline, a forecast for inclement weather in the North Sea, and the Energy Information Administration boosting its full-year 2008 U.S. crude price forecast from $73.50 per barrel to $79.92 per barrel also played a part.
In turn, continued weakness in the dollar index, which slipped 0.5% to $76.04, served as another buying catalyst for commodity traders. The weakness in the greenback, which sparked inflation chatter, remained a healthy prop for gold prices, which hit a 27-year high at $827.20 per ounce. Gold futures for December delivery settled up 1.6% at $823.40.
With the jump in commodity prices, it was little surprise to see the energy (+2.7%) and materials (+2.5%) sectors score the largest percentage gains in Tuesday's trading. Airlines, meanwhile, were among the weakest performers as they were grounded by the spike in oil prices.
The most influential mover of the day was the financial sector (+1.7%) as it garnered a bargain hunting bid with Goldman Sachs (GS 223.16, +4.77) again denying rumors that it is going to announce a write-down. Citigroup (C 35.08, -0.82) remained a conspicuous laggard as participants continued to show little interest in the stock, which is down 37% year-to-date.
Conversely, there remained a good deal of interest in the large-cap technology issues with many of the usual suspects leading the buying brigade. Cisco (CSCO 34.08, +1.00) was a headliner in this respect as investors were feeling optimistic ahead of its earnings report on Wednesday. Other luminaries included Google (GOOG 741.79, +16.14), Apple (AAPL 191.79, +5.61), Intel (INTC 27.49, +0.65) and Oracle (ORCL 22.83, +0.76).
The latter stock was added to the Americas Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs. In turn, Goldman Sachs removed Microsoft (MSFT 36.41, -0.32) from the same list, a move that contributed to its relative weakness.

There weren't any economic reports today, yet the Treasury market got knocked back a bit by the stock market rally that saw the major indices close at their best levels of the session.
-----------------------------------------------------

12:05 ET
New Highs for Oil, Lows for Dollar

Dow +1.55 at 13544.29, Nasdaq -7.14 at 2787.32, S&P +1.73 at 1503.90 (12:25pm)

- The stock market opened in the green on a morning with a modest amount of market moving news. The major indices have since traded in a choppy manner, and have now given up all or the majority of their previous gains. Microsoft (MSFT 35.94, -0.80) is leading the Nasdaq lower after it was removed from Americas Conviction List at Goldman Sachs.

There were a number of positive earnings reports this morning but few from companies that will generate major headlines. Emerson (EMR 53.94, -2.44) and Valero Energy (71.89, +2.47) topped expectations. Sun Microsystems (JAVA 5.24, -0.47) topped profit expectations, but missed on revenue.

Commodities, on the other hand, are having a very strong day as the dollar continues to weaken. The dollar has hit an all-time low against the euro.

Crude oil hit an all-time high in electronic trading on speculation of a bullish Energy Information Administration (EIA) inventory report on Wednesday and reports of a storm in the North Sea disrupting drilling.

Oil then rallied past $97 a barrel following a Reuters report that stated that the EIA has raised its full-year 2008 U.S. crude price forecast to $79.92 a barrel from $73.50 a barrel. Additionally, the EIA stated that the OPEC production increase "may not be sufficient" to stop inventory declines. Separately, there are reports of an attack on a Yemeni oil pipeline. A barrel of crude for December delivery is currently up 3.0% to $96.80. The energy sector (+1.8%) is providing leadership as it follows crude oil prices higher.

Meanwhile, gold, up 2.1% to $825.80, has hit a 28-year high. The CRB Index, which tracks a broad range of commodities, is up 1.6%.

-----------------------------------------------
Oil Hits New All-Time High

Dow +32.42 at 13570.71, Nasdaq +3.56 at 2798.35, S&P +5.48 at 1507.23 (10:35 AM)

- Reuters reports that the government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) has raised its full-year 2008 U.S. crude price forecast to $79.92 a barrel from $73.50 a barrel. Additionally, the EIA stated that the OPEC production increase "may not be sufficient" to stop inventory declines. Crude oil topped $96.70 a barrel following the report, but has eased slightly to $96.58.

Meanwhile, stocks are trading near their lowest levels of the session, but remain in positive territory.

Crazy bad day...

2007-11-05T17:52:00.000-05:00

I dunno what happened today.. all trades amounted to a huge loss.. %^$& !

Anyways, here's an Indian song to lighten up the mood :D

Can't decide whether I need a new monitor or want a new monitor...

2007-11-02T13:58:00.000-04:00

Too many charts and not enough screen?

or..

All too common just move along?

No Trades on Nov 1st..

2007-11-02T12:25:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting chart.. especially for day trader.. Credits: Ticker Tape Trader.

Stock market...

2007-11-01T00:25:00.000-04:00

World's Most Amazing Roller Coasters - NITRO - The best free videos are right here

Equity trades enjoy the bull.. but future traders also enjoy bear..

Boy Oh Boy!

2007-10-31T16:37:00.000-04:00

(something is wrong with blogster picture service)

Need I say more... :D Muhahaha!

October 30th, 07

2007-10-30T16:35:00.000-04:00

Took quite a few trades.. actually the first four were all losses then at the end of the day I got my grip back on the market and ended up winning overall. Yesterday was a great day made about $625 total and just left my VO and blog as it is because I was too happy. Today's losses came as a result of a new strategy I am implementing and just can't get the settings right.. gotta keep tweaking.

Btw, thanks to TraderBubs for my blog mention on his site.. we are both going through the same learning curve and no honest trading system or instructor is out there who can actually teach us everything.. Gotta do it on ur own..

Loss on Thursday; Profit on Friday

2007-10-26T18:43:00.000-04:00

Thursday I took a small loss of -$37.25 after 3 trades and just left my VO. This morning I came back with a renewed passion for trading.. why? you ask, I dunno..well because I made a killin on thursday night trading euro 10 ticks in my favor then when the market was about to close I scalped one point off of ES using Richard's box play. It worked out but didn't go as far as I wanted but maybe it was due to market coming to an end...

Anyways, It'll be a busy weekend cuz i gotta pile up my chedda..

Chop Chop Chicken Salad :|

2007-10-24T14:47:00.000-04:00

Markets were great at the open and I did 3 trades: 2 wins and 1 loss. Overall, I am green and over-overall I am still red. :(.. After that I just stared at the screen only to realize that at 10:30 market has gone chop chop chicken salad so I stayed out. Done for today.. I will go outside and get myself a falafel.

Missed a good oppurtunity after the chop.. oh well.

Couldn't trade yesterday.. Results for: Oct23rd

2007-10-23T17:24:00.000-04:00

It was a great day today but I couldnt get up on time because I was attending a party late last night so I traded pretty late when the market was coming to an end. Pulled off a good profit.. hopefully will cover previous losses eventually. :)

The Return of the Spartans - and the spray tans..

2007-10-21T14:48:00.000-04:00

Meet The Spartans - For more funny movies, click here

An interesting indicator for trending days..

2007-10-19T19:07:00.000-04:00

October 19 - Aroon Indicator

Here's a very common indicator that I found out recently which supposedly helps with identifying trends. I have always had trouble identifying the market trend so this has helped a little bit and I have back-tested it with EOD data and seems to work out MOST of the time..

Try on your own and leave any comments if you come up with anything new.

How it works:
1. The green line(Aroon up) is the major line which seems to go in the direction of the trend.
2. When the green line crosses above or blow the 50 level that should be the entry or exit in a perfect world but you can buy sell in and around that area.
3. If it crosses down/above the 50 level and bounces off even when few green/red candles are in the making against the trend.. you should stay in the market and try to relax (yeah right, day trading is a mental torture).
4. Works well on trending days but can easily wipe out you account on ranging days or when the market is choppy. (Use other indicators to find out when the market starts to get choppy to avoid losses)
5. I would use my own exits even if they cost me some profit because all exit signals with most indicators eat away some of your profits anyways before they flash.

Phew, whatta day..

2007-10-19T18:49:00.000-04:00

Again another trending day and this time I decided to play the s&p mini. Overnight, I managed to pull in a small profit of about $150 in s&p and I thought that would be it for me but every green bar felt like potential money in the bank account.. so I entered again.

I hate trending days so at one of the pivot points there was a short pull back and I bought into it and went long :(.. lost all that I had made overnight plus another $50. Then around 1:20 PM.. I got pissed off.. :O.. and shorted 2 contracts that I held onto until the end of the day which made me some good mulla.

My platform is down so I can't get you any pics at this moment ... here are some pics from my other platform that I use for technical analysis...

Back in Black - Lewis Black

2007-10-17T14:14:00.000-04:00

October 16th, 07

2007-10-17T14:06:00.001-04:00

Not a great day.. took a few trades for a loss and reconsidering at the moment whether I want to continue with future index or move into currency. The volatility is really just too dangerous.. no signals are ever enough to let me pull the trigger lately. Futures currency is much more stable and still follow all the same signals and indicators.. will be testing that out tonight.

I hate trending days... but others love em!

2007-10-15T16:09:00.000-04:00

I just can't seem to trade on trending days.. I am more of a ranging day trades when the prices bounces of obvious edges.. I lost money last Friday for the same reason because I traded just for the sake of trading.. I held off that temptation today so $0 is better then -$x.. but of course +$x would've been much better..

God! Damn! -$190

2007-10-12T16:17:00.001-04:00

IF ONLY I WAITED A BIT LONGER!

Ohh, has it stung again!!

2007-10-12T09:20:00.000-04:00

Discipline, my ass! I missed a move that could've made my month and I had it right but got out TOO early.. well, as I said yesterday.. sometimes it pays and other times it stings and this time it has stung me big time!

Check out the second pic to see what I missed! :'(.. can't cry enough! lol..

Some good music to lighten up the mood.. :)

2007-10-11T15:19:00.000-04:00

Discipline Pays, Fear Stings..

2007-10-11T14:40:00.000-04:00

Another great day.. let me re-phrase that.. another great day in the market because it's a very gloomy weather outside reminding me of the winter and the wind chill about to come.. :..(..

Anyways, I took a few trades and made a nice chunk of profit but as always very limited compared to the move that carried out. As a beginner I have heard numerous times that being disciplined is the way to go to make money which stands true as I have made a good amount but it has also limited my profits. If you take a look at the charts I posted, I have exited the position after 1 point, more or less, in most cases. If I let the move carry out till the end(which is hard to figure out while it's being made) I could be banking a lot more. So I guess being disciplined is just another word for 'fear' making it look like there is no emotional element present during the trade. In reality, the fear of the unknown is what makes me scared and that means.. more studying and more practise of the charting patterns and fine tuning of my indicators.

Again, 'more practise' may just be another word to avoid the real problem.

Traded Russell, Profit

2007-10-10T07:41:00.000-04:00

I decided to try Russell after a very long time as I heard that there is more money in it. Well, it turns out to be true.. Russell made my good money for a shorter move compared to others but keep in mind that Russell is very dangerous for a new trader as it makes long spikes that can weaken a beginner and end the day in loss. A friend of mine also emptied his account in Russell recently. Everybody wants to make more money but only if the risk is worth it.

Two trades in the same move as I wasn't sure if it would go further down but it did and I entered again. My indicators gave me the second entry signal.

October 8th, 07 - Ended in a loss

2007-10-09T07:54:00.000-04:00

I didn't understand the price action yesterday at all. I watched my indicators for an entry position but I couldn't figure out, with two trades throughout the day, I ended up with a loss. However, the pivot points were pretty accurate for the day.

Above is a chart for the day with 1 minute candlesticks. I used one minute because the pivot point seemed very accurate with 1 minute then the five minute that I use usually.

From Toronto, Canada: Proof the world is getting worse day by day!

2007-10-07T10:57:00.000-04:00

First Post, Duh!

2007-10-07T08:27:00.000-04:00

Well, since this is the first post I would like to talk about why I started this blog. There's no reason really... I just felt like I needed a place to put down my thoughts regarding day trading eminis and stocks. Also, sometimes I come across interesting articles and videos that I would post here for those who might visit and summary of my own trading experience. I have also been thinking about sharing all the material that I have learned throughout the last few months and trading related stuff that I have come across. I may post chapter by chapter or topic by topic to lay it out for new traders who want to learn as much online as possible before learning from a professional; be careful because it's really hard to find real professionals these days, most are scammers making money to cover losing days and sell crap material.