[wrbtrader]

Originally Posted by d0n »

well how do I know if that trader is really that good? I mean it's always good to have more opinions and he is somewhere else now where I am. Considering that he is managing basically millions of dollars (not only stocks) and I am talking about not even 3k.

Yeah I am planning to follow that strategy, but I am also afraid that it is going to stop working one day (maybe soon?) so already now I am loking for something that would keep me even busier. Another strategy that I could try, maybe really something that would work for me for position trading, where the requierements aren't that huge...

Its an easy solution...

Backtest his/her trade method on what ever trading instrument you're going to trade. In addition, simulate trade it.

Also, there's "no guarantee" that any trade method will work forever. Thus, the goal is to exploit the method as much as possible until it stops working and then adapt that method for current market conditions at the time when it stops working. Hopefully, by the time when it stops working, you'll know enough via market experience and trading experience to be able to adapt the method to make it profitable again.

As to the capital you have...you don't have enough money for full time trading assuming you're living on your own. Yet, if you just want to get involved in trading as a hobbyist, being supported by someone else or you have another job to support yourself...

2-3k is OK to play around with.

Regardless, do not replace what you already have with those mentors and trading group have considering you've said it works...it may be your ticket to getting more capital, getting more trading experience and getting more market experience prior to going into day trading.

[Mr_You]

Originally Posted by d0n »

I'd rather get paid individually for my efforts and not based on an hourly pay that an employer gives me.

Well so where would I find good resources for weekly/monthly in and exit strategies?
So that I could start working on the psychologic aspects, be disciplined and eventually make it somewhere? If you're saying that daytrading doesn't have sense for me.

As many have mentioned. It can take years (I'm still not there) and requires a methodical and systematic approach to research and execution.

This is my "standard" response to those looking to get started:

No school is going to teach you how to trade profitably. You only learn how to trade (algorithmic or discretionary) by teaching yourself, learning from a profitable mentor, or working for an true proprietary trading firm (paid job). My advice is to do what I'm doing and spend very little money on (supposed) "education" and teach yourself by jumping into sim/paper trading (using a live data feed) with your own ideas and research or get lucky by finding a job with an prop firm.

The only way to be successful in trading is to put in the time. It could take years. Check into NinjaTrader for a low barrier to entry to getting up and running. Check out Evidence-based Technical Analysis for a primer into statistics-based technical analysis to give you a head start. Check out this forum and another "big" forum for very friendly and helpful people.

There are LOTS of people describing their profitable strategies online in certain forums. I suggest following the system of one of these folks until you find one or a combination that works for you.

Don't trade real money til you're not losing any in the sim. Post trading journals on the forums. Plan, plan, plan, plan.

[Predictor]

Tim Sykes has a profitable record. I do not know any mentor that I'd trust except myself. Actually, I know one or two other mentors who may know what they are doing. I would always demand a track record from any mentor and make sure that you understand how it was made. Now, realistically, just starting you don't need the best mentor and there are some vendors who offer free stuff that could be valuable to you.

Realistically, without a few thousand dollars you will not find any serious mentor that will help you.

I didn't look at the strategies but your approach isn't really the way to develop market expertise. Developing market expertise is more about thinking about the markets and studying them. There are some traders who develop systems and do well but they are always working on their systems. It isn't just throwing some indicator down but working, backtesting, revising, evaluating, and thinking why it should work. You need to think about the concepts.

My best trading systems and most other systems I've seen offered from other vendors require about 7k to trade the ES. Remember, it is $5600 just to hold 1 ES overnight. Even day trading margins can be up to $1500ish per contract. Even at $150 per trade, you would be risking 5% of your account per trade.This is a high risk to take without a significant edge. Also, I know many brokers who require 5k to even open a futures account.

I'm not saying its not possible but you will need to really know what you are doing to do this. You don't have capital to make mistake and learn. Honestly, you may be better off going to currencies. Sometimes I wish had I started with FX. You can trade FX with 3k.

I'd recommend reading traderfeed.blogspot.com. It isn't updated but if you study it then you can get some ideas about how to approach the market. You can also look if you are in US for a traders meetup group. You'll get exposed to a lot of different traders of varying levels and methods for free.

Basically if you going discretionary then you need a holistic and professional way to view markets. This is not easy to get and won't be discussed any indicator vendor. Ray Barros has a complex methodology that might help. I do not use his methods but I got the impression it would be a decent place to start.

If you are going systems then you need tools and programming ability.. stats knowledge.. stuff like that

Originally Posted by d0n »

what about e minis in commodities?
Even the Emini S&p 500, 0.25 index points there is like $12.50... how can $3000 not be enough then? and there are more "cheap" e minis like that... I don't see why I wouldn't be able to trade those with such capital.
Probably much cheaper than most stocks. Setting SLs on about $150 a trade.. and there are many more minis than just the S&P... I can focus on a few of the cheapest ones.

Well Where would you suggest to get a good mentor? there are so many offering online, some of them are not even affordable how expensive they are
(I just watched the Wallstreet Warriors (Tim Sykes offers some lessons online)... but there are so many more
I am not saying I am not planning to put a lot of work in it... read a lot, paper trade, then eventually start with real money.

What is wrong more specifically with the strategies that I posted? Would be great to have some insight.
Also I was thinking now of just doing position trading, and not day trading.

[bestforexpartners]

Hi,

I think its a basic problem among the traders. Your first step should be to understand that you really want i.e. to follow the trading system routine you are making and you will continue to follow it for the long term. This could be a basic system for you for regular forex trading and will definitely work to help you driving lots of profits. You want a trading routine that can be easily followed and that is so sensible to make you earn good.