[cmc]

I'm a newbie here and I want to say I appreciate the spirit here. This seems like a straight up site with some very knowledgeable posters.

I'm new to day trading and I'm getting body slammed and whipsawed in all different directions. If I zig, the market zags. What I don't know can fill volumes. But for a starting point, I'd like some advice on the platform I'm using which is Scottrader Elite. Altho it's real time, I don't believe it has the capability of adding analysis to the movement.

Anyway, does anybody else use this?

I'd appreciate any feedback or advice.

Thanks and trade on.
cmc

[404]

cmc,

it really depends what instrument you are trading. you will find that many members here trade futures. (es, ym, nq) therefore, scottrade would not be appropriate. maybe you could tell us a little more about your situation: what you trade, how often you trade, strategy, analysis style, etc...

there are many top notch individuals at this site, let us know more about what you do, and i can assure you that you will get great insight.

[MrPaul]

I second that, maybe you could elaborate on your trades? Posting up a chart of where you are zig when the the market zags could shed some light on things and allow us to give you a better answer

[cmc]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. That's very supportive.

I've been trading index etf's: DIA, DXD, QID, SDS. I've been scalping I guess, trying to pick up a few ticks, like 10+. I've been trading 5-10 times a day, less if I'm on a bad run.
I haven't been relying on any indicators, just looking for patterns in the ticks.

I'm interested in commodities but I think I need to gain some confidence as a trader before I try new markets. I've been a buy and holder for years but not anymore.

That's a quick description of what I've been trading. Hopefully, that gives you some picture of where I'm at.

cmc

[cmc]

Thank you for the supportive responses.
I've been trading index ETF's like QID, DXD. I've been looking for patterns on the ticks but my timing is wrong. It's like a guessing game and I keep guessing wrong.
By the way, forgive my ignorance but what is ES, NQ and YM?
cmc

[thrunner]

Originally Posted by cmc »

what is ES, NQ and YM?cmc

They are basically stock index futures instruments equivalent to SPY, QQQQ and DIA, respectively. There are liquidity, leverage and tax (60:40) and reporting advantages (1 statement /yr) to trading futures vs actual ETFs : http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/indexfutures.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/emini.asp

[torero]

Originally Posted by cmc »

Thank you for the supportive responses.
I've been trading index ETF's like QID, DXD. I've been looking for patterns on the ticks but my timing is wrong. It's like a guessing game and I keep guessing wrong.
By the way, forgive my ignorance but what is ES, NQ and YM?
cmc

Since these are very dependent on broad markets, you might want to correlate with another indicator such as an index futures (ES is index futures of S&P 500, YM is index futures of Dow, or NQ is index futures of NASDAQ) or $TICK (gauges the entire NYSE stocks that are ticking up vs ticking down). These are essential if you plan on scalping because market sentiment change by the second. But I think the most important is learning to read and understand market price action, that is, higher highs/lows and lower highs/lows. These should give you an indicator of the overall market sentiments. Support and Resistance you should be aware of as well as they can turn the ETF on a dime and you don't know why. These can be opening price, high or low of the day, yesterday's close, and yesterday high and low. Keep that in mind. Good luck.