[raul]

Thanks Tim,

I am not going through a router. My power settings are not the problem, neither is my firewall, that is why I think it is OEC.

Will open an account with Mirus Futures, I have not seen a disconnect yet.

I am now connecting to OpenDNS and so far I only had one short disconnect.

[JSChicago]

Originally Posted by traderJennie »

Hello all, I am new to trading and I am finding it very challenging. Maybe it is because I started in July of 2011, and we all know what happened in August of 2011. It is just so hard to find a system that works consistently, and in all kinds of markets.

A former colleague of mine told me about a strategy called pairs trading, he said it is a better way to manage risk so you make more money (or, lose less money). Has anyone ever traded pairs? Where can I find out more information about how to do this?

The broker I use (thinkorswim) has a guy that does some webinars on pairs trading; you can go through his archives here: Pairs Trader Archives
BTW.... if you ever type in the url please note that this is .net not .com ( I've seen some very bad reviews about the folks at the .com domain and I don't want you to mistake the two).

[TimRacette]

Hey JS, are you referring to Shaowtrader (Peter Reznicek). Super great guy and fantastic trader. I learned a lot about market internals from him over the years.

[JSChicago]

Originally Posted by TimRacette »

Hey JS, are you referring to Shaowtrader (Peter Reznicek). Super great guy and fantastic trader. I learned a lot about market internals from him over the years.

Hi Tim, the name sounds familiar (Peter Reznicek) so that's probably correct. I'm not a pairs trader and haven't kept up with their webinars on the subject, but their crew seem like stand-up guys that know their stuff.

[Br88dy]

1. Why
I'm 23 years old and was recently told I won't be able to fulfill my lifelong dream of being a pilot in the military. Instead of moping and being stagnant, I decided to get going on another career I've been interested in for many years. So, I guess that means I want to make this a career.

2. Commitment
Well, I'm moving to Phoenix in a month, so I'll need to get a job to support myself. But I plan on putting in several hours a day into developing a strategy and system.

3. Timeframe and method
I'm brand new to this, so I don't know what a swing trader, scalper, position trader, or news traders are. All I know is that I want to eventually just be dealing with futures, and if I'm successful enough, start a hedge fund.

4. Account/Investment size
I'm starting with nothing. I don't expect to be live trading for a few months, so that gives me plenty of time to paper trade and come up with a strategy. Not sure how much I'll have to start with to open an account with a broker. I don't even know what markets are available for futures contracts traders. Like I said, I'm BRAND new to this.

5. Money management
Like I said, I'm brand new. But I plan on using the next few months of paper trading to come up with a trading method. I come from a poker background, and I've become pretty disciplined in that I don't let my emotions affect my strategy. Once I developed that discipline I've been able to win at least 90% of all the weekly home games I play with my friends. So I know I have the ability to develop a method that will become profitable.

6. Product
Like I mentioned before, I want to stick with futures. The amount of research and speculation involved in stocks is a headache to think about. Futures has a huge amount of risk, but also a massive amount of potential for serious profit. I would like to use my own cash to develop my own portfolio. Not too interested in using other people's money to make money. I would feel a lot better about losing my own 10 grand than losing someone else's. I realize it may take 4 or 5+ years to have enough cash to support myself, but I'm willing to go thru all the bad times to get to the good times.

7. Broker
No idea who I'd use, I'll think about that once I have cash and a strategy.

8. Platform
I don't know which platform would be best for me. But I can say that when I start live trading I'll be using a Mac, and that I'll be dealing with futures.

9. New Source
I suppose news will have an affect on futures, but I'm not sure what I'll do when the time comes.

10. Computer
I'll most likely be using a Macbook Pro when the time comes.

11. Internet
My internet in Phoenix will be high speed and sufficient.

If anyone has any suggestions on where I should start, like what books to read or what websites to look at (especially for futures contracts) It would be much appreciated. I'm currently spending anywhere from 4-8 hours a day of research online, but if I knew where to focus my energy I'd learn a lot quicker. Thank you!

[TimRacette]

Ya JS if you're in Chicago you should hit up the thinkorswim headquarters, they got a pretty cool office setup there.

[TimRacette]

Originally Posted by Br88dy »

1. Why
I'm 23 years old and was recently told I won't be able to fulfill my lifelong dream of being a pilot in the military. Instead of moping and being stagnant, I decided to get going on another career I've been interested in for many years. So, I guess that means I want to make this a career.

My input would be two specific books, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre and Pit Bull by Martin "Buzzy" Schwartz. Both are great reads.

Btw, I'm also out in Phoenix, well Scottsdale, great place to be this time of you. I use COX Internet.

-Tim

[Br88dy]

I appreciate it Tim, now I can stop sleep walking around the internet.