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dam5h

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Posts posted by dam5h

  2. Posted

    when you think you are ready, i would open up the smallest reasonable micro fx account that you can. wait until up are consistent with that small account before risking any significant amount. i only suggest fx since you can trade small and not have to deal with pattern day trader rules. some may say to start with futures trading 1 lot and around 5 grand, which is feasible but you won't be able to scale and your entries will have to be excellent to have reasonable stop sizes. why overpay for your education if you don't have too? leverage is for advanced use only.

  4. Posted

    Velocity Futures requires $5000 and probably has the lowest retail commission of $4.5 round trip.

     

    if you use the TT FIX adapter, velocity round trips on ES is 3.5, and 3.8 with Ninja

     

    Sierra chart offers a good front end for the connection type.

  6. Posted

    kiwi, can you elaborate? i know you use sierra and i use sierra now but am not impressed with the selection of forex brokers that i can trade via sierra. currently trade futures via TT FIX with sierra on a discretionary entry/exit after getting an automated alert during times when i may be at home or awake.

     

    i would like to try a fully automated system (but obviously with much less leverage in testing mode), so thought about doing a trial run with a micro account. but the options are limited for sierra so i started looking to metatrader. what don't you like about it? i am also not impressed with the backtesting in sierra, although i do like the acsi a lot.

  12. Posted

    CTA's trade other people's money. to put them in the top dog category just doesn't make sense. they don't get to keep the majority of the profits they make at whatever size level their strategy allows them to be effective at.

     

    first of all, nothing against them as they are mostly great traders evidenced by their ability to stay in the game.

     

    but MM all you do is talk about CTA's as if they are the best traders in the world. if you had an edge and were very consistent, why would you give 70-80% away on every trade?

     

    sure you end up tying up more capital. but with brokers/clearers offering 500 bucks per lot on the es, it may just make sense to trade yourself some 100 lot trades rather than 500; especially if your strategy was liquidity limited and the 500 lots started to work against you. admittedly that's an odd example but it makes the point.

     

    perhaps the es is the worst example since its so liquid, but if your strat worked best on less liquid instruments the point i make is even stronger.

  13. Posted

    Yes, I think a mechanical system would be best for my controlling type personality - set it and forget it. So that's what I tried to come up with - breakout strategy using 5000 share bar on the TF. Backtested back to Jan 4 with great results - 69% win with a 1:1.2 ratio. So, here's me a couple weeks ago, "oh yeah baby, I got this thing, screw you corporate america". So, I began real time trading it and promptly took 3 losses in a row to the tune of $450 each, so I stopped and said WTH. The last time this thing took 3 losses in a row was 5 months ago! So, then I start thinking about conspiracy theories, mkt manipulation, etc....

     

    3 losses in a row is nothing, especially for a mechanical system. personally, 10 would start to drive me nuts, but i know it'll probably happen sooner or later. it's important to treat each trade as a new trade not allowing it to be effected by current pnl or drawdown. i know its not easy, but it's important.

     

    fwiw, i finally turned the corner around 18 months and it had absolutely everything to do with finally deciding to stop gun-slinging and stick to one setup. i think there is a lot of truth to what linda r. says about the 2 years to consistency. you have to pay your dues and just like anything else this potentially lucrative, dues are expensive.

  14. Posted

    Hey, that question was directed to Gandalf33. :)

     

    Your point, I maybe understand. I interpret what you are saying is, that "the more the number of trades, the less that it is luck". That someone may have some opportune windfalls if its a few trades only. :hmmmm:

     

    I still though, have a tough time with it. I mean $5k to $100k ... its 2000% return we are talking about. Attributing it to Luck !!! :confused:

     

    Now, can the same trader go on to lose in the future. Sure. ;)

     

    i've done it before, and now realize in hindsight that i was much luckier than good.

     

    now if i do it again, i can claim it will not be luck (although i'll take any i can get). mainly because it will take far far more trades as my holding period is drastically shorter now, as well as different markets/instruments. down to 30 min from what was months when i went on that run.

  15. Posted

    2.

    Are you saying that Luck, not Skill, is more likely to be a cause for someone taking a $5k account to $100k ???

    This, I find hard to grasp.

     

    it's directly proportional to how many trades it take along the way.

  16. Posted

    so far all this discussion has centered on trade to account risk.

     

    what about the dynamics of the trade based on the system once the "trade to account ratio" method is adopted, whatever it may be.

     

    if a trader uses 2 lots and does well by scaling out (helping to create a smoother equity curve), does that trader then go to 3 lots at a certain level; or wait until the level that would allow 4 lots. the 4 lots would obviously keep the multiple the same. with a different multiple the system changes and there are now several ways to scale out rather than 1: 2/3 then 1/3, 1/3 then 2/3, or 1/3, 1/3, 1/3

     

    this isn't an argument about the merits of scaling out.

  17. Posted

    The paradox of a small account is the wipeout increases the resolve of a dedicated trader to improve.. A new trader with 50k for example is better of, in my opinion, to fund in 5k bits and experience a few blowouts as they inflict necessary pain for learning. It is a fine line between account size encouraging carelessness and causing too much fear to trade properly though.

     

    absolutely, wish that was the path i took.

  18. Posted

    i like velocity at 3.8 rt with nt and 3.6 rt with TT fix adapter that runs through sierra chart, now just data but adding trading in next week or so.

     

    the min acct is 5k with velocity though. one of their ib's (futuresbroker.com) does 3.5 rt with nt, thats damn cheap. not sure on opening acct. amp (another velocity IB) is 3.8 with nt with 2.5 k min.

     

    9.95 is astronomical, esp for a small acct.

  20. Posted

    thanks Thales, that makes sense. seems awfully pricey. i guess the advantage for small accounts with fx is the ability to trade smaller size (10k rather than 100k lots) and scale. as well as the obvious non dollar denominated crosses. like the freaking eur/cad today; good lord the thing moved what looks like 5000 ticks after the first flag!

     

    would you consider an ECN forex broker a bucket shop as well?

  22. Posted

     

    I have been watching the Tokyo AM session, but there just has not been anything there based on the system I am using in this small account with respect to the 6E, and even the 6J has not yielded much by the way of opportunity during those few hours. The 6A has done some moving, but I hesitate to try day trading a contract that I have always used for swing trades. The one thing that has been moving is my daughter's beloved EURJPY. We have two FXCM micro accounts, one that she trades, and one that she and I had done some things in last year. Perhaps, if there are no objections, I could fund that account and at least trade the EJ while I am unable to trade the NY AM. The only other choice I have would be to get up at 2 AM and trade Frankfurt/London. But I like sleeping, and do not like exhaustion. If I were to add the micro account, I would count each account as a separate entry. How's that sound?

     

     

    Thales, I'm in a similiar situation. Starting a new gig on Monday that will become my primary focus during the daytime here on the east coast. I've never traded forex but am contemplating it for the same reasons you mention. How do execution costs differ from the futes on FXCM? Currently pay 4.72 a rt on currency futures with velocity.

     

    BTW, this race is pretty cool; I may have to jump in. Will need to figure things out with new hours though.

     

    thanks

  23. Posted

    Velocity Futures (Introducing Broker)

     

    i'm fairly certain that velocity is not an IB, they do their own clearing; for instance AMP is an IB for velocity. i currently use velocity and have no issues what so ever. with my former broker i was on the phone dealing with data and platform issues here and there. velocity been much better to deal with, as in completely uneventful-just the way i like it.

  24. Posted

    i just had a thought about overtrading and revenge trades. it seems that the times that i am most vulnerable to fall into that mess are the times that i am eager to correct a mistake that i have made.

     

    in a traditional work/communal environment it is important for one to correct ones mistakes, and pronto if you know what i mean. if effective in this manner much repect can be earned from one's peers.

     

    i'm beginning to think that this is yet another way that an ingrained work 'ethic' can be detrimental to one's trading results. just like folks say that a new trader needs to get used to just sitting and waiting rather than actively "working"/trading.

     

    i contend that after a poor decision; this wisdom rings even truer.

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