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Robert2617
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Posts posted by Robert2617
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ST, two more questions that you would know the answers. What symbol do I use (@YM)? I don't need to do the YM-Z, YM-H etc. like in eSignal do I? TS will switch that for me automatically right? And do you typically use market or limit orders?
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Robert,I get the weekly high,low,close and monthly high,low,close straight from the weekly and monthly charts. Do you have an indicator that takes these values and plots them on the charts automatically? I also want the option to switch the colors for the pivots as well as the option to enable and disable midpoints. If you have this it would be very helpful. Thanks
Yes, I think so. Since we talked via PM, I will start uploading a few of these indicators tomorrow to the download section. I'll start with the ones you are requesting.
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Nope... doesnt apply to futures. Everything gets calculated at the end of the day. So lets say your account goes below $2438. However, by the close you have profited enough to raise it above $2500. Since futures are calculated at the end of day... you are still good to go.Awesome. That was the answer I was looking for. Now what I need to do is watch for a while, keep learning, do a little paper trading and see if I can come out on top most of the time. After that I will start with 1 contract at a time until I can build my account up enough to feel comfortable to do 2 at a time. I plan on going slow so I can do this right the first time. I'll keep you posted.
Thanks for your help.
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I want to be in and out. No overnight if I can help it. I know about the "no pattern day trader rules apply" for e-mini's but does that mean that the "Securities Rule T" not apply as well. No three days to have settled funds? With stocks, that Securities rule does apply for sure.
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The reason I mentioned this is because over at ScotTrade this policy is in effect.
Credit balances in a cash account may be used for purchases.
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If the account has settled funds, there are no restrictions as to what may be purchased.
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If the credit balance is a result of an unsettled sale of securities, certain restrictions may apply.
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Unsettled proceeds from existing long positions can be used to purchase additional securities as long as the new purchase is not sold prior to the settlement date of the original sale that generated the proceeds used to finance the purchase.
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If it is sold prior to the settlement date of the funding sale without additional funds being deposited, it will be considered a free ride under Federal Reserve Regulation T.
For example, if you sell a security on Monday the 1st, you can use the proceeds to make a purchase prior to the settlement date of Thursday the 4th.
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However, if you make a purchase before Thursday the 4th then sell that new position before the settlement of Monday's sale, you will then be required to deposit funds to pay for the purchase.
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If you purchase on Thursday the 4th, you may place a sell at anytime you wish, since the purchase was made with settled funds.
Mutual Funds and Fixed Income Securities can only be purchased with existing or settled funds.
At Scot I had a what they call a "Cash Account" and that rule applied. At TS I have a margin acct so I'm just not sure that it applies. Now if you have mega bucks in your acct it is not an issue but if you have just enough to get by, it would apply. That is what I have to figure out. Does that rule apply to me at TS?
I own my own business and am not going to give that up so I only want to make a few trades in the morning every other day or so but I would like to be able to make more than the 3.5 trades allowed or be classified as a pattern day trader. I don't have another $25,000 to drop in my trading account right now. I know number of trades does not apply with e-mini's but the unsettled funds rule might. That's the nut.
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OK, thanks, that make sense. In my travels lately, I have picked up a Floor Pivots Monthly, Floor Pivots Weekly and Adjusting Fib Pivots indicators if you want them. You probably already have some but these are available upon request.
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MrPaul, I don't know the answer to your question but I do have one for you.
I guess there is not an automatic pivot indicator, no? Also, you asking about monthly pivots. The pivots for futures don't change daily? Sorry for being such a noob.
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ST, So if I read that right, every trade I do would count against my acct $2,438 as far as funds used. It takes 3 days for funds to settle so if a person only had $5,000 in their account. They could buy and sell 2 contracts ($2,438 + $2,438 = $4,876) in one day and then they would have to wait three days before they would have cleared funds to trade with again. Not to mention any gain or loss. Is this correct?
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Do you know what the margin is for TS on one YM contract? I'm just trying to figure out how many in/out's I could potentially do in any three day period. I've looked (and am still looking) on the TS site but can't seem to find the answer.
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One question I have about e-mini's is about the contract quarters. I understand that on the second thursday of the fourth month is the switch over day or something like that but should I worry about that? And using TradeStation if I were to start trading say the YM do I need to use a certain symbol and switch symbols like YM-Z for one quarter contract and YM-H for the next or do I just enter @YM and TS will switch it for me?
And a question, does 1 contract equal to $2,200 or 1 tick is equal to $5 and how all that works? How the leverage works? In a nutshell.
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Q: What are the advantages to trading futures instead of stocks or other instruments?
A: There are many very compelling reasons why most serious traders prefer to trade futures YM to stocks. Here are a few of those reasons. If you wish to know more information about a specific point, feel free to e-mail us.
Commissions are very reasonable $4/round turn trip on the YM at most brokers
Anyone can day trade without needing $25,000+ in the account! A lot of our users have modest accounts
Taxes are less complicated. Your not required list every sale on your tax return! (US)
Market liquidity Futures are always liquid enough. Market orders are instant. No strange fills do jumps
The spreads are never going to be huge like they can get on stocks, decreasing causing slippage
Focusing on one instrument day in and day out is less complicated and more productive Most everyone who is successful in the trading business started out by mastering one particular market. We'd rather be the master of one market then a jack of all trades. Each individual stock has it's own characteristics of price movement and it's character can change from day to day, making it either a good or bad choice to trade at any given time.
Freedom. You don't need to wake up 3 hours before the market opens to scan for stocks or opportunities to trade
Share size allocation is easier.
RISK: We've seen stocks that plunged 20 points due to random company event. While global economy reports move the futures from time to time, it's never as unpredictable as a single stock can be.
There are always shorts available and no up tick rule you must abide by
The $5/tick range of the YM e-mini futures contract makes for lower slippage
Bang for the buck. A futures trading making 1 - 3 trades a day and can make as much as multiple stock juggling traders.
Less stressful. Concentrating on one liquid market each day will improve your focus and allow you to work on your setups. Keeping track of 5 - 10 securities can be cumbersome.
Market direction. You don't have to follow systems that mirror the indices/ sectors, as eminis ARE the indices. Stock traders constantly have to follow the cues from the indices to track their positions. That means more eyes to follow all these charts.
Less investment in hardware and software cost. I used to have 3 PCs with 3 monitors, now only 1. Used for have 4 charting services, now 1, another as backup and it's free.
Very infrequent surprise gaps to deal with The futures markets are virtually always open. The e-minis trade 23 hours a day with a pause between 16:15 - 16:45 EDT. When terrorists attacked the London underground in the early hours of the morning, if you wanted to, you could get out in minutes and not have waited until the market opens to dump the stocks along with panicking crowd.
NO market makers playing games with the particular stock
NO routing decisions to make: " ECN? ARCA? REDBOOK????? Oh man, could have gotten a better fill with ARCA! "
Once I read this thread, I said to myself "I've heard these points before."
5th Q&A from the bottom. Almost verbatim.
FAQ: Puretick.com YM Emini Day trading Questions and Answers
PureTick.Com :: View topic - What are E-Mini Futures and Why are they better then stocks?
I think these are valid points but I get a little spooked when everybody starts to say the same thing, exactly.
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I take it back guys. I now think they are exactly the same. I think that the colors were throwing me off. My eyes were playing tricks on me. I checked chart after chart tonight and they preformed exactly the same. Carry on and I'll crawl back under my rock now. :o
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I know you guys are worlds ahead of me on trading and I have a question about TTM Trend. Since I am just beginning in all this I have been looking around a lot and found a PaintBar indicator or two. I've studied them and to me, it looks like the one I have posted below is a little quicker and more accurate than the TTM Trend PB indicator. Would you guys take a look and see if you get the same results? Thanks.
Here is the code, compiled indicator below.
{ ModHA PaintBarStudy 1/20/04 modified Heikin-Ashi technique compares current bar open to close range with prior bars...if current is within prior then color remains the same } inputs: UpColor(green),DnColor(red),CompBars(6); vars: haClose(0),haOpen(0),haHigh(0),haLow(0), color(0); if BarNumber = 1 then begin haOpen = open; haClose = (O+H+L+C)/4; haHigh = MaxList( high, haOpen, haClose); haLow = MinList( low, haOpen,haClose); end; if BarNumber > 1 then begin haClose = (O+H+L+C)/4; haOpen = (haOpen [1] + haClose [1])/2 ; haHigh = MaxList(High, haOpen, haClose) ; haLow = MinList(Low, haOpen, haClose) ; if haClose > haOpen then color = UpColor else color = DnColor; for value1 = 1 to CompBars begin if haOpen <= MaxList(haOpen[value1],haClose[value1]) and haOpen >= MinList(haOpen[value1],haClose[value1]) and haClose <= MaxList(haOpen[value1],haClose[value1]) and haClose >= MinList(haOpen[value1],haClose[value1]) then color = color[value1]; end; plotPB(haOpen,haClose,"heikin-ashi",color); SetPlotWidth(1,4); SetPlotColor(1,color); end; -
OK, I have tested these RS indicators. It appears to me that they are ready for prime time.
The latest versions are attached below. Enjoy!
SoulTrader, These can go in the downloads section.
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I just realized that I haven't seen any recommendations about stock screening sites or programs. A few I have run across are:
StockFetcher.com - Stock Screening and Stock Pattern Tools
BreakoutWatch.com - stock watchlists, charts, analysis and email alerts
Advanced GET Products -- The Tools, the power, the knowledge.
Any opinions?
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Yes, SoulTrader is correct. I'm sorry, I should have been a little more complete in what I said.
The dollar amounts I quoted above are correct in order to open an account. However, opening a minimum trading account only allows for 3.5 round trips on a security in any 5 day period. If you hit 4 round trips within 5 days, at that point the broker would classify you as a "Day Trader" and require the $25,000. Actually Scottrade would require $25,000 and TradeStation would require $30,000 to be in the account.
The minimum $ accounts are good for learning how to trade and also for some Swing/Pivot type trading where you hold the stock or security overnight.
A "round trip" is when you buy a stock and sell it in one days trading session. So you could do a little day trading but it would be limited. Some Day Traders do 4 or 5 round trips every day. Some do 1 or 2. Some do a lot more. But you could get started with a minimum account. And the guys will tell you that for futures, there are no round trip limits.
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Scottrade (basic web based trading platform) account is free with a $500 minimum to open an acct. TradeStation which is one of the preferred Day Trading (full software running on your computer) and brokerage services has a $5,000 minimum to open an account and also live data will cost a minimum of $105 a month unless you trade 5,000 shares a month and then they wave $99 of the monthly fee.
Be prepared to lose all of your startup money. You can avoid losing it all if you go very very slow and small and also add to your account when possible. At first the risk is high because you don't know the pitfalls to avoid but after a while after you have stepped in a few, you start avoiding them. You still get your feet wet every once in a while but not as often.
I'm not an expert by any means but I have been reading and studying a lot. I consider myself a noob. Best thing to do is read read read and study charts for hours a day until you can start recognising patterns. At that point, keep doing it.
I think it is fun and exciting.
Oh, and you can trade US or any other markets.
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Sorry I missed you Doc. I didn't get back to the site until now. You can pm me if you would like.
I was working on the latest creation; A Slow %K and %D Stochastic Crossover RS Indicator. This one is pretty cool. To get it to track properly you need to "right click" "Format All" and put a check in the "Add additional data" checkbox. Add about 30 bars of data. I think it only has to be as long as the stochastic (14) but a little more won't hurt.
The colors on the indicator go like this:
Green = Slow K over Slow D (price is rising)
Red = Slow D is over Slow K (price is falling)
Yellow = K is crossing over or under D
The text tells you where the K line is and where it is headed. (ex. "Mid Rising" means it's higher than 20 and lower than 80 and heading north; "OverSold" means it is lower than 20 but the color tells you whether it is still falling or coming back up.
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Hold off posting TnT on the downloads just yet. Even though it works just fine like it is, I've been studying a little bit more about EL and I may be able to clean up the code a smidge. In the mean time, check out this new one. OBV. It's quite simple but very powerful for the Day Trader. "Follow the money!" This one is not fully tested since the market is closed right now but it appears that it is working properly!
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I went ahead and changed the defaults to reflect a quicker response while still being smoothed so not to get too "blinky" with the colors. I had this on my desktop for a couple of days now and the results are good.
Soul or Tin, could you please delete all other instances of this indicator file except the one attached to this message. Thanks.
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I was glad to do it. BTW, you can make TnT a little more responsive by shortening the Tickavgbars2 and Trinavgbars2 to two bars back instead of averaging 3 bars back.
Tip: Don't make Tickavgbars1 and Tickavgbars2 the same or there is nothing to compare. Same with Trinavgbars.
YM Contract Symbols
in Beginners Forum
Posted
I'm trying to make sense of which YM symbols to trade at what time. I'm somewhat confused. Here is a decent site explaining it but I would like to get verification. Rollover Days - Rollover Days and Volume
Based on this site, below is what I think is the prpoer schedule: (Please correct me and/or comment. Keep in mind I am using TradeStation so I would need the symbols TS uses.)
My best guess:
Trade YMH07 (March 2007 contract) from December 13, 2006 till March 6, 2007
Trade YMM07 (June 2007 contract) from March 7, 2007 till June 6, 2007
Trade YMU07 (September 2007 contract) from June 7, 2007 till September 12, 2007
Trade YMZ07 (December 2007 contract) from September 13, 2007 till December 12, 2007
Is this correct?:o