AbeSmith

What about this scenario: A stock moves on heavy volume based on a false rumor, you place a day trade, but stock is halted, and you have no way to hedge your position. Then the real news comes out and stock reopens against you, triggering your stop, but at greater loss than you planned for. I wonder how bad could this loss be? Could it reopen 20% or more against you? That would be a huge loss if you have a day trade in place. Even 5% could be huge. Do you look into the fundamentals of a high volume move to see, for example, if it is based on a rumor or fact?

But in index futures if your instrument gets halted you can hedge your position by trading in another similar instrument. This can't be done with a stock that is halted on stock specific news.

Stock trading looks interesting. But how do you protect against stocks getting halted? What if you are trading a top loser, it gets halted, and opens back up much higher than before? That could be very costly with a day trading position.

jcavalieri, Yes, it seems you may be having some of the same problems as Sharp2be. You said: " i seem to be over trading alot. jumping into less than quality positions just to trade it seems. or if i see that i have given back some of my profits i will jump into a position too quickly without confirming the set up." This may be due to addiction. Please review my response to Sharp2be and let me know if you have additional questions.

Sharpe2B, Breaking money management rules in trading may be a sign of addiction. Addiction to winning, to money, to being right, and the feelings that can be associated with them. With addiction there are withdrawal symptoms. When the source of addiction is removed, feeling of anxiety and immense discomfort can follow. Withdrawal symptoms can be so intense that they will overwhelm logic. I was once addicted to cigarettes. I knew it was unhealthy. Yet I continued to smoke. When my logic overpowered my need for cigarettes, or perceived need for cigarettes, was when I gained the resolve to kick the habit. I suggest you try to look into the logic of your rule. Look into it objectively. Be honest with yourself and your thoughts. This may be difficult when emotions are involved, or if you are in a rush to come to a conclusion. Concentrate on the wording to help you stay objective. It is common to slip when trying to kick the habit. Do not lose hope if you do. Some things to consider when looking into the logic of your rule: How does a money management rule protect you? Seems to me it protects you in days when your methodology is not in tune with the market. And it protects you when your state of mind or physical health might not be well. Those are times when it is in your advantage not to trade.

wasp, Do you believe the worse will probably happen, or are you concerned that it could happen? If you believe the worse will probably happen, are you using logic to reach that conclusion? Or is your belief based on a feeling? In either case, it is good to be cautious in you trading, and to prepare for the possibility of your methodology not working anymore. Do you have a money management rule that will mitigate losses in the event your methodology stops working? Are you developing new methodologies, even though your current one is profitable? Being prepared will help you deal with an uncertain future, and give you peace of mind in the present.

Zedo, I don't have the solution to all problems. But I can try to help you on specific problems. If you like, describe specific problems you are having and I will try to help. Do you have trouble following your trading plan for example? Or do you have other non-trading related problems that you want to discuss?

Well, I don't know what zdo's problem is. If he's serious about getting help I suggest he describes his problem. Zdo, you may also send me a PM if you want to keep it private.

Sorry zdo. I don't know what your problem is.

zdo, Did you confuse this forum with he Psychic forum?

What happened to Dr. Janice? She is no longer here? For what it's worth, I have a psychology degree from a good university, and a law degree from a decent university, due to partying alot at the good university. If anyone needs psychological advice just ask.

Nevermind. Found some related discussion: http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/f131/how-does-the-law-of-supply-4425.html#post47301

Hello. How is the price of INX and INDU determined? How does supply and demand play out in current price determination?

You might find these links useful as well: 1. http://biz.yahoo.com/c/e.html Yahoo economic calendar, gives a description and grade on the importance of the economic release, A being the highest grade. 2. http://www.forexfactory.com/ Forex Factory economic calendar. If you click on the folder for each economic release it will give a description of it, and sometimes it will say how important it is.

My condolences. Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks all for the nice comments.

Hello. Some of you might remember me from when I first started asking beginner questions here at TL. I'm still around, and trading. This month (8th month of trading) will be my first profitable month. Mostly paper trading though, so it is technically not profitable. I have attached a spreadsheet of my performace. The P/L is final P/L, after commission. The number of contracts is literally the number of contracts traded. So 1 contract round trip trade is recorded as 2 contracts, 1 buy, 1 sell. I trade mostly 1 YM contract at a time. But on 6/12, when I had a semi-blow out day, I traded 2 contracts on some trades. 1 contract trading is difficult because you can't scale out. But the good thing is that it forces me to concentrate on accuracy. On 6/23 I got some money into my account and foolishly tried to get my 10 roundtrips to not be charged the TS fees. I'm feeling good about trading. Optimistic. Last month I told my parents that I can feel I'm getting close, and that I'm learning. When I have a losing trade I am able to identify what I did wrong. Things are making sense.

The topic started asked a similar question that I asked when I first started trading, but unfortunately I was not able to find that discussion to re-read the answers. He is simply asking about the mechanics of the market. I'm still not certain about it either so I'm curious for the answer: 1)I trade the YM. So if someone buys lots of a Dow Industrial Average component stock, like IBM, that will affect the price calculation of the Dow(The big Dow), and YM (The mini Dow). Right? 2)If someone buys lots of Dow Future (Big Dow), (is it only traded in the pits?) that will affect the price calculation of the YM (Mini Dow)? Right? Because there is a formula that is in place that makes the price of the YM go up whenever the Dow price goes up, so to keep the Dow and YM correlated. Now, this forumula, when it says the YM must go up because the Dow is going up, triggers a buying of a certain number of YM contracts, right? Who is doing this buying to keep the YM correlated to the Dow? The CBOT? Or the owner of the Big Dow? Or does the YM contract go up without buy orders? 3)Now, if I remember correctly, when I posed this question at first, I think someone said that it can go the other way also. That there is a forumula in place that keeps the Dow correlated to the YM? So if someone instead of buying lots of Big Dow, or lots of IBM stock, instead buys lots of Mini dow (YM), there is a formula that makes the Big Dow move based on the YM move? Thus, there is a forumula that buys Big Dow Futres when there is a buying of YM futures? If so, who is doing the buying? 4)And finally, when someone for example starts to buy lots of Big Dow, is there a program in place that will buy stocks of the underlying compontents, like IBM, Disney, etc, based on those compontents' weight in the Dow? If so, who is doing this buying? Also, the answer to the question regarding the correlation of different markets, like S&P and Dow, which asked, why do the S&P and Dow move together when they are based on different stocks...is because of traders, institutional traders, quants, not based on an arrangement like the correlation of the Dow and YM.

Got it. Reading it now.

Undeclared Secrets of the Stock Market - Tom Williams Anyone have a copy of this book?

Here is a link to a new poker movie, "Deal." It was one of the best poker movies I watched. http://www.movieforumz.com/showthread.php?t=89181 Lots of free movies are at this site.

Would be nice if it also plots the previous day's close, high, and low.

Thanks Anna-Maria and Millard. I was very impressed by your comments. Seems like you know what you are talking about. Sorry for the late reply. I didn't have anything useful to add, so I will just say thanks.

Hello friends. I attended Dr. Clayburg's webinar, sponsoed by TTM, where he introduced the directional day filter. Here is the link to the webinar: http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=BDKEF&m=1kGtTitkhcE55r&b=H9bwqdN096LC3h43oVEZ8w And here is other info about it that was emailed to me: For the complete, online manuals for the Directional Day Filter, the Market Direction Indicator and the TTM Real Time Target (RTT) Indicators click the link below. http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=BDKEF&m=1kGtTitkhcE55r&b=eSl4QVeEZ1keK.aymT7vhg John Clayburg's Indicator Tips: You will find links for manual for each indicator on the frame on the left side of the chart. You will also find links there to a number of charts which detail the use of these trading tools. After studying these examples closely, it will be obvious that there are many ways to interpret them from a trading standpoint. I find that the most reliable method of using these tools is to use the Directional Day Filter and the Market Direction Indicator to determine the major trend of the day. If, for example, 45 - 60 minutes into the trading day the Directional Day Filter and the Market Direction Indicator are pointing toward an uptrend for the rest of the day, you can feel confident in taking a long position at this point. As you know, entering a trade is only the first half of the equation - now you need a reliable exit strategy. That's where the Real time Target indicator becomes useful. In our previous example of a long position, one can reliably place a profit target exit on the upper green line formed by the indicator. The red line drawn below the price bars will serve as a stop loss point. My research shows that these price targets are hit on an average of 75 % of the time, making this indicator extremely useful as a profit taking tool. On the days when the price target is not hit, the opposite line provides a reasonable stop loss point. This short discussion is only meant as an introduction to the use of these indicators. You should first carefully study the manuals (see link above) before formulating a trading strategy based on these tools.

Hello fellow traders. Tomorrow morning at 7:45ET is the ECB rate announcement. At the time of this writing, I see EURUSD has droped to support around 1.46. Is this a good time to buy EURUSD in you opinion? I came accross this article Why Is The Dollar So Strong? which suggests that the drop to current levels might be too much, like somethig out of the ordinary is going on, and that traders should be careful. Now, it appears that the author has been stopped out a couple of times recently on this move, and I know from personal experience that getting stopped out tends to make one less certain of things. I was curious what you think about the current price level of EURUSD. Was the 2/05/08 drop unusual, like the author suggests? Here is a part of the article which I will quote: Regardless of the economic possibilities, traders would be well heeled to listen to the advice of Mark B. Fisher, who in his book, “The Logical Trader” noted, “If a market is making a substantial move and traders seem to understand why, this market trend is not going to last very long. However, if the market is moving in one direction and nobody has a clue as to why, then the trend is going to be prolonged. When a market goes up or down for no apparent reason, it tends to go a lot further in that direction than people can imagine.” All of the traders probing for a bottom in this most recent down leg of the EURUSD may want to consider those words carefully. While the data continues to point to further EURUSD strength, the price refuses to confirm this analysis and as traders we should respect the message that price is sending. This is an interesting statement. It made me think: 1. Investors with deep pockets can afford exotic research tools, like detectives, high tech spying, and perhaps simply paying for information. Not saying that is what is going on here. But the statement made me consider that when we see a big move that seems unsuporter by the evidence, perhaps there is something else going on other than a simple honest move. 2. Or perhpas the current move is quite honest. After all, there was recent data about slowing economy in Europe, making ECB rate cuts seem more plausible. Perhaps this is nothing unusual like the author seems to suggest.