Jump to content

Welcome to the new Traders Laboratory! Please bear with us as we finish the migration over the next few days. If you find any issues, want to leave feedback, get in touch with us, or offer suggestions please post to the Support forum here.

  • Welcome Guests

    Welcome. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest which does not give you access to all the great features at Traders Laboratory such as interacting with members, access to all forums, downloading attachments, and eligibility to win free giveaways. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free. Create a FREE Traders Laboratory account here.

AbeSmith

Some Questions Please

Recommended Posts

Hello. I'm new to this site and new to trading. I particularly enjoy the trading videos and awesome advice I have been reading in this forum. Just wanted to say thank you for providing such an awesome site, and how much I appreciate the very nice and helpful people here.

 

Now to my question. I'm new to trading as you know and I just wanted to get some advice and also just to share my experience with people who are in the same field. I have so many question, so please excuse my ignorance.

 

1. I don't have the minimum day trading requirement and so I keep getting blocked by IB's daytrading algorithm. What I'm wondering is what instrument I should trade that allows me to daytrade without having 25k minimum.

 

2. I have so many more questions but now I cannot think of them.

 

So, thank you again very much for the nice help.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh, I just remembered some more questions if you don't mind. I'm wondering, is there a way to trade the news. I mean to have a system in place that gives you breaking news quickly so you can be one of the first to trade a specific stock? This site seems to be saying something to that effect:

 

http://www.tradethenews.com/

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hello. I'm new to this site and new to trading. I particularly enjoy the trading videos and awesome advice I have been reading in this forum. Just wanted to say thank you for providing such an awesome site, and how much I appreciate the very nice and helpful people here.

 

Now to my question. I'm new to trading as you know and I just wanted to get some advice and also just to share my experience with people who are in the same field. I have so many question, so please excuse my ignorance.

 

1. I don't have the minimum day trading requirement and so I keep getting blocked by IB's daytrading algorithm. What I'm wondering is what instrument I should trade that allows me to daytrade without having 25k minimum.

 

2. I have so many more questions but now I cannot think of them.

 

So, thank you again very much for the nice help.

 

Welcome to the site Abe,

 

Might I ask why you want to day trade instead of swing trade?

 

To be completely honest, If you are new to trading and begin your journey with day trading, it is likened to someone knowing just some facts about baseball and then deciding to play in a major league game.

 

Keep the questions coming that is the best way to learn! :thumbs up:

 

:cool:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Since your acct does not have the minimum 25k for pattern daytrading requirements you might look to the futures markets. that said, you need to get on a sim and learn, learn, learn and develop you own style of trading. The excellent information on this site will provide much guidance and tips on what works for other traders, you should experiment with different styles and see what makes you comfortable be it scalping, swing or longer term trading. As you didnt specify your account size, for me, i believe you should only trade 1 contract per 10k of your account, this is less than required but margin is a rope that you can hang yourself with so be very very conservative and you'll find you can eliminate some of the emotional baggage that trading lends itself to. The need to make money will result in judgement errors and you'll lose for sure. Rather, make up a trading plan and stick to it. Trade it over and over and right or wrong, follow the set ups and plan. If it is the right plan for you, you'll increase your odds of being successful. dont get overly hung up on all the indicators out there and dont waste your time looking for the "one setup", as markets change (and they do frequently) the "one setup" must change also, simple is better. Learn price action and tape reading. It'll take a while and years to learn it well but its imperative you learn whos in control of the markets at any point in time. If you decide to learn to trade the index futures markets, they all have their own personalities as you'll see from reading the posts on this forum. Experiment to see which you're the most comfortable with. I have played them all and for me, i like the YM first, followed by the ES, ER and NQ, but thats just my preference. Its a long road to success but along the way, you'll interact with some excellent traders, very bright dedicated people and get lots of ideas. Have fun, take your time, get on a SIM and keep posting your progress. We're all here to help.

 

Tony

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Welcome to the site Abe,

 

Might I ask why you want to day trade instead of swing trade?

 

To be completely honest, If you are new to trading and begin your journey with day trading, it is likened to someone knowing just some facts about baseball and then deciding to play in a major league game.

 

Keep the questions coming that is the best way to learn! :thumbs up:

 

:cool:

 

I'm glad you asked me that. Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't know why. It just sort of happened I guess. Now, to be less honest, the reason is, that I feel safer daytrading because of the volitility of the marketplace, especially these days with the high potential of terrorist attacks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Now I see that eminis seems to be the answer to my question. Thus, as I understand, there is no limit to how many eminis I can trade per day. Thank you all for the very warm welcome and for answering my question. I'm so glad that I found such a good forum.

 

Now, I remembered another question that was bugging me. The question is, is it practical to trade the news? What I mean is, is there a way to get breaking news very fast so I can trade a stock right before or during the time it is going up initially. I found a site that seems to be suggesting that:

http://www.tradethenews.com/

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Unless you understand how trading the news work, I'd suggest you learn other strategies first before tackling this one. It's one of the easiest traps for newbies, very attractive indeed, but the losses and quick and deadly.

 

The other thing I'm concerned what you just said "there is no limit to how many eminis I can trade per day". This sounds like you're planning to go at it to the max. Start at one and watch your overtrading problem. Eminis and overtrading don't mix because in a few weeks, your accounts may lose 1/2 the value and in 3 months, might be nothing. Leverage is high but so are losses.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Unless you understand how trading the news work, I'd suggest you learn other strategies first before tackling this one. It's one of the easiest traps for newbies, very attractive indeed, but the losses and quick and deadly.

 

The other thing I'm concerned what you just said "there is no limit to how many eminis I can trade per day". This sounds like you're planning to go at it to the max. Start at one and watch your overtrading problem. Eminis and overtrading don't mix because in a few weeks, your accounts may lose 1/2 the value and in 3 months, might be nothing. Leverage is high but so are losses.

 

Thanks for the good advice torero. What you say about the news makes perfect sense. But you know, I was curious since when I see on CNBC when they report on a breaking news for a company and the stock has gone up and I wonder about the people who got the information before others and were able to trade the stock before the crowd. I was just wondering how they get this info so quickly. But not to take away from your statement of caution. Because as a newbie, I can see how difficult it can be to determine what the effect of a breaking news is on a particular stock and also when it is too late to trade a breaking news stock, and how long to hold on to a position or risk the stock changing direction.

 

Also, to clarify about my statement of "there is no limit to how many eminis I can trade per day" I didn't mean using the max potential of margin, but rather, to be able to do more trades than I can do now due to the daytrading restriction of 3 roundtrip trades in a 5 day period. I feel that I need more trading opportunities.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Reminds me of my worst trading nightmare. I once traded FOMC news, it was a bullish report and i immediately went long Market order of 2 YM contracts with a 15 pt stop, I got a horrible fill and on a quick retrace got stopped out. Once it reversed i went long market again, got a horrible fill and got stopped out again. Seeing weakness and a desire to get "revenge" i went short the market and you know the rest.... 3 trades in 5 minutes, 45 pt loss on 2 YM contacts or 450 dollars in 5 minutes. disgusted with myself, i stopped trading, walked away and of course came back right before the close to see the market base and run up 100 points into the close with barely any heat. I have not traded news since. I do trade market reaction to the news after the volatility settles down and i see a clear trend if it occurs, that works well. So, expensive lesson learned. By the way, i "punished" myself for breaking my trading plan and doing everything i knew not to do. I went back to the SIM, practiced my setups and didnt trade for about 9 trading days until i thought i was ready again. Started trading 1 contract until i knew my head was screwed on right. lesson learned...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Reminds me of my worst trading nightmare. I once traded FOMC news, it was a bullish report and i immediately went long Market order of 2 YM contracts with a 15 pt stop, I got a horrible fill and on a quick retrace got stopped out. Once it reversed i went long market again, got a horrible fill and got stopped out again. Seeing weakness and a desire to get "revenge" i went short the market and you know the rest.... 3 trades in 5 minutes, 45 pt loss on 2 YM contacts or 450 dollars in 5 minutes. disgusted with myself, i stopped trading, walked away and of course came back right before the close to see the market base and run up 100 points into the close with barely any heat. I have not traded news since. I do trade market reaction to the news after the volatility settles down and i see a clear trend if it occurs, that works well. So, expensive lesson learned. By the way, i "punished" myself for breaking my trading plan and doing everything i knew not to do. I went back to the SIM, practiced my setups and didnt trade for about 9 trading days until i thought i was ready again. Started trading 1 contract until i knew my head was screwed on right. lesson learned...

 

That sounds horrible. Hopefully that will not happen to me. Oh...nevermind. It did. LOL. It was NMX a few weeks ago when there was a report that they were being bought...turned out to be a rumor and I got stuck with the stock and held on to it thinking that it would rebound, and lost alot of money. Classic newbie mistake. You read about these things in books, but they don't make as much sense until you actually make the mistake. Later when I reread some of the advice I read before in other books it made perfect sense.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

They don't find out the information ahead of time, or they do and it's called insider trading.

 

But theres another way, doing your homework on the stock. Then those breaking news announcements aren't so much of a surprise. Most of the people with big money have news feeds so they find out about the event far before it hits CNBC. For example, I did a lot of homework on Jones Soda before their earnings announcement. Feb 27 came and the stock was sold off pretty fast, I knew it was cheap and I knew they would report a great quarter and I knew they would be reporting very positive info that could bring great future growth (bringing their product to places like walmart). So I went long ahead of earnings and made 17% over night. Will this happen everytime? Absolutely not, but I did my research and had a plan ahead of time.

 

Please notice the keyword there too, I had a plan. Not having a plan and trying to trade is like going into battle with no idea who you're fighting against, just blindly shooting at anything. You will get slaughtered. Remember when you trade, you are trading other traders and money just flows from one account to the other. You have to have this mindset.

 

I would start off looking at a lot of the IBD stuff and learn how to do technical analysis (if that fits your style, I know guys who make a ton of money and couldn't read a chart to save their life). That way you can understand how the market moves and why it does the things it does. You will be able to understand why certain stocks shoot up and why others don't. From there, figure out what fits your personality and trade that. People can recommend futures, forex, options, but you have to figure out what fits your personality and go from there, thats the only way you'll be successful.

 

Good luck!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Be careful who you blame.   I can tell you one thing for sure.   Effective traders don’t blame others when things start to go wrong.   You can hang onto your tendency to play the victim, or the martyr… but if you want to achieve in trading, you have to be prepared to take responsibility.   People assign reasons to outcomes, whether based on internal or external factors.   When traders face losses, it's common for them to blame bad luck, poor advice, or other external factors, rather than reflecting on their own personal attributes like arrogance, fear, or greed.   This is a challenging lesson to grasp in your trading journey, but one that holds immense value.   This is called attribution theory. Taking responsibility for your actions is the key to improving your trading skills. Pause and ask yourself - What role did I play in my financial decisions?   After all, you were the one who listened to that source, and decided to act on that trade based on the rumour. Attributing results solely to external circumstances is what is known as having an ‘external locus of control’.   It's a concept coined by psychologist Julian Rotter in 1954. A trader with an external locus of control might say, "I made a profit because the markets are currently favourable."   Instead, strive to develop an "internal locus of control" and take ownership of your actions.   Assume that all trading results are within your realm of responsibility and actively seek ways to improve your own behaviour.   This is the fastest route to enhancing your trading abilities. A trader with an internal locus of control might proudly state, "My equity curve is rising because I am a disciplined trader who faithfully follows my trading plan." Author: Louise Bedford Source: https://www.tradinggame.com.au/
    • SELF IMPROVEMENT.   The whole self-help industry began when Dale Carnegie published How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1936. Then came other classics like Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins toward the end of the century.   Today, teaching people how to improve themselves is a business. A pure ruthless business where some people sell utter bullshit.   There are broke Instagrammers and YouTubers with literally no solid background teaching men how to be attractive to women, how to begin a start-up, how to become successful — most of these guys speaking nothing more than hollow motivational words and cliche stuff. They waste your time. Some of these people who present themselves as hugely successful also give talks and write books.   There are so many books on financial advice, self-improvement, love, etc and some people actually try to read them. They are a waste of time, mostly.   When you start reading a dozen books on finance you realize that they all say the same stuff.   You are not going to live forever in the learning phase. Don't procrastinate by reading bull-shit or the same good knowledge in 10 books. What we ought to do is choose wisely.   Yes. A good book can change your life, given you do what it asks you to do.   All the books I have named up to now are worthy of reading. Tim Ferriss, Simon Sinek, Robert Greene — these guys are worthy of reading. These guys teach what others don't. Their books are unique and actually, come from relevant and successful people.   When Richard Branson writes a book about entrepreneurship, go read it. Every line in that book is said by one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time.   When a Chinese millionaire( he claims to be) Youtuber who releases a video titled “Why reading books keeps you broke” and a year later another one “My recommendation of books for grand success” you should be wise to tell him to jump from Victoria Falls.   These self-improvement gurus sell you delusions.   They say they have those little tricks that only they know that if you use, everything in your life will be perfect. Those little tricks. We are just “making of a to-do-list before sleeping” away from becoming the next Bill Gates.   There are no little tricks.   There is no success-mantra.   Self-improvement is a trap for 99% of the people. You can't do that unless you are very, very strong.   If you are looking for easy ways, you will only keep wasting your time forgetting that your time on this planet is limited, as alive humans that is.   Also, I feel that people who claim to read like a book a day or promote it are idiots. You retain nothing. When you do read a good book, you read slow, sometimes a whole paragraph, again and again, dwelling on it, trying to internalize its knowledge. You try to understand. You think. It takes time.   It's better to read a good book 10 times than 1000 stupid ones.   So be choosy. Read from the guys who actually know something, not some wannabe ‘influencers’.   Edit: Think And Grow Rich was written as a result of a project assigned to Napoleon Hill by Andrew Carnegie(the 2nd richest man in recent history). He was asked to study the most successful people on the planet and document which characteristics made them great. He did extensive work in studying hundreds of the most successful people of that time. The result was that little book.   Nowadays some people just study Instagram algorithms and think of themselves as a Dale Carnegie or Anthony Robbins. By Nupur Nishant, Quora Profits from free accurate cryptos signals: https://www.predictmag.com/    
    • there is no avoiding loses to be honest, its just how the market is. you win some and hopefully more, but u do lose some. 
    • $CSCO Cisco Systems stock, nice top of range breakout, from Stocks to Watch at https://stockconsultant.com/?CSCOSEPN Septerna stock watch for a bottom breakout, good upside price gap
    • $CSCO Cisco Systems stock, nice top of range breakout, from Stocks to Watch at https://stockconsultant.com/?CSCOSEPN Septerna stock watch for a bottom breakout, good upside price gap
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.