[jonbig04]

Originally Posted by forsearch »

It means that you have to either:

A. find a decent broker with decent commission rates for the NQ
B. adjust your profit target to compensate for commission
C. or just grin and bear it as commish and fees are just a part of the game

One thing I like about OEC is that if you are a client they can load up your demo with your commission rates so that your testing will more closely approximate real-world testing, slippage notwithstanding.

I guess my answer is C.

[strtedat22]

Originally Posted by jonbig04 »

Right. I wouldnt say I act impulsively ( I try not to), my trades are thought out in advance. Usually its something like "I will buy here if x happens along with y" etc, so its not "fly by the seat of my pants", but it is dependent on the price action of that particular chart, so I think back testing is out.

Pull up a time and sales window and filter only the 10+ contract. "It's your job to find the whales beneath these minnows that are in real control of the underlying trend." -anonymous Dont worry about the scalpers. jump in when the big boys get in. Look for handles, daily pivots, and previous days OHLC's.

strtedat22

[brownsfan019]

Originally Posted by jonbig04 »

So it looks like I've racked up around $330 in commissions so far. Ouch.

Depending on how many contracts I was trading, that takes a decent or insanely large chunk of profit.

I'm glad you took the time to do that. Now you see why I suggested it.

Originally Posted by jonbig04 »

Hmmm now I'm confused. The commish rates I looked at were per round turn. I assumed that meant that the costs were $4.30 per round turn if you trade 1, or 10 contracts....did I miss that up? Is it PER contract?

You assumed. Bad move. NEVER assume in this game. Your $$$ will get eaten alive, if not by the brokers, then certainly by the markets.

It is per round turn, per contract. Otherwise folks would try to load up on trades just to lower their commish costs, and the brokers aren't gonna allow that to happen.

Again, just to hammer the point home: NEVER ASSUME IN THIS GAME. If you're not sure or think you are making an assumption, just ask someone.

[atto]

Well said forsearch. So no, more contracts won't help your situation at all (until you start throwing around a lot of volume, and can re-negotiate comissions, but that's far off in the future).

A lesson I've learned the hard way is that you always get filled on bad trades, and not always on good ones. Makes sense, but if you do use limits, that potentially could effect your P/L more than you figure. On top of that, as much as you hate it, emotions will be in play. You will have money on the line, and fear and greed are little bastards.

This is even more reason to develop a solid plan. Make it as systematic as possible. Define everything, know exactly what you're looking for. As I mentioned before, start with one setup. The longer you just trust your "feel" of flow, the longer it will take (in my opinion). There's a few good Wyckoff style setups here that are great starts.

[smwinc]

Originally Posted by jonbig04 »

Hmmm now I'm confused. The commish rates I looked at were per round turn. I assumed that meant that the costs were $4.30 per round turn if you trade 1, or 10 contracts....did I miss that up? Is it PER contract?

Yes, unless this is some strange broker, it is per contract.

Buy 1 contract = 2.15
Sell 1 contract = 2.15
= $4.30

Buy 10 contracts = 21.50
Sell 10 contracts = 21.50
= $43.00

However, in the long run, once you do larger volume, trader's switch to a volume-based commission model based on the volume they do.

Take some time to read through interactive brokers commission structure for futures - Bundled & Unbundled to get a feel for it.

http://individuals.interactivebroker...?ib_entity=llc

Futures Commissions Bundled vs Unbundled

http://individuals.interactivebroker...&ib_entity=llc

Other brokers, such as Infinity Futures, will happily negotiate a "reasonable" commission based on the volume you do as well.

[jonbig04]

No trading today. Other things took up my concentration. No point in trading without 100% focus right? Will be back on tomorrow.

[jonbig04]

Well I wanted to trade today. I just couldn't. I couldn't see anything worth pursuing. A couple times I thought I did. Then I would wait to see what else was going to happen and it just wouldn't make any sense. There was some decent stuff by the end of the day. Maybe I'm a failure. Anyways I will try again tomorrow. Hopefully the market will represent some opportunities that are easier for me to see.