[Firm Biz]

What do you trade, and what are the factors that led to that decision?

I trade stocks, my reasoning is (admittedly) stupid. Stocks are all I know.

I'm looking forward to hearing why some people trade stocks, choose not to, why they choose to trade other instruments. I think this discussion could provide a lot of insight on the characteristics of these instruments.

[emg]

Originally Posted by Firm Biz »

What do you trade, and what are the factors that led to that decision?

Well, I trade for living. I trade to pay my bills.

[SIUYA]

stocks - as thats where I started, there are always many different opportunities, different stocks, and possibilities, they get bigger percentage moves, and so you can trade it as a portfolio reducing each individual instrument exposure.
FX - because its liquid, and makes no sense
Equity futures - as they fit in with the stocks
occasionally commodity futures.

I do it to make money as thats my business.

[Firm Biz]

Originally Posted by emg »

Well, I trade for living. I trade to pay my bills.

Emg, what I meant by that was why did you choose to trade whatever it is that you trade, opposed to trading something else.

[$5DAW]

Firm Biz

I trade currencies, mostly the mighty Euro. Why, like you it's all I've ever done. I saw an interview in the early 80s with Jim Rogers talking about how the currencies were going to be, "the markets of the future." Of course I had no idea what he was talking about (enter FX), but I started looking into it and never looked back

I trade them for several reasons

Time, I can trade different time segments within a day, depending on other obligations life may throw at me (e.g. Asian, Europe or US sessions).

Style / Method, Most times (not always) I can find liquidity sufficient to trade any/all sessions. Each session holds it's own characteristics and nuances (IMO) and offers traders an opportunity to use every tool in the box (e.g. position, swing or scalp trading).

Analysis I believe the currency markets respond well to technical and price action trading. This gives a trader a clue as to what tool to pull out of the box, whether it's a simple support & resistance trade, a Fibonacci retrace or extension move, or maybe prices are ranging around and bouncing off deviations of some mean average.

I hope this is along the lines of what you're searching for.

[UrmaBlume]

We don't care so much about which symbol as we care about trading where the action is. We use tradestation's Radar Screen and our own custom scans to find out of sequence relative trade volumes and unusually high relative local price volatilities in all instruments.

Whether there is news or not – at any point in time, among the thousands of financial instruments traded around the world there is a small subset that exhibits these unusually high relative trade volumes and/or local price volatilities.

Through a process we call the serial normalization of market performance data we produce relative values of local trade volumes and local price volatilities so that the performance of symbols can be compared one to the other.

A symbol trading at 40% of what is normal volume for that issue may be trading a much higher absolute volume than an issue that is trading at 200% of normal volume and yet not offer the opportunity of the symbol trading at the lower absolute volume but higher relative volume.

Below are the results of scanning and sorting 400 stocks for both relative volume and price volatility as well as a sort for the most popular futures and forex pairs. These scans were taken at the close 3 days ago.

Information = Equity

Trade What's Hot and Not Trade What's Not.

cheers

UrmaBlume

[shakespeare515]

Originally Posted by Firm Biz »

What do you trade, and what are the factors that led to that decision?

I trade stocks, my reasoning is (admittedly) stupid. Stocks are all I know.

I'm looking forward to hearing why some people trade stocks, choose not to, why they choose to trade other instruments. I think this discussion could provide a lot of insight on the characteristics of these instruments.

Hi Firm Biz,

I must say I am 100% spot forex. Reasons: you cant beat the leverage, I can make 20 pips a day scalping, and that is all i need. I can do it in under two hours, (sometimes I get it in minutes). No need to trade another market for me.

Also, by scalping, I do not need to watch the market all day, my system provides several entries in a two hour period, so I can trade what i see, then shut down and spend time with my family (that's what its all about, right?)

...good trades,
Sam

[Firm Biz]

Thanks all. I know it will be said to trade what you are most comfortable with and what suits your personality - but looking at these instruments objectively:

Do any of them have a clear advantage? Are any of them a clear disadvantage? (i.e. "stock volatility can be met with futures volatility so the opportunity is the same, however with futures you are able to execute on that opportunity with much less commission cost" - this is a wild guess and probably not true... just an example of the type of advantage/disadvantages that are probably out there)

I want to trade stocks, it's what I know -- however, I don't want to be fooling around with trying to succeed in a game that is much more difficult if there are easier arenas out there.