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Mistakes (All inadvertent) -Setting entry a tick beyond or before the correct entry level. -Setting target a tick beyond or before the correct target level. -Entering trade with wrong # of contracts. -Getting triggered by a limit / stop limit order (which I meant to cancel). -Forgetting it's a...

I developed a profitable strategy several months before I built personal discipline to trade it. Perhaps that's par for the course. Whatever the case, took me a while before I had faith in what I was doing. Along the way I started to keep tabs on 2 things. -Days without incident -Trades...

The answer depends on how much the person actually needs to make a living. The basic math of "how do you get there?" is something a serious trader should know before attempting to rely on trading as their sole income. Can a trader just be "profitable" trading a $30,000 account. That's a clear yes.

Jfranco, As for learning trading, I didn't get started until beyond 30. By then I had degrees in economics and accounting, followed by a decade of experience in a highly-analytical field. I jumped right into trading, and after a period of initial luck, I became a consistent loser. I then began...

Don't know and can't comment on what is true or false on a trading forum. Just stating what it seems like (to me). OP plans to use $5k-7.5k margin per contract. Assume 7.5K which is a bit less aggressive. So with 15K, he'd trade 2 contracts. Keeping his plan the same, If he started with 90k...

It's clear from OP's several posts that he does have prior experience day trading ES. He has 15K and plans to leverage 2-3 ES contracts (5000-7500 margin per contract). He has 6 months of living expenses covered. So his real starting point will be whatever amount he's accumulated at the 6 month...

I made a switch to Schwab a few years ago just before the Scottrade/TD merger. At the time, I was given a promotion for commission-free equity trades, for the duration of time I had a Scottrade account. Ended up 6-7 years of "free trading" which is due to expire in abt 3-4 more. Did well beyond...

Moving average lines. I use them as a quick/easy way to see pullbacks into potential entry areas. I don't draw trend lines (or anything else), but the MAs act as a trend line (for me). All I'm using, so I guess that counts as "best" for me.

OP, about a year back I met man who was day trading (or learning to trade) full-time. He also worked 8-10 hours on each Saturday/Sunday, teaching English to Chinese kids via internet. He didn't speak any Mandarin so I guess it was some sort of conversate deal. He claimed he was able to meet all...

I despise waiting. Waiting for a trade to complete right now, and waiting for conditions to improve. I've read that "Patience" is active waiting.

Yes. DT Equity Index futures. I have no personal experience securing outside funding/backing, so no comments there.

Good points made, though for taxes (US): Income earned from employment (OP's day job) is 100% ordinary income subject to payroll taxes. Any profit he earned from trading futures will be taxed 60% LT capital gains rate / 40% ST (ordinary income tax rate), no payroll taxes...

'' Similar (I quit FT job to pursue trading FT). Now, still trading. Though I started with a larger capital base (amount I was comfortable to try with). I don't know what your margin comfort level is. Let's say it was 12500/ ES contract (1000 Tick base). So you trade 1 contract with your...

I've been in a similar situation and my advice is to wait longer until you can start with a larger base (Assuming $15K is not a typo, $150K would of course be a 10x different story). As I'm sure you know, all else equal, the more contracts you are able to comfortably leverage (a personal thing)...

I agree with BWS sentiment that $15K is small (too small for me, at least). Though OP is day trading index equity futures. 2% a month of 15k would be $300/month. To make $300/month trading 1 ES contract, trader needs to net 24 ticks/month. With the average 21 trading days per month, that's...

OP, I attempted this earlier in my trading journey. Not due to laziness, but other reasons. I would log on each morning for about 30-40 mins, scan my watch list, and look for what I thought at the time was a decent intraday setup. I would enter orders (entry trigger, fixed stop/target, and a...

Traders are price takers.. as such, there’s always a bit of loss due to the bid/ask. Random entries shooting for 1:1 would produce a result that is less than breakeven over the long run until the account is drained.

My mistake, edited post. Could you list some examples of other dimensions that factor in to wipe a trader out. I didn’t fully understand. I know the market expands, contracts, trends up, trends down, trends sideways, consolidates, (all at various velocities and magnitudes), large/sporadic...

I agree with OP, if someone is not prepared for black swan events, or if they trade with a negative expectancy, they're going to get wiped out (all at once, or in due time). Disagreement (for me) is where his posts imply that anyone trading less than a year time frame (target audience, day...

This week makes up for the mid-month trash we had to endure.