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    Timing SPX vs. Individual Stocks

    Hmm..... Looks like #2 is the full S&P futures ($250 per S&P point). #4 is the e-mini S&P futures ($50 per S&P point).
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    Use E-mini instead of SPY?

    To clarify: http://www.tradingconceptsinc.com/eminitrading/what_are_emini_futures.shtml SP is the full S&P 500 futures. ES is the e-mini S&P 500 futures.
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    Timing SPX vs. Individual Stocks

    SPX itself is an index. It is not tradable. (You said "asset"). Did you mean SPY (the ETF) or S&P futures?
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    Use E-mini instead of SPY?

    Yeah. Just roll it over to the new expiration date. e.g. if you long: sell Mar 09, buy Jun 09 immediately. As long as you have enough margin in your account, you can keep rolling indefinitely. The day-trade margin and overnight margin are a bit different for futures (day-trade: lower...
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    What's the difference beween NASD and NSDQ in Level II?

    I believe NSDQ is the symbol for the Nasdaq SuperMontage. http://www.stockwatch.com/stocks/stocks_helper.aspx#exchangecodes (Search for "NSDQ") I don't know what NASD is. Maybe a market maker? I use RealTick and Schwab's StreetSmart Pro and have only seen NSDQ in level II.
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    Any Listed Only traders left?

    "Back and forth"? Is it one or the other - NYSE versus Nasdaq. Does it really matter?
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    Pictures of your trading stations

    Out of my 15 monitors, only a few of them are identical. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43661&perpage=6&pagenumber=428 Different technologies, makes, models, sizes, colors. Bought at different times over about 9 years. Would I ditch all the existing ones and...
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    Filing tax return as Trader Status and Mark to Market Election

    I agree with you entirely TraderZones. One should not rely on getting advices from Internet forums regarding tax matters. Whatever a trader decides to do, it needs to stand up to IRS' audit. One should seek for assistance from accounting professionals. The purpose of my posts is to point...
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    Why do people trade ?

    Interesting question. For US-based brokerage firms, they require a tax payer ID (either Social Security Number or EIN) to open an account. I wonder if they accept foreign nationals to open an account here. My gut feel is "no". When I have time I will chat with some of my brokers. But I...
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    Filing tax return as Trader Status and Mark to Market Election

    I am not sure if anybody can advice (without consequences) you whether you have trader status. Take a look at this page and decide for yourself: http://www.fairmark.com/traders/defined.htm Basically there are 2 tests. And I quote:
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    what the hell is scalping

    I think this is the ideal case but unless we are a market maker, wouldn't it be very difficult for individual traders to do, especially with the environment today: penny spread on many popular stocks and higher volatility?
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    # of current daytraders...

    Really? There are approximately 300 million people in USA. That's young/old/baby/men/women included. 3 million day traders. That 1 day trader in every 100 people??? Highly unlikely.
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    Turning $27K into $1,000,000 in only 9 months...

    What did you mean by "gamble it all away"? Day 6 you had $71222. Day 1 you had $27031. Gamble it all away: did you mean resetting back to $27031? Or to zero? (How can it be going to zero trading equity?) On Day 6, perhaps you can take out $27031 then even if you "trade it to zero" you...
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    Filing tax return as Trader Status and Mark to Market Election

    From what I have read and my conversations with my trader accounting firm: filing with trader status and electing for "Mark To Market" are two different things. Here is one of such pages you can read on the Internet: http://www.traderstatus.com/trader.htm And I quote them: Whether...
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    Filing tax return as Trader Status and Mark to Market Election

    I don't think that is what we are talking about here. Form 3115 is for application for change in accounting method. The web page that I referenced specifically said if you file as a trader but NOT electing for "Mark To Market", you report the expenses in Schedule C and the trading gain in...
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    Filing tax return as Trader Status and Mark to Market Election

    Where and how do you declare trader status?
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    Filing tax return as Trader Status and Mark to Market Election

    Should you report your tax return as a "trader"? That's what I and probably many other traders would like to know. I found the following web page that I think has very good information on filing your return as trader status: http://www.fairmark.com/traders/intro.htm 11 pages. Go...
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    Turning $27K into $1,000,000 in only 9 months...

    Marc to Market: Let me ask you for a clarification: Your spreadsheet showed that starting on Day 1, you "End of day balance" was $27031.12. Did you really mean this was your "balance", not your accumulated profit for the year? If this was your balance, that means you started with only...
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    How do you handle big draw-downs the next day?

    Thanks for your comments Januszon. Yes I do have my own system developed over the years. It is a discretionary approach. I don't use program trading. My approach got me 140%+ in 2008 while the market was down by 45%. So far this year - 2009 Q1 - I am at 24%. I do trust my approach over...
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    Why do people trade ?

    As envy as United States citizens may be, some countries don't have capital gain tax. I used to work and live in Hong Kong (China now)... capital gain tax from trading stocks and index futures: zero. Maybe following the Brit's system. Income tax: 15% flat from above-exemption to infinity.
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