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1. Too tough for me to give %, but I would say trade management by far since most of my trading time and energy is devoted to it. 2. Success of breakouts and pullbacks greatly depend on the market environment. 3. Yes, I do use time stops. There are positions that I take because I expect...

Yes and no. Yes, in that early on I considered giving up the idea of trading for a living. No, I never considered giving up on trading entirely since I enjoy it too much.

These are much more sophisticated questions. To see the big money, a few of the things I look at are the strength of the tick, OEX options activity, depth of the bid. The market has its own feel depending on what the "big money" is doing which is one of the reasons I like to watch every...

1. I don't really prefer either. I think trending markets have less whipsaw. 2. I watch the market tick by tick because I like to see everything. I've tried 5 minute charts, etc, but didn't like not seeing all the movement.

On average, not much, maybe 10-20 minutes. There is not as much research needed when trading indices. Mostly reading headlines and a few commentaries.

In my opinion, trade in whichever time frame you are comfortable with. You can be profitable in any time frame, but you won't be comfortable in any time frame. Also, trade in a manner in which you see yourself trading in the future.

It will sound simple, such that you will think that I am insulting you but I am not. I sell puts or buy futures when I think the market is going up, and I sell calls or sell futures when I think the market is going down. So, I guess it's in knowing when the market may or may not turn. I...

1. Somewhere between 5-10 years. 2. Not disciplined enough. 3. Regular office room with home computer and 2 large screen monitors.

I haven't tried that many. I've used IB's TWS only for many years.

I think I was not successful for many reasons. Some that come to mind are that I was not full time, too much pressure, too little understanding of psychology, didn't recognize my own weaknesses. I have never had a mentor.

1. Futures options are important in my trading. I use futures to hedge options positions, and vice versa, so it's hard to quantify each ones importance. 2. I mostly write options. 3. I am purely discretionary. 4. Since 16 years ago, I've moved from stocks and everything in between to...

A hedge fund is a different lifestyle. Not one I am currently interested in. While I do manage money, it is very very passive, and was unsolicited.

I would think it is possible because some have done it. I don't know what the surest way is. I've never thought about this so I can't say.

I almost don't remember but I think 16 years ago my account was around $10k. I don't calculate % risk but $ risk. It may be the same in the end, but mentally I am thinking $ not %.

For options, I'm a writer. I will hedge those positions with the underlying futures. I trade intra-day but will hold most options until expiration.

For me, 1% / 9% / 90%.

Besides the indices, I only watch the tick and vix. And all those have support/resistance levels. I've found time frame is extremely important. I cannot emphasize this enough. It is important because it is the major factor in aligning with my personality. I trade daily with usually 1 day...

I have never calculated any of these ratios. But I'll guesstimate. I use mental stops. The stops are usually a $ amount of pain rather than a %. And it fluctuates depending on how much profit I've had recently and depending on support/resistance levels. My success win is high with the...

Another trader (gnome I believe) did something similar, and I thought it was exceptionally beneficial to many. So here's my contribution back to ET, since it was one contributor of very many contributors to my success back in the day. History - I started trading 16 years ago. I began...