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Using stops religiously absolutely cuts the profitability of my systems (at least on paper). But, I really don't worry about the profitability of my system in those terms. I am much more worried about not losing money. I have found that whether I am on the floor or off, if I manage losses, the...

30 years ago, it was state of the art. It's the basis for a lot of better and more current models, but it was based on some flawed assumptions, e.g. normal distribution of prices, rather than kurtotic. Used in its original form, it will entice you to sell cheap OTM options and underestimate...

Commercials sell into rallies as they hedge or sell production, while small specs buy. Eventually, there are no more small specs to keep buying and support the market. Guess who always eventually wins that one.... Jessie

It's simply a credit spread, one of the most common trades done with options, and can be done with either puts or calls, don't get wedded to a market direction/opinion. Any option book will describe that and other strategies as well. Jessie

The CBOT has a free Dow simulator that works in real-time. Go to www.cbot.com. Jessie

Pretty much any clearing firm will let you do this with discretionary accounts, at least in the "futures" world. It's called a "breakdown" account and is the same tool used by CTA's. You enter all trades in one account, and then allocate them however you want to the others. Jessie

CBOT has one for the mini Dow. Jessie

I just use a few single head cards. Everything from Win 98 up runs them all just fine. You go to settings>display, and it lets you extend your desktop across however many you want (I think the limit is something like 18). Jessie

Sorry, but ranking Michigan above Wisconsin is just ridiculous!!! They don't even serve beer in their student union! GO BADGERS!!!!!! Jessie

Having the mental skills is MUCH more important. Finding profitable systems is relatively easy, but if you read the posts here and elsewhere, traders don't blow out nearly as often from grinding down their equity slowly via a poor system than they do by losing large chunks and riding small...

As with most things, it isn't as simple as any of us would like, and every decision you make regarding statistics involves compromise and trade-offs. When you use statistics to determine significance, first, all that is telling you is that the result is (most likely, but never absolutely) not...

".....but where are the CUSTOMERS' yachts?" The previous post really tells you everything you need to know. Jessie

Your first loss is always your best loss. Get out, cover, and put it in the "lessons learned" file. Jessie

There is (or was, I'm trying to recall from my stockbroker days...) a federal reg that states that all margin accounts must be at least 2K. I'm pretty sure that is the case regarding the type of account (margin), not necessarily what is held in it. I don't know if that is the status of your...

www.cbot.com has a link with a listing of all FCMS that trade there, and contact information & specialty (e.g. institutional clearing vs. pit local vs. retail). You might want to rethink the internet order entry, one of the reasons that you pay pit costs is to get the feedback from a good pit...

Actually, they generally don't hedge with options, and typically just have to eat huge losses in big moves. They will then hold the shares and try and get rid of them on the (hopefully) way back up. That's why it is really good to be a specialist 99% of the time, and really expensive the other...

This is the CBOT URL for the gold mini's. They are 33 1/3 oz., 1/3 the size of the comex, tick = $0.10/oz, $3.32/Tick. http://www.cbot.com/cbot/www/prod_detail/0,1499,14+58+141+95,00.html Jessie

Almost any mortgage company will give you a no-income-verification loan with a minimum of 20% down. they are commonly used by self-employed people in the same position. Just refer to it as that, and they will know what you are talking about. Jessie

I suspect that this analogy won't do a lot of good, but try substituting "going to the track" or the casino for "trading" in your post, and see what advice you would give yourself. Yes, there are pros who do those things and make a good living, but if someone told you that they were "on the...

I'll bet most of us have had that experience, I know I have, a few times, until I was convinced. And the more exciting things got, the more money I was losing. Now, in all honesty, the best indicator I have that my trading is going well is that when things are really clicking, It's boring, but...