changing my mind on day trading

It takes focus, like driving a Ferarri at 140mph, but just the same, you simply let up on the gas when you need air.

The reality is it is simply being able to read the momentum, then just exit on green as a reflex. If you exit dozens of small greens, then capital risk each event is small, but if you pick up $5s, 10s, 20s, one after the other, simply focused on the next one, in a couple hours, they add up pretty fast. Five bucks a minute is $300/hr, a little better than minimum wage.

It's just repeating the same pattern, like flipping burgers or a video game. The edge I have is that I never have to open an order ticket or type to buy or sell. With the software package I use, I can buy or sell as many as I want instantly on a single click, market or limit, user's choice.

You set your own pace, whatever's comfy. Not as bad or hard as you think. Happy to share.
 
nodoubts said:
One click enters as many levels of bids you want, at whatever quantity you want, any price point, and vertical increment spacing you desire. One click removes any or all of them. I have an operational version for the public, which would be perfect for you and your students.

We have a solid, tested product, and are developing a "pitch reel" to demonstrate the benefits of the program to deep pocket guys with enough capital to properly build out the infrastructure required to service "public" customer signups. Accounting, billing, tech support, marketing and educational materials, all need to be addressed. This requires skilled "teams" of those specialties, beyond the "mom and pop" level.
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You're obviously a top level pro, your posts reflect that. What you describe sounds excellent, one click sets of vertical increments at customized spacing is ideal. Something a sharp quant would code.

Best wishes with it. Sounds great for firms. What would be useful for retail traders is an app that would integrate with ib etc.
 
nodoubts said:
It takes focus, like driving a Ferarri at 140mph, but just the same, you simply let up on the gas when you need air.

The reality is it is simply being able to read the momentum, then just exit on green as a reflex. If you exit dozens of small greens, then capital risk each event is small, but if you pick up $5s, 10s, 20s, one after the other, simply focused on the next one, in a couple hours, they add up pretty fast. Five bucks a minute is $300/hr, a little better than minimum wage.

It's just repeating the same pattern, like flipping burgers or a video game. The edge I have is that I never have to open an order ticket or type to buy or sell. With the software package I use, I can buy or sell as many as I want instantly on a single click, market or limit, user's choice.

You set your own pace, whatever's comfy. Not as bad or hard as you think. Happy to share.
More...

Exactly right. And fwiw most of my trades are set up without much attention to charts, it's mostly pure price action, position sizing and the tape. Trading sequences.
 
nodoubts said:
It takes focus, like driving a Ferarri at 140mph, but just the same, you simply let up on the gas when you need air.

The reality is it is simply being able to read the momentum, then just exit on green as a reflex. If you exit dozens of small greens, then capital risk each event is small, but if you pick up $5s, 10s, 20s, one after the other, simply focused on the next one, in a couple hours, they add up pretty fast. Five bucks a minute is $300/hr, a little better than minimum wage.

It's just repeating the same pattern, like flipping burgers or a video game. The edge I have is that I never have to open an order ticket or type to buy or sell. With the software package I use, I can buy or sell as many as I want instantly on a single click, market or limit, user's choice.

You set your own pace, whatever's comfy. Not as bad or hard as you think. Happy to share.
More...

ive driven my Ferrari at 140mph. Both of them. :)
 
KCalhoun said:
Exactly right. And fwiw most of my trades are set up without much attention to charts, it's mostly pure price action, position sizing and the tape. Trading sequences.
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I was weaned on charts, so I watch the shapes being drawn, which gives both overall and specific context as to the intent of the MM or pumper, since when combined with bid/ask/size demonstrates when they are running out of buyers. This especially useful in understand the "band" in which it's currently trading. Since they'll always be first to sell the top down, they support the top with "fake floors/support" long enough to see when the buyers are gone, then pull it all out.

So it helps to actually see them running out of buyers in the read. When you can spot fake floors helps even more. The idea is to spot the selloff before it happens, to stay out of harm's way by about 10-15 minutes ahead of time.

Since they always repeat what historically works, spotting the "hills" as they form and what they mean is useful in forecasting "where to from here." Forecasting the safe re-entry avoids holds.

Rule of thumb: "I'd rather miss a top than a bottom."
 
KCalhoun said:
You're obviously a top level pro, your posts reflect that. What you describe sounds excellent, one click sets of vertical increments at customized spacing is ideal. Something a sharp quant would code.

Best wishes with it. Sounds great for firms. What would be useful for retail traders is an app that would integrate with ib etc.
More...
It's specifically designed for retail traders, super simple and easy. I've traded with it on IB, Alpaca, Etrade, etc. I'm sure we'll end up with an app version, etc as well when we get there. This program is designed to interface with existing platforms, so the user doesn't need to open a new account, you use the one you already have, it simply plugs into their IB, Etrade, Ameritrade, etc account and you can trade with the interface instead of the normal clunky interface of the platform. It allows you to skip order tickets across the board for buys, sell, and cancels.

It never touches your money, it can't since you control your account as always. It has no access whatsoever to your account. The entire existing account remains untouched, all normal accounting remains intact. You simply turn it on/off when you want to trade your (IB or other) account with a better interface, shut it off anytime on one click, and resume normal IB or other trading again. It's that easy. I'm sure we'll discuss at some point.
 
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Well. Here’s another post that went off on the crazy train. I guess the bottom line is to figure out what works for each one of us. I am closer than ever to realizing my dream to earn my whole living from trading. I still have my sales job which fortunately I do over the phone and Internet from my house so it allows me to trade in the morning before I have to start making phone calls. Can’t wait to be done with that. 8 years of effort to get here.
 
nodoubts said:
Day trading, if well executed, IS great. You don't tie up capital, so you can flip, flip, flip fully capitalized again, and again, and again. If you end the day flat, it doesn't matter what the market does in any session, on any open. Next day you get to cherry pick a brand new entry point. Of course if you screw something up, it can go sour, so craft matters.

There's another reason you don't see a lot of raving articles about day trading. Good day traders have found something that consistently works for them. Part of that means staying grounded, within yourself, keeping a level head, not getting cocky. "Staying in the zone," so to speak. If it's working, they don't need to tout it publicly, there's no underlying need to be heard. Doing so only creates risk. Since they know most traders don't make money, why take on the headache of a lot of grumpy comments from naysayers? It's a distraction that risks throwing them off their game. The good ones only engage to improve craft, but not that often, since they're busy and already doing well. They stay low profile.

Side Note:
2-3 trades per day isn't really scalping. Intra-day swinging or "flipping" is more accurate, since normal industry scalping at trading houses is about one every two minutes. I scalp every day and usually end up with between 500-1500 trades by day's end, no automation is involved, just special software for lightning speed on ordering, fills, and exits, which allows for me to focus on reading momentum instead of fumbling with orders.
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Well said. Some days I do one trade, make my daily profit and done. 500-1500 trades per day would make me crazy! We each have to find what works for us.
 
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