"I don't think so. From what I understand, he traded mini-futures at the minimum trying to do what has been suggested. However, it is a simple proposition, that it is very difficult for novices to beat professionals (in futures or in poker) since the professionals have already learned how to game the system. Some tricks are legal, some are not, and others are in the gray area. There is lots of money involved - more than in poker - and I doubt the professionals are playing fair.
At the end, the professionals are just there to bring money into the house - who really have all of the odds stacked in their favor. So, the best thing to do, I believe, is to stay clear. "
typical loser trader mentality (no offense).
look, the futures (YM and ES) are simply supply/demand proxies. when people want to buy stocks qua stocks, they go up. period and when supply exceed demand, they go down, period.
there is no way to "game" the time/sales, there is no way to GAME the orders made, in that you either buy the ask, sell the bid, or place a limit order. that is the ONLY thing that ANY institutional or retail trader can do. the difference of course is that GS *can* (and does) move the market when they NEED to take a sizable position quickly. you have to learn to look for that. otoh, when they have time to accumulate or simply want to beat VWAP, you can see that too. trades are what trades are.
contrary to what some people think, GS does not give a flying #$(#$( where your 3 contract stop order is (assuming it is even held at exchange vs. at brokerage).
price action is the aggregate of all trader decisions - whether through forced liqudation (stop orders - kind of decision by proxy) or limit orders. every fill that goes through is a limit order for somebody, and a market order for the other (assuming the minimum spread which is usually what you have in YM during the day session).
if the dow opens up 100 pts, and you are smart enough to recognize it's a pro gap, nobody can fake you out of your money - that you will make. if it open up today (as it did) and showed strong signs of being a fadable gap, you are going to make money going short. you will frequently be wrong. NOBODY knows what the market will do. but if you get good, you can recognize situations where entering a trade has positive expectancy. you trade those. you make money. youu limit your losses when you are wrong, and that's it.
i really enjoy listening to other traders - especially the losing traders, because finding out how they think - helps you understand how the loser thinks- which is pretty much what you need to understand how to make money. really.
TA, despite all the controversy, is not that complex. it's the study of the losing trader. don't do what he does. do the RIGHT thing.
it IS true that a MM can play games with many stocks, and thus you have to ride his coattails (generally speaking). although MM's can (and do ) sometimes lose a lot of money.
that's not an issue with index futures.
i'm not saying you are doing this so much, but i see it all the time in ET. "it's rigged". 'they gunned my stops'. "ta doesn't work". "my broker liquidated my position".
few things are more indicative of a loser-trader (and it's a mindset as much as a (lackof)skillset than a person who thinks other people/"them"/marketmakers etc. are responsible for a negative P/L.
it's rubbish.
