Full-time Pro Scalpers: Steps for learning the profession? (feedback needed pls))

from my limited expirence, retail scalping is a contradiction in words.

the slippage just doesn't give any room for peace of mind.

if your system breaks down, or the market reverses and your system only works well in one direction (long or short), you're cooked because you'll only have a couple of ticks of profit once you figure in initial slippage.

if you do have a system or idea, you must run it live - real time or in some kind of market replay, before you even being to consider putting real money down. backtests, even at bid and ask, won't cut it due to slippage.

why not just focus on larger timeframes and do several or a couple intraday trades, then take your unrisked capital (probably above 90%) and put it in swing trading stocks instead of the dollar?
 
I don´t see my future scalping as a mechanical system. I wanna learn to trade the moment. Figure out what is the present momentum, play it, feel if it change, play it in the other direction and repeat the same all day long. In other words, I want a "universal" trading strategy that will fit ANY market. That´s why I picked scalping.

One of the reasons I do not believe in systems are reasons you mentioned above.

I do not want to have a random trading neither. So I will have my "signals", but want to learn to have them as a relative indicator of the possible future trade.

That´s why Im asking scalpers that are scalping right now as their full-time job. I know they exist. But looks like theyre working instead of posting and reading ET :).

I do not like swing trading as mentioned before. I´ve seen many gaps that dried a lot of accounts (2 times happened to me when I was trading for a prop firm and forgot to close a position at the end of the session).

Anyway, Im not asking for an advice about what trading style chose. I´ve already done it, and I´m sure of the damn thing :D. hope a scalper leave me some feedback.

Now that I think, I should had named the thread "BATS plans to pay for adding liquidity" :D.

I´m gonna do that right now btw. That will get some scalper attention :D

... Ok, big fail, cannot edit the firs message, nor delete the thread. Damm....
 
I have no experience with stocks, but if you want to scalp futures I would recommend getting marketdelta or ninjatrader w/ either the gomi indicators or the marketbalance from fin-alg.com. You must have IQFeed data, don't even bother with anything else. Watch a footprint (bid/ask volume by price) chart for the DAX market and the CL market. Watch both markets every day they trade. In 2-4 weeks start trading with 1 contract using TT X-trader. Build from there.
 
Quote from ronin266:

Hi there. As maybe some has noted, I was asking a lot of technical questions the last couple of weeks.

I´d decided to change from discretionary momentum scalping to Full-time high-volume rebate sensitive scalping. The main reason: Can´t concentrate anymore tracking 15 charts and waiting for some opportunity. It pays well some times, but lately I just lost the feeling of the market watching charts and just lose the focus trying to keep an eye on everything (I do not know, maybe i´m getting old).

So I prefer to do something that I like more (from the early 2000, when I traded based on NYOB and TnS only and used statistical imbalance trading). And rebate sensitive scalping is the more aprox. strategy to that that i´ve tried in the last 2 years.

So I decided to leave my current account for a while, and start studying all that I can get my hands on. I've 6-12 months for this. The steps that I set are:

1. Gather and study all the info on routing. (routes, strategies, darkpools, rebates)(google it, buy it from the brokers)

2. Refresh some tape and volume reading knowledge. (re-read classics about tape-reading, the edwards&magee book on TA (have a lot of volume reading and crowd behavior), read everything about electronic markets (old market making, ECNs, some basic knowledge about algos and other HFT strategies, old edges)

3. Watch 2 hrs/day (maybe more), the tape of some high volume stock (BAC,SIRI), create 2-3 separate T&S windows for it, sort every one by volume (all, >20k, >50-100k). Look for patterns when a level is being taken, watch what ECNs are printing more.

4. Study Lvl2, active ECN's, walls, their creation and destruction, the change in volume, order cancelling, and other possible patterns.

5. Combine 3 and 4, study it for a while.

6. Study the charts of high volume stocks and see how can I divide the timeframe into high/activity low/activity periods, and the behavior of the stocks during these.

7. Brainstorming, Brainstorming, Brainstorming :D

(8)(optional) Give some $$$ into a scalping course like the Afinitytrading one and learn something that maybe I haven't saw in the previous stages (it's the one that looks decent for me).

9. Once everything is my head, start to implement it into the markets, from 100-500sh lots, check the divergences between my hypothesis and the reality, fix it, and start again.

I'm in the right path??? My first target during the trading period will be like 100$/day to begin with, trading max 5k lots. As far as I can see from my inexperience I find it pretty realistic for this given trading strategy.

Need feedback please. Here, or by PM.


Thanks everyone :).
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1,2,3,4,5,6>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>It is all the consequence of the markets mechanic and applied mathematics.Study markets mechanic and market mathematics.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>1,2,3,4,5,6.

:p
 
Maybe spend 12 months paper trading your scalping strategies. It's important to get very comfortable with the various types of algorithms (if you aren't already).

You might also want to consider a hybrid approach where you're entering trades around levels where the stock might actually run a bit, and then just scalp out some of your position right away and scale out of the rest more slowly for larger gains.
 
Regarding scaling, you should read Gary Smith's, "How I Trade For A Living," page 220 to 221.

"Over ten years I've become acquainted with many futures brokers. One is even the president at one of the larger trading firms. And you know what? I hear the same story from them about the futility of scaling the S&P for a living. None of their clients are succeeding over any sustained period of time at scalping the S&P intraday."

Gary also warns against paying big dollars for expensive S&P 500 day trade courses.
 
Quote from thehitman:

Stock trading is alive and well. Pristine.com taught me everything I know, and now I drive a ferrary and live in manhaten.
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is this you?

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Quote from ronin266:

Figure out what is the present momentum, play it, feel if it change, play it in the other direction and repeat the same all day long. In other words, I want a "universal" trading strategy that will fit ANY market. That´s why I picked scalping.



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picture yourself coming home late from a bar on public transportation sitting between two guys who are only riding public transportation for the opportunity to meet you,that's in the moment,if you can pick their pockets and get home with out them knowing and still have your wallet,you should pursue scalping,it can be done,but it aint easy
 
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