Bone..Less positions, fewer trades, scale up in size = problem solved.
Quote from bone:
This entire premise of high frequency manual trading, of scalping, of daytrading - the odds are just really daunting these days. Intentionally choosing to compete directly with machine-created turbulence that operates without emotion and in a rules-based realm - on a tic-by-tic basis.
The concept that some kid in Boise with a PC, a $5K IB account, and some common TradeStation indicators wants to survive in that timespace occupied by the automatrons... I find that to be naive and a bit depressing.
The concept of some guy manually scalping 300 positions per day with a mouse and a keyboard as an effective strategy that endures and holds up over time is incredibly rare. Not impossible, but rare. In that respect, I am afraid that I would agree with EMG about the success rates for retail traders.
The notion of someone opening an account with $5K to scalp ES based upon tic data and common variations of standard technical indicators is just nonsensical in this day and time - might have worked swimmingly in the past, but the bots and the algos dominate the domain in today's environment.
All of these fresh young faces looking to learn to daytrade with that image which endures circa 1998 tech boom or those silly youtube promotional videos - well, good luck.
It is a complete waste. A meatgrinder, a virtual waste dump for broken and naive souls perpetuated by retail brokers and "training" educators and charting package providers. Look at 90 % of the forum material on ET. Every day we see a fresh thread started by some fresh faced kid wanting to learn how to day trade, or scalp, or trade 'price action'.
The pity is that some of those naive newbies ultimately would have made excellent traders.
You just cannot be common. You must Zig when the everyone else is Zagging - and I am not talking about fading markets. I am speaking strictly about strategy. The last thing you need to be doing in the marketplace is replicating what you perceive to be some sort of "blueprint" defined by others living off your vigorish.
Quote from shamund:
Thanks all for the constructive recommendations; I had initially decided to go with Mirus, but b/c I work at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, they required a bit more approvals.
I will look into the firms suggested.
Quote from shamund:
I plan to read several books (Disciplined Trader, Trading for a Living, Candlesticks Explained) on this subject and then do some simulated trading, while all the while adding to the $5k account that I "opened." I plan to research and become familiar with the markets over the next 6 to 8 months before placing an actual "trade." By this time, I will have put aside approximately $20-25k that I can risk.
For some odd reason you "assumed" that $5k is "all" I have to trade; quite the contrary. That's all I'm willing to put into an account at this moment.
Quote from shamund:
Dude if there is anything idiotic, it's your assumptions...and we all know what happens when we assume. First of all, who said I planned to "trade" with only 5k?? I specifically said "open an account." And if you had done any research from more established traders and authors who have written on the subject, you would know that they suggest starting with a relatively small account from 5k to 10k.
I plan to read several books (Disciplined Trader, Trading for a Living, Candlesticks Explained) on this subject and then do some simulated trading, while all the while adding to the $5k account that I "opened." I plan to research and become familiar with the markets over the next 6 to 8 months before placing an actual "trade." By this time, I will have put aside approximately $20-25k that I can risk.
For some odd reason you "assumed" that $5k is "all" I have to trade; quite the contrary. That's all I'm willing to put into an account at this moment.
Moral of this story: become more informed and a bit more constructive in your approach before ass-uming and making worthless posts.
Quote from bone:
Well, that's the entire premise of the thread - starting with a $5K account precludes that.
Quote from the1:
Even if you had only 5k there is nothing wrong with starting at that amount. $500 intra-day margin gives you 10 lots to play with. Begin trading 1 lot and you are using 10% of your capital, which is a reasonable amount. Don't listen to the people critcizing you. I think you're better off starting small. Personally, I wouldn't even increase the account to 20 or 25k until you are successful with the 5k.