Futures Traders- What percentage of your net worth are you trading with?

[oldtime]

Show me a formula that tells me how often I should call Dad? When I was busy and he was busy, not often. Now I call him every day just to make sure he's still alive.

I don't know what market you are trading, but I think it's different than it was 10 years ago.

The rules of Monopoly haven't changed. So applying game theory to a game should work. But how do you apply it to something that is changing?

The whole thing stinks of the search for the Holy Grail to me.

Just tell me what to do so I don't have to become engaged.

Show me how to reduce all the choices in my life to a mathmatical formula so I don't have to decide what to do.

Doesn't anybody ever trade the market anymore?

 

[oldtime]

Quote from oldtime:

That was the second time around, the first time I started with a $275 OEX call and eventually blew up going short wheat in a drought.

Highwater mark was $160,000.

Supported a wife and 3 kids on that $275 for many years.

I was my own broker and charged myself $32 round turn, $32 per side on stocks and options and split the stocks 50/50 with the firm and got 35% on the futures.

I figured, we go through this drought scare every year and it always rains. Why should this year be any different? The historical data was on my side.

 

[SnakeEYE]

Quote from oldtime:



The rules of Monopoly haven't changed. So applying game theory to a game should work. But how do you apply it to something that is changing?

try to take a bit more then you give away.

 

[JSHINV]

Quote from FreakofNature:

Make love not war, energy best used for other things

FoN

I agree. I don't mind constructive suggestions or even constructive critcism. But, I don't want to fight, for the sake of fighting. Fighting doesn't work when someone can say whatever they want because they can hide behind cyberspace. I made up my mind a couple weeks back to just put someone on ignore when they want to fight for no reason. I do very well in a face to face verbal confrontation as it was required at times in my job before I retired. But firing away in cyberspace no one wins including those who just read the remarks. No one wins.

 

[SnakeEYE]

okey okey i`m sorry.i apologize im a jerk sometimes

wont happen again mr sb4y and mr JSHINV and mr oldtime

 

[oldtime]

Quote from SnakeEYE:

okey okey i`m sorry.i apologize im a jerk sometimes

wont happen again mr sb4y and mr JSHINV and mr oldtime

Well, you never did answer the question. How much of your net worth are you trading?

My guess it's 100% not counting your car and your girlfriend and your opera glasses..

 

[SnakeEYE]

Quote from oldtime:

Well, you never did answer the question. How much of your net worth are you trading?

My guess it's 100% not counting your car and your girlfriend and your opera glasses..

you are on the money OT

besides the opera glass,it only goes in exchange for the dust

 

[failed_trad3r]

ES = SPY

if you can trade SPY succesfully, you can trade the ES succesfully even more so, as transaction costs are less with the ES for the amount of leverage.

 

[Zr1Trader]

Ok, well I see there is a bit of a wiener comparing contest that got started here but I guess that happens on ET.

Anyways. I've been contemplating moving a bigger percentage of money in futures. Considering I had about a 38% draw down with my long term funds from 06 to 08. All is good now, haven't touched it and its been making new equity peaks for a while now. Just don't want to have to sit through another draw down like that.

My long term funds are in broad stock market index, emerging markets, gold, silver, bonds, all kinds of stuff. Diversification obviously didn't help my draw down percentage that much when EVERYTHING was tanking in 08. The draw downs in futures account haven't even been close to what I experienced in my supposed "safe long term funds" .

I'm thinking of trying 60% long term, 40% in futures. There is a pretty substantial opportunity cost at this point if I don't make some changes in allocation. I'll keep it balanced at 60%-40% .

 

[oldtime]

We just didn't want to see you get blown up. A lot of traders have 100% in futures.

Furthermore, if you're long stocks, that pretty much eliminates any short stock futures. On paper it may seem like you're hedging but in reality you're just canceling out. Take a look at the research on how important just a few days in calendar year contribute to your stock returns.

I can't give you a number, but a rule of thumb I try to use is 25% or less of futures account commited in margin. But a scalper would probably be at 90%.