How do the BIG BOYS trade?

With all due respect to everyone, what the hell difference does it make how institutional traders operate? No retail trader can mimic - match that, so who really cares?
That's what I meant basically.
 
I guess I should be careful, but I thought I had already stated as much: Just because you are down on the exchange, with a firm or not, doesn't mean you have a clue.

There are however, firms that make money every single day. How can this be? What are the differences between these firms and the firms that throw you in the lion pit and tell you the way to make money is as simple as having no opinion and taking small loses?

How can it be WHAT???
90% of my trades are profitable and I am not with any of those fucking firms. Hours of tape reading that's how for God sake.
Otherwise I have no clue.
:confused: :confused:
 
Quote from fseitun:

Interesting point here and I must say one of the golden rules of trading.

I am an emini futures daytrader and I have a question out of curiosity:

When you say small losses, how small do you mean?

Given the nature of the markets, which tend to go up and down and provide very rare one-directional moves, if your stops are too small you are seriously in danger to be shaken out very often.

For instance, I prefer to take a 20-tick hit in one trade, giving it plenty of room to work out...rather than take 3 small losses of 5 ticks each before finally getting it right.

Hence, how would someone be kicked out of the program for having too large a loss?
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Remember it was a pit trading. Few ticks you were out. I use relatively large stops also, E-minis). They make money in the long run. Tight stops are possible but I would have to adjust entries.
 
You can't just work for any firm. You have to find the right ones. You chose poorly, and formed an opinion based on that one experience.
Nitro you have no clue.
 
<i>"As for the interest, I just doubt that the big boys sit in front of big screens with 20 indicators and 50 different MAs trying to deciphier what the next move should be."</i>

First of all, who does that? If that describes your charts, you need to seriously pare them down.

Secondly, the mechanics of learning to pick off +1pt ~ +2pts ES daily on average over the course of time is quite simple. It takes less than you might think. What complicates the process greatly is common desire to trade every wiggle in a chart, trying to comprehend which way the tape is going from every bar all day long.

The shortcut to learning trade mechanics is this: watch charts until clear setups emerge, only trade those. Learn to ignore the rest AND make peace with the fact that you passed = missed some potential profits. Focus on the objective goal of few points per day most days, <b>small losses contained on the worst days</b>

*

It is the emotional, self-control aspect of trading that takes most time. Learning to control oneself thru all market conditions is above & beyond any method or system approach. The wrong self control will negate or kill any method or system, period.

I think what you are asking the board is essentially this: what is a simple, black & white, A-B-C approach to trading that "big boys" hold secret? What do they know that we don't? How can I crack that code to make trading simple, brainless and effortless with nil learning curve?

Am I close? You essentially infer that big insiders glance at some charts or dome with minimal effort while they rake in big money. If indeed that's true for some, it lies outside the reach of retail traders like you and the rest of us here.

If you think trading from the retail side is quick & easy money, the market itself will explain reality to you in mathematical fashion via your account. In the end, when you accept reality after chasing pots of gold aka brainless trading success overnight, all of your money will be gone.

I have seen hundreds and hundreds of aspiring traders stubbornly search for overnight success and fail out of this profession in the past eight years. Accept the fact that successful trading comes in stages and takes time. Could be months for some, years for others depending on how we define "success". There are ways to lesson a learning curve, but not eliminate it. If you are grasping for hope that overnight success via some magical formula exists to bypass the learning stages, good luck with that.

Learning to consistently book +1pt to +2pts ES daily average over a period of time (bigger wins, some small losses = average) is not rocket science. At all. Nor is it taught inside some secret circle on LaSalle Street or brokerage desk in a week.

Now if only someone could cure the common cold, I'd be asleep right now instead of suffering to breathe :(
 
Quote from Leonidas:

The real pros are pros because they worked their butts off for years to get there. When you guys make excuses like "the pros all have insider info" or "they're only able to do that stuff because they trade other people's money" you are cheating yourself.

Read about the top pros. The real secret is money management and a shitload of hard work. That's it.

And a note about other people's money. It takes a lot more to be successful in the hedge fund game than it does to be successful trading your own account.
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hey Leon,do you think just maybe that # was leaked & someone had a big head start???? Nahhhh,that would be illegal,right?

we were bid up 9 handles on the spooz before the release....tells me someone had the "inside skinny",eh?

so don`t kid yourself on the facts.
 
<i>"The most valuable thing in life is information"</i>

Yes it is. Currently short ES 1564.00 printing 59s as I type. Insiders got theirs, now retail traders have equal chance to feed on the other end of same trough :cool:
 
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