How to make money trading in this market?

[Debaser82]

Quote from Anaconda:

You're straight up gambling. Better odds at the casino.

The stockmarket is one big giant casino.

Lesson nr 1 I would think.

You could build an army with due diligencers who are broke standing in the souplines now.


Bank of America up 20% today?

What happened?

Their crap turned less toxic overnight?

Or wait...

Somebody said Obama would start a toxic bank..

The banks are saved!

Buy buy buy buy...

Give me a break.

 

[chrismontez]

Ok here's my suggestion. I was in the same boat when I started and the mentor I had started me trading options on the QQQQ's, the ETF that tracks the Naz 100. It is very liquid with a small spread on the bid/ask. On days when it appeared the Naz was going up I bought naked calls, and on the days it appeared to be going down I bought naked puts. If you keep your lot sizes small you should be able to manage your loses and learn along the way.

He didn't have a system for entry other than watching and developing a feel for the market. Although most traders slam discretionary trading, he has been successful over the last 10 years.

 

[TraderZones]

The real odds for making money in the situation you describe yourself, is probably less than 1%.

The belief is, 90-95% of traders lose their money. The cold reality is, that those who DON'T lose their money usually break even, make very small profits or only profit for a short time.

 

[Willbel]

Quote from burtonridr:

I cant make heads or tails about what is going to happen. ...So are there some strategies I can study?

Thanks,

Burtonridr,

I have been trading for 25 years - stocks, options, futures, currencies - but mostly stocks.

First get a good software package/data feed to follow the market in real time, help you make sense of what is happening, and make best possible decisions. This web site has reviews on software. Some are even free (like Medred QuoteTracker) and most offer free trials.

Second, understand that software is only a tool. The decisions of the user determine profits or losses.

Third, 90% of traders loose money. If this was easy everyone would do it.

Fourth, I recco that you make papertrades in the beginning while you learn what is going on.

Fifth, educate yourself as quickly as possible and before you trade. The bookstores and library are full of good books on this subject. Here are two classic ones:

"Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets" by John J. Murphy ISBN# 0-7352-0066-1

"Technical Analysis Explained" by Martin J. Pring ISBN# 0-07-050885-2

The following are two books that are trader and option focused:

"The Electronic Day Trader", by Marc Friedfertig & George West ISBN# 0-07-015808-8

" Confessions of an Options Strategist", by Alexander M. Gluskin PhD. ISBN#0-8882-084-4

Good luck

 

[trackstar]

Quote from burtonridr:

I appreciate the concern, I guess I should have been more clear.

The money I have in my trading account is money I can afford to loose.

You are going to lose that money. Stop worry about trading it and learn instead.

 

[Redneck]

Quote from spanish89:

why cant anyone just help the guy and tell him a few effective trading stratergies??? :eek:


Everyone here likes to act like they are a seasoned pro who makes millions per year trading,
yet never actually want to disclose their enteries, exits, and trading method. *sigh*



K mate if you want to trade futures, works best on crude oil, but can be used on dow n even currency pairs liek gbp/usd if they are volatile enough,
but by far oil is the best n easiest...

Then here an easy to use, low risk~high reward~high probability trading stratergy, which is extremely profitbale and effective.



http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152873&perpage=6&pagenumber=1

Yes Sir I can do that

I use
1.) Multiple timeframes (long, medium, short)
2.) A chart of a correlated market – with the long time frame
3.) Candlesticks (But other than the basics – I do not have any patterns memorized)
4.) A couple of EMA’s,
5.) Horizontal lines
6.) Level II
7.) Time of Day
8.) Nothing else



Depending on the type of day; Inside/ Upside/ Downside;

I buy near support/ or sell near resistance with stops identified above and below these areas

I buy / short on trends with stops on the opposite side of my EMA


Also depending on type of day – I either enter with my full position or scale in on pullbacks

losses - I either exit, or exit and reverse when it’s not working (depending on my assessment)

profit - I exit, scale out some, or stay in at consolidation points (depending on my assessment)


This is my entire set up, and I trade it successfully


Now Sir please tell me how can he possibly use this information to any benefit



Redneck

 

[burtonridr]

Quote from trackstar:

You are going to lose that money. Stop worry about trading it and learn instead.

No kidding I'm probably going to loose some money. You all say that like its a horrible thing that should be avoided at all costs. I'd rather loose a few hundred in the stock market and learn something than blow the money on some worthless piece of consumer product.

I realize my question probably makes it sound like I havent even picked up a book on the subject of trading, but thats not the case. I'm at a point where I need to get in and start doing it so I can pick up the learning curve a little.

Thank you to all of you that have posted helpful suggestions. The rest of you guys are so full of yourselves lol

 

[burtonridr]

Quote from spanish89:

why cant anyone just help the guy and tell him a few effective trading stratergies??? :eek:


Everyone here likes to act like they are a seasoned pro who makes millions per year trading,
yet never actually want to disclose their enteries, exits, and trading method. *sigh*



K mate if you want to trade futures, works best on crude oil, but can be used on dow n even currency pairs liek gbp/usd if they are volatile enough,
but by far oil is the best n easiest...

Then here an easy to use, low risk~high reward~high probability trading stratergy, which is extremely profitbale and effective.



http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152873&perpage=6&pagenumber=1

Thanks Spanish! I will check that stuff out. Out of all the commodities I have the best grip on oil.

Just need to research futures trading a little.

 

[burtonridr]

Quote from Redneck trader:

Yes Sir I can do that

I use
1.) Multiple timeframes (long, medium, short)
2.) A chart of a correlated market – with the long time frame
3.) Candlesticks (But other than the basics – I do not have any patterns memorized)
4.) A couple of EMA’s,
5.) Horizontal lines
6.) Level II
7.) Time of Day
8.) Nothing else



Depending on the type of day; Inside/ Upside/ Downside;

I buy near support/ or sell near resistance with stops identified above and below these areas

I buy / short on trends with stops on the opposite side of my EMA


Also depending on type of day – I either enter with my full position or scale in on pullbacks

losses - I either exit, or exit and reverse when it’s not working (depending on my assessment)

profit - I exit, scale out some, or stay in at consolidation points (depending on my assessment)


This is my entire set up, and I trade it successfully


Now Sir please tell me how can he possibly use this information to any benefit



Redneck

Believe it or not I full understood what you just said .... But I dont have the experience that you have to work it as well as you do.

 

[Redneck]

Quote from burtonridr:

Believe it or not I full understood what you just said .... But I dont have the experience that you have to work it as well as you do.

Which is why I respectfully suggested setting up a demo account and trading till "You're blue in the face"

and getting some formal education

and creating a trading plan

Good Luck Sir