Quote from jasper6:
I have been trading since the year 2000.
My introduction to the market was in selling a vertical industry website to a NASDAQ traded company in June, 1999. I received cash and restricted stock - about 50/50. At the time of the sale, the stock was trading just above $20. From June 1999 to March 2000, the stock hit a high of $143. On paper, my net worth topped out at over $2,000,000.
Not knowing anything about the stock market, I couldn't believe how much money could be made! Too bad my main experience in hindsight was at the top of a bubble. Since I didn't know what a costless collar was and didn't protect myself, I didn't sell out until over a million of the paper profits had evaporated (still hurts to think about).
I was hooked on the market, though. When my consulting agreement ran out at the end of 2000, I spent a year reading about 50 books on trading. The beginning of my search for the holy grail.
I started daytrading tech stocks in the Autumn of 2001 and promptly lost $30,000.
I switched to the ES after a year or two and paid even more tuition. When the ER2 came out, I started to trade it since I liked the daily range, the extended moves and (at the time) the lower noise level.
I am now five years down the road and am pretty much a breakeven trader. I still trade one lots. I have studied every indicator and system known to mankind. None of them seem to have worked very well. They are mostly great when the market trends and horrible when it chops.
I have suffered from "triggeritis" on occasion - sometimes lasting for months. I have read "Trading in the Zone" countless times and have the Five Fundamental Truths tacked to the wall.
Bottomline, 2007 will be my "make or break" year. There is only so long that you can live on your savings. So long that you can go without a steady income. I can't even bring myself to think how much income I have lost by trading as opposed to having a job. Over $500K for sure.
But, I like working for myself. I like not commuting, dressing up or playing office politics. I like owning my time and the freedom trading provides.
My goal for 2007 is to work toward $1000 on the average day or $200,000 per year.
I am using Ensign Software for charting after trying nearly everything. They have the best support out there and are constantly making improvements. New releases almost weekly.
I use IB for a broker and for quotes to drive Ensign.
My total monthly outlay, including a broadband cable connection, is under $100. I pay $4.80 RT on trades.
I only trade the ER2. I don't look at anything else. I only use range charts since I like how they look. I use one indicator - a volatility stop (15,3). I trade the volatility flips and use a 1.5 point initial stop. I am still working on better exits, more patience with trades and trying to outguess the market.
I am posting here to try and force more discipline. More discipline to quit discriminating on edges and to let the chart tell me what to do.
I don't bother with TICK, TRIN, news or anything else. The chart is either long or short and that's it.
I use 24 hr data.
I am hoping to add an additional contract for each $10K in equity that I earn. For simplicity's sake, we will assume I am starting with a $10K account and trading one lots. At a 1.5 pt initial stop, this is a 1.5% risk per trade.
I am hoping to make 3-5 trades per day. I have found that the fewer trades I make, the more money I make. Days I have made 8 or more trades are usually the worst. The indicator constantly has you going in the wrong direction.
So there you have it. I don't know if I will post in real-time, but I will trying to upload charts when I can.
Since the system is so simple, it shouldn't be hard for someone to replicate if they are so inclined.
