Low risk way for real trade testing

A

almostatrader

Just wanted to share something that I've figured out for an easy way to start trading or test new strategies without risking a large amount of money. I opened a small account at Interactive Brokers with about $5000. I signed up for their real time market data feed which is free if you have more than $30 in commissions a month. I downloaded "Medved Quotetracker" for free which will make real time charts with the data from IB. I also bought "SierraChart" for $40 for 6 months which will also work with the data feed from IB as well. SierraChart has the advantage of allowing you to save and print charts as well as read historical data. You can download some nice historical intraday data here for free: http://www.traders2traders.com./linkindex/Default.asp?CategoryID=3
If you have a small account with less than $25,000 you can't daytrade stocks. However you can trade futures with this small an account. Most of the futures trade with too much leverage which can result in some large losses until you know what you're doing. I just discovered the single stock futures where you can trade as small as 1 contract for 100 shares for $1 commission at IB. I checked most of them and what I found to have the smallest spread is MSFT futures.

Now all I have to do is find a strategy/system that is relatively simple, reliable and will make a small amount of money for me. Once I get the feel of things I would hope to advance to better strategies and slowly increase the size of my trades. Would anyone have any suggestions for a strategy/system that I might try to start out with?
 
Actually almost , it is a good one. But for starters, there are two threads that will give you a nice start. One is presently generating a lot of interest and participation, The Importance of Simplicity.

Also search TriPack's posts for his thread about GEMS. He has taken some of the methods described by other members and compiled them into one thread. The nice thing about it is that it is closed to other posters, thus it is not laden with wisecracks and other useless information. So far, the Simplicity has remained that way as well.

Oh yeah, Quah ran a thread called "something very simplistic" that generated a lot of interest. It is on TriPacks thread also.

Good luck. And Madison is right, there is a ton of information on ET for you to sift thru. Heck, it's a long weekend....get busy.

:)
 
Quote from almostatrader:

Now all I have to do is find a strategy/system that is relatively simple, reliable and will make a small amount of money for me. Once I get the feel of things I would hope to advance to better strategies and slowly increase the size of my trades. Would anyone have any suggestions for a strategy/system that I might try to start out with?
More...

Check out this thread for more info: The Importance of Simplicity
 
Years ago I worked in a small specialized contracting business with my Uncle. Even though we had a great time, it was a tough business and if it was highly profitable I wouldn't be here posting this now. We had to compete against other contractors but often when we needed help, an answer to a question or just someone to talk to, it was those same competitors that we turned to.

If I finally manage to make a little money I hope I make enough to be able to justify spending some to go to a daytrading convention or something like that. I think it'd be nice to meet some of the people here so we could sit down and enjoy a drink together.

Thanks
 
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