Now I am having fun prop-trading the stock market

Quote from lolatency:

I know what you're saying in concept, but the market is pretty damn good at not telling the truth about prices either. You can read the tape one second, but the liquidity can vaporize faster than you can click.

I'll give you one example: I was on the trade desk and my software starting going crazy about UAL (or UAUA -- I forget -- I just remember it was the airline stock). I clicked over there, and I saw it down 3%. Then in a matter of seconds, the computers were hammering UAL so fast it was near impossible to get a fill. It was some bogus news story, but all the well-funded traders on Bloomberg had their computers trading that stuff off so fast it was ridiculous. A few seconds later, it was down 99% and then halted. I guess, on that day, some old news article popped up and gave everyone a panic. A lot of people lost a lot of money and were really upset over that one.
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I remember the scenario you speak of. If you had a (listen to the price action stop) you would've been fine. It was still trading when the old story came out.

I do understand the fact that you can get the short end of the stick sometimes, but that is part of the game.

FOR EXAMPLE: I had a LARGE (In my eyes) position long when that web rumor came out on AAPL and got smacked hard.

The one about Jobs was basically on his death bed.

You have to protect yourself to live and trade another day. Even if you get a crappy fill or whatever due to BS or real news.

And, Yes if you trade long enough you will likely get caught in a halt of a stock, just make sure you never over leverage yourself to the point you get taken out of the game.

I have been caught in 2 halts of stocks and by meer luck, I was on the right side of the trade. Don't think for a second though I wasn't petrified at first!
 
Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement and additional bits of trading wisdom via private messages.

Since I am not "at the level" where I want to/need to be I am not in a good position to provide any real mentoring of my own.

I do not profess to be master trader """""yet"""""

But I feel that I am definitely getting there.

My only advice would be to find a good prop firm that provides solid training and mentoring.

It took me a few blown accounts at the crappy prop firms to find one that works well for me. If you're not making money right now in these markets or at least are not getting the "good feeling" from your prop firm -- LEAVE!!!!! That's exactly what I did and now am reaping the benefits of my mentor's knowledge.

Good Luck
 
"I used to only be thinking about making money but my mentor kept drilling in my head that if I focus on the process of trading versus trying to make money then I will be able to harness my trading set-ups and pull the trigger on S/R."

This is the key to anything you do in life. If you are focused, disciplined, dedicated, and good at what you do, money will come, and plenty of it. Money is a result, not a goal.

Most people only do what they do to make money. If you don't care about what you're doing, you could mow lawns or whore yourself out.
 
Atlien,

I totally agree with that 1000%.

It took months of nagging from my mentor before I really digested this concept. And am now finally able to take consistent profits thanks to his dedication to my trading progression.

No way would I have been able to achieve this by myself or at the other prop firms I was at.

GL
 
With "massive" leverage on a $2K deposit account, it would be very easy for you to get stopped out by the risk manager. Since even a small move against you in a large position could and would deliver a large loss "relative" to your maximum daily loss (set by the risk manager).

Unless you are very very good - of course... :D

Good luck tho
 
come back after you have traded a million shares. by then you MIGHT have a clue. I would be willing to bet wins and losses have more to do with luck than anything for the first several months. my opinion of course.
 
I've been trading at a prop firm for about 8 months now, and really didnt have a clue until month 6 or so. My trading consistency made a giant leap after reading "Trading in the Zone", after which I began to accept trading as completely probabalistic. Once I realized I couldn't, and more importantly didnt need to, predict where prices where going to go.

Reading ET and everyone's opinions is so much different now.
 
Quote from cubical:

come back after you have traded a million shares. by then you MIGHT have a clue. I would be willing to bet wins and losses have more to do with luck than anything for the first several months. my opinion of course.
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Just as an FYI: I'm not new to trading. I'm new to "trading well"

As I mentioned - at the other prop firms I was given crappy mentoring with management who didn't give a hoot about me and my trading. All they wanted was for me to generate commission for the firm.

I now trade well and again was able to take out about $600 in this session. I made $435 yesterday and my average profit is about $300 per day for the past few weeks. I go both long and short so I'm certainly not getting lucky.

I totally respect your opinion which is why this post is civil (thank you for your civility as well).

It is due to good quality training. Period.

Most traders at prop firms will never realize this because they won't receive proper training. I feel sorry for those traders but it's their decision to stay there.

All in all, I am definitely not a great trader but at least I am not losing big money anymore and taking a little bit of what I've given to those traders who are far more experienced than I. DAMN, it feels good!

:cool:
 
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