Scalping for 4 ticks; mangement?

SPT · Feb 24, 2015

MrFuture said:
I hear you, however many would argue that 5 to 10 yrs ago it was actually easier to daytrade compared to today. Many prop trading firms have shut down in the last few years, blaming low volatility and HFTs constantly disrupting trends and adding too much noise.

I personally know of at least 5 successful daytraders who quit in the last few years for the same exact reason. And you will find the same stories online btw. There was a user here by the name of "shorttheworld" who was killing it a few years back and then it all stopped.

And then there is this guy....to me, if this guy quits saying that HFTs are making it impossible, then I take note. I guarantee you that he knows more about daytrading than all the members of this Elite Trader put together:

I saw the video. He made gains, but those gains aren't so significant. I think he is far from success.

Turveyd · Feb 24, 2015

MrFuture said:
I hear you, however many would argue that 5 to 10 yrs ago it was actually easier to daytrade compared to today. Many prop trading firms have shut down in the last few years, blaming low volatility and HFTs constantly disrupting trends and adding too much noise.

I personally know of at least 5 successful daytraders who quit in the last few years for the same exact reason. And you will find the same stories online btw. There was a user here by the name of "shorttheworld" who was killing it a few years back and then it all stopped.

And then there is this guy....to me, if this guy quits saying that HFTs are making it impossible, then I take note. I guarantee you that he knows more about daytrading than all the members of this Elite Trader put together:

Okay, I'm having a slight down day -$120, but it's rare I have down days so on that basis, I assure you, Retail traders can intraday trade profitably, I'm not scalping for 4pips ofcourse.

BAD DAY!!!

MrFuture · Feb 24, 2015

SPT said:
I saw the video. He made gains, but those gains aren't so significant. I think he is far from success.

I guess the New York Times just picked someone "far from success with insignificant gains" back in 2010 then when he was featured in one of their articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/business/28trader.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&

i am nobody · Feb 24, 2015

MrFuture said:
I hear you, however many would argue that 5 to 10 yrs ago it was actually easier to daytrade compared to today. Many prop trading firms have shut down in the last few years, blaming low volatility and HFTs constantly disrupting trends and adding too much noise.

I personally know of at least 5 successful daytraders who quit in the last few years for the same exact reason. And you will find the same stories online btw. There was a user here by the name of "shorttheworld" who was killing it a few years back and then it all stopped.

And then there is this guy....to me, if this guy quits saying that HFTs are making it impossible, then I take note. I guarantee you that he knows more about daytrading than all the members of this Elite Trader put together:

I am in shock, if I would trade like this man I would stop immediately. This kind of daytrading will put you in a psychiatric clinic within short time.
The art is to trade as less as possible and take as much as possible of the daily moves. I would never give this man money to trade. This is not HFT, this is lunatic trading.
After watching this video I realize that I am not such a bad daytrader.

I wish I could see his monthly statements...... to check if he is such a champ.

Oooooh I start to understand it: you took this loser to proof that daytraders lose money. Took me some time to understand but....

Turveyd · Feb 24, 2015

i am nobody said:
I am in shock, if I would trade like this man I would stop immediately. This kind of daytrading will put you in a psychiatric clinic within short time.
The art is to trade as less as possible and take as much as possible of the daily moves. I would never give this man money to trade. This is not HFT, this is lunatic trading.
After watching this video I realize that I am not such a bad daytrader.

I wish I could see his monthly statements...... to check if he is such a champ.

Oooooh I start to understand it: you took this loser to proof that daytraders lose money. Took me some time to understand but....

That is NUTS, he's counter trend trading and scalping for amounts he'd have to be 90% profitable to break even I reckon.

Was the video edited, I'm in this, ohhh I sold that by the way, errrrrrr.

I thought my trading method was nuts LOL

MrFuture · Feb 24, 2015

Turveyd said:
That is NUTS, he's counter trend trading and scalping for amounts he'd have to be 90% profitable to break even I reckon.

Was the video edited, I'm in this, ohhh I sold that by the way, errrrrrr.

I thought my trading method was nuts LOL

Not edited at all, the guy is a class act, serious dude, no BS. There's plenty of more videos he posted from different trading days. Yet a few years ago he decided to quit saying intraday movements are not the same anymore, liquidity dried up and algos are messing up with predictability.

My point is...a trading strategy can work for a few years...then conditions change and most don't know how to adapt to it. IMHO active trading is not a strategy that lasts over the long run.

i am nobody · Feb 24, 2015

MrFuture said:
Not edited at all, the guy is a class act, serious dude, no BS. There's plenty of more videos he posted from different trading days. Yet a few years ago he decided to quit saying intraday movements are not the same anymore, liquidity dried up and algos are messing up with predictability.

My point is...a trading strategy can work for a few years...then conditions change and most don't know how to adapt to it. IMHO active trading is not a strategy that lasts over the long run.

You made only 1 mistake, but a huge one: this is the story of ONE man and his opinion. So 1 man's opinion would be how everybody thinks about this?
I started daytrading in 1990, had a rough start, but I am still daytrading. So I have a different opinion because of my experience. The story is different for each person. Last november till january was for me the best period ever. So HFT or anything else did not kill me.

MrFuture · Feb 24, 2015

i am nobody said:
You made only 1 mistake, but a huge one: this is the story of ONE man and his opinion. So 1 man's opinion would be how everybody thinks about this?
I started daytrading in 1990, had a rough start, but I am still daytrading. So I have a different opinion because of my experience. The story is different for each person. Last november till january was for me the best period ever. So HFT or anything else did not kill me.

So is your daytrading your main source of income ? What are your returns for each year on avg, from the very beginning (1990) ?

i am nobody · Feb 24, 2015

MrFuture said:
So is your daytrading your main source of income ? What are your returns for each year on avg, from the very beginning (1990) ?

I have learned in past how this kind of conversation goes:

me:I show p/l
you: lt can be fake
me:i show more p/l's
you:You were lucky
me:i show statements from my broker but hide his information
you: this document can be fake, anybody can make this

In short: you have your opinion and nobody or nothing can change your opinion. I refer to the discussions with marketsurfer. And to proof what I said I should show you all my trades from 1990 till today.

I trade already many years, so probably I don't lose money because then I would have stopped already a long time ago.

I can ask you the same question about the man on the video. He does not proof anything, except that he tries to take a few cents in every trade he does.

But something you will make you happy: in the beginning I paid big for learning, and this for quite a long time. A few losing years at the start.

But I don't want to talk about personal affairs like money. Especially not here.

MrFuture · Feb 24, 2015

i am nobody said:
I have learned in past how this kind of conversation goes:

me:I show p/l

you: lt can be fake

me:i show more p/l's

you:You were lucky

me:i show statements from my broker but hide his information

you: this document can be fake, anybody can make this

In short: you have your opinion and nobody or nothing can change your opinion. I refer to the discussions with marketsurfer. And to proof what I said I should show you all my trades from 1990 till today.

I trade already many years, so probably I don't lose money because then I would have stopped already a long time ago.

I can ask you the same question about the man on the video. He does not proof anything, except that he tries to take a few cents in every trade he does.

But something you will make you happy: in the beginning I paid big for learning, and this for quite a long time. A few losing years at the start.

But I don't want to talk about personal affairs like money. Especially not here.

I would have never asked you to show me your statements. I am trying to have a serious conversation here. The facts that I have are that since 1990, the mkt has returned an avg of 11-12%. Given that that's when you started, and given that as you say you had a rough start, I am wondering if you kept track all this time and whether you can claim, with absolute certainty that you definitely, DEFINITELY did better than 11-12% over the past 25 yrs on avg, and that therefore it was well worth it when you look at the time spent trading, studying trading and thinking about trading, and the commish $ spent in doing so.

Please don't take this personally, but what I've come to realize is that many "day/active traders" claim they are successful at it and brag about it, yet they really have no clue as to what their rate of returns are, they don't know how to factor in commish, cap gain taxes, additional deposits, withdrawals etc. So the question here is, are they really making money, or is it just an expensive hobby that at best makes them break even or perhaps trail the SPX ? Because if that's the case, then what's the freaking point, when all you have to do is "buy the damn index fund" at 0.05% like Bogle says LOL.

In other words, if I have $1million to trade with, and I brag because I make $50k per year daytrading, do these people realize that that's just 5%, which can be accomplished worry free with a low cost BOND (not even equity) fund ?