Trading Future for a living

Listen-up. There is no question with the VIX at ALL-TIME LOWS, that eRL futures is where it's at....action-wise.
For eRL futures, to say that today was "difficult" would be the understatement-of-the-century !
WOW...huge gap-up on the 8:30 "news", followed by a pullack, then a attempt at all-time highs near 806, then nothing but down....down....down...with some bouncing going on.
This is a great trading instrument. However, before plunging in, PLEASE GET TO KNOW IT by trading SIM.
 
Good deal. I too am jumping into the game, but on a more minimal account (man I wish I had 20K to start trading with :p ), but would be trading the ES on a smaller scale to start...the idea would be to compound some profits along the way to be able to rise up and start making better chunks on profitable trades...it actually might work out.

I bought into a pretty proven and tested traded system through someone that I consider legit based on the results I've seen, amongst other things (he also trades for a living). Even backtested it myself; every month has been very profitable, and it's overall win percentage since August is about 75-77%...which is all I'm looking for; a few losses here and there aren't going to hurt as the bottom line stays in the black...as stop losses are used as well (1st rule I picked up on real quickly :D)

While thankfully I'm not getting laid off, by the same token, the job I'm in (which I really enjoy) is part-time (i.e. pays for squat), but could always get let go at anytime theoretically...but also getting a 2nd job just wouldn't cut it to where I want to be at in this day and age. Oh yea, also single and 28, so it's really now or never to make something like this happen and work.

Finally, from what I've seen in futures, especially on the ES, is that many will trade on average 5 lots; right there can be feasible to make a nice living off of if done right. And to whomever mentioned 10's a lot, tell that to those who trade 20, 50, even 100 lots at a time...:eek:
 
Astrologer,

It took me nearly a year to become consistently profitable. That means having the guts to take aloss without changing my trading plan.

The hardest thing is to have a losing day and still believe that your trading method works. Most traders start scouring the internet looking for a new system and the cycle starts all over again.

Don't be too harsh on ksonic. All traders have their own style based on their personality and chosen trading method. He's not comfortable being as highly leveraged in the market as I am and that's fine.

Anyway, I use TradeStation charting software and my broker is Zaner.

Commissions are not great - $2.16 per side or $4.32 per RT. I'm working on getting those down.

My advice to you is start trading 2 contracts. Exit out of 1 when you hit 1pt and then move your stop up to either break even or half of your initial stop and let the remaining contract run for another point or so.

Only by seeing how many times your either stopped out or hit targets will you begin to develop a feel for trading the ER2 (or whatever contract you choose).

Anyway, I wish you all the best.

Tfuad.
 
Quote from tfuad:


My advice to you is start trading 2 contracts. Exit out of 1 when you hit 1pt and then move your stop up to either break even or half of your initial stop and let the remaining contract run for another point or so.

More...



I 100% agree.
 
Tfaud
Thank you for you advice
I will try to scale out of 1 point like u said that is my plan
The only thing is that 3 point stop loss which i am keeping is that ok or a small stop loss should be in place - ?
My comission are $5 RT tht ok for now on and hopefull if i have any other question i wlll ask you,ll :)
Well u said it took u `1 year to be profitable that mean every month were u breaking even or how was it working so i will have a better feel when i start trading
 
Hi Astrologer,

How far away you place your stop really depends on which trading method you're using.

Personally, I don't like stops that are anymore than 2 points away. Ideally 1-1.5pts is best. A good guide to stop placement is the point just above or just below the previous swing high/low. I know people don't like this because 'stop hunters' like to violate those levels first before pushing the market higher/lower. That's why you may consider placing the stop a couple of ticks beyong the obvious levels.

You might want to explore your trade entries, i.e. buy/short the retracement after your entry signal so that your initial position is closer to where you would have placed your stop had you entered earlier.

The risk with this is that in a tear away market, you may miss out on a move. But in the long run the idea is to manage your risk to survive.

In my first year there were some months that were losers and many which were break even. What kept me going was that at the end of each day and for an hour before the open, I'd go over my winners and losers and write down what I could have or should have done.

This helped to reinforce the good habits and to understand why the bad trades went wrong.

I won't lie, a few times I felt like quitting and going back to my normal job. I guess what ultimately motivated me was the fact that in trading I'm only answerable to the market and not some A-hole client who pays late.

Anyway, I'm really encouraged when I read about 'newbies' going into the market since at the end of the day, wealth is something we all deserve if we're prepared to put the effort in and earn it.

All the Best!

Tfuad.
 
Quote from Astrologer:

Tfaud
Thank you for you advice
I will try to scale out of 1 point like u said that is my plan
The only thing is that 3 point stop loss which i am keeping is that ok or a small stop loss should be in place - ?
My comission are $5 RT tht ok for now on and hopefull if i have any other question i wlll ask you,ll :)
Well u said it took u `1 year to be profitable that mean every month were u breaking even or how was it working so i will have a better feel when i start trading
More...

Now that you are coming down to the wire, you might want to make a list or draw a line spectrum to explain to yourself why 90% of traders fail. Everyone who starts out has a plan for failure that is constructed from the effort he makes to get started.

It is there as a shadow just as sure as the stated plan that casts this shadow. Most people just stare at the reflection of their shiny unused "new" plan and never once walk around to see the long and complex shadow that it casts.

Key off the comments in this thread and a few others to articlate the shadow you have designed and built.

Another way to do it may be to take the big failure issues first and add more and more minor issues under the spread of the width of the major issues.

To one side, of any of the ways you may do this, put a comment on how successful traders avoided each and everything you listed.

Shoot for 100 failure items in your initial pass. Circle the failure items that are part of your current plan.

Finally, run the scenario of failing to maintain margin for one contract because your living expenses have to be meet.

As you wrap up this drill, notice how little capital it takes for a successful trader to begin to be successful from the start. Notice how and when he adds capital to his trading account (you left this out so far). Notice, from the beginning, how convergence is exhibited between what the market offers and what the traders takes out of the market.

Never throw away the list of 100 items you wrote down from what you discovered reading.
 
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