Why Is The Obvious Not So Obvious?

[The Oracle]

Quote from gktk:

go with IB, cant go wrong.

I closed CMC ages ago, good to learn on but not viable long term.

GK..i must agree..and i do not like pushing any broker..on anyone..but..IB have come on a lot lately..and the new mosaic is as good as any other platform..very easy customize and move around..still some little glitches with the charts..but still a massive improvement..overall..with the range of markets that IB gives u access to..they are very hard to beat..and cheap comms for small trades..which is what is required for most retail traders..we can forget about the big fat bastards..as they are the few..and we do not want to become one of the few

anyway..u can have more than one broker..and use the best suited one..as..and when..required

TO

 

[The Oracle]

Quote from xburbx:

Hi RN! Glad to see you here. TO - do you primarily trade stocks or options? Just curious.

XX..at the moment it is mainly futures options..and a little futures..as TO is still learning..and never stops learning..so daytrading stocks is on back burner for now..but will resume in the near future

TO has also decided to risk some money on Oil..so lets see what happens with these ones..but again..the trades are already taken as losers..and TO means this..for..it is a balancing act..as..u will not make any money if u do not trade..but..at the same time u must control urself..and limit ur risk to a small % of ur trading capital

it is obvious to all..the more u have..the bigger ur % risk is..so..the bigger the loss in $$'s..but..also the bigger the win in $$'s when u are right..the hard part of course..is to get the consistency..which..can only be done by many many trades..i don't think there is any other way..unless u have some insider fat arse bastard friends

general..we are the plebs..and the plebs must be clever to beat the fat arse bastards at their own game..so..forget about all the shyte that idiots write about nothing..and take note of those who make sense..then see if u can use the info gained to help u..if not..then you either keep searching..or.. maybe trading is not for u..as it really does not suit every person..or most people even..for it can be as boring as hell..but..still much better than taking orders from some shit head arsehole who thinks he is ur wife (boss)

TO

expiry next Tue i believe...let us see what happens???

TO has criticized others for not showing what they speak about..so..here it is..win or lose

 

[The Oracle]

anyone guess what this is?

hint=cvdr

-2.01 223,224 Tue-10-Jul-12 2.30
1.93 185,909 Mon-09-Jul-12 2.48
-3.09 230,686 Fri-06-Jul-12 3.11
-0.29 260,648 Thu-05-Jul-12 2.48
-0.78 31,319 Wed-04-Jul-12 1.27
4.88 266,250 Tue-03-Jul-12 4.71
-1.44 236,321 Mon-02-Jul-12 2.95
8.17 362,404 Fri-29-Jun-12 7.06
-2.56 263,002 Thu-28-Jun-12 3.56
1.31 206,082 Wed-27-Jun-12 2.24
0.38 210,007 Tue-26-Jun-12 1.32
-1.21 206,126 Mon-25-Jun-12 2.65
2.81 246,178 Fri-22-Jun-12 2.81
-3.76 317,406 Thu-21-Jun-12 3.27
-3.91 331,550 Wed-20-Jun-12 3.86
1.14 215,564 Tue-19-Jun-12 2.15
-1.33 116,763 Mon-18-Jun-12 3.53
-0.20 39,819 Fri-15-Jun-12 1.37
2.33 38,975 Thu-14-Jun-12 2.15
-1.23 29,874 Wed-13-Jun-12 1.85
2.85 24,678 Tue-12-Jun-12 2.62
-3.82 21,657 Mon-11-Jun-12 5.48
0.83 20,996 Fri-08-Jun-12 2.63
-2.17 23,445 Thu-07-Jun-12 3.55
1.75 14,076 Wed-06-Jun-12 2.17
-0.12 11,889 Tue-05-Jun-12 1.59
1.05 14,663 Mon-04-Jun-12 3.13
-3.77 21,403 Fri-01-Jun-12 4.27
-1.09 16,575 Thu-31-May-12 2.40
-3.76 14,683 Wed-30-May-12 3.60

 

[The Oracle]

just in case

 

[mekanikal]

Wow TO good to see you going from stocks -> index options -> futures options -> futures -> oil -> forex - did I miss anything

eur looks weak to me and a test (or break) of 1.2 may not be out of the question but then again what do I know

hint=cvdr

change volume day range

So you are looking at an instrument with consistent and juicy ADR!

Very interested in how this pans out

 

[macattack]

Quote from The Oracle:

just in case

What was your reason for buying CL calls?

I saw the obvious Head & Shoulders on my 60-min chart, so I figured it had a good chance of trapping people & going up instead of down today.

Plus we've had 3 fairly narrow days in a row on the daily, so a decent up bar or down bar was due.

 

[poland]

Quote from The Oracle:

PL..we all know how hard it is when starting..and there are so many things to think about..is it no wonder most people find it very hard to make any progress

for now i would forget about all the RR ratio stuff..no. of trades per day..and stopping if no. of losers or winners reach a certain level

think of this way and see if it suits you?

what time of day can i trade..if i am there for the US open i will trade the first 1.5-2 hrs..if not..i will trade the last 1.5 hrs of the day..if i can not make any of above then i will need to look at doing some swingtrading to get going with some live trading

i will trade stocks first..as they are the least risky

i will risk no more than $50 per trade..less if deemed required when trade is executed

50 shares = 1$ stop..need to know very little about trading
100 shares = 50 cent stop..need to know a bit
200 shares = 25 cent stop..need to know a good bit
300 shares = 16 cent stop..need to know a lot
400 shares = 12 cent stop..need to know almost everything
500 shares = 10 cent stop..need to be a fukin expert

of course PL..a lot will depend on what stock u pick..and yes..u are right..a lot can have much more than 50 cent ADR..but they will also be highly priced..which means u need enuf money to trade them..so..when starting it is prob better to stick to a smaller ADR..to get the experience of live trading with charts..and discover how an individual stock moves..as they can..and do differ..remember the wiggly worm

so..to sum up..if u have only $10K then stocks are prob ur best bet..u can use CFD or SB if u like..as u will have good buying power..especially if u decide to do swingtrading..the main prob with daytrading..is..the spreads are too wide with CFD or SB..and as u can see from above..if u want to try a 25 cent stop trade..u might be given away anything from 3-12 cent to the broker..or even more..depending on what stock u pick..but no one can decide this only urself

a $10K cash account with IB will not give u much buying power..so i would forget them for daytrading stocks until u have access to at least $30K

futures are far more risky..don't care what anyone says..and if u can not read the market fairly well..then u can easily lose a few $K in no time..and that will kill u..can u imagine starting off..and losing $1K in the first week..that is 10% of ur capital gone already..and it will destroy ur way of thinking..so be very careful

oh yes..very important is commissions..so with CFD the commissions can be small for 50 shares..maybe around $1-2..with SB there are no commissions..as the spread covers it..but u are paying a lot more..as 50 shares with a 9 cent spread..which is very common..is the same as $4.50 to open..and also to close..so say $9 gone out of ur profit on 50 shares..is a lot..if u win that is

sorry PL..there is no easy answer when ur funds are limited..for if u had $30K u could open an IB account and do up to 200 shares for $1..and this is a great start..as u have access to all the good tools that IB have..and they have a lot now..far better than they were just a few years ago

i would advise u to go SB for now..and put aside $2K for learning money..and u also have the added benefit of no tax if u make money...start small..but it will depend on what times of day u are free..so come back and let us know what u choose..and maybe u will get some more information that will help u get started..from others as well..but check back with TO in case anyone try's to sell u anything..as it really is not required..trust me..keep ur hard earned money for live trading experience..u will not regret it if u do it right..and start off small..keeping ur risk and potential profit target small..and bit by bit u will get better..and start to make more..that is how it works

forget about what everyone else is posting..even what TO posts..and just concentrate on ur own trading..bit by bit..and never forget rule no.1..it is the difference between becoming successful..or not!

let us know what way u decide to trade..and maybe we can point u in the right direction..like..if u decide to daytrade the 1.5-2 hrs of the US open..then a simple strategy to look at is 2 Day High/Low breakouts..very common..and can work well in these volatile markets..and u are now armed with rule no.1..so no reason why u should not make some money..really

TO

Dear TO,

my apology for the late response. (read your reply earlier but too much thinking....forgot to reply)
Thanks for taking your time and inputs.
I think I can work out something for myself....this is take some time...
I must stay rule no.1 is a great guiding principle....
and also the thinking part is very important....

I will update you of my progress somewhere in the future.

Once again...thank you.

 

[Mysteron]

Quote from The Oracle:

NO......keeping risk and losses small are a perquisite for profits..and is the no.1 rule..but u can keep ur losses as small as u want and u might still never make any money!

so what matters most when u are trading?

u are right about the box ML..but there is something else which is very important..look at the 2 trades and see if u can see what it is

TO

Positive expectancy. No point trading if you haven't got that.

I don't see how that appears on your 2 trades, although surely you must have had it in mind.

Positive expectancy is nothing more than a tendency to profit in the long run by your own behaviour whilst trading, obviously.

 

[NielsBohredBush]

Why Is The Obvious Not So Obvious?

Same reason why this thread is in "Trade Management".

 

[macattack]

Quote from The Oracle:

NO......keeping risk and losses small are a perquisite for profits..and is the no.1 rule..but u can keep ur losses as small as u want and u might still never make any money!

so what matters most when u are trading?

u are right about the box ML..but there is something else which is very important..look at the 2 trades and see if u can see what it is

TO

I agree with Mysteron. What matters most when trading is to know when to get in & when to get out & to be as accurate as possible.

A guy can risk 2 ticks & get stopped out 5 times losing 10 ticks & missing the big move while another guy can risk 10 ticks & never get stopped out & catch a big move of 50 ticks.

The guy risking 2 ticks thinks he risked less, but in the twisted reality of trading he actually ended up risking more.

Looking at your 2 trade examples one was very accurate; the other was just plain wrong.