Best Thread 55000 % in ONE month !

[WallStreetHero]

i have just got interested in scalaping and have opened a demo account with GFT, its been a week now and i have learned more then what any book has tought me, practice makes perfect as they say.

am trading CFDs on spot gold and oil futures so far and have turned $50,000 into $80,000.
it has made me develop my knoldage alot and i would advise everyone to start with demos and learn it inside out, it would make money making so easy in the real thing,

i have only done it by using tick charts and dnt understand candlesticks and the time frames of the charts, such as 2 min, 5 min, 10min, 30 min, if someone has a good guide or link can they please send it to me.

 

[johnlvs2run]

That is exactly what i am talking about from the begning , scalping is doable and can make u good money i agree , but u cannot keep up of the huge performance by scalping for ever there is limit , at the end u will switch to swing trading to compound your wealth to be real rich .( And because of that u will not find scalpers at the forbes list )

Ps. I meant in my replies to talk about swing trading from few days and higher not only investing for years

That's a great point, Tar, and well worth while to consider.

It looks like Maggi does what you have suggested, as per Cosmo's message #77 below.

Thx, ok I found out about his MM: Like I expected
he goes "all in" all the time. With his real money he puts
his winnings in a save bank account. So he starts with 20k,
finishes a day with 50k, and puts 30k away , to start over
with 20k. ( Thats I understood his MM, not completly sure about)
TP about 4-5 Pips, SL 2-3 Pips. He does not reveal his strategy
in detail, but it's hard to copy anyway I think. I got this information
from a german forum. happy trading!

I've been wondering about the same for long term investments, i.e. having a long term "trading-savings" account, so to speak, where I could direct the action of the account day by day, year by year. In the case the market goes up I could have it in certain stocks with a stop loss, then trailing stop, and reverse the fund back to savings or to other stocks when the market changes or reverses. My funds are relatively meager but I could see this being done by people with, for example, 50 million at a time, perhaps 20 or so trades completed through the year, this being for base funds and not including regular day trading.

In fact I've been wondering how to do this with my own funds, i.e. to have the typical trading accounts accounts for daytrading, and some other long term trading-savings accounts for the bulk of retirement funds, the latter also being accessiable to trading by me on a day to day and ongoing basis. What I've been wondering is WHERE to put the long term base retirement funds. The local credit unions only pay 5 percent and no access for trading, which is better than banks but not sufficient to make any notable gain. Mostly it's the control over MY funds that's most desirable.

Currently my funds are with Ameritrade and Scottrade, but I don't trust them for long term any more than with day to day trading. Comments?

 

[luckyd1976]

I've been wondering about the same for long term investments, i.e. having a long term "trading-savings" account, so to speak, where I could direct the action of the account day by day, year by year. In the case the market goes up I could have it in certain stocks with a stop loss, then trailing stop, and reverse the fund back to savings or to other stocks when the market changes or reverses. My funds are relatively meager but I could see this being done by people with, for example, 50 million at a time, perhaps 20 or so trades completed through the year, this being for base funds and not including regular day trading.

In fact I've been wondering how to do this with my own funds, i.e. to have the typical trading accounts accounts for daytrading, and some other long term trading-savings accounts for the bulk of retirement funds, the latter also being accessiable to trading by me on a day to day and ongoing basis. What I've been wondering is WHERE to put the long term base retirement funds. The local credit unions only pay 5 percent and no access for trading, which is better than banks but not sufficient to make any notable gain. Mostly it's the control over MY funds that's most desirable.

Currently my funds are with Ameritrade and Scottrade, but I don't trust them for long term any more than with day to day trading. Comments?

Best Bank- www.everbank.com -for your LongTerm reitrement funds or Sidelined Cash

But if you just want to trade differnet Time Frame Strategies your best bet is to go with IB and their Master/Separate tading limit account. (ie. 1 LTerm Strat, 1 Mid Term, and 1 DTrade). Sweep profits weekly or daily whatever you prefer and it will help limit/control some of the risks as well.


http://institutions.interactivebrok...tutions/institutionalMain.php?ib_entity=inst#

 

[BSD]

Part III of the Borsellino series:

"In The Pit With Borsellino

It's a brisk fall day in Chicago, November 8th, 2000 the day after the presidential election, and the nation has awoken to the possibility that two rather unremarkable campaigns may now go on the warpath, waging battles in Florida courtrooms to decide the next leader of the free world.

The S&Ps have retraced about one-half of the point-loss sustained during a punishing autumn drop brought on by a string of disappointing corporate earnings, higher interest rates, and rising oil prices. A Bush victory could extend a choppy, two-week rally. Markets favor the more corporate-friendly Republicans and could move higher in relief. On the other hand, any uncertainty about the election's outcome could exacerbate the bigger-picture bearish trend.

Lewis had asked me to sit in on his teams morning meeting before we walked down to the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. I arrived at Borsellino Capital Management an hour before the opening of S&P 500 futures trading. I found him discussing the ramifications of the contested presidential elections with his team who were sitting in front of banks of computers with screens flickering charts and quotes.

Lewis greets me and while making introductions to his staff says, Did you see the big Globex volume on the election results? It hit 4,000 contracts overnight. The low was made when the news said that Gore had won Florida and we hit the high when they said Bush would win the presidency.

No, I didn't see that. How do you think the market will react to that? I ask.

Well, there could be an initial sell-off, especially if the drugs and Microsoft move lower. But I'll probably look to fade whatever move occurs if the presidential election results are announced. If Bush wins, the market should rally. But because that's probably already priced in, we could see profit-taking. Now if Gore wins, we could see a selloff, but then the market might rally. This is one of those cases where you would buy the rumor and sell the news.

Borsellino Huddles With His Team

We then moved to the conference room for the morning briefing, a room filled with signed helmets from football greats and other sports memorabilia. Six of us came to order around an oval walnut table with Trisha Crisafulli joining in on speakerphone.

Looking at one of the analysts, Lewis begins. Lets get going.

"Today we have wholesale trade; import and export prices were already released but had no effect. Thursday is PPI, forecast at .2%, but everybody's watching the election. We did unusually high volume on Globex with over a 20-handle range on the election news overnight with a high of 1455 and a low of 1432."

Lewis then detailed the major areas he would be looking at in the pit for Wednesday, November 8, 2000.

Okay, 1445.50 was Tuesday's (November 7, 2000) high. We have small resistance at 1450; then we have 1451.50, 1453, 1455-1456 and 1459; these are all small key areas. The major objective is at 1460.50.

On the downside, we have 1445. And then 1442, which is very key.

Yesterday, 1441-1442 was our swing area. In the morning we hit a high of 1441.80 and then broke down to the low. Then we came through 1441.80, we went up and made the highs. Below that is 1439.50, 1437.50, which is a major area, and then 1433.50. Yesterday's low was 1432."

Brad Sullivan then provided a briefing on possible action in the Nasdaq 100 futures and some of the other analysts added their ideas on the market for that day.

On The Floor Of The Merc

We then walked downstairs and over to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, home to where Borsellino has achieved fame and fortune trading for the past two decades. First we go to the coat check where he suits up, trading expensive street shoes for tennis shoes and donning the requisite traders jacket with his well-known trader's badge, "LBJ," pinned on it. Less than ten minutes to go until the opening bell and Lewis is calm, making small talk about the exchange and various CME personalities. I, on the other hand, am finding that the energy and intensity of the place is giving me a dry mouth and sweaty palms and we haven't even set foot on the trading floor.

After ascending another flight of escalators, Lewis signs me in. Security is very tight at the exchange, and you need a member to sign you in. I get a sticker with Lewis's badge acronym LBJ written on it, my VIP ticket for the day.

After a security check we finally arrive at the threshold of the vast trading floor of the Merc. In a sign of the times, an official at the entrance makes Lewis sign a form in official receipt of what appears to be a legal document. As it turns out, the CME was recently demutualized, meaning the members voted to make the exchange a public entity. Members will become shareholders, and with the new currency of CME equity shares, alliances will be forged and the Merc will potentially be better positioned to manage its evolution, as financial markets everywhere go both electronic and global. A long-standing Merc member, Lewis knowingly signed the form and handed it to me, saying, Read this if you get bored or want to know about us going public.

Lewis then gave me a ringside perch and moved into his place on the second-to-the-top step of the tiered, octagonal S&P futures arena, a mosh-pit of hundreds of avaricious, high-strung entrepreneurs, trading one of the world's most watched futures contracts.

Spots near the top of the pit are earned. New traders go to the bottom of the pit where they can get lost in the crowd, have an inferior view, and a more difficult time getting trades done at the best price. The top spots provide the best view of what the biggest locals are doing. They also let you better see the order flow from the major institutions coming in from the filling brokers who surround the pit. When top traders retire or decide to make the move upstairs, room is made for more junior traders to move up a step. Moving up the steps is a function of time, experience, and a trader's capacity to stomach and manage risk.

The capacity to take big orders and stomach the risk is a complex and critical component of being one of the traders situated at the top of the ring. Institutions need the locals to take the other side of their big orders--30-, 50-, and 100-lots and sometimes larger positions. And the institutions are willing to pay the bid-ask spread and some slippage in order to get their paper filled. With a 100-lot position, every 100 points (1.00 or one handle) is worth $25,000. The S&Ps fluctuate by this amount virtually every minute of every day during the open outcry session. Traders need lightning reflexes, a damage-control plan, and an iron gut to handle such size and risk.

The top step is where Borsellino has been standing in three different decades.

Moments after Borsellino had assumed his position in the pit, the opening gong sounds. I am startled because Lewis had literally just left me when the bell sounded. His instinct to be in the right place within a split second was a little unnerving.

So as trading opens, Lewis's hands are turned in buying, fading (trading against) the markets impulse to drop on the election result uncertainty. Surrounding me, brokers in cramped and pricey, standing-room-only cubicles bark quotes into banks of phones while simultaneously hand signaling bid and ask quotes and buy or sell orders to the filling brokers on the top ring, feeding the world's orders into the pit.

On the open, the screaming and noise level surges in what initially sounds like a football team getting psyched for a big game. Instantaneously the pit comes alive, pouncing like a wild animal in a flurry of buy and sell orders. The frenzied chant seems to express itself like an insatiable hunger, simultaneously feeding and gnawing on what appears to me in this setting to be a bottomless appetite of greed and fear. Roars, cries, and growls emanate from the pit's maw, as extended talons communicate the essential information of survival in this jungle: price and quantity, bought or sold. Five-fingered talons everywhere gesture, snatch, and seek to devour their prey. Other times, what they have snatched devours them. Spittle from the price-seeking visceral cries begins dusting the pit-organism as the animal-market endeavors to digest and price the news of who will be the first president of the new millennium.

The Play by Play Action

It's seconds or maybe tenths of seconds into the November 8, 2000, session. The opening's assault on my senses seemed to have suspended me in time. Ringmaster Borsellino's arms are extended with hands turned in, indicating that he is buying four-forties (1444.40) from one of the filling brokers. (Click here for a lesson on CME hand signals). He quickly notes the transaction on index cards in his hand. Chaos and a frenzied roar escalate, agitating the amorphous capitalist beast contained in its octagonal pen.

The market's moving down. A local in Borsellino's gaze signals he's got contracts for sale at 1443.20. Sold, Lewis gesticulates, hands punched out as he offsets his opening purchase in a losing trade. Sometime during this opening flurry an announcer bellows over the PA system, The opening range is five-even, four even (1445.00-44.00).

Lewis continues his constant scan of the activity across the pit as his hands go back up. His hands are turned out again selling, this time three evens (1443.00). The market ticks down 42.80, 42.60, 42.50, pauses, then dips down to 1441.00 and starts ticking back up. At around 1442 even, I see Lewis buying, making what looks like a protective scalp of about a 100-point (1.00) gain. The Spooz keep clicking up and some of the other locals hands are also turned in, buying or covering shorts, driving the market back toward its opening highs as locals fill buyers at higher and higher prices.

Lewis bids lower at this point, providing another trader with the opportunity to get a slightly better buy than what most of the other locals in the pit are bidding at that instant, and offsetting some of his 43-evens in an almost scratch trade. Borsellino makes a few rapid-fire trades in succession, performing the role of market maker by selling contracts 20 or 30 points (0.20 to 0.30) above where he buys then, capturing the bid-ask spread in scalp trades. But at this point his position size is small as he appears to be testing the waters and waiting for something--I'm not sure what--to happen.

We are just over 10 minutes into the session and the market is stalling right around the high of the session. For the next several minutes it trades over just a 200-point range (2.00), but mostly within just 100 points. Every time it bangs up to the 1444.50 level or 1445 high, I see Lewis hands turned out selling. Some of the other locals are doing the same thing when the market hits its head up against the high. But something has changed. Borsellino does not appear to be doing scalp or test-the-waters types of trades here. Rather, he is going exclusively on the short side, selling, and apparently building a big short position.

Now the market is trading 1444.00 offered and Lewis takes them. He then turns and offers to sell even more contracts at an even lower price, a gutsy move if the market does bang up against the 1445.00 high, break out, and rally. Other traders apparently notice Borsellino's lower offers to sell. I see one trader look over at Lewis, pause, and go from the buy side to the sell side, offering contracts lower as well.

I remember from the meeting in Borsellino's office this morning that he said that 1442.00 is a key area. Over the next few minutes, the market approaches this level, and the pace of activity quickens. Lewis keeps offering to sell contracts lower, staying on the sell side and amassing a position worthy of a shot of Pepto-Bismol.

The market at this point is very close to 42-even when there is an eruption of noise and a frenzy of activity as the market blows through 42. A flurry of fear feeds the pit, seeming to overwhelm some in the arena and the market implodes five handles (5.00) in as many minutes.

In this steep downdraft, the pandemonium and roar notch higher. Clerks and order fillers movement and attention hasten. But most notably, the locals pace and intensity sharpen. Eyes bulge, calls to sell are literally spat, and neck veins swell as arb clerks push fingers away from their chins, seeking to flash fill sell orders phoned to the pits. Other clerks all twentysomethings and many females deliver order forms to the pit too. No one is going to touch this inconclusive election above 1445 or above 1440. And as traders are wont to say, If it ain't going up, it's (following the path of least resistance) going down."

Offering to buy into the panic, Borsellino covers some shorts in the 1437.00 through 1438.00 area. I glance at my notes from the morning meeting and remember that he had 1437.50 ear-marked as a major area. There is a brief respite in the action, a minute or three where the tone of the pit moderates, digesting the quick dip and probably some lambs that got caught in the gulp down. But taking profits usually has such a calming effect and so too can an upswing in a losing position as hope temporarily drugs with its palliative euphoria. The first taste of blood is always satisfying and so too is the hope of survival. But the lull is short-lived. The S&Ps begin caving again as the chant of sell fills the air and the kill continues.

I detect a flicker of a smile on Borsellino's face, which is otherwise painted with concentration and intensity, and remember something he once said, "As the markets become more chaotic, I get more focused." In the fifteen minutes since the S&Ps broke the key 1442.00 area, they have dropped 10 handles. And Lewis, or course, had a big position up near the high of the session. He'd come in with a plan of key levels to trade off of, stuck to the plan, and now the discipline and methodical stocking were paying off as the market slashed lower.

Buy em, Borsellino booms, snapping up the incoming panic to sell nearly 10 handles below the 1442.00 area he'd identified as key. Fingers turned in and fanning toward his chin and mouth almost as if feeding, Lewis buys some more panic and the market begins to bounce higher. Observe, pounce, and feed: Read the pit, react, and write it on a card. It's part of the successful hunt.

Touchdown

Lewis then came out of the pit, seeming quite happy and patting me on the back, �Hey, how was that?�

�What�s up, are you taking a break?� I ask.

�I�m done. It hit my objective. The rest of the position I�ll monitor back from the office. Come on, I�ll show you around.�

Although I had expected Lewis to trade longer that day, it dawned on me that his 1432.00 downside objective had been hit only 40 minutes into the trading session. Rather than stay on and trade willy-nilly, Lewis was following his own advice of (winning or losing) �congratulating yourself for sticking to your trading plan.� His job was largely done for the day. His plan of attack executed just as he had spelled out in the morning planning session.

To say I was impressed would be an understatement.

It�s one thing to read about the daily formulation of strategy in "Borsellino�s S&Ps A.M." and "Borsellino�s S&Ps P.M." commentary. It�s another to see it enacted nearly flawlessly amid the confusion and intensity of hundreds of traders and competing factions simultaneously battling in the belly of the S&Ps pit.

We walked around the pit, and up to the top of the other side of the ring. �These guys here, this is where they trade the outside months, the Marches, the Junes, and the Septembers of next year.� A smaller, less hurried bunch of perhaps a dozen traders were staking out this ground.

We then moved over to the arena adjacent to the S&Ps for a look at the even faster-moving Nasdaq 100 futures pit. Pointing to a bespectacled, late-twenties-looking trader, Lewis said, �That�s my cousin.� The Nasdaq 100 pit was pretty active and typically down even more sharply than the S&Ps. And this guy looked like he was on fire, totally focused, and certainly oblivious to us. �Sell five at seven,� Borsellino�s relation screamed.

�I brought a lot of these guys in, into both pits. I gave them a job clerking or helped them get in. Some started in the S&Ps and then moved over here when they started this pit. You�ve got to have a lot of balls to trade in that pit. I wouldn�t want to do it now,� Lewis said.

�Why?� I asked. �I know the S&Ps. That�s my market. This one jumps around too much,� Borsellino explained.

Meanwhile, Lewis�s cousin had turned and yelled, �sell five at seven.� But these were at a level a full 10 handles lower (in the Naz contract, every handle is $100) than the previous �five at seven,� a thousand dollar decline per contract inside of 90 seconds.

As if punctuating Lewis�s point about the extreme volatility in this pit, the Dec. Nasdaq 100 futures (NDZ0) had hit their intraday low so far of 3227.00 just minutes before our arrival and had pulled back from the low up to 3250.00. The 3250 area is where his cousin sold the first five contracts at 3247. The contract knifed down to 3237, where he sold the second five contracts. The market kept on tanking and within five minutes hit the first limit-down level at 3220.

According to CME rules, the first limit-down move at down 95.00 points means trading can occur only at or above, this level for 10 minutes. (The 95.00 point-value is established quarterly and is based on a 2.5% move). Again, each 1.00 point (1 handle) on the contract is $100 dollars. If Lewis�s cousin had covered his 3247 and 3237 short positions 25 handles and 15 handles lower, respectively, at 3222, then he would have made 40 handles on the positions, a gain of $20,000 (40 points * 5 contracts * $100 = $20,000) in the few minutes we were standing there. The Nasdaq futures fell as many as 260.00 points on the session, through a second limit-down level (down 190.00 points) before settling down 253 at 3061.

Continuing on our way through the packed trading floor, Lewis seems to know most everybody in the room. He exchanges light banter with clerks, traders and brokers, and introduces me to Ceci Rodgers, a journalist who sometimes interviews Lewis about the market and who covers the trading action at the CME for CNN.

Other Players

At this point, Lewis is ready to go back to his office but sets me up with Patrick Spears before leaving. Pat runs a pit-side brokerage, RBH Financial, as well as an online brokerage, Webvestor.com. Patrick has a stream of calls coming in and usually a phone on each ear. He maintains an almost non-stop dialogue into each phone while simultaneously hand-signaling orders to the pit and time-stamping and manually filling out order forms with account numbers, contracts transacted and fill prices. He also has two other guys working for him tendering orders as well as other broker-booths located around the pit.

�Do you have any questions?� Pat asks with a phone still attached to his head as he screams to get the attention of a filling broker at the top ring of the pit and gestures that he is buying contracts at the current price.

�Ah, yes, but aren�t you kind of busy?� I reply.

�That�s all right. I�m used to multi-tasking,� he says wryly, time-stamping the front and back of an order form before filling it in.

�No s___,� I say in response to his understatement, one of many so far this day, but presumably par of the action on the floor of the CME.

I asked Pat what was it that he did that made him different from any other broker, why a trader would use him. Pat said, �We�re more of a boutique brokerage in that we offer more attention, better fills, and sometimes a little hand-holding. Some of the other brokers don�t really give a damn where you get filled; they kind of go through the motions. I fight to get good fills.�

And then, as if by way of demonstration, Pat bought contracts back that he had just sold for a client. This had occurred as the pit noise level rose in a flurry that broke the market below 1430 (at 10:35 ET) and to a new low and got the client out of a losing short--a false breakdown--that could have been much worse without such quick reflexes and aggressiveness.

While hanging out up at Pat�s booth, I had a different view of the pit and a chance to talk with some of the other locals as well. What I learned was the traders in the pits come from a variety of backgrounds and use a variety of methods to trade, not surprising really, but a good reminder that there are a variety of ways to make (or lose) money in the market.

One trader I spoke with said he had a law degree but found trading on the floor of the exchange much more interesting than law. He generally did not trade in the pit, scalping in and out of positions. Instead, he would wait outside the pit and when he saw an opportunity, would use his local advantage to quickly establish a position at the price he wanted, using an acquaintance filling broker standing on the top ring to get his fills.

Explaining a trade he just made he started, �What I did was -- there was this Italian mathematician some time in the...�
�Do you mean Fibonacci, a retracement?�
�Yes. Well, I sold the 50% retracement of the high (open) and the low, which was at 1437.� (Here the high of the session was 1445.00, the low 1428.50--a 16.50 range-- leaving the 50% retracement 8.25 handles higher at 1436.75). Hence, he had sold 37s.
�Where did you buy them back?�
�At 33-and-a-half.�
�Why,� I asked, noticing that the market was at 31 and moving down?
�I wanted to take a profit, three handles, 750 bucks.�
His was a good strategy that worked out. Like many traders, I learned that one thing that was keeping him from greater success was that some of his losses were bigger than his winners.

I was also introduced to Martin Waxstein, a guy I was told who �provides technical analysis to many of the best (local) traders.� Waxstein said he �trades upstairs� off a screen but comes down to the floor to talk to the many traders to whom he sells his technical analysis.

"I�ve been doing this for 25 years,� said the silver-headed Waxstein with a no-nonsense brusqueness that served to underscore and substantiate his long-standing experience.
�I used to give these out to twice as many traders and have more headaches,� said Waxstein, showing me the sheet he provides to his trader-clients.
�Now I�ve cut back to half the traders, charge twice as much and have fewer headaches.�

Waxstein presented me with the levels sheet that he had prepared and provided to his client-traders on the floor of the CME that day (Nov. 8). Curious, I compared it with Borsellino�s:

Waxstein/ Borsellino

1460.50 1460.50 (Major objective)
1457.80
1454.80
1452.20 1453.00
1451.90 1451.50
1449.50
1444.40 Close daily/ 1445.50 (Previous high)
1442.00 1442.00 (Key)
1438.00 1437.50 (Major area)
1435.80
1433.50
1432.00 1432.00 (Nov. 7, low)
1431.70 Globex low

The interesting thing is that both the levels Waxstein provides to his client-pit traders and Borsellino�s numbers were substantially the same. While the levels were not identical, the �key� and �major areas� were within half a handle (.50) of each other, if not at the same price. Although this comparison is only one example on one day, I found it important information because it implies that many, if not most, of the best pit traders are looking at substantially similar levels. This is information I can use because it gives me greater understanding of the levels Lewis shares with us every day.

Hence, if you know Lewis�s numbers and are trading (like most traders) off a screen, you will know that there is a high chance that many of the top traders, including Borsellino, are often looking at the same levels. One might say that you could key off these levels with greater certainty, knowing that many of the top locals may be looking at the same thing. Importantly, these levels are given to you every morning in "Borsellino�s S&Ps A.M. column."

Some of the smaller and newer traders told me that they watch the big guys. They watch Borsellino, and when the market hits a key area and they see him selling--as occurred on this day at the 1442 level--they won�t trade against them. Since Borsellino was already done for the day, I asked who were some of the other biggest traders to watch. Traders said that besides Lewis they would watch PRS (Steven Prosinewski), MSLO (Mark Mislo) and Don Sliter, and that these guys' trading could affect what they did.

This response was typical, referring to the traders' badge acronyms. �When I�m putting on a trade, I�ll look at PRS, MSLO or LBJ (Lewis Borsellino). If I know that MSLO has sold 29s, you don�t want to buy them. You don�t trade against those guys.�

So I watched to see if this were true. The market had been trading mostly sideways in the �noon swoon� of lighter lunchtime activity, but had drifted back down from 1437 toward the 1429 low of the session. Prosinewski, a mid-thirties blond guy who looks like he could be just as comfortable wearing banker's pinstripes, had taken a short break from the pit when the rumble and noise level started to pick up and the market appeared poised to test the session lows. He hurried back down the aisle beside me and then down into the pit, raising his arms signifying, �I�m selling.� He resumed his place along one of the top steps of the pit, about five body-widths from where Borsellino stands. The market went 1429.00 and then 1428.50, the session�s low, as the pit jerked, spat and roared again to life. PRS sold into the breakdown and many of the other locals who had been scalping�buying and selling�were now just on the sell side as well. The Spooz tanked to a new intraday low of 1424.00 and then punched again lower to 1423.20.

Borsellino�s push through the 1442 area seemed like a key influence and here was another example. For me, it just reinforced the notion of the value of learning from "The Best" traders."

Excuse the interspersed question marks, no idea where they came from.

Two more interviews with him to go.

 

[BSD]

BSD, excellent articles. Thanks!

Glad you enjoy them

Part IV:

"Lewis Borsellino:
By Marc Dup�e

Fabled Merc veteran Lewis J. Borsellino shares wisdom distilled after many rewarding years in one of the fastest-paced places on earth--the S&P futures pit.

Marc Dup�e: Why have you succeeded at this game when so many others have failed?

Lewis Borsellino: Well, I think the number one thing that any trader has to have to succeed is discipline. I don't know if you've seen my Site, but I have ten commandments of trading. You have to be a disciplined trader through all kinds of trading--through good times and bad times. It's the good times that I see that end up destroying people. They think that they're invincible, they think they can't make a wrong decision, they can't do anything wrong, and then they end up taking more risk than they're accustomed to. Then, all of a sudden, the market does what it usually does: It surprises people and moves the other way--and you're carrying the guy away because he got too big for his britches. I think that this is the number one reason why I've succeeded. I've always been grounded, always been a disciplined person, when it comes to trading.

The other thing is, as I say to people, I don't really trade for money; I trade for success--meaning I want my plan to be successful. The product is money. When Bill Gates formed Microsoft, he wanted the best product and it just happened to make him one of the richest men out there. I think that is true of any trader. If you're successful, you have a good plan, good buys, know where to stop out, know how to control your losses... Know how to learn from your losses. Learning from your losses is probably the biggest key to success, because the losses actually tell you what you're doing wrong, what kind of market you're in--if you're in a trend-following market, a reversal market, whatever�the losses will tell you what's going on.

Dup�e: You mention that, like a lot of veteran traders, you have learned to rely on an ability that is like a sixth sense when it comes to reading the market. What is that sixth sense? Is it something you think you can garner or detect in screen trading?

Borsellino: Well, Marc, what a lot of people say I do is gut and instinct. But what they don�t see is what I've done behind the scenes. Like 10 years ago, I may have mentioned in the book, we bought all the rights to Gann.

Dup�e: All the Gann charts, right?

Borsellino: Right. We've always been technicians, we always do our homework and prepare ourselves for the market. So after 20 years, there is not much that I haven't seen. And what happens is my brain is like a mini-computer--it's able to process very quickly. So it looks like I'm acting instinctively, but the fine line is, well if you're an expert at pattern recognition--and that's what the art of charting and technical analysis is all about--you're able to recognize patterns very quickly and see scenarios. Then, is it instinct, or is it learned behavior over 20 years? I think it's a little of both. I certainly have more gut instinct--I have probably forgotten more about trading than some guys that are just starting.

Dup�e: I love that story in your book about the time back in October 1987, on the Thursday following Black Monday, when you stepped into the S&P pit and having been an order filler yourself for four years, could sense the nervousness of brokers who had big customer orders to fill. Just before the opening, a Shearson broker offered 1000 points lower. You tested how low they were willing to go by yelling 2000 lower. The Shearson broker came back, 3000 lower. You returned 4000 lower and then the Shearson broker went 5000 lower. When the market opened, the S&Ps were down about 5600 and you bought 150 contracts, only to turn around and sell them seconds later to some trader across the pit--2000 points higher than what you bought them for--pocketing something like $1.3 million. That move seemed like part bluff in a poker game and partly the indulgence of participants' fear of the downside.

Borsellino: Oh, no, definitely. I mean in '87 it was like a ghost town around here. Not only the fear of the traders, the exchange officials, everybody� It's no secret that Alan Greenspan saved Wall Street and La Salle Street. Margin calls were not being met, firms were on the brink of going bankrupt and there is no doubt in my mind that he saved Wall Street and La Salle Street at the same time back then. And you've got to understand that 5600 points, when our biggest day ever since the inception of the contract was like a 1000-point move--was huge.

Dup�e: What a windfall. Have you had any other trades like that?

Borsellino: I've had other days when I've made high six figures. I just did an article for CNBC.com that says day traders don't swing for the fences and I talk about that trade. But when I look back at my career for the last 20 years, it's all the singles and the doubles that have made me all the money, and not the home runs.

Dup�e: A lot of traders say that and if they are hitting singles, and sticking to your plan, than once in a while you get that homer.

Borsellino: Right, once in a while you get that homer. So if I can get one every two to three years, I'm real happy.

Dup�e: No doubt. It is interesting also that you found out later--who was it, the FBI, that was investigating? Anyway, you came to learn that George Soros was on the other side of that Shearson trade.

Borsellino: Actually that had nothing to do with the FBI. What happened then was the Shearson broker made a mistake and entered the order twice. And when they liquidated the error, it was like a $50 million, $60million error. Soros sued Shearson and sued all the participants in the S&P pit. It was funny when I went there. Their theory was the guy disclosed the order to me and being the biggest local at the time, that there was some kind of conspiracy. I said he didn't have to disclose the order to me, I saw him ****ting in his pants and I offered them lower and he offered them lower. I had every right to do what I did, I was a member. As long as I was willing to take everything I offered at that price, there was nothing they could do about it. Then, someone hadn't done their homework, because when I bought the 150 contracts, I tried to buy them from the Shearson broker, but the broker behind me, a Salomon broker, hit me on the 150. So you know, it was a clear understanding of how the market doesn't work.

There are a lot of people out there who don't understand how the market works...you think about it, how did the Merc end up with the S&P contract when they started the Russell, I believe, at the NY Merc at the time. And here we are in Chicago, Wall Street's there, yet we end up with the S&P contract. You know everybody was vying for it and the Chicago Mercantile ends up with it. They gave it to us and now all the portfolio managers use it to hedge their activities.

Dup�e: How did they end up with it?

Borsellino: It is the simple fact that, you know, New York does stocks and Chicago does commodities. Nobody does it better than Chicago. You've got the Board of Trade, you've got the Merc, you've got the oldest futures industries in the world.

Dup�e: When you're in the pit, do you find bluffing a useful strategy?

Borsellino: The one thing you have to be careful about, when you start bluffing and pushing the market around, you're gonna get hit. I often tell people, when you're wrong, you'll get as many as you want. Right? You've got to be careful. There are times where what I'll do when I'm long -- I'll give my orders to order fillers to fill the orders and I'll bid the market up and other locals and other people may try to bid it up in front of me. The one thing about being around as long as I have, being a large trader, being known for having a pretty good sense of the market, is that a lot of traders do like to follow me. So it's a way for me getting out, that's you know, sort of bluffing. You've got to be careful, like I said, when you're wrong, you'll get as many as you want.

Dup�e: In your book "The Day Trader," you point out that you will always trade but that you are making a transition, as the subtitle implies "From the Pit To The PC" and that you are increasing your focus on your fund, Borsellino Capital Management. I'm interested in how this transition is going and if the formidable skills you've developed in the pit are transfering to the PC.

Borsellino: Well, first of all, we're reorganizing Borsellino Capital Management. The focus switched after the book came out.

Dup�e: The book was published in mid-1999?

Borsellino: Right, May 1999 is when it came out and that's what got us to Teachtrade.com. It's the role of an educator and besides that, I got involved in a SOES room about two or three years ago. The explosion of online trading and watching people who had no idea of what to do when it comes to trading, just seeking information and then looking out there and seeing what people were charging them and what they were getting for what they were paying, made me sort of sick. So that's how I started Teachtrade.com and actually it has taken over the focus. What we're allowing people to do on Teachtrade is institutional quality research. We're not charging for it now but it will be, at retail prices. Goldman, Merrill--all of them have research centers. Over the last 19 years, we've developed trading systems, our 20 years of experience, millions of dollars in research--and we're going to let people access that. And access is by imitation, meaning they'll be able to watch us and we let them know when we're long, when we're short, and our thought process behind buying which stocks. You know, we watch the underlying stocks that support the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100. We let you know what options we make. We've met with a lot of success.

As far as the screen trading from the "Pit to the PC," the difference is you have to be more patient on the screen. You can't scalp. It's the same gut-wrenching sort of mentality and things that you go through when you have your trades on. On the floor you can go to a trade, where on the screen you've got to wait for a trade to come to you.

For example, if I want to buy S&Ps at 1500 and I got a mental stop at 1497.50, if I'm on the screen, I'll buy the 1500s and I'll put my stops in. That's the end of the story. When I'm on the floor, I might buy the 1500s, I might buy nine-halfs, I might scale down into it and add more to it. If I'm correct, I'll sell those nine-halfs and scalp in and out from the long side all the way up to my upside objective, where on the screen you can't do that. You've got to pick your entry point�you may scale into your entry point�but you've got to pick it and you've got to have your stop and then that's the end of the story.

Dup�e: In the book you say you�re one of the best when it comes to reading support and resistance, order flow and reading how the market will react to events such as the Fed's tightening today (March 21, 2000). Could you explain how you read support and resistance in the pit and--if it�s different in your screen-based trading?

Borsellino: Well, it's no different. There's no difference in reading support and resistance. What happens on the floor, though, is you're able to see it acted out. On the screen, you don't have the noise and the emotion and the drama of the other individuals acting on those resistance points. If you've ever been on the floor and a key area of resistance has been penetrated or there has been a big up move, the emotion of that move looks like a big wave when everybody is buying and everybody is selling. It's a nice feeling of euphoria if you're long and everybody's buying, and it's the feel of terror when you're long and everybody is selling. But technical support and resistance is the same on the screen as it is being in the pit.

Dup�e: Same question for order flow. Now that the Merc has made rules that require locals to stand down in the pit, reserving the outer ring for filling brokers, how do you maintain an edge for interpreting order flow?

Borsellino: That hasn't really changed the idea of seeing order flow. We're able to stand on the step below them. When Merrill Lynch is bidding on 500 contracts or 300 contracts, we're still seeing that.

Dup�e: Do you feel you can maintain this edge for interpreting order flow off the floor and how do you do that?

Borsellino: You have to understand it's two different types of trading. You remember I said I don't really care about the order flow when I'm trading on the screen. If you're just scalping in and out, you're looking at order flow. Hopefully, if you've got a big order filler whose 1500 even bid on 200 contracts, you might be 15-and-a-half bid on 50 contracts, leaning on him. That's how people take advantage of order flow. And, you know, it's the same as when you look at the Nasdaq market makers that are bidding, say, 150 for 20,000 shares and someone bids 150 1/8 for 10,000 shares. It's the same sort of premise.

Dup�e: You've mentioned that one of the things that has made you successful is your ability to read how the market will react to the next twitch or itch of the Fed. What signs do you see on the floor that will help you know what the Fed�s move might be? Were you on the floor today?

Borsellino: I was on the floor. I went down there at 1:15 p.m. when the numbers did go out.

Dup�e: Did you see anything today that gave away what the Fed's move might be, even though everybody was expecting the 1/4-point rise?

Borsellino: Well, one of the things that I've been looking at over the last couple of months is that disconnect. We've had this disconnect where the Dow and the S&Ps are lagging behind the Nasdaq. And today you had the same thing. The Dow was up, the Nasdaq was down, the S&Ps were down on the opening, and what I looked for today, after that number came out, was the consolidation. When I saw the Nasdaq, the Dow and the Spoos all going up, then I laid it in. Then I got long and stayed with them. Because once we started going, we started going. But typically when we have a Fed number, we tell people to look for the fake-out. What we were looking for was a break, rally, break and then a rally. And that's what happened. We got a little bit of a break, it rallied, then a little bit of a break and then the rally took off.

Dup�e: Why were you looking for that pattern?

Borsellino: Over the years, that's what we've seen. That's one of those things that is a gut thing that we've always seemed to notice.

Dup�e: Is this a familiar pattern that you've seen in the Spoos pit, a fake-out pattern?

Borsellino: We look for that fake out. Because in the past, I've noticed this is bullish. I'm looking and looking and I'd buy it as soon as the number came out and it would go down against me and then I'll get out and I'd get chopped up. So what I'll do is I try to stay pretty neutral for the first 10, 15 minutes and then when the rally starts we look for a good area to get in. Actually, we had 1500 as a big buy point area. And then as it got up there, I saw that Nasdaq and everything had turned around I just stayed with my longs.

Dup�e: Are there signs you can see besides price action down in the pit that will let you know what the next twitch or itch of the Fed is going to be?

Borsellino: Well, not of the Fed, but now that we can have wireless connection with my technical research people, I have a clerk who does nothing but stand right next to me with a headset on, and talk to our tech guy. And he's watching news, he's watching support and resistance areas and he's telling my clerk to "tell Lewis to watch 1505, tell him to watch 1500, if it goes through there we'll be looking for 1497." One of my techs we call the "human search engine." He has 25 monitors in front of him. And that's all he does. He's a human search engine.

Dup�e: How can you tell when a program trade comes into the market and can you key off of that to make money?

Borsellino: In the past, years ago, it was a little easier to identify, especially when I was filling orders. I'd get an order from Salomon Brothers to buy 1000 S&Ps and I'd get them done in about four ticks. And I'm like 'Wow, how does that happen?' And then I'd watch the cash start ticking down and then I knew they were buying Spoos and selling cash. There are a lot of different methodologies. There are people hedging options, there are people doing program trading. Now they're actually arbing the S&P with the e-mini and they are doing a S&P/Nasdaq spread. So the participants all have something different... everybody's looking for that Holy Grail edge. All I've ever found out is buy low and sell high. That's the key to success.

Dup�e: Or buy high, sell higher?

Borsellino: Yeah.

Dup�e: Off the floor, what specific patterns and parameters do you look for in your technical analysis to determine when to enter the market?

Borsellino: We like to do a lot of momentum buying and we're also contrarian. My philosophy over the years has always been to look for what everybody's not doing because when everybody's short and you're long and that thing turns around, you're going to be in pretty good shape. And we look for very low-risk trades, especially when we are on the screen. When we're trading from upstairs, what we look for basically are trades that have a $2 or $3 stop. And if you're risking $3, you've got to make at least 6. We look for a lot of support points and a lot of momentum. And like before, when you're talking about your losers, your losers actually identify what kind of market you're in. You know, sometimes when you're buying new highs and selling new lows, then all of a sudden the market stops, turns around, stops you out and then continues to go that way, or you buy a high and you stop, it turns around and goes the other way, it goes down to the lows, you get short, put your stop in, you get stopped out on that, that will tell you if you're in a range-bound market. So should you be fading new highs at that point? Sure, if you're in a range-bound market, now you want to start fading the highs. And if you're in a momentum market, that's when you'll buy new highs. So you have to identify those things and we're pretty good at doing that.

Dup�e: Are there specific patterns that you look for in defining momentum or is it just a break of a certain level?

Borsellino: It's doesn't just hit you in one day. Patterns take weeks and months sometimes to form. For example, why did we think 1500 to1502 was a big area today? Because last week on the run up it went up and pulled back and we've made a triple top at 1500. So we knew that once it got through and the news was there and positive and we had everything moving together, 1500 would be a good buy because there would be a lot of stops up above it. So you definitely look for chart formations that show triple tops, triple bottoms; those are the kinds of things that really jump in. Moving averages, the 60-day moving average is a big moving average for us.

Dup�e: That works well in the Spoos pit?

Borsellino: Right.



June S&Ps break through 1500 on 3/21/2000, the day the Fed raised interest rates 25-basis points and the day of the interview with Lewis Borsellino.

Dup�e: Are there specific patterns you look for to get out of the market or again, is it like you said, levels and hitting your target?

Borsellino: We definitely have objectives. We look at the objectives, but then again the old saying comes, "we never argue with profits either." One of the things I've learned over the years is when you turn your profit and you hit your price objective, take it. Sometimes the market keeps going and you could have made another $10,000 and I see people moan about that. I look at them and say you never moan about profits. Profits will never take you out of the business, losses will.

Dup�e: I've heard other world class traders like yourself who've been around say that one of the most difficult things to do is to perfect the exiting of their trade.

Borsellino: Oh definitely. And you think about it, especially with all these newbie stocks. Everybody's hoping they can catch the next Qualcomm. Who knows where that's coming from. The people who caught Qualcomm, caught it, it was lucky. The insiders knew it, the guys who spun the company and so on, but if you got on it, you got on it. You don't cry over spilled milk. If you made a profit, you just applaud yourself for having a successful plan, and that's it."

Again sorry for those question marks that somehow got into this article.

Last installment which is a continuation of this last interview next week.

 

[foredog]

In all of BSD's articles there seems to be a common theme in these guys thinking....
DISCIPLINE "If i'm wrong i'm out" etc

How often do we all find it, we enter a trade looking for it to drop like a stone, it barely breaks below our entry then starts ticking up and instead of thinking "this isn't looking good, i should get out for a tiny loss" we sit there and think "well it might go right, i'll wait" and see and it then springs up through our stop and the loss is double that of when our instinct kicks in.

Maybe sometimes it would be the wrong thing to do but, you could always re-enter if it starts to drop and it's much easier to find another trade to make £150 to put us back in the blue than a £300 trade.


(by the way i'm talking more about momentum breakout trades than 100pt stop long term trades)

 

[BSD]

Great point FD.

I honestly believe that the most profitable traders out there don't have any better methods available than anyone else.

Everybody just boils with water. (German saying lol does that work in English ?!)

We all basically have the same tools at our disposal, we see the same levels, have the same indicators if we like using those, see the same price patterns, etc.

But what truly differentiates the outperformer from the others is as you said D I S C I P L I N E !!!

NOT letting your losers run while cutting your winners short because the moment they're in profit they start burining a hole in your pocket.

No.

Having the discipline to do the opposite.

From Market Wizards:

"Billionaire hedge fund manager Bruce Kovner:

Michael Marcus taught me one other thing that is absolutely critical: You have to be willing to make mistakes regularly; there is nothing wrong with it. Michael taught me about making your best judgment, being wrong, making your next best judgment, being wrong, making your third best judgment, and then doubling your money.

Whenever I enter a position, I have a predetermined stop. That is the only way I can sleep. I know where I'm getting out before I get in. The position size on a trade is determined by the stop, and the stop is determined on a technical basis. I never think about other people who may be using the same stop, because the market shouldn't go there if I am right."

 

[swandro]

The Louis Borsellino articles are interesting, but before getting too inspired by him (if that is what you were planning to do!), it is worth doing a bit of googling. I found sources that suggested he was booted out of the pit and no longer trades and builds retirement homes instead. Maybe his fingers were too big to punch his trades into a keyboard.

He sounds like a real alpha male bully. The web page he refers to no longer exists but I found a different one where he is offering his services as a mentor. Looks like he couldn't stay away from the markets.

What I could NOT find is a home page for his Capital Management company.

 

[BSD]

This is actually intended as inspiration, but not inspiration of specific people, hero worship is sycophantic nonsense I do not believe in.

This is instead intended as inspiration through showing how simple and timeless the methods of some great and above all proven performers were, that they were all using the exact same stuff that is available to everybody else.

That is the only purpose of these articles, no more, and no less.

As far as I know Borsellino is retired now, or at least said that that was his intention some years ago after three enormously lucrative decades as a floor trader which is a tremendously challenging occupation physically !

I remember that he was one of the first people I called when starting out, I just dug out his contact details, called his office, and at some point ended up talking with him, he obviously didn't know me at all, but was still more than willing to spend several hours on the phone with me on several seperate occasions for absolutely nothing.

For his incredible, selfless generosity there and for what he taught me which is pretty much what the articles are about I will always be tremendously grateful to him.

 

[Rossini]

I dont think fab results are hard to come by on a demo account, instant fills and no Market makers dealer filling you make it look all to good to be true.

# Date/Time Operation Ref# Instrument Lot BS Open Rate Close Rate DP/WD Transfer Adjust Credit/ Debit Gross P/L Commis Rebate Interest Marg Int PayOff Balance
1 12/01/2008 13:52:46 Open Trade 20455510 10 S 1.2082 $0.00 $0.00 $52,117.42
2 12/01/2008 13:53:16 Close Trade 20455510 10 S 1.2082 1.2075 $374.64 $0.00 $0.00 $52,492.06
3 12/02/2008 04:57:39 Open Trade 20550010 10 B 1.2046 $0.00 $0.00 $52,492.06
4 12/02/2008 04:57:57 Close Trade 20550010 10 B 1.2046 1.2061 $794.55 $0.00 $0.00 $53,286.61
5 12/02/2008 05:22:31 Open Trade 20553960 10 B 1.2045 $0.00 $0.00 $53,286.61
6 12/02/2008 05:22:45 Close Trade 20553960 10 B 1.2045 1.2052 $373.31 $0.00 $0.00 $53,659.92
7 12/02/2008 05:24:55 Open Trade 20554260 10 B 1.2035 $0.00 $0.00 $53,659.92
8 12/02/2008 05:25:37 Close Trade 20554260 10 B 1.2035 1.2039 $213.28 $0.00 $0.00 $53,873.20
9 12/02/2008 07:15:48 Open Trade 20569860 10 S 1.2091 $0.00 $0.00 $53,873.20
10 12/02/2008 07:18:41 Close Trade 20569860 10 S 1.2091 1.2071 $1,066.60 $0.00 $0.00 $54,939.80
11 12/02/2008 09:36:29 Open Trade 20600960 10 S 1.2127 $0.00 $0.00 $54,939.80
12 12/02/2008 09:40:18 Close Trade 20600960 10 S 1.2127 1.212 $372.12 $0.00 $0.00 $55,311.92
13 12/02/2008 09:52:10 Open Trade 20605530 10 S 1.2129 $0.00 $0.00 $55,311.92
14 12/02/2008 09:52:16 Close Trade 20605530 10 S 1.2129 1.2122 $371.84 $0.00 $0.00 $55,683.76
15 12/02/2008 09:58:54 Open Trade 20606960 10 S 1.2129 $0.00 $0.00 $55,683.76
16 12/02/2008 10:08:12 Close Trade 20606960 10 S 1.2129 1.2128 $53.14 $0.00 $0.00 $55,736.90
17 12/02/2008 13:13:04 Open Trade 20638640 10 S 1.2699 $0.00 $0.00 $55,736.90
18 12/02/2008 13:13:05 Open Trade 20638660 10 S 1.2699 $0.00 $0.00 $55,736.90
19 12/02/2008 13:13:06 Open Trade 20638670 10 S 93.59 $0.00 $0.00 $55,736.90
20 12/02/2008 13:13:58 Close Trade 20638670 10 S 93.59 93.62 ($320.48) $0.00 $0.00 $55,416.42
21 12/02/2008 13:14:04 Close Trade 20638640 10 S 1.2699 1.2706 ($700.00) $0.00 $0.00 $54,716.42
22 12/02/2008 13:14:05 Close Trade 20638660 10 S 1.2699 1.2707 ($800.00) $0.00 $0.00 $53,916.42
23 12/02/2008 13:31:13 Open Trade 20640210 10 B 1.2077 $0.00 $0.00 $53,916.42
24 12/02/2008 13:31:37 Close Trade 20640210 10 B 1.2077 1.2083 $318.54 $0.00 $0.00 $54,234.96
25 12/02/2008 14:43:37 Open Trade 20647810 10 B 1.205 $0.00 $0.00 $54,234.96
26 12/02/2008 14:44:24 Close Trade 20647810 10 B 1.205 1.2056 $317.40 $0.00 $0.00 $54,552.36
27 12/02/2008 15:41:40 Open Trade 20652490 10 B 1.2047 $0.00 $0.00 $54,552.36
28 12/02/2008 15:41:55 Close Trade 20652490 10 B 1.2047 1.2054 $372.82 $0.00 $0.00 $54,925.18
29 12/02/2008 16:52:55 Open Trade 20656960 10 B 1.2078 $0.00 $0.00 $54,925.18
30 12/02/2008 17:00:00 Rollover 20656960 $0.00 $0.00 ($40.80) $54,884.38
31 12/02/2008 17:01:30 Close Trade 20656960 10 B 1.2078 1.208 $106.32 $0.00 $0.00 $54,990.70
32 12/02/2008 17:02:41 Open Trade 20657650 10 B 1.2076 $0.00 $0.00 $54,990.70
33 12/02/2008 17:05:38 Close Trade 20657650 10 B 1.2076 1.2085 $478.62 $0.00 $0.00 $55,469.32
34 12/02/2008 17:47:12 Open Trade 20660410 10 B 1.2086 $0.00 $0.00 $55,469.32
35 12/02/2008 17:52:29 Close Trade 20660410 10 B 1.2086 1.2092 $319.14 $0.00 $0.00 $55,788.46
36 12/02/2008 17:52:56 Open Trade 20660560 10 S 1.2092 $0.00 $0.00 $55,788.46
37 12/02/2008 17:53:35 Close Trade 20660560 10 S 1.2092 1.2079 $691.99 $0.00 $0.00 $56,480.45
38 12/02/2008 17:59:25 Open Trade 20660730 10 S 1.2093 $0.00 $0.00 $56,480.45
39 12/02/2008 18:02:09 Close Trade 20660730 10 S 1.2093 1.2071 $1,170.18 $0.00 $0.00 $57,650.63
40 12/02/2008 18:05:33 Open Trade 20661120 10 B 1.206 $0.00 $0.00 $57,650.63
41 12/02/2008 18:05:34 Open Trade 20661140 10 B 1.206 $0.00 $0.00 $57,650.63
42 12/02/2008 18:05:55 Close Trade 20661120 10 B 1.206 1.2052 ($426.00) $0.00 $0.00 $57,224.63
43 12/02/2008 18:06:12 Close Trade 20661140 10 B 1.206 1.2068 $425.68 $0.00 $0.00 $57,650.31
44 12/02/2008 18:07:16 Open Trade 20661260 10 B 1.2058 $0.00 $0.00 $57,650.31
45 12/02/2008 18:07:30 Close Trade 20661260 10 B 1.2058 1.2066 $425.36 $0.00 $0.00 $58,075.67
46 12/02/2008 18:16:02 Open Trade 20661670 10 B 1.2062 $0.00 $0.00 $58,075.67
47 12/02/2008 18:16:21 Close Trade 20661670 10 B 1.2062 1.2067 $266.10 $0.00 $0.00 $58,341.77
48 12/02/2008 18:23:07 Open Trade 20661900 10 B 1.2064 $0.00 $0.00 $58,341.77
49 12/02/2008 18:24:35 Close Trade 20661900 10 B 1.2064 1.2065 $53.21 $0.00 $0.00 $58,394.98
50 12/02/2008 18:30:05 Open Trade 20662260 10 B 1.2058 $0.00 $0.00 $58,394.98
51 12/02/2008 18:30:22 Close Trade 20662260 10 B 1.2058 1.2065 $372.68 $0.00 $0.00 $58,767.66
52 12/02/2008 18:34:25 Open Trade 20662520 10 B 1.2056 $0.00 $0.00 $58,767.66
53 12/02/2008 18:35:44 Close Trade 20662520 10 B 1.2056 1.2057 $53.25 $0.00 $0.00 $58,820.91
54 12/02/2008 18:40:45 Open Trade 20662930 10 B 1.2067 $0.00 $0.00 $58,820.91
55 12/02/2008 18:45:48 Close Trade 20662930 10 B 1.2067 1.2065 ($106.60) $0.00 $0.00 $58,714.31
56 12/02/2008 18:55:22 Open Trade 20663960 10 B 1.2061 $0.00 $0.00 $58,714.31
57 12/02/2008 18:55:29 Close Trade 20663960 10 B 1.2061 1.2072 $585.42 $0.00 $0.00 $59,299.73
58 12/02/2008 18:56:03 Open Trade 20664040 10 B 1.2036 $0.00 $0.00 $59,299.73
59 12/02/2008 18:56:13 Close Trade 20664040 10 B 1.2036 1.2052 $852.00 $0.00 $0.00 $60,151.73
60 12/02/2008 19:30:16 Open Trade 20666310 10 B 1.2056 $0.00 $0.00 $60,151.73
61 12/02/2008 19:30:21 Close Trade 20666310 10 B 1.2056 1.2062 $318.90 $0.00 $0.00 $60,470.63
62 12/02/2008 19:38:10 Open Trade 20666840 10 B 1.2053 $0.00 $0.00 $60,470.63
63 12/02/2008 19:38:15 Close Trade 20666840 10 B 1.2053 1.2064 $585.31 $0.00 $0.00 $61,055.94
64 12/02/2008 19:40:03 Open Trade 20666880 10 B 1.2048 $0.00 $0.00 $61,055.94
65 12/02/2008 19:40:34 Close Trade 20666880 10 B 1.2048 1.2057 $478.89 $0.00 $0.00 $61,534.83
66 12/02/2008 20:13:31 Open Trade 20669040 10 S 1.21 $0.00 $0.00 $61,534.83
67 12/02/2008 20:13:45 Close Trade 20669040 10 S 1.21 1.2097 $159.06 $0.00 $0.00 $61,693.89
68 12/02/2008 20:14:15 Open Trade 20669090 10 S 1.2108 $0.00 $0.00 $61,693.89
69 12/02/2008 20:15:13 Close Trade 20669090 10 S 1.2108 1.2092 $846.72 $0.00 $0.00 $62,540.61
70 12/03/2008 04:43:07 Open Trade 20717990 10 B 1.2146 $0.00 $0.00 $62,540.61
71 12/03/2008 04:48:01 Close Trade 20717990 10 B 1.2146 1.2146 $0.00 $0.00 $62,540.61
72 12/03/2008 04:50:49 Open Trade 20718670 10 S 1.2158 $0.00 $0.00 $62,540.61
73 12/03/2008 04:50:52 Open Trade 20718680 10 S 1.2146 $0.00 $0.00 $62,540.61
74 12/03/2008 04:52:11 Close Trade 20718680 10 S 1.2146 1.2154 ($421.28) $0.00 $0.00 $62,119.33
75 12/03/2008 04:52:37 Close Trade 20718670 10 S 1.2158 1.2152 $315.72 $0.00 $0.00 $62,435.05
76 12/03/2008 04:58:42 Open Trade 20719170 10 B 1.2139 $0.00 $0.00 $62,435.05
77 12/03/2008 04:59:17 Close Trade 20719170 10 B 1.2139 1.2149 $527.50 $0.00 $0.00 $62,962.55
78 12/03/2008 05:08:44 Open Trade 20720130 10 B 1.2143 $0.00 $0.00 $62,962.55
79 12/03/2008 05:11:19 Close Trade 20720130 10 B 1.2143 1.2145 $105.54 $0.00 $0.00 $63,068.09
80 12/03/2008 05:13:02 Open Trade 20720540 10 B 1.2135 $0.00 $0.00 $63,068.09
81 12/03/2008 05:15:41 Close Trade 20720540 10 B 1.2135 1.214 $263.70 $0.00 $0.00 $63,331.79
82 12/03/2008 05:47:38 Open Trade 20724480 10 B 1.2121 $0.00 $0.00 $63,331.79
83 12/03/2008 05:47:44 Close Trade 20724480 10 B 1.2121 1.2127 $317.10 $0.00 $0.00 $63,648.89
84 12/03/2008 05:48:03 Open Trade 20724550 10 B 1.2119 $0.00 $0.00 $63,648.89
85 12/03/2008 05:48:39 Close Trade 20724550 10 B 1.2119 1.2122 $158.61 $0.00 $0.00 $63,807.50
86 12/03/2008 05:49:04 Open Trade 20724650 10 B 1.2118 $0.00 $0.00 $63,807.50
87 12/03/2008 05:50:18 Close Trade 20724650 10 B 1.2118 1.2123 $264.25 $0.00 $0.00 $64,071.75
88 12/03/2008 06:31:43 Open Trade 20729810 10 B 1.2137 $0.00 $0.00 $64,071.75
89 12/03/2008 06:31:47 Open Trade 20729820 10 B 1.2152 $0.00 $0.00 $64,071.75
90 12/03/2008 06:31:56 Close Trade 20729810 10 B 1.2137 1.215 $686.27 $0.00 $0.00 $64,758.02
91 12/03/2008 06:32:02 Close Trade 20729820 10 B 1.2152 1.215 ($105.66) $0.00 $0.00 $64,652.36
92 12/03/2008 06:33:17 Open Trade 20730030 10 S 1.2151 $0.00 $0.00 $64,652.36
93 12/03/2008 06:35:51 Close Trade 20730030 10 S 1.2151 1.2144 $369.74 $0.00 $0.00 $65,022.10
94 12/03/2008 07:28:51 Open Trade 20737280 10 B 1.2129 $0.00 $0.00 $65,022.10
95 12/03/2008 07:29:02 Close Trade 20737280 10 B 1.2129 1.2129 $0.00 $0.00 $65,022.10
96 12/03/2008 07:30:26 Open Trade 20737680 10 B 1.2127 $0.00 $0.00 $65,022.10
97 12/03/2008 07:32:54 Close Trade 20737680 10 B 1.2127 1.2133 $317.52 $0.00 $0.00 $65,339.62
98 12/03/2008 07:41:15 Open Trade 20739160 10 B 1.2117 $0.00 $0.00 $65,339.62
99 12/03/2008 07:41:35 Close Trade 20739160 10 B 1.2117 1.2126 $476.55 $0.00 $0.00 $65,816.17
100 12/03/2008 07:47:44 Open Trade 20739840 10 B 1.2119 $0.00 $0.00 $65,816.17
101 12/03/2008 07:48:03 Close Trade 20739840 10 B 1.2119 1.2123 $211.28 $0.00 $0.00 $66,027.45
102 12/03/2008 08:17:36 Open Trade 20745300 10 B 1.2128 $0.00 $0.00 $66,027.45
103 12/03/2008 08:17:51 Close Trade 20745300 10 B 1.2128 1.2133 $264.10 $0.00 $0.00 $66,291.55
104 12/03/2008 08:20:07 Open Trade 20745790 10 B 1.2126 $0.00 $0.00 $66,291.55
105 12/03/2008 08:20:23 Close Trade 20745790 10 B 1.2126 1.213 $211.36 $0.00 $0.00 $66,502.91
106 12/03/2008 08:43:41 Open Trade 20750760 10 B 1.2127 $0.00 $0.00 $66,502.91
107 12/03/2008 08:44:40 Close Trade 20750760 10 B 1.2127 1.2126 ($52.89) $0.00 $0.00 $66,450.02
108 12/03/2008 08:51:09 Open Trade 20752320 10 S 1.2145 $0.00 $0.00 $66,450.02
109 12/03/2008 08:51:21 Close Trade 20752320 10 S 1.2145 1.2139 $317.34 $0.00 $0.00 $66,767.36
110 12/03/2008 08:56:54 Open Trade 20753280 10 B 1.2125 $0.00 $0.00 $66,767.36
111 12/03/2008 08:58:29 Close Trade 20753280 10 B 1.2125 1.2128 $158.67 $0.00 $0.00 $66,926.03
112 12/03/2008 08:59:50 Open Trade 20753700 10 B 1.2128 $0.00 $0.00 $66,926.03
113 12/03/2008 09:04:17 Open Trade 20754520 10 B 1.212 $0.00 $0.00 $66,926.03
114 12/03/2008 09:05:53 Close Trade 20753700 10 B 1.2128 1.2131 $158.43 $0.00 $0.00 $67,084.46
115 12/03/2008 09:05:54 Close Trade 20754520 10 B 1.212 1.2124 $211.28 $0.00 $0.00 $67,295.74
116 12/03/2008 09:07:48 Open Trade 20755130 10 S 1.2143 $0.00 $0.00 $67,295.74
117 12/03/2008 09:07:52 Close Trade 20755130 10 S 1.2143 1.2136 $369.95 $0.00 $0.00 $67,665.69
118 12/03/2008 09:14:17 Open Trade 20756030 10 S 1.2142 $0.00 $0.00 $67,665.69
119 12/03/2008 09:14:23 Close Trade 20756030 10 S 1.2142 1.2132 $528.90 $0.00 $0.00 $68,194.59
120 12/03/2008 09:21:39 Open Trade 20757140 10 B 1.2118 $0.00 $0.00 $68,194.59
121 12/03/2008 09:22:21 Close Trade 20757140 10 B 1.2118 1.212 $105.92 $0.00 $0.00 $68,300.51
122 12/03/2008 09:24:36 Open Trade 20757590 10 B 1.2118 $0.00 $0.00 $68,300.51
123 12/03/2008 09:25:01 Close Trade 20757590 10 B 1.2118 1.2122 $211.88 $0.00 $0.00 $68,512.39
124 12/03/2008 09:36:49 Open Trade 20760070 10 B 1.212 $0.00 $0.00 $68,512.39
125 12/03/2008 09:40:52 Open Trade 20760800 10 B 1.2117 $0.00 $0.00 $68,512.39
126 12/03/2008 09:43:17 Close Trade 20760800 10 B 1.2117 1.2119 $106.06 $0.00 $0.00 $68,618.45
127 12/03/2008 09:43:23 Open Trade 20761070 10 B 1.2129 $0.00 $0.00 $68,618.45
128 12/03/2008 09:46:55 Close Trade 20760070 10 B 1.212 1.212 $0.00 $0.00 $68,618.45
129 12/03/2008 09:47:29 Close Trade 20761070 10 B 1.2129 1.2131 $106.04 $0.00 $0.00 $68,724.49
130 12/03/2008 09:49:02 Open Trade 20761930 10 B 1.2114 $0.00 $0.00 $68,724.49
131 12/03/2008 09:51:31 Close Trade 20761930 10 B 1.2114 1.2116 $106.06 $0.00 $0.00 $68,830.55
132 12/03/2008 09:57:11 Open Trade 20763760 10 S 1.2138 $0.00 $0.00 $68,830.55
133 12/03/2008 09:57:25 Close Trade 20763760 10 S 1.2138 1.2137 $52.93 $0.00 $0.00 $68,883.48
134 12/03/2008 09:57:57 Open Trade 20763850 10 S 1.2142 $0.00 $0.00 $68,883.48
135 12/03/2008 09:58:50 Close Trade 20763850 10 S 1.2142 1.214 $105.82 $0.00 $0.00 $68,989.30
136 12/03/2008 10:00:11 Open Trade 20764270 10 S 1.2144 $0.00 $0.00 $68,989.30
137 12/03/2008 10:00:25 Close Trade 20764270 10 S 1.2144 1.2135 $476.28 $0.00 $0.00 $69,465.58
138 12/03/2008 10:39:20 Open Trade 20771360 10 S 1.2143 $0.00 $0.00 $69,465.58
139 12/03/2008 10:39:42 Close Trade 20771360 10 S 1.2143 1.2135 $425.04 $0.00 $0.00 $69,890.62
140 12/03/2008 10:48:04 Open Trade 20772830 10 B 1.2117 $0.00 $0.00 $69,890.62
141 12/03/2008 10:52:34 Close Trade 20772830 10 B 1.2117 1.2122 $266.40 $0.00 $0.00 $70,157.02
142 12/03/2008 10:58:04 Open Trade 20774720 10 S 1.2144 $0.00 $0.00 $70,157.02
143 12/03/2008 10:58:13 Close Trade 20774720 10 S 1.2144 1.2139 $266.45 $0.00 $0.00 $70,423.47
144 12/03/2008 11:05:59 Open Trade 20776660 10 B 1.212 $0.00 $0.00 $70,423.47
145 12/03/2008 11:07:35 Open Trade 20776800 10 B 1.2112 $0.00 $0.00 $70,423.47
146 12/03/2008 11:11:58 Close Trade 20776800 10 B 1.2112 1.2111 ($53.41) $0.00 $0.00 $70,370.06
147 12/03/2008 11:13:21 Close Trade 20776660 10 B 1.212 1.2114 ($320.52) $0.00 $0.00 $70,049.54
148 12/03/2008 11:26:33 Open Trade 20779100 10 S 1.2139 $0.00 $0.00 $70,049.54
149 12/03/2008 11:26:40 Close Trade 20779100 10 S 1.2139 1.2132 $373.59 $0.00 $0.00 $70,423.13
150 12/03/2008 11:38:39 Open Trade 20781060 10 B 1.2113 $0.00 $0.00 $70,423.13
151 12/03/2008 11:39:03 Open Trade 20781100 10 B 1.2108 $0.00 $0.00 $70,423.13
152 12/03/2008 11:39:25 Close Trade 20781100 10 B 1.2108 1.2111 $160.05 $0.00 $0.00 $70,583.18
153 12/03/2008 11:39:29 Close Trade 20781060 10 B 1.2113 1.2111 ($106.78) $0.00 $0.00 $70,476.40
154 12/03/2008 11:39:44 Open Trade 20781160 10 B 1.2107 $0.00 $0.00 $70,476.40
155 12/03/2008 11:40:58 Close Trade 20781160 10 B 1.2107 1.2114 $373.52 $0.00 $0.00 $70,849.92
156 12/03/2008 11:41:13 Open Trade 20781390 10 B 1.211 $0.00 $0.00 $70,849.92
157 12/03/2008 11:41:43 Close Trade 20781390 10 B 1.211 1.2115 $266.85 $0.00 $0.00 $71,116.77
158 12/03/2008 11:44:07 Open Trade 20781680 10 B 1.2103 $0.00 $0.00 $71,116.77
159 12/03/2008 11:44:51 Close Trade 20781680 10 B 1.2103 1.2106 $160.11 $0.00 $0.00 $71,276.88
160 12/03/2008 12:03:43 Open Trade 20783620 10 B 1.2111 $0.00 $0.00 $71,276.88
161 12/03/2008 12:04:51 Open Trade 20783910 10 B 1.2102 $0.00 $0.00 $71,276.88
162 12/03/2008 12:05:22 Close Trade 20783910 10 B 1.2102 1.2108 $319.56 $0.00 $0.00 $71,596.44
163 12/03/2008 12:05:29 Close Trade 20783620 10 B 1.2111 1.2116 $266.25 $0.00 $0.00 $71,862.69
164 12/03/2008 12:40:11 Open Trade 20787140 10 B 1.2105 $0.00 $0.00 $71,862.69
165 12/03/2008 12:40:24 Open Trade 20787170 10 B 1.2097 $0.00 $0.00 $71,862.69
166 12/03/2008 12:40:35 Close Trade 20787170 10 B 1.2097 1.2098 $53.31 $0.00 $0.00 $71,916.00
167 12/03/2008 12:40:42 Close Trade 20787140 10 B 1.2105 1.2106 $53.23 $0.00 $0.00 $71,969.23
168 12/03/2008 12:42:27 Open Trade 20787350 10 B 1.2107 $0.00 $0.00 $71,969.23
169 12/03/2008 12:46:10 Close Trade 20787350 10 B 1.2107 1.2113 $319.38 $0.00 $0.00 $72,288.61
170 12/03/2008 18:23:23 Open Trade 20811820 10 B 1.2155 $0.00 $0.00 $72,288.61
171 12/03/2008 18:38:52 Close Trade 20811820 10 B 1.2155 1.2145 ($533.90) $0.00 $0.00 $71,754.71
172 12/04/2008 06:31:46 Open Trade 20878370 10 B 1.2039 $0.00 $0.00 $71,754.71
173 12/04/2008 06:32:26 Open Trade 20878750 10 B 1.2034 $0.00 $0.00 $71,754.71
174 12/04/2008 06:32:29 Open Trade 20878760 10 B 1.2028 $0.00 $0.00 $71,754.71
175 12/04/2008 06:32:41 Close Trade 20878760 10 B 1.2028 1.2033 $268.50 $0.00 $0.00 $72,023.21
176 12/04/2008 06:32:47 Close Trade 20878750 10 B 1.2034 1.2037 $161.04 $0.00 $0.00 $72,184.25
177 12/04/2008 06:34:05 Open Trade 20878990 10 B 1.2046 $0.00 $0.00 $72,184.25
178 12/04/2008 06:34:18 Close Trade 20878370 10 B 1.2039 1.2043 $214.76 $0.00 $0.00 $72,399.01
179 12/04/2008 06:34:23 Close Trade 20878990 10 B 1.2046 1.2046 $0.00 $0.00 $72,399.01
180 12/04/2008 06:41:56 Open Trade 20880340 10 B 1.2032 $0.00 $0.00 $72,399.01
181 12/04/2008 06:48:12 Open Trade 20881210 10 B 1.2026 $0.00 $0.00 $72,399.01
182 12/04/2008 06:49:03 Close Trade 20881210 10 B 1.2026 1.2026 $0.00 $0.00 $72,399.01
183 12/04/2008 06:50:55 Close Trade 20880340 10 B 1.2032 1.2032 $0.00 $0.00 $72,399.01
Total $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $20,322.39 ($40.80) $0.00 $0.00

 

[Rossini]

I carnt replicate this on a live account simply becasue they wont fill me as quickly and I carnt go direct acess as I need a fixed spread. Im trying to get round it but I think I may be barking up the wrong tree.

 

[Rossini]

I was just saying results on a demo account do not reflect live trading (I didn't remember reading it was live as well so apologies). I was using the demo account to get familiar with the platform before I went live. I will open with a live account and will let you know!



Yes it was 4 days. Not months lol.

 

[BSD]

Not wired to think in this anglosaxon way of putting the month first ?!?!

Wasn't even that was just me being dumb period lol.

44% in 4 days is of course excellent Rossini, so very well done indeed !!!

The only thing bugging me was all this negativity about that not being replicable when prop firms all over the planet are full of people doing 20 or 30 or even 50 % / month with some regularity, albeit obviously not on a compounding basis, but still to the tune of this Paul Rotter chap from earlier in the thread who makes some 50 mill / year through scalping.

So just go out there and to a direct access firm or to a prop firm and do it mate

 

[JTrader]

I believe my trading plan is as complete a plan as is possible, in terms of keeping me involved, tracking the movements back and forth long and short. This is all based on a M5 AND M15 chart, S/R and candlestick patterns.

In theory, it is similar to maggy in principle, in this way - being involved as much as possible (except when the conditions are bad, ranges are tight/choppy and the R:R potential is not there), but not on such a short timescale as him.

I just need to do it now. Be absorbed by the chart the whole time, and switch off ALL distractions while i am trading.

I have been struggling with the concept of NOT trying to trade when conditions are bad , and NOT exiting too early from trades over the last few weeks. My plan addresses all these issues, and who knows with greater attention to the tick by tick movements, could develop into something as micro scalping like as maggis - all off a M5/15 chart. Though not with such small pip risks and targets in mind...

I just need to follow it now, remove the hesitation/fear of getting stuck in to good entry opportunities.

 

[BSD]

That all makes perfect sense and sounds like a very sound plan. I honestly don't think that the method is your problem, but then I don't actually think you have much of a problem in the first place...

I mean hey, you doubled your account ?!?

Most definitely not everybody achieves that, and these times simply are very choppy right now and hard to trade.

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/gen...0-trading-choppiest-environment-50-years.html

 

[JTrader]

That all makes perfect sense and sounds like a very sound plan. I honestly don't think that the method is your problem, but then I don't actually think you have much of a problem in the first place...

I mean hey, you doubled your account ?!?

Most definitely not everybody achieves that, and these times simply are very choppy right now and hard to trade.

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/gen...0-trading-choppiest-environment-50-years.html

The problem is me.


Some people are naturally more forceful in their decision making and actions

When at school, and theres a girl you like, were you the one who boldly approached her, told her about it and asked her out? Or, did you just go bright red, and act like a blithering half wit whenever she was around?!

If there was something you want/ed to achieve - such as karate lessons, play football, go travelling, apply for a promotion, organise a party or event etc. were/would you be the one who pro-actively - either A) did it without hesitation B) put it off until another time C) left it to someone else hoping they'd take the initiative D) decided not to bother completely, as the idea of itmade you feel too uncomfortable.


Go back further, as a toddler during potty training, were you anally retentive or not?? (had difficulty letting go)


One of my old basketball coaches, firmly believed and often said that how a player was on court, mirrored how they were in real life.
Were they aggressive or overly gentle?
were they lazy or a tireless worker?
selfish or played for their teammates?
greedy?
did they play dirty?
did they lie?
did they blame others for their own mistakes?
did they struggle to keep with the pace of it?
etc. etc.

And this is true, why wouldnt a persons behaviour during "the game" mirror their natural personality traits??? it is them taking part afterall....



I believe the same can be said of trading.

I think my naturally hesitant predisposition as a trader reflects my naturally cautious, hesitant, reserved/shy, fairly low risk taking personality. I just need to overcome that a bit, extend the boundaries, become more decisive and assertive, and perhaps trading could/should then help me as a person and vice versa.

 

[johnlvs2run]

The problem is me.

I think my naturally hesitant predisposition as a trader reflects my naturally cautious, hesitant, reserved/shy, fairly low risk taking personality. I just need to overcome that a bit, extend the boundaries, become more decisive and assertive, and perhaps trading could/should then help me as a person and vice versa.

I think you're way too hard on yourself.

You have many strengths; bringing out and focusing on your strengths can be quite beneficial.

 

[BSD]

John, very good point I believe !

J, I think a lot of what you said makes a lot of sense.

But the good thing is that I believe a lot of that can also be learned, and that you can reinvent yourself pretty much every single day, but you do have to force yourself to actually do it.

I have always believed that you can if you think you can, no matter what.

That is NOT saying that everything will be clear sailing, obviously not, there will be hard times and things that go wrong, but none of that really matters as long as you keep going, have fun and a positive attitude towards life and final outcomes whike doing what needs to be done and living in the moment.

"Go Ahead....Smile!

Those that look on the bright side end up healthier and more successful than the rest of us. But guess what? Now researchers have a cheat sheet that can help you become more positive

Attitude adjustment The quickest way to get yourself into the positive-feedback loop that keeps optimists going strong (hard work leads to success, which leads to more self-confidence and a willingness to work even harder, which leads to...) is to act like one. What's more, studies looking at the "fake it till you make it" approach show that it can have a surprisingly strong--and immediate--impact on your emotions. In research at Wake Forest University, for example, scientists asked a group of 50 students to act like extroverts for 15 minutes in a group discussion, even if they didn't feel like it. The more assertive and energetic the students acted, the happier they were.

What's best about this kind of cognitive behavioral change is that it doesn't even require much faith, Segerstrom says. "You don't have to believe an antibiotic is going to work for it to work." The same is true of reaping the benefits of adopting a positive mindset."

Gotta go out in a bit so won't be able to reply till tomorrow probably.

 

[JTrader]

I think you're way too hard on yourself.

You have many strengths; bringing out and focusing on your strengths can be quite beneficial.

True. Focus on the positives rather than the negatives.

Is the glass half full or half empty?

Maybe i am slightly pessimistic.

Maybe being pessimistic is a defense mechanism to protect against the worst possible outcome - failure, softening the blow etc. if you expect to fail, and you do fail, then its not quite as bad as if youd expected to succeed.....

Focus on the positives!!!
work on the weaknesses.

 

[Priceman]

JT, Me again. I feel like I'm stalking you as you're the only person I reply to lately!

If you are the person in the first quote below then you shouldn't be looking at 5min and 15min charts IMO. If you hesitate on a 5min chart you will miss opportunities and take bad trades. If you're cautious and low risk taking then look at the big picture of 1h/4h/daily/weekly.

You are a forex man so, an example being: EUR/GBP. Which direction is it going on the daily? So you certainly should not be selling, correct? Look how many pips you could have had today on that one for quite a small amount of risk and you wouldn't have had to even watch the screen. Look at that perfect breakout of the 8600 level. (For all of you breakout fans!)You could have posted more rubbish on here (only kidding it's not all rubbish :cheesy while watching the balance increase. There's nothing wrong with being risk averse but 5 and 15minute trading is not where you should be looking.

Now, anyone else need stalking I've got to leave this chap alone!?

The problem is me.

I think my naturally hesitant predisposition as a trader reflects my naturally cautious, hesitant, reserved/shy, fairly low risk taking personality. I just need to overcome that a bit, extend the boundaries, become more decisive and assertive, and perhaps trading could/should then help me as a person and vice versa.

I believe my trading plan is as complete a plan as is possible, in terms of keeping me involved, tracking the movements back and forth long and short. This is all based on a M5 AND M15 chart, S/R and candlestick patterns.