Diary of a swing spread better

The momentum now has changed from down to up. Any pullback from now on would be a chance to go long rather than short. The pattern looked like a rounded bottom to me.
 
I thought I bought Wall Street with Worldspreads but in fact I bought the FTSE. Argggggggh :devilish:

I kept wondering why the DOW has gone up quite a bit but my profit did not grow as much.
Got out for just one point after 8 point spread.

Silly me :eek:
 
The DOW is actually offering me a chance to long again now. But I'll need to see someone in half an hour so I just let it go.
 
At this moment in time, there is not a single instrument on my monitoring list that is showing a gain today, closest to gains are bonds, -2, Bean Oil at -17 and Crude at - 21. All the rest have been smashed to oblivion. Ben Bernanke sneezed today. See attached, if you don't subscribe then take this as a recommendation.

http://quotes.freerealtime.com

There should be a bargain or two about tomorrow if the markets stay the same, watch the commentary.

Chris
 
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Well, at least the DOW is heading up. A very nice break out from a downward channel. Missed it already.
 
At one point yesterday, the DOW was at a point where it gave up nearly 50 per cent of the gains made since the low of October 2005 when it was at 10098. If it determines to come down to Fib's 62% retracement line then we should start thinking of 10700, the breach of which might well see the beginning of a bear market (????).
 
I really want to go short where the DOW closed today but the stop loss will be too wide.

I'll think about fixing it at a level that I am comfortable with rather than the high of one of recent days. I know I am chasing it a bit here.
 
hungvir said:
I really want to go short where the DOW closed today but the stop loss will be too wide.

I'll think about fixing it at a level that I am comfortable with rather than the high of one of recent days. I know I am chasing it a bit here.
Click to expand...

Hung. With all due respect you seem to have recently developed an emotional slant to your trading observations.

A few days off and/or reading Mark Douglas and/or revising your trading plan and putting it in writing may save some pain later.

Hang in there Hung!
 
hungvir said:
I really want to go short where the DOW closed today but the stop loss will be too wide.

I'll think about fixing it at a level that I am comfortable with rather than the high of one of recent days. I know I am chasing it a bit here.
Click to expand...

i got stopped out today at 10950, but the close above 11000 shows strong support at this lvl and is a bullish sign, i woudn't recommend a short here hung

Also rols is right this trade your proposing doesnt seem to fit in with any of your plans, You also said that you were gonna post your reasons for trades on here before placing,

Not trying to beat you up hung just wanna support you, trading the wrong instrument also points in the direction of rushed trades or something else on your mind at the time of trading,

Again i hope you dont take this the wrong way .

By the way i'm in long again at 11011 sl 10911

Good Trading
 
Hi Rols,

Please tell me how you remove your emotion from trading and its observation :)

I agree I am not in the best position to trade though. I just can't give the market the necessary attention but If I stop following it I may end up staing away altogether.

Thanks for your advice!

Hung
 
Elefteros said:
i got stopped out today at 10950, but the close above 11000 shows strong support at this lvl and is a bullish sign, i woudn't recommend a short here hung

Also rols is right this trade your proposing doesnt seem to fit in with any of your plans, You also said that you were gonna post your reasons for trades on here before placing,

Not trying to beat you up hung just wanna support you, trading the wrong instrument also points in the direction of rushed trades or something else on your mind at the time of trading,

Again i hope you dont take this the wrong way .

By the way i'm in long again at 11011 sl 10911

Good Trading
Click to expand...

Good luck with your trade, Elefteros.

I do need people like you and rols to help me to trade the right things and trade things right.

May be I'll have a break and have some kit kat :)

Cheers,

Hung
 
Well if it's any consolation, I went long on the Dow today at the open. I went long because that is what my Trading Plan told me to do, and I am trying to trust my trading plan and to trade it.

I went long! :rolleyes: :( :eek: :devilish:

But I did manage to take 11 points! :cheesy: :LOL: :eek:

Then I got scared and got out.

It's probably one of the only occasions that I'm grateful I chickened out of a trade. I was in the trade for less than 2 minutes, so I suppose you could call it a scalp.

Scalping 1 Trading Plan 0

The phrase 'Pear Shaped' springs to mind!
 
hungvir said:
Hi Rols,

Please tell me how you remove your emotion from trading and its observation :)

I agree I am not in the best position to trade though. I just can't give the market the necessary attention but If I stop following it I may end up staing away altogether.

Thanks for your advice!
Hung
Click to expand...

Hung. If you are trading with money you need or cannot afford to lose then STOP NOW until things change. This is an absolute necessity.

Firstly consider the post below. Trading is hard enough with a non SB broker. Trading with SB really is akin to negotiating s**t creek without a canoe.

IMO trading the DOW with SB is like going up s**t creek without a canoe and being blindfolded with your hands tied behind your back!

frugi said:
Despite price and execution delays, requotes, tight stops not being permitted, trading their market not the underlying, suffering wider spread than the underlying, possible tax issues if only source of income, trading against them not other traders, not knowing immediately if a stop has been executed or not, pitifully inflexible order types, poor platforms, being put on manual or even turned away if consistently profitable?

A panoply of negative edges there for the (day) trader to surmount.

A support level on the underlying holds while the SB chart dips through it. Which chart are you watching, theirs or the market's? How does this affect what may be a crucial decision? What price will you get if you go long or short at this point? SB can be frustratingly indirect. A few ticks here and there matter.

A futures account can be opened for £2500, sometimes less. Futures can be used to trade indices, major forex pairs and commodities to name but three. The only barrier to entry here is the minimum position size, e.g $5 per point miniDow; $6.25 per point cable; S&P $50 per full point.

Granted, a stock day trader needs $25k minimum but can swing trade with much less as long as PDT rule is not broken. A stock trader does not suffer from minimum position size constraints as she can trade 1 share if so desired.

Besides, anyone who wishes to trade for a living would be unwise to do so with less than $25k imho, especially if they are relatively new.

Futures offer equivalent leverage.
Stock traders usually enjoy at least 4:1 leverage.

Indeed, SB may be the only way of trading small accounts of < say £2000.
SB may be the only way of trading positions below a certain size.
SB can be useful for trading longer term positions, when the execution etc. issues become insignificant.
SB have tax advantages in some, but not all, circumstances.
SB offer guaranteed stops (for a premium) for the nervous.

If none of the quintet above apply and/or you intend to daytrade for a living I would strongly advise against using SB.

Yes all of this has been repeated with mindnumbing tedium and I apologise for adding nothing to the argument by doing so yet again. But it struck me that a lot of people seem somehow scared of what they perceive to be "proper" trading accounts when there is no need to be. If anything it is the SB account that should elicit the greater degree of - if not terror - caution.

Moving from SB to direct access is one of the most delightful transitions a trader serious about his craft can make.

franleychan :)
Click to expand...

Secondly

Dealing with emotions. Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas is worth a look and playing for points/pips not £££££'s!
 
rols said:
Hung. If you are trading with money you need or cannot afford to lose then STOP NOW until things change. This is an absolute necessity.

Firstly consider the post below. Trading is hard enough with a non SB broker. Trading with SB really is akin to negotiating s**t creek without a canoe.

IMO trading the DOW with SB is like going up s**t creek without a canoe and being blindfolded with your hands tied behind your back!



Secondly

Dealing with emotions. Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas is worth a look and playing for points/pips not £££££'s!
Click to expand...


Many thanks, Rols! I like your style :!:

The sad fact is that it always takes money to make money. But I already set a limit on how much money I can risk on SB and I won't change that.

I'll look the book up.

Good trading,

Hung
 
JillyB said:
Well if it's any consolation, I went long on the Dow today at the open. I went long because that is what my Trading Plan told me to do, and I am trying to trust my trading plan and to trade it.

I went long! :rolleyes: :( :eek: :devilish:

But I did manage to take 11 points! :cheesy: :LOL: :eek:

Then I got scared and got out.

It's probably one of the only occasions that I'm grateful I chickened out of a trade. I was in the trade for less than 2 minutes, so I suppose you could call it a scalp.

Scalping 1 Trading Plan 0

The phrase 'Pear Shaped' springs to mind!
Click to expand...

Jilly,

We've got something in common - number 1 :) You got 11 points out of the DOW, I got 1 point out of the FTSE that for some strange reason I thought was the DOW when I pressed the buy button :) Well, all I looked at was 'daily cash' :cheesy:

Cheers,

H
 
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