Looking for a mentor ;)

[Adamus]

re data & databases, what you are doing is more or less what I'm planning to develop for EOD data for the next couple of weeks. I was going to buy a Java app for about $200 to download the EOD data at market close, i.e. 5pm Chicago time, but I realised I had to do it myself, since I also want to facilitate keeping track of contract volumes for all markets I'm trading, which means programming half of the stuff myself anyway.

So I will download the data from my IB feed at market close, write it the data files, and run my system at market close, and then download the data from the vendors at around about 8pm Chicago time and overwrite what I got from IB - giving me cleaner data.

Looking to the future for tick data, I thought about the same thing but TickData say they only update their data once a month, so they said.

BTW what database software do you use?

 

[NetTecture]

Yeah. Right now I get the daily data from eoddata - always nice to put some things into perspective, and I will have other interests than jsut trading in this area (currency conversion naturally, as I live in another currency, but also long term thngs, like stocks).

What I do now is the eoddata daily. They started offering 5 minute for stocks, hopefully will soon add futures and minute. Maybe I can talk them into providing the tick streams. That said, I can get those for some symbols through mirus once my account is funded. Mid term, if things go right and I move the proper volume I will possibly get nxcore Not the cheapest, but right now they sound terrific. Will have to try them out. They have some really nice offers, but the pricing is.... expensive. IqFeed in between may be an option, with a raised symbol limit. Need to evalaute this

Btw., my accounts are open now, pending funding. That is the good news, the bad is that my accountant said "stop, let me look up some things first". Anyhow, I expect to be in the markets mid of next month, incidentally my "real work" interferes with that until then anyway. Crunch period in a new project until mid of next month.

I am all microsoft. Did Java 10 years ago, but then I found C# Never been happier. Naturally my database software is a SQL Server I have 6 dedicated discs so far, all velociraptors 300gb on a raid 10, but soon will possibly add some more discs Not needed for EOD, but the ticks, when the start coming in... I may need them (at least putting the logs on separate discs - right now logs and temp db are in virtualized discs on another raid 10, but that is a little overloaded at times, from the IO). Happens I just happen to be a SQL Server specialist (worked some time at MS Level 3 support for that) What do you use?

 

[Marwan2010]

mate, you don't need a mentor.

success as a trader is not about entries, it's not even about exits.
r_e

Bul*Sh*t
You can have a sh*t Entry then you a Sh*t Exit
In my view BOTH are important!
ENTRY is upmost important on my trading plan
I always ask, Is it a LOW risk ENTRY?

 

[Adamus]

Hats off to you, sir! You are a serious geek.

Mid term, if things go right and I move the proper volume I will possibly get nxcore Not the cheapest, but right now they sound terrific. Will have to try them out. They have some really nice offers, but the pricing is.... expensive. IqFeed in between may be an option, with a raised symbol limit. Need to evalaute this

I never found out how much nxcore fees are - care to tell?

I have to keep slapping myself actually to make sure I get the work done which I need to do, rather than suckering myself into thinking I'm ready to deal with anything more than EOD - but I get a kick out of self-abuse, I'm a bit of a masochist.

Just considering changing from CRB Trader to Norgate Premium Data for EOD. That in itself a day's work.

Glad you consulted an accountant. I asked my accountant before opening my IB account and he basically said, I'm going to pay a lot of tax. Hmmm. And then the govt introduced 50% higher tax rate - well I guess I'll be lucky to hit that in 2009. I'm considering the Maldives. They're very eco-friendly. They aim to go carbon-neutral in 10 years (not that it will save their islands though).

 

[NetTecture]

No I do not know. I still wait for their sales to get back to me. I think it is quire extensive, though. I will look at alternatives - IQFeed to start, followed by NxCore when I decide I need it

For the accountant - well, I do run a business. And my broker account will run through my business identity (i.e. it is opened by the business name). NATURALLY i make sure my accountant is involved.

Frankly, this will get funny. Langauge differences and a "normal" accountant trying to understand futures broker statemetns will be very funny.

 

[billyhk]

Hello folks

I am a not yet again active person on the markets that has learned futures trading after school around 18 years ago. Been inactive, pursuing a career in IT, for the last 10 years.

I now plan moving back, combining my IT knowledge and infrastructure with trading.

I do not want doing that if possible without some guidance If anyone here does day / short term trading in the US futures markets (preferably energy / oil, currencies, stock futures)... I would really love to get in touch with someone to help me for some weeks to get back into the "proper mood". I HAVE been thinking about signing up for some of the trader programs that some arcades run

My plan is manual / systematic discretionary trading, based on technical analysis. I plan to develop some automatic systems on the side.

I do have the infrastructure in place for video conferencing and application sharing. No historical data, but I will start collecting some feeds before going real.

I will start trading with Mirus Futures and use NinjaTrader as platform for some time. Not too long, though - I rather plan developing my own order management system.

What I am looking for:
* Experienced trader, calm person to help me getting into the proper mood.
* Ability to proove track record. Sorry - I know all the confidentiality reasons, but fact is that 95% of the people make no money, and I rather look for an experience mentor
* Trading by price action & support / resistance.

Some interest in system development would be nice, to share more than just "enter trade here". I have created an extensive IT knowledge in the past Would be nice if that could somehow help giving something back

Trading is probably starting mid of May, though that may delay - there are some legal setups still in the work, and I need to finish my current final contract

Anyone willing? It would really be nice

Can I post my track record in here? I afraid that t2w will not allot me to post the link because I did not post enough post, only aroud 28 post from me in this forum. Can anyone tell me?

 

[meanreversion]

It's too simplistic to say that the instant you place a trade, you will be right 50 pct of the time. Define "right"... e.g. if the stop is 1 unit and the take profit is 2 units, then if immediately following the trade the market moves 1.5 units against you before retracing and going 4 units in your favour, you are ultimately "right" but it's too late, you've been stopped.

As an extreme, if I set my stop at 1 unit and profit at 100 units, I can hardly expect to be right 50 pct of the time can I?

I agree 100 pct with the notion that you need a plan and to stick to it, but the arithmetic presented is bogus I'm afraid. The best way to look at it is expectancy (similar to Van Tharp's method). If my risk is R, what do I expect to make per trade over time. If you make 3R 30 pct of the time and -1R 70 pct of the time, then expectancy is 3x0.3-1x0.7=0.2R, which is perfectly acceptable. Then if you do 40 trades a month, you should (on average) make 40x0.2=8R..... and if you risk 1 pct a trade, 8 pct a month is a decent return.

Trading is ALL about entries and exits. Enter when your system tells you probability is in your favour (e.g. buy the dip in an uptrend), and exit according to the system as well. Incidentally, I have carried out extensive backtesting on raising stops to breakeven or using trailing stops, and have found them to be ineffective, despite it feeling like the "right" thing to do.

 

[adalc]

I suggest whoever you choose to follow, he should be a good trader first (i.e. with a track record or who won some competitions). There are plenty of so-called trading gurus that have no track record, won't show it to you or just show you winning trades or automated systems with no backtest or no commissions+slippage.