User
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Yes enough to scalp moves out of but not enough to give a distinctive 'long' term trend.
From 2000-01 we remained in a 2000-1000 point range and yes it was more then enough to make money from but it was a real bull/bear fight in which direction was simply undecided. We ended up at around 10700 and the high for the year was around 11700 and the low was around 9700. Very choppy year!
senyorqueso
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Thanks Racer.
Are the quotes live on the ig/cantor sites? (on the home page I mean)
I have a finspreads account, and want to paper trade to see if it looks possible to profit from day trades with their 4 pt spread. Does anyone think this is possible, or am I wasting my time?
Only trouble is, I can't access their site from work due to slow internet connections and all the java stuff not working, so I can't get their quotes during the day.
Are the quotes live on the ig/cantor sites? (on the home page I mean)
I have a finspreads account, and want to paper trade to see if it looks possible to profit from day trades with their 4 pt spread. Does anyone think this is possible, or am I wasting my time?
Only trouble is, I can't access their site from work due to slow internet connections and all the java stuff not working, so I can't get their quotes during the day.
User
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No give it a shot you should be ok. Alot of people make money from daytrading. Personally I prefer trading longer term but increased volatility is always be good for daytrading. They are live on the IG homepage although they might be 4-5 points out. (Sometimes)
You most probably will get the same java problem with them though! Open a virtual account with tradindex and you could trade virtual money and test your paper trades. Although I must say it is a good way to test your ability if you are hesitant to go live but it is just not the same until you have money on the market and I think most people on this thread would agree...
roguetrader
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senyorqueso said:
I'd imagine daytrading a 4 point spread would be very tricky, also trying to daytrade when you are at work and can't get quotes adds to that. Daytrading is a competitive activity loaded with obsticles, you would be best not adding any of your own imho
FetteredChinos
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senyorqueso said:
no, dont do it..
that'll be £2,000 please.
seriously, trading intraday and trying to take 10 points consistenly out of the market is hard enough. no imagine losing 40% of that in spreads.
not easy in the slightest..
try to go for more postional trades. look to hold for a couple of days at least.
its not "sexy" , nor does it have the "cool" image of screaming "buy buy buy" into an enormous mobile phone. but it is less stressful, and ultimately more rewarding.
good luck though, and i wish you well.
fc
senyorqueso
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Thanks user.
The attractions to day trading for me are that the risk per trade should be less than for longer term trades due to being able to place tighter stops, and the fact the the mood of the market can change randomly from one day to the next, so why not go with the flow on any particular day and not carry any risk overnight?
I hope to prove this profitable with paper trades, then start trading with small enough amounts to avoid me getting too emotionally disturbed at the prospect of the trade not working out. 1 or 2 percent maximum.
The tradindex virtual thing sounds useful though - I'll look into it.
When you say the ig prices might be 5 points out, do you mean 5 points off the real futures price? As long as they match the real spreadbet price that should be ok, as that's what I'll end up trading if all goes well.
The attractions to day trading for me are that the risk per trade should be less than for longer term trades due to being able to place tighter stops, and the fact the the mood of the market can change randomly from one day to the next, so why not go with the flow on any particular day and not carry any risk overnight?
I hope to prove this profitable with paper trades, then start trading with small enough amounts to avoid me getting too emotionally disturbed at the prospect of the trade not working out. 1 or 2 percent maximum.
The tradindex virtual thing sounds useful though - I'll look into it.
When you say the ig prices might be 5 points out, do you mean 5 points off the real futures price? As long as they match the real spreadbet price that should be ok, as that's what I'll end up trading if all goes well.
Racer
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Usually find the home page more or less the same.
As for daytrading, no I wouldn't do it.. lately I have been trading rather a lot for me.. I swing trade and much better if spreadbetting.
I posted a file about spreadbet quotes to show how difficult it is to daytrade with spreadbetting
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/showthread.php?t=10827
If you are daytrading do futures not spreadbet
User
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Sometimes I find the homepage is delayed to the real price hence being a few points out. Its not fast enough in responding.
senyorqueso it can be difficult to day trade as others have rightly suggested that spread can be an issue. I sometimes trade intraday with deal4free and don't find myself complaining about the spread.
I mostly trade long term and find the chart set-ups to be more valid.
roguetrader
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senyorqueso said:
Sorry to seem negative senyorqueso, you are quite right that daytrading will afford you tighter stops but this will also mean you are stopped out more often, the mood of the market also changes intraday. I would think very carefully on the advice offered by Racer and FC, maybe talk to them some more about it. I am a daytrader though I use a broker not a spreadbetter, and I doubt if I could do what you propose profitably, now that might be because I am not good enough, but I am inclined to think that no matter how much better I was I would not be able to succeed at that.
FC, dunno what is glamorous about daytrading, it's a meat grind, or maybe I am doing it wrong
FetteredChinos
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roguetrader said:FC, dunno what is glamorous about daytrading, it's a meat grind, or maybe I am doing it wrong
thats my point.. when you do it right, its dull as hell waiting for entries.. this is why we have the salvation (salivation) of the bulletin boards to alleviate the tedious tedium.
however, from my perspective, i partly got into trading having seen those cracking 80s films which glamourised life on Wall St etc..
i suspect i am not alone in this respect.
oh yes, and it had nothing to do with attempting to pull the birds lol. :cheesy:
though i do have to say, Racer is looking particularly fetching today
FC
FetteredChinos
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ps..
Nige/Flyer, did you get in at 10,092 yesterday?
Nige/Flyer, did you get in at 10,092 yesterday?
roguetrader
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Roflmao
FetteredChinos
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whats so funny? dont you like your men in superhero costumes lol
roguetrader
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FetteredChinos said:
Very true, out of about 7 1/2 hrs in front of the screens I am probably not in the market more than about 1-2 hours total in any one day,
senyorqueso said:
senyorqueso - if I could add my two bits to the discussion.
............................................................................................................................................................................
I concur with most of the sentiments expressed by the others here like Racer, FC and User who are far more experienced than I am. However I do think that it is possible to combine two strategies - swing and day trading - when you are working a volatile index like the Dow.
I am primarily a swing trader (holding a position for two or more days to try and maximize a trend and using a trailing stop loss to lock in profit). However when I have the time and can devote myself to a complete session I also do some complimentary day trading.
Take yesterday for example. I already had a swing short, which I opened on Tuesday at 10254. I added a second swing short on Wednesday at 10200. I watched the market yesterday and after the Dow had spent 3 hours trying to breach resistance at 10150 I entered another short at 10142 with a tight stop loss. My timing proved right (it could have been wrong & has been in the past) and the market went down. At the futures close at 9.45pm it was at 10020. My big mistake was not closing out there and taking 121 pts profit. I let it ride overnight and closed it this morning at 10094 for 48 pts. This was lack of discipline on my part and allowing temptation to sway me in leaving it open when all the indications suggested an upswing the next day.
If you're going to day trade then have a very clear target objective and get out as soon as you achieve it or move your TLS to that target exit if you think that it can run further. You will also need to use a tight stop loss and watch the screen like a hawk for your entry and exit. You CANNOT do this from work where you can't watch the screen and are distracted by other demands on your time and attention. You can swing trade and only check your positions once a day but there is no way that you can day trade successfully without full time concentration and attention. Day trading is tough enough in any circumstances and you have to be fully focused to have any chance of making it work for you. Your entries and exits can sometimes be very opportunistic and you have to try and be in tune with the price action on that day to maximise the potential opportunities.
I'm sure others might disagree with me but thats just my 10 cents on the subject.
macbonzo
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Racer said:I am long term bearish and will not open long positions, I will just wait to short higher up
Something has been bothering me for the last couple of weeks. I don't know if any of you guys have given any thought to it, but, what is likely to happen to the Dow, if GM's debt is downgraded to junk status. This is more than likely to happen intraday. My own feeling is that it could knock 50 point off, pretty well instanteously.
Anyone got any guesses as to what could happen?
