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Friday, February 26th, 2010

If you have 60 to 90 minutes a day, a computer, risk capital, the Internet, mental discipline and “Sniper Day Trading”, I believe you may have what it takes to attain financial and time freedom by Day Trading the E-Mini Futures.

Emini Course and Mentoring Program

In my Emini Trading Course, I show you how to utilize a “Sniper Trading” type approach using my tested method to earn at least 2 points per day from the markets. You could learn how to make consistent profits in good or bad markets. Our method focuses on high probability trading, delivering you your points for the day. Day trading for a living does not have to be hard, if you have the right method, plan, course of action and someone to explain it to you in a live market trading environment.

Price action, is driven by emotional buying and selling decisions for a variety of reasons, all of which are present in the current price at any given moment. Our job, is to find the turning points that exist in each session through precision market timing. These turning points are present every day the markets are open. Sniper Day trading will teach you to clearly spot where these turning points are, using a trading mastery type approach. These points show up like consistent “Sniper” shots on your trading screen and are clearly defined by using the custom tools I have created.

We strive to teach our students to learn price action apart from indicators or tools, but they are helpful to point out what may not be seen in the beginning. I am sure what I have in full is not being taught by anyone and is unique to me and the many years I have spent developing and now clearly defining the “Sniper Day Trading Method”. The signals generated by my method will produce the same signals to anyone who is following it, there is really no gray area, only which trades you decide to take and which you let go by.

Sniper Day Trading Method

We trade with tick data and use multiple time frames in timing our trade entries. I have three different styles I trade and bring them up as the price action dictates. One is a “Scalp Trading Method”, (T-1 Trade) that is very accurate in picking up 2,3 or 4 ticks on the S&P. My stops are such, that this approach averages a one to one risk/reward ratio, but enjoys a very high percentage “Win/Loss” ratio. This is bread and butter for me.
The second style enjoys the benefit of my “Precision Turning Points” model, (T-2 Trade) and is usually traded with multiple contracts. The first part is scaled out around 1 point, which quickly brings me to a no loose position and the second half is usually allowed to run. I have four incredible ways to get out, all of which act independently of each other, but are uncannily similar in their results.

The last, is a “Pyramid Trading Method”, that when conditions are right, you are able to keep your first risk small but scale into the trade, adding positions in the direction of the trend, but only at very low risk entry points, keeping your stops down to 1 S&P point. Each one of these methods are very clearly explained in my 80 page trading manual and followed up in the DVD training part of my course. They will also be gone over in our live trading sessions.

While only needing to pull 2 points after commission per day out of the market, (8 ticks) catching a few scalp trades or a T-2 trade, is really all you need to hit your daily goal. I believe in setting realistic goals, which increase your chances to meet them. By having a clear mind, a solid trading plan, with position sizing risk limits and rock solid money management, you come that much closer to trade your way to financial and time freedom.
Examples of two typical trading days back to back, applying the Sniper Day Trading Method. It only took about 20 minutes to get my daily goal plus on both of these days.

Mental Discipline and Trading Psychology. I have told you what I can offer to you, but this is not all you will need for success. I am convinced that my method, custom indicators and complete approach could make the aspiring trader profitable on a regular basis, but do you have what it takes? Trading psychology plays a huge roll in all traders, whether they know it or not. You have forces constantly working against you. Success is only going to become a reality to you, if you have the qualities needed to pull this off. What you are going to need is * Discipline * Patience * Ability to follow rules * Control your fears * Get a grip on personal greed. Frequently, I talk about this in my daily blog, because they are too often why traders fail to reach their goals.
I offer a lot of support in this area as well, if you are a struggling trader and want to change, I have the tools, method and know how to likely turn you around, so that you can create the consistent income, free up your time and fulfill your dreams in becoming a successful day trader.

Mental Exercises

In my program I address some of these issues in a series of “Mental Training Exercises” that I have put together. They are designed to get your mind thinking and believing that trading for a living and meeting your daily trading goal is normal, natural and the only outcome you will accept. The titles in the first series are; * Financial Freedom * Positive Risk Taking * Holding your concentration while trading * Achieving your Trading Goals. The titles in the second series are; * Overcoming Trading Obstacles * Controlling Emotions while Trading * Overcoming the Fear of Failure * Creating Hope & Success.

These I believe are very powerful and are in, “the first person” and will become personal to you. They are a form of Neuro-Linguistic programming that can take you farther and bring you closer to meeting your trading goals. They are, in written form and in audio CD and created by me. My plans are to continue to expand these in the future and make any new additions available to students who come on board, all at no extra charge. These training series are specific to traders and cover issues they face.

Solutions for traders, Sniper Day Trading

I realize that not everyone is born with all the qualities a successful trader will need, but I feel it can be learned if you want it bad enough. Ask yourself, how much do you want to become a consistent successful trader ? The answer to that is going to make all the difference in the world.

I know personally the things that hold traders back from bringing it all together and I know exactly what to do to help them change. I believe I can help the struggling trader as well as the trader who has never done this before.
I can set you on a course that is tailored to your experience level and walk you through everything needed and expected. The good part is, you won’t have to go it along. If you have any question, I can not only answer it, but help you apply it, to get the results you will need. Our daily goal is not to hard to hit, 2 points + per day. We can take a conservative approach to help you get that goal regularly.

If you are honest and know you need help and are willing to work hard and change what ever you have to, then I am sure I can help. Trading for a living is possible, but you need to do different, be different and think different from the majority of other traders. If you first commit to yourself these things, then I will commit to you, which will bring you one step closer to the success that we all strive for. Lastly, I want to assure anyone with doubts, my method, straight up works. The only question that remains is, will you move forward and decide to make it work for “YOU”.

Price Action Day Trading

“Price Action Day Trading”, is the key to your long term success. The markets do something everyday that is consistent since they began trading, over one hundred years ago. It exists in all time frames and gets played out on trading screens across the globe each day. It is important to understand and learn, “good price structure” and how it is built. That is what I teach and that is what students get when they partner with me at Sniper Day Trading. The key is learning what to do and when to do it and why. If you don’t know the answers to those questions you will eventually fall short. Many traders use indicators to help them and that is OK. I have them and use them also, but I do not base my trading decisions on the indicators. I base it on good price structure and trade setups that happen over and over, day after day. Traders and investors are very predictable, they base many of there trading decisions on emotion. Knowing slightly ahead, how they will react when certain prices are reached and breached, give us the trading edge we look for. With that said, the indicators magically line up with our trading decisions which can give us the added confidence to put our money on the line.

Below is a typical trading day where you will see the trading, “Turning Point”. I have stripped away everything from the screen except two things. There is much more, but I just want to show you that the indicators line up with our turning points. Which came first the chicken or the egg. The chicken and that is price. Price is always first and the indicators are second. That being said, the indicators can help traders see what is already on the trading screen. I hope this explanation helps clarify in the minds of seeking traders that what we have and do is real and works.

What You Get With Sniper Day Trading

  • My E-Mini Trading Manual (hard copy 80 full pages) with future updates. (very nicely done)
  • Complete DVD video training package in very nice hard cover locking case / extra: will include method applied to stock trading.
  • Method explained throughout the week, with full screen video and audio illustration in both the T-1 and T-2 screens, “Turning Points”. Very powerful part of ongoing training. (This service will be included ongoing all at no extra charge)
  • All custom chart settings to build your trading platform and help by me if needed to set it up.
  • All of my custom and modified indicators I created, that will unmistakably identify my “TURNING POINTS” for the T-1 and T-2 trades, when applied to the method.
  • Method checklist work-sheet ( for examining trades against method).
  • Laminated 8×11 “Method Overview”, to pin up over trading screen. Laminated 8×11 “Mental Exercise Overview” pin up over screen.
  • Mental Training Exercises: eight titles – audio CD and in written form. On-going future title releases no extra charge.
  • Leather bound “Trading Journal”, to help you keep your thoughts, progress, questions and answers.
  • I will personally work with each trader by screen sharing technology and voice of I.P. through SKYPE, in a live trading environment. After you go through the material, we will set appointments for our personal sessions together. We will apply live market data to the method and I will show you exactly what to do and how to do it. The manual and video’s will give you a head start, but working with me personally will undoubtedly bring it all together. I will spend as much time as needed with each trader who comes on board until he or she understands the complete trading method.

If in the future if you have questions, I will always be here to discuss them and go over your charts to help point you in the right direction. I am not just selling my trading method, but offering much more, mentoring and getting you profitable. Traders often face mental barriers that hold them back, but they do not know exactly what it is or why they consistently make the same mistakes over and over again. I can uncover the problems here, find the solutions and set you on your new course.

My goal is to get each trader that joins with Sniper Day Trading to book at least 2 points per day and gradually increasing contract size to a desired income goal. I will do my part as stated above, will you do yours?

ORDER HERE

Important Notice – Risk Disclaimer:

Futures Options trading has large potential rewards, but also large potential risk. You must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept them in order to invest in the futures and options markets. Don’t trade with money you can’t afford to lose. This is neither a solicitation nor an offer to Buy/Sell futures or options. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those discussed on this web site. The past performance of any e mini trading system or methodology is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Daytrading Involves High Risks and You Can Lose A Lot of Money.

Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain inherent limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not actually been executed, the results may have under or over-compensated for the impact, if any, certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated e mini trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those shown.

Additional Cautions

There are no guarantees or certainties in trading. Reliability of trading signals for mechanical systems are in probabilities only. Trading involves hard work, risk, discipline and the ability to follow rules and trade through any tough periods during the methods off times (and all methods or systems have off times) – If you are looking for guarantees, trading is not for you. Most people lose trading. One of the reasons is that they are not consistent and lack discipline. A method of system can help you become consistent, BUT you have to stick to the method like a formula. The ability to be disciplined and control your emotions is even more important than any technical indicators a trader may use. Worrying about the money aspect of trades (which is an emotion) can contribute to and cause a trader to make errors. It is important to trade only with true risk capital. You can find further information at: www.sec.gov

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Is Market Sentiment Forcasting Rally or Sell-Off ?

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Today is Tuesday February 23rd and the markets are seeing the selloff that I saw coming the other day.

This is the sell-off I saw coming the other day, but it got a little delayed by the Fed announcement and maybe other things. The market did not want to go down on cue and thought it would hold up a spell to get some on thinking that we were going to continue straight back up to the top.

That may happen, but things don’t usually move in a straight line, at least not at this juncture. This move down is actually a key component to establish the next move, which ever way it decides to go. This move down will be the road map as to the next move as in a game of chess. The players are just positioning their men to take down a bigger army. Who will win the battle? Then next, who will win the war? Those are questions we are not able to determine at this time, but this setup is key.

The sell-off in my estimation, has at best, a little more to go. We are establishing a pivot point that is going to determine the next move. It is possible that we just continue the sell off down and take out the previous low and then some, but something is telling me that may not exactly happen. I always say, that we need to keep an open mind and look both ways before we go into traffic, so we don’t get hit. Get it wrong and you could be road kill. Don’t have it all on the line, not ever, no matter how sure you feel you are about a move. That said, the possibility exits for this kind of scenario.

Tomorrow, we continue with the sell-off after the market get the unsuspecting to bit on a rally long. The day has the makings for a trend day short after the initial up move. To everyone’s surprise sometime before the end of the day, we get large buying interest and we close well off our lows. This sets up for a reversal day rally the next day and over the coming days we challenge the pivot high that was established today and take it out for a sprint back up to the previous highs recently set.

That would be quite a spectacle for the trading and investment community to see. The market sentiment is a bit too weak for a sustained down move from here. Don’t get me wrong, anything can happen at any time and we always need to remember that, but this to me seems like a senario that would currently take many by surprise. As of last week the professional newsletter writers were only 35 % bullish. That is a figure that in the past has sparked rallys of significance. Now with todays sell-off, they made their new poll numbers as of the close of todays sessions. With it being a large down day, we could see many on the fence jump into the bearish camp and lose heart for this bull move. That could influence the market sentiment even more. Those people send their market forecasts to the public all across the world, giving them there call for the stock market, as well as numerous instruments. The main thing is, that they are usually wrong and giving that advise to the public at large, gets them to make the wrong call as well and lose money. That is just how it works, always has, always will. The majority never get it right and that is something that can be tracked and traced, amazing.

The above scenario may or may not happen,  but I think there is a good chance it will. They may try to hold it up for an extra day before it plays out, but we will see.

Today I just took a couple of trades and have a chart of it below. The first trade was for 1 point short and the next trade was for .50 point and 1.50 points. The larger portion was on the second half and was enough to get my daily goal. It only took about 15 minutes, which is what I like. Get in, get out and be done with it. I know without a doubt I could have picked up a bunch more points today. The price action was real good. The volume was high and the market was not messing around with all that slow action or no action I should say in the afternoons as of late.

It was good to see a little life. I am sure it will pick up as soon as the right catalyst triggers it. Picking up a few points in all of that action is not really that hard. Timing is the thing. If you think about it, that is what stands in front of so many traders who are on the verge of bringing it together. TIMING. Do you have it and if you don’t, how do you get it.

Many times traders do have it, but they just dont’ know exactly how to line everything up. Many have tried and tried, but it seems to just slip through their fingers every time. Having belief is often not enough.

Every trader needs to have a written plan of action to trade the markets and do it successfully. No plan, no success. You can not leave this to chance or a feeling. You need to be able to duplicate your efforts again and again. That means you need to do the same right thing again and again. If you don’t have it written down, how will you know if you followed it?

Excellent timing is the key. When to go long or short and when to wait. Waiting is itself a “Trade”. When you are waiting that is a trade decision and is just as much important as putting one on. Getting your first trade right in the session is very important. Exercise excellent timing, relax, take a few deep breaths and get plenty of oxygen in your lungs and wait for it to come to you. When you see it, don’t wait and second guess yourself, “TAKE THE SHOT”.

Good Trading, to all !

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Controlling Greed and your Trading Emotions

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Today is Tuesday, January 12th and the momentum has slowed the last two days.

Todays Index’s were down across the board, with the NASDAQ getting the worst, followed by the S&P -10 points and the Dow, -30 points. We are very close to the extended March 6th trend line support on these index’s. If that support breaks, it will be the first clue that we may have turned the corner on the rally. But still it remains intact and all is well.

As I had thought, today we saw the first signs of life in the futures market, with volume coming in at over 2 million contracts. Just what I was saying yesterday, that 2 million contracts traded in the emini futures market is considered good volume and we hit it today. It has been a long time, probably longer than a month with this kind of volume.

As day traders, we need volume to push the market around, otherwise it becomes more difficult for traders to make money. It is always easy for them lose money and with low volume, bingo, you are there.

Most traders do not know how to trade in shallow trading ranges and end up getting beat up pretty bad. But if you know how to Scalp Trade this market, taking a little out of the middle, you can survive in any kind of trading environment. That is not easy to do for most people and there will be those that say it is foolish to try. Probably because they were not able to make it work for them. Traders are doing this all across the globe and they are taking it from those who think they can.

Some people only scalp trade and that term can mean different things for different people. To me, taking 2,3 or 4 ticks, will qualify as a scalp. Others will call taking a 2-4 point profit on the S&P emini’s, a scalp. So, the term is used widely. If I can make a profit on these small trades while keeping my losses to an equal amount 1 to 1, I am doing OK, because my percentage is pretty high. You need to have 60% or better with the better being more like 75 and up.

When I trade, I look for both kinds of trades. If the market will give me an extended move, often I position myself to capture it. At times I take half off early which gives me the extra ability to ride the move out. It’s a good way to trade.

In my trading today, I did not do as well as I had wanted, but I had a few bigger trades to cover myself. I came in late in the day and missed some big moves short. Overall I think a came a little short of my daily goal because of commission, but close. I had 10 trades 5 gains 5 losses, but had a few trades for higher point returns. As I said I was off. Lack of concentration and I did not take a break from a training session I had with a student.

My timing and concentration was off, with the first two trades as loses. They were not good entries and it cost me. I could have avoided  some of the lose by closing the trade out early as I normally would do once I start to lose the edge. To me and my method, the Trading Edge, is clearly defined and when I lose it, I need to get out, often avoiding  my full stop out of 1 S&P point. I start out with a 1 point stop on all trades, but it almost instantly goes to three ticks when I get one tick of movement in my favor usually when I am in scalp mode.

Often times I am able to catch trades for several points as I did last Friday with a 4 and 5 point gain. It does depend on the price action and what the market gives you. If the markets clamed up and its daily trading range shrunk, many traders would suffer, because they only know how to trend trade. When its choppy, they often stay out, but only after they got burned by non directional non moving market. Being able to Snipe or pick off a few trades makes life a lot easier, providing that you can do it. You end up having the ability to pull a few points a day out of the market, no matter what kind of market you have.

I will make a few comments from where I left off yesterday, about needing all three components to become successful as a trader. It does not matter what you trade, these are things everyone in this business needs.

We all need to know how to trade, by following a methodology or system of some kind. Next you need trading discipline, as it is often talked about.  The last thing is, you need to be aware of the forces that are naturally working against you. What forces are you talking about?  Well, for starters, yourself. When trading, there is something called our human nature. That nature says many things about us and our ability to become profitable. It is to often, the unseen things that holds us back from realizing our dreams.                                                                                                                         ————————————————————————————————————————————————-Let me focus on one point and see how far we go. GREED. That is a human emotion that all of us are faced with. We did not learn it, it comes very natural for most of us. I believe, we need to unlearn it or decide ahead of time, by an active decision to not allow this emotion to take root in us. If we can, it will make so many things better not only for our trading endeavors, but in every other area of our lives, good stuff.

The only way we can ever address it, is if we are first aware of it. After that, what are we going to do, to get a handle on it?  This emotion has been one of the leading causes for traders to blow up there accounts.

We need to be content with modest gains when we have them. The opposite of content is discontent and the twin brother of discontent is greed.

Unless you are content with your piece of the market, you will continue to strive for more. In trying to get more, you will lose what you have. Take control of your trading and your emotions. Trade with a purpose and a goal.

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Near Perfect, in todays trading !

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Today is Tuesday November 3rd and the Dow and S&P are holding on.

Well, thats what is going on, their just holding on, interesting little rhyme. The Dow was off 17 points but the S&P was up 2.50 points in the cash market. Looks like we had a divergence the other way today, that is good. The broader S&P market is much more important than basket of 30 stocks, the Dow, even if they are the biggest. The Dow is still in really good shape here, it is on solid support and holding. Any break of its newly established pivot low, will spell trouble.

Today I took a few nice trades and called it a day. I had 27 ticks of profit, counting both sides of the split trades and 2 ticks in loss. I found myself done in 45 minutes. The first 90 minutes of trading today, saw some really nice “Turning Points”, crystal clear as far as my method is concerned. The trades I took were also, very clear turning points for me and found it easy to pick up what I needed.

I did get overly anxious on one trade and jumped the gun. I felt I knew where prices were going to go and jumped in to soon. I did not wait for the right timing and it cost me, 2 ticks. That was my only loss and could have easily made that a 1 point gain instead. The good thing is, I did not hesitate once I saw what I did and elected to take a 2 tick loss, instead of 3 or 4.

I don’t have a whole lot more for now, I wrote a long article yesterday and need to lighten up a little today.

Below is a short video of the trades I took in todays market. I closed the last trade out “Live”

Until tomorrow,

http://www.screencast.com/t/2NHfxbPYTR8i

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Trading Discipline, Part 3

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Today is Wednesday April15th, and all is well.

I had a fairly easy day on the board today. It could have been better, but the opposite is also true. I had one loss that totally could have been avoided, but I had to get over it and move forward. If I were to beat myself up over that, it could effect future trades. Knowing that, I saw my mistake very easily and learned something from it. It’s always important to go over your trades, especially after the trading day, to see anything that you might have missed. If you make mistakes, its OK, we all do, but we need to learn from them so we can minimize the damage and not repeat it if possible.

Today’s trading I had 12 gains 4 losses and came right up to $1,000 dollars and stopped. I turned my data feed off and did other things today. I traded for about one hour from 8:45 to 9:45 am West Coast time. There was not a lot of movement and it was a bit choppy, but I was still able to squeeze out my daily goal. I was only trading 5 contracts for all orders, so I had the equivalent of capturing 4 points net after commission. I came in to today’s market with low volume, not a great deal of direction, not a lot of overall movement and still captured my points. I am pleased when ever I get good results with less than ideal conditions.

Yesterday, I went over a new idea that portrays discipline in the life of a trader. Last week I pointed out another idea and will give a short recap now.

1) Your trading environment has an effect on your trading performance, so keep it neat and organized, it makes a difference. (last week)

2) A balanced home life and priorities that are a reflection of your personal long term goals and values, a key ingredient for long term success. (yesterday)

3) Exercises that you can take to expand your general level of self-control in any area, which will spill over into greater control while trading. (today)

Point number three is what I will briefly discuss now. Maintaining control while trading is going to be one of your best friends, if you can find a way to harness it’s benefits. One of the hardest things to do is to act when you need to, not before, and not after.

If you discipline yourself in small areas of life, it will send a message to your brain that you do what you say, when you say it. If you procrastinate in putting things off and then scramble to get it done at the last minute, like finishing your Taxes on the deadline day, you may not be as in control as you would like.

The good news is, we can all get better at improving in this area. Find something small, that you know you can overcome. It may take some thought and it can be just about anything that can effect positive change. If you resolve to overcome whatever that is, and get some desired benefit, you are now exercising your mind, will power, self control and gaining greater self esteem.  There are many benefits that can spill over into your trading session. You will come to trust yourself more over time as you exercise yourself in these areas. That will give you added self control when you need to stay out of the market because your trade setups are not yet present and a whole host of other benefits as well.

Back to trading technicals. Before you put a trade on, your TIMING is going to be critical.  When you see the trade setup that will yield you an easy point, you need to have the discipline to take the trade at that moment. If you wait for confirmation, you will either overpay and risk getting stopped out, thus also hurting your chances of getting filled at your target.

This kind of discipline and confidence can only come from getting a good handle on what you are looking for, but once you know that, the thing to do is execute. If you hesitate and are not sure, when a perfect trade setup presents itself, you have a problem. You will eventually get frustrated and your next few trades may become losses, when you finally get the courage to take the trade.

You need to not let that happen, by envisioning the whole process ahead of time, you can train your mind to jump on the trade, the moment you are sure it meets all the qualifications of a legitimate trade setup. With short term trading, you need to put it on only when your timing tells you to, but do not hesitate. Whatever time you take to examine your strategy for what constitutes a trade setup, that is what you need to get familiar with. You know what it looks likes before and have seen it hundreds of times, so when you see it in live trading action, that memory recall is what you will need to draw on.

Seeing the trade set itself up and developing in a live environment is critical. As the trade develops you see what has happened so many times before when the conditions are met, you come to expect the same outcome this time and place the trade with a high level of confidence and capture the  intended outcome.

http://www.screencast.com/t/YGyzRfgT Today’s equity chart

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Interesting Trading Lesson Today

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

Today is Friday, April 3rd and I had a good day, but not without a few problems.

I started out just fine. I almost had my daily goal in just a few minutes. But then I was not patient enough to wait just a minute more for a clear signal and sure enough, I got stopped out. That trade was going to put me over the top and capture my daily goal, about 15 minutes worth.

What happened after that is, I found myself in an up-trending market and was looking for a counter trend trade setup. This was the trend starting about 8:30 am W.C. time. I doubled up on a trade short 5+5 for two positions short and got stopped out with a 4 tick stop. Why I fought that trend up, I don’t know. This goes back to what I was commenting on earlier in the week. If you get a picture or idea in your mind that the market is going to do something and it is not co-operating with you, the problem is not in the market action, but with you, or me in this case.

This is why we all need to be humble and respect the markets. Trading success can be a great thing to give you confidence in your ability to put together winning trades, but it can also be an Achilles heel. Each and every day, you really need to keep an open mind to direction. This is what can happen to a lot of traders if they think they know the next move of the market. Let the market tell you and don’t be impatient. If the whole series of moves looks a little confusing, just let a little time go by. That is what I did today, when I was up to almost daily goal and slipped back just a little in the red.

I took a break and came back a little later and started nailing it. I came right back like I have done in the past to post some real nice gains for the day. I ended up taking it to two times daily goal or around $2,500 in equity, but it took me some time. I just put on mostly small trades, 1 point, 3 ticks and so on. I was just focusing on market timing. I took my trade size down to average 5 contracts, some smaller, a few bigger, but averaged around 5. With a 5 contract average I probably picked up a net after commission 10 points of profit to get my totals.

If I am having trouble, for whatever reason, I almost always go back to my bread and butter trading. Sometimes when you are targeting 2 or 3 points in a trade and the market is not giving it to you, change and be satisfied with 1 point here and 1 point there. It adds up pretty fast, if you keep stringing them along one after another. It counts just the same as a 3 point trade. Trading is not always easy and there are many unseen factors you could be battling, but try and keep it simple. My method is simple, but not easy. And there is a difference.

I have a short video of some of the last trades I took today. It is on a clean chart and I will show you some of my timing techniques while using trendlines. I could have captured a lot more points on a lot of these trades, but that was not even in my mind for the most part. I was concentrating on market timing. If I just get that part right, I know I can pick up the profit, it all adds up the same at the end of the day.

Have a great weekend!  Vince

http://www.screencast.com/t/QfwuvFFWzMc            Today’s equity chart

http://www.screencast.com/t/e73y7VRj1                  Trendline trading lesson,  video 5 minutes

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“Keep An Open Mind”, while trading the S&P’s

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Today is Wednesday April 1st and I had another quick day of profits.

I start out today with a nice one point trade short for half of my now higher daily goal, followed up with another 1 point trade just after that, for a quick $1,000 dollar daily goal in just a few minutes. With the commission cost it put me just above $900 and I  needed one more small trade to at least get over a thousand. The next trade came to me very nicely for yet another 1 point gain, but with only 4 contracts on board to safely give me a little over $1,100 for about 20 minutes of trading.

That is what I like about trading the way that I do. I have said this before a few times, but it bears repeating. No struggle, just a few quick easy high percentage trades. When checking the stats for how long I was in the market to get my trades today, my computer told me that it was only 3 minutes of actual in the market trading time. That is an average of 1 minute per trade. That is COOL. 

When you are in the market for a long period of time, you do have higher exposure, no matter what the circumstances are. More time in the market = more risk – period. If you know what you are doing, you can minimize that risk with stop loss orders, but none the less, you have more risk.

Now, I get to do other things, that can be very rewarding to me. Time is something that you can never get back, once it is lost. You can always make more money, but if you invest yourself in things that can bring you personal dividends, you can look back at your life and have no regrets. That is the way I see it. The key to making something like this a possibility is knowing how to trade, so that you can pick up your points for the day. If you need a mentor to help you through the process, send me an email and we can discuss how I can help you put it together.

Here is a little trading tip for the day:   KEEP AN OPEN MIND WHILE TRADING

In looking back at the one thing that I thought gave me the most trouble in my trading, that would have to be keeping an open mind as to overall direction and not having a bias. This is one of the secret killers that is always lurking, looking to destroy trading accounts.

If you make a decision in your mind that the larger trend is going up or should go up, then you will not be able to see the short setups that are right in front of you. The same is true in the opposite direction. As far as the bigger time frame, leave your mind open and let the market tell you which way it wants to go. If you have a strong conviction about direction and things start to change, you will not see it. I GUARANTEE IT. 

You will become blind as to what is happening, because your subconscious mind will not let you see. You have created a mental block as to the current reality of the present price action. On the other hand, if you hold your opinion to general market direction lightly, if things change, you will have no mental blocks to overcome when you need to take a trade in the opposite direction. The market trades on a two way street and you need to see cars coming in the other direction or else you will have a HEAD ON CRASH, with the outcome producing casualties.

Example:  In a past struggle, I remember thinking that the market should go down and I was looking for a short set up. I place a trade and get stopped out. I still think the market is going down, but my timing was off, so I re-enter short and again get stopped out. Something is wrong and I need to stop and check market direction because I am fighting the trend. That is what I should do, but I still have in my mind that this market should be going down any moment now and you try and short again. What do you think happens after that? Stopped out again. If I would have taken the correct action, like I mentioned above, I need to stop and assess the larger time frame and wait to trade in the correct overall direction. 

The moral of the story, KEEP AND OPEN MIND TO OVERALL DIRECTION and don’t let this happen to you.

http://www.screencast.com/t/IORB9MjZY                  Today’s equity chart

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Posted in Trading Psychology | 1 Comment »

Best day trading I ever had

Monday, March 30th, 2009

Today is Monday March 30 and today was the best day of trading I ever had.

I had no idea that today was going to turn out the way it did. What a day. I was going to stop much earlier in the trading session, but I kept putting trades together and they kept hitting my targets. I said that I was going to stop when I had my next loss, but it never came, so I kept trading. This is one of those days that you get rewarded for doing the right things. I stayed out of trades until the trend had a high degree of follow through.

The thing about today, is that we had a very big gap day down and most of the drop occured in the night trading and premarket. I know better than to try and trade for long swings on days like this, especially in the morning. This is a day that you want to trade for short targets and be done with it.

And that is what I did on most trades early on. There were a few that I took for more, but they all added up to make for my best day trading. I was trading with bigger size after the profits started to pile up, putting on 10 and a few times 15 contracts. I had the room in my equity, so I went for it, all the while being patient, hitting the short term trends up and down, but mostly down.

Below is my equity chart and a little closer break down under that. If you are right with the direction of your trades, a 1 to 1 ratio (profit to loss) can add up very nicely. Timing is the key. Can it be learned? YES.

http://www.screencast.com/t/SpwL097Sh                  Today’s equity chart

http://www.screencast.com/t/52z5jIOWP                    Closer break down of stats

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What can SniperDayTrading do for you?

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Today is Friday March 27th and I had another smooth day trading the S&P.

I had an interesting day today, in that I did not start trading the size that I wanted to, because I did not see great price action at the time I started trading. I put my first trade on at 8:12 am West Coast time, but it was not good enough for me to put the size on, so I waited. I did make a few nice trades and had a few small losses, working my equity up to around $1,000 in a little over 30 minutes.

I decided to take a break and do some teaching with a student of mine and came back later, after the market had a chance to change up its price action with a few new reads. At around 11:56 am, I put on a trade with 5+5 contracts, for a total of 10, at the same price of 813.75, and rode that up for 5 solid points of gain. I did not scale out of the trade, but just rode it up for all that it gave me.

The trade lasted only about 6 minutes.  That trade added $2,500 dollars to the $ 1,000 that I already had, for a nice add on trade, taking me to $3,500 for the day. Once prices got over 815.50, there were other forces from higher time frame charts working to push the market higher. If you look back at your charts to that time, you may see what I am talking about.

As far as the broad market is concerned, the Index’s are still in a solid uptrend on the daily, with some overhead resistance on the Dow coming in a little over 8,000. There was very little pull back on the way up, which tells me that when the market does stop, there will be a nice reactionary move back down to the middle. In order for this uptrend to stay intact, the Dow will have to stay above 7,700 and the S&P above 813 on the cash, which is only a few points below where we currently are.

That is how I currently see it – you might view it differently. The maximum I see for the S&P is in the 840 range, before we see a pull back, but since we are very close to support right now, the 813 needs to hold on the cash market.

Below are some questions from someone interested in my method.  I have answered all of these questions before, but I will do it again for everyone’s benefit.

I watch your videos on your blog and have some questions.Do you always use a trend-line break of some sort for entries? 

Are the entries orders stop or limit orders and where are they placed?

I see reference to 5 tick stops. Doesn’t onessuccess rate have to be quite high when targeting 3-4 ticks with a 5 tick stop?

Do you offer any training beyond the blog videos?

Answer to #1 &2  ) I almost always look for some sort of trend line break to enter a trade. It may be that a pattern is developing, like a triangle or any other pattern. Upon the break or at a back fill point, you can enter the trade. I do occasionally enter on a buy stop, but that is not very often. So the limit order is what I most often use. By using limit orders, I have missed trades by not getting filled, but that does not bother me too much because I only need to wait for the next trade. If I extend myself too much by placing buy stop orders or sell stop orders to get into a trade, I sometimes need to take the trade farther to get filled, and expose myself to greater risk by getting stopped out. Most of the orders I place, I quickly move my stop up to 4 ticks, but when I do place a buy stop entry order or sell stop entry order,  that is when I find I need the extra tick, so as not to get stopped out on a back fill of the original break out. It is not the same every time and would greatly depend on current price action.

Answer to #3 )  I use 4 and 5 tick stops almost always, rarely anything more. I see where you might be concerned with such a small stop – not many people can trade with their stop being this small. There are a few keys to being successful at this business. One is good timing. I have a set number of conditions that need to be present before an order should be placed. When those conditions are present, there is usually an 80% chance that I will hit 1 point of profit. My ultimate trading goal is to hit 2-3 points profit per day, every day. You only need to make 2 or 3 of these trades to make that happen. If you see a bigger potential of a move, you can scale out of your trade at, say, 1 point for the first half and something higher, like 2 points, just like I did yesterday. If I see a much larger potential, which does not always happen, I will elect to stay with the trade and have it give me whatever is in it, as with today’s trade of 5 points. It really all just depends on price action. That is why it takes time to learn the market ins and outs. There is no quick and easy way to master all that the market can throw at you in a short period of time. It can take years. But on the other hand, for someone who is satisfied with a daily income of 2 to 3 points profit, you can simplify the process a great deal.

Yes, you will miss big moves and yes, you could have made a lot more on certain trades, but if your goal is to make MONEY, then new traders need to be realistic in what they can expect from the markets.

If I place a trade and I only get the small move of 3 ticks on that trade, I would initially have my stop no more than a 4 tick stop. If the trade moves in my favor by 2 ticks, I move my stop to 3 ticks, and then maybe to 2 ticks, until I get filled. I am riding my small stop up with the move in my direction and hitting my small target 80+ percent of the time with a 3 tick fill. If you do the math, it comes out very nicely. In just a couple of trades, you are done.

Two trades for 1 point and 1 trade for 3/4 point, trading say only 4 contracts, will almost always give you $500 dollars in less than 30 minutes. That comes to $1,000 dollars an hour. Who makes that kind of money these days? The key is that you keep your personal struggle to get your daily goal to a minimum and then come back tomorrow to do it again.

As I wrote in my blog a couple of days ago, it can be difficult for traders to be able to identify which trades are going to run and which ones are only good for 1 or 2 points. The best way to handle that is to just trade everything for 1 or 2 points max. This will give you the opportunity to keep your focus on correct timing and not over thinking and analyzing for the big 3 or 4 to one profit ratio trade.

Answer #4) I can discuss with individuals interested in personal mentoring, one on one. I will see what your trading level is and go from there. It can be that my trading method does not work for everyone because of past trading habits that they may not be able to change. It will depend on the individual and how teachable they are. For some people it might be like putting a round peg in a square hole, and my style of trading does not match their personality.

But if you come with an open mind and want to learn what it is that I know, I would bet that I can help you become profitable. I can spend personal screen time going over my method so that you understand how it works and what it is that we look for in a trade setup. If you have Trade Station, I can set your screen up with everything I use to trade. If you are using Ninja Trader, then I can also set your screen up to very closely match my settings on Trade Station. Both are excellent platforms for trading the S&P. You will have access to my trading room for 2-3 months, where you will hear and see me put my trades on. I would want you to learn and not only follow my trades so I will have you understanding why I am looking to take each trade. Very important. We all need to think for ourselves. This is what will make good traders for the long term.

I have a trader that I am currently working with, and in this last week  he is hitting over 80 percent on all of his trades, targeting for only one point. He is posting profit of about $1,000 dollars a day. He is getting it. There is still more work to do for him, but he is working hard on mastering his timing. He does better at long trades than short, but I am working with him to help him see where the correct timing is for those short trades. His concern is not looking for the monster trade of 5-10 points, but just cranking out 1 point trades with 4 contracts. What more could anyone ask for.

http://www.screencast.com/t/DgRVunye              Today’s equity chart

Have a great weekend!   Vince

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Quick Profits Today

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Today is Wednesday March 25, and I am back.

I took a couple of days off to go to a conference on Monday and Tuesday and am glad to be back. The conference was not related to trading but of a personal interest.

I did not spend much time trading today, but that was just fine, since I was able to capture more than my daily goal for the day in less than 30 minutes. I was satisfied with my posted gains of just a little over $1,000 dollars. I had 6 gains with 1 loss to capture my total, with one of the trades having multiple exits. It was a very smooth 30 minutes, with little disruption.

I am going to increase my contract size tomorrow and make fewer trades, but capture increased profit. This is where you work less for more, but need to have good timing. So I may wait for higher probability setups, which will require a little more patience on my part. If you only have a few bullets, you need to hit your mark and make it stick.

If I traded 10 contracts and hit one trade for 1 point on 5 contracts and the other half for 2 points, that would be $ 250 dollars for the first and $500 for the second half – a total trade profit of $750, less commission. Then if I come back and hit 10 contracts for 1 point, all in-all out, for $500 more, that would be only two small trades for $1,250.

That could happen in 10 to 15 minutes. Why would you need to trade for more and create a possible struggle? It is nice to be able to do so, and I have been at it for sure, piling up much more profit than that in the course of a few hours. But some of those days were a struggle to get my equity up to higher levels. When you can trade in the 20 contract area and up, it sure adds up quickly when you are on the right side of the market. At that rate you double your profit to $2,500 dollars, and still you are only trading for the two – three point range.

The idea is to slowly build up and increase your contracts when you feel that you are ready. I have been at the 5 contract level or so for awhile and have the room to increase my contract size. We shall see, if I indeed do that tomorrow. Only time will tell.  

Below is an equity chart of the day’s profit. Until tomorrow, over and out.

http://www.screencast.com/t/6CL5zodFHWi                Today’s equity chart

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