I will first post my trades for the day in the S&P emini futures (July 6th, 2011 ) and get into a lesson we can all benefit from below.
Mental struggles facing traders has been going on since day one. Keeping our minds sharp and objective is key. Not seeing what we want from the markets, but only the reality of what is happening before us. Your mind needs to be sharp and alert to accomplish that. Always keeping your emotions in check is essential. Greed will wreck your day, if you let it. Revenge trading is just as bad. Most traders who have been at this, know exactly what I mean.
Seeing your trading as you wish it be is a start. You need to get a vision of the perfect day in your mind and allow yourself to exercise it to make it become reality. If you have fear on your mind of not wanting to make a mistake, you are going to knot yourself up to the point you will loose the edge. Our mindset is key to our success and those who are willing to challenge themselves to change and get in sync with the market are the ones who overcome.The mental struggles facing traders are real and overcoming them is where real victory is found.
Rehearsing your trades over and over again in your mind is a good exercise. See yourself entering at your low risk entry point, what ever that is for you, and take what your method is calling for. I prefer many times short term trades, as there are many of those in each session to choose from. If you miss one, another is coming. If you want the home-run trades, be willing to wait and sit through a lot of market data for that to come together, as they come much less frequently.
As traders we are drawn to the markets for what it can offer, financial freedom, but what about time freedom. That to is often mentioned but those that site that as a major benefit, usually don’t take advantage of it as they are on there journey. Time is something you never get back and for me is a high ranking value that I cherish. With it, I can do the things that have and bring true meaning to my life. Things that can make a difference in the lives of others and so on. That only happens when you have a clear vision of what you see and want your life and trading career to be. That is why I prefer short term trading as I mentioned, because it allows me to spend a limited amount of time in front of the screen and get my bread so to speak for the day. This is done by design and it can happen for you as well.
Again, see the perfect trading day. You wait for your method setup to come together, you enter, you wait and you exit as the market dictates. If enough profit is reached, you walk away. If the trade is modest, you wait and wait, enter, wait- then exit. At that point, you can be done for the session and enjoy the time freedom you dreamed of when trading for living was given birth.
To sit and try and trade all day, everyday, you will become tired and make mistakes. Your patients will slow and you will see things that are not there to try and line up with what you want. Trading for a living is not about being right all day long. You only need be right for a trade, two or three and that’s it. If you are trading for income, then you need to trade like you are trading for income, not to feed your ego. There are other things you can do to satisfy that if you feel the need, but over-trading should not be one of them.
If you don’t know, I am speaking to myself just as much as speaking to those who follow me. That is one of the benefits I receive while writing my blogs. To help hold myself accountable is a very good thing. Which reminds me, all traders should have a trading journal to help hold themselves accountable for there trades. If you go outside your method, you will have to account for why you did that. If you don’t like the pain of having to write about that, then wait and only take the trades you understand.
Don’t be afraid of missing a trade. Notice I said, afraid. That word has its roots in the word, “Fear”. Fear can make you do some crazy things. Fear of loss is just as powerful as the desire for more, greed. Don’t be afraid of waiting, as many times the trade will come together a little better, but when its time to pull the trigger, just do it.
Another fear can creep in, fear of loosing and that will hold you back from entering at all. By the time you get the courage to enter the market after having missed many trades already, you will be setting yourself up for a loss and that is no way to trade.
Hope all of this helped someone out there. Trading for living is very possible, but you need the right mind set to allow yourself to bring it about. It all starts with a vision, do you have yours?
Stock Markets around the world took a dive as everyone looks onto Japan and the situation there. The Nikkei, ended their Tuesday session down about 11% as Wall Street gaped down and moved lower in sympathy as we see the market coming off there highs looking for value.
We are likely to see increased volatility going forward with good moves on both sides. The Dow and S&P did make a big come back from the lows of the session which was almost -300 at its worst on the Dow and -35 points on the S&P to -138 and -15 respectively.
The Fed came out with a policy notice of leaving rates unchanged and stated that inflation was not a problem at this time. That gave the market added fuel to a already juiced market, as the energy was released back to the upside after the announcement.
In my trading today, I took 4 trades with modest gains on all of them, and would have to give myself a solid grade of (A) in trade execution. A loss does not really effect my own grading much, but a trade that goes outside my trading method definitely does. This grading that I have been doing for myself has been helpful in that I need to be accountable to myself and this is a way for me to do it and write about it. If I want a good grade, like in school, I need to do the right things at the right time and will then get rewarded. Today’s trades below.
The market was very active early on and felt I needed to lighten up on contract size a touch to allow for a greater stop if I needed it. I didn’t seem to really need it, but the market was moving very fast on the open and the huge gap lower really threw things off from a normal open. That is the largest gap down I can remember seeing in a long time.
I hope and pray they get it together in Japan, because it will have an effect on earnings and the future outlook for the economy here and abroad.
From a humanitarian stand point, it is almost unreal that Japan could get hit with a 9.1 earthquake, the largest in recorded history for that part of the world, then a Tidal Wave wiping out everything in its path, then the reactor/radiation release and today I heard that Tokyo had a 6.4 earthquake and a Volcano had erupted to boot. WOW, that is an enormous amount of tragedy for one week which is not even over yet. We need to pray for relief for the people of Japan and hope that there will be better news coming in the days ahead.
Some of us have Tidal Waves in our lives and need to address those. It could be your trading results that has you down. If you want better for yourself, it first starts with the belief that things can change. If you want things to change, you can make them change. It may take you a month, year or even more, but I truly believe if you want it bad enough and are willing to push yourself farther than you have before, change is inevitable.
Much of a traders results lies in what he or she feels about themselves and their outlook on the ability to get it done. What I mean is, many traders could do better if they would look within themselves for the answers they seek on the screen. If you change your thinking and thus your mind, your results will follow the dominant beliefs that you hold within you. That might sound like a bunch of goop to some, but it may not make sense to you and you may reject that line of thinking as that may be exactly where you find yourself and not wanting to admit it.
We too often, will blame the market for our troubles and any other situation that may be convenient, that keeps us from meeting our trading goals. It is not the market, it is “us”. I have to include myself in that too, as I have made all the mistakes any trader could make and then some. I speak from experience as I have written the last few years here in my blog. I know what goes through our minds, how we react to market frustrations and what it feels like to loose control of your trading. Been their, done that.
The thing is, traders start live trading far to soon before they are ready too. We all like to think that large draw downs won’t happen to us, but we are only kidding ourselves. To become a doctor, people sacrifice many years of their life and a very high dollar figure on top of that. How many doctors are there in relation to those in the service sector.
It takes a lot of sacrifice and dedication to make it as a trader. If everyone in the medical profession, (doctors) gave up when it was hard or when working their internship, staring at 18-20 hour shifts, how many doctors would we have today. Little to none, as they would have just given up. Before they practice medicine on real people, they put in years of education and sacrifice to have the opportunity and experience the rewards.
The thing is, there is no one watching you or grading your progress and you may decide to graduate yourself before you are really ready. If you have a very large pool of capital and you start with the smallest account size to get the feel for real live trading, then you may be OK as you learn while you are loosing small amounts of money, but that is not always the way it is for those seeking the rewards of trading for a living.
Another big problem is, traders start out without the right training and think they can do it on their own, only to find out they can’t. At that point it is often to late and trading capital has diminished and with it the opportunity to reach their goals.
I will really try and pick this up in my next post, stay tuned………………….
Friday’s market we saw a continuation move back up from last weeks sell off. The moves on Friday were consistent with its previous price movements as the S&P and Dow came back up off Thursdays low. The Dow Jones Index is under-performing the S&P 500 Index which could be saying a few things. If the Dow were to come back up to its normal retracement level, we would be looking at another 90 points or so on that index. If that does happen, the S&P is very likely to follow, since it is already outperforming. That could bring in another nice move for the S&P futures for those looking for a nice measured move.
Fridays rally was expected, as the premarket gave us a clue that the move was on. Looking for long trades would have been a good strategy for at least the early part of the day. The afternoon session looked like it just died at the top of the range. Maybe the market was saying, “I need more data to go further and or more info to sell off”, so it did nothing.
That’s just a guess on that, but it sure did slow for the last 2.5 hours. It was a good thing I was done early, as I really don’t like trading in a slow market. I have been trying to start earlier over the last few weeks and it has made it easier for me to get a few points quickly and move on.
I have been grading my performance lately with a grade, just like back in the day at school, which was a long time ago, 30 years ago for the last grade I received. So, I thought it would be a good idea to grade myself as I am my own trading coach. Writing in my blog is a way for me to post my results, give market commentary, and give trading lessons which are often related to the mental side of trading.
Once a trader know the mechanic’s of what to do on the screen, he just needs to wait for those conditions to be met and execute as ordered, but the mental side of trading holds so many traders back from reach there full potential.
We can mess up a trade faster than a blink of an eye, by listening to voices that we have no business listening to. The voice in your head that says, “hey, you are going to miss this big move, you better get it now before its to late”, or “I better wait, just to make sure it is really going to go up”, or a hundred other scenario’s that could be heard.
Here’s a few more; “I need to get those losses back, I can’t stand losing two in a row”, or how about this one, “I know this is going to go higher, I just need to wait it out”.
Like I mentioned, we have a hundred of them just for starters. These are the voices you need to control. If you are not grounded in a solid trading model, you will get tossed around like cannon fodder.
So how do we get the right messages into our heads while we are trading. Its just like anything else, practice and focus with purpose, on those things that will keep you on the straight and narrow. If you just leave the mental side of trading up for chance, I can assure you, you will not like your results. Address the mental side of trading and see your trading results improve.
This again is the unseen dangers we all face, but most traders are not even aware of it until it starts biting you. When you feel the pain, you would think we would change, but almost every trader has to go through some form of this to learn. The pain all to often only makes the matter all the worst as you start to feel the uptick in your emotions and it all just gets magnified for the worst. These are where blow out days are given birth.
We all know about blow out days, although we never like to talk about it. It is in talking about it that you can get and or feel a release from its secretive dangers. It is in uncovering our weaknesses that we are able to find our strengths and from that position we can start to build our empire. This is facing your biggest trading fears and knowing that you will meet it, deal with it and overcome it. It’s not by brute force or will power either. There are many who have tried this and only find themselves further down the road they don’t want to be.
This is the road where many begin to give up. It does not have to been that way. Face your trading fears, and take action. There are things you can do to slow it all down and regroup, but it takes insight and often times support. There is no shame in needing and asking for support when you are dealing with something as grand as “trading for a living” in the futures market.
We are not born knowing how to trade and left to our own instincts, we will invariably do the wrong thing at the wrong time. That is why the professionals prey off of the public the way that they do. For the profession trader, we can become there breakfast if we let them. For to many, it is breakfast, lunch and dinner and that has to stop. So where or what to d0?
If you have three loosing days in a row, stop trading for at least a week with live data. Go to Sim trading and build back your confidence. When you have 5 days of profits in a row, you are allowed to start trading live again.
Set a daily loss limit, for me, it is 4 S&P of the normal contract size I trade. Some may make that three points, but that depends on your ability to keep your draw downs and losses small. My average trading loss is 4 ticks or less in the S&P Emini, with an occasional 5-6 ticks. Find a way to get better entries and you won’t be taking big draw downs.
If you have no profit, or are just flat for two weeks, go back to the Sim account and trade there until you can get 5 days in a row of gains. If that is too stiff, you can elect to make it 4 out of 5 winning days. But this is important. You protect your account until you are performing, no performance, no live trading. If you want to get back in the game, get the ball of consistency and confidence up in your method before risking your capital. Your trading capital is your life blood, loose it and you die.
Set for your self a daily profit range to where you will stop. For me, with the current trading environment it is 2-4 points with many days being about 3 right now. Reach that point and stop. Go to Sim trading if you need screen time or close it up and go do something else.
On days when the market rhythm is really moving, and the swings are happening, ride out some of those trades for more gains. You will have about 2-3 days per month when you can take advantage of the trading environment and rack up 6-10 points for the session but don’t look for those days, they will just be there for the taking. The market will let you know when those days are. These days will make up for days you took daily stop outs and you could still be averaging your daily trading goal at the end of the month.
These are specific steps traders can do to take control of their trading, but you need mental focus, clarity, determination and the right mindset and attitude to go along with all of this.
Trading for a living can be simple but it is never easy. If you need help, email me with questions. You don’t have to be a member for me to help a bit where I can. I like to see traders break the barriers that hold them back and overcome, which is often coming from ourselves.
A long post today, but for those who read this far, you are ones who could have the focus and drive to make your day trading dreams a reality. The very best to you all, Vince. Fridays trades below.
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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?
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
Today is Tuesday February 2nd and the market showed some nice upside follow through from yesterdays rally.
The market did react like I thought it would today, which is always nice to see. I hold any opinions about direction very lightly. The market can always do something different, so I can not make my trading plans around what I think will happen in the future. If I do, I run the risk of trying to force my will on the market and that is never a good idea. For fun, I will put up yesterdays comment.
Yesterdays Blog comments: I do see some pretty strong over-head resistance just a couple of points higher from todays close. We very well may see a slight rise on the open, followed by a pull back down inside the range one more time, before we make another attempt to break out of the downtrend. We will see what tomorrow brings, it should be good. I think the price action is going to get better, with good swings in both directions.
The cash market closed yesterday at 1089.30 and we pushed ahead a couple of points to 1092 and then fell back inside the resent range back down to 1088. The resent range was 1084 low, to 1092 high and back into the middle range at 1088. Then the breakout occurred and with conviction closing at the highs of the day +14 points on the S&P and +111 on the Dow Jones. We could see 10-15 points plus more before this reaction rally runs out of gas. We may struggle here a bit first, there is some overhead resistance near by, but over the next few days it would seem that the short-term momentum is up. Cash S&P 1007 to 1017 should be the destination point. The daily momentum is pointing down pretty decisively, but it is normal price action for the market to recover some here first, before its next move unfolds.
Today I took only three trades and it was in the afternoon session. They were for -1 tick first trade / +5 ticks, +8 ticks/ and +10 ticks second trade / and the last trade was for +3 tick and +5 ticks. I traded for 35 minutes and wrapped it up. I have a video of the trades below.
Yesterday, I started to share something with you and did not have enough time to finish, so I will get right into it here.
I was saying, that I know there are many traders who know how to trade well, but it seems that there are some unseen things that just keep holding them back from getting to the profit column. This will apply to traders who are just starting out and want to live the dream as well. Both people in these groups need something that goes beyond trading the charts. They need a solid mental foundation to build upon.
If you try to build a skyscraper and do not do a ground survey, you don’t know how the weight of the building is going to impact your foundation. If the proper work is not done, the building could be in jeopardy some time down the road. Well, that is exactly where many traders find themselves. Their building is going up and something is wrong, but they don’t know what it is. It is starting to lean-to the left and you realize there is a problem. The foundation may be shored up after a survey is now finally done, but there are times that the best decision is to bring the building down and start over.
So, if you are not to far along in your trading career and can learn this point, you will save money and potentially be on the road to financial freedom. If you have many years into it and have not discovered some of the essential things that will complement your trading career, now is the time, before the decision to bring the building down has to be made.
I do some mental exercises and physical exercises to help keep my mind and body fit. I have put up on my website a couple of these audio scripts that I listen too. It is in my voice, but I don’t think about that, I just try and let the message sink deep into my mind and see it as so. I am allowing myself to think the right thoughts to help me line up where I want to go and what I want to accomplish. I have 10 more of these audio’s in my trading program, but chose to put up two of them for visitors of Sniper Day Trading.
This is not really my complete point, this is only part of it. Rather than re-invent the wheel, I have found a guy named Ralph Marston who does some things like this. A little different, but it is great stuff. As I said yesterday, I have heard of a few traders you listen to some of the material from Ralph and they said that it has turned their trading career around. I to, enjoy his writings and his attitude. That is what you are going to need long-term, the right mind-set to establish the mental foundation that will take you straight to the top, no looking back. If you skip this point, I believe, you will wish you had not.
I do not get any compensation for recommending him or his site, but I want the readers of my blog to have all the advantages they need to succeed at day trading for a living.
Ralph has a free audio on his site called “The Best Year Ever” it is in the top left hand corner. It is a twenty-minute audio that I feel every aspiring day trader should listen too.
He puts out a daily motivational quote and it is always different, some are longer than others, but they are all great. He has done this for over 10 years. The daily motivational writings are free but he offers an audio message each week that runs 20-30 minutes long and can be downloaded to an MP3 player so you can listen a few times throughout the week. He only charges $10 dollars a month and is totally worth it, in my opinion. That is .33 cents per day and the best money I ever spent.
As I said, I want the readers of my blog to get relevent information that can really help them achieve their goals. So here is the link for his site. http://greatday.com/motivate/100202.html His site is called “The Daily Motivator”.
I hope my readers see the importance of going the extra mile and building a great foundation. This is the kind of thing that can increase the odds of bringing it all together and living your dream.
This is Monday, June 29th and the markets have moved back to the middle of their most recent range.
The market has performed in a very predictable pattern at this point. The natural rhythm of the market would say that we back off to the downside one more time, but this time the thing to watch is going to be if we can hold above or somewhere in the middle of this move of the last week. That would put pivot points above and pivot points below, setting itself up for a pretty big move outside of those pivots. Nothing here would surprise me and we can not rule out a move below last weeks pivot low. Just have to wait and see what kind price action we get.
The move to the high today is what I called for last week, that was right into the mid Fibonacci range on the dailyies. Day traders need to wait for the setups and go from there.
Last week I talked a lot about what does it take to become and stay profitable as a day trader. Discussed the things to avoid and controlling your mind-set. The real battle is between your ears. You have the ability to come out on top, which will take work and dedication to the whole process. You also have the ability to let the market pressures get you down and abandon your plan. Yes, you need a real plan on paper. One that clearly defines what constitutes a buy and sell signal. A stop must always be in place. If you trade without one, you will eventually be sorry. The markets move fast and you will inevitably take a much bigger loss than you bargained for trading without a stop.
For those trying to get started, I would caution you to have a modest daily goal and modest daily stop for the day. This will resolve in you, that you will not take a huge loss any one day. I have gone over this before but a little overall recap. Ask yourself, are you trading to get rich or make a living? If you are trading for a living, then you need to ask one more question. How much do you want to get paid per week? What do you currently make at your current job or your last job? Was that a fair wage for what you did at the company? Ok, how much time are you planning to trade each day to make your wage?
I really only like to trade for about an hour, sometimes two. Everyone is different, but the longer you stay, the chances are you will do worst. You will not be able to overcome all the mind games the market plays on its participants each day. Maybe in time you can increase you trade time, but concentrate on your trade setups and focus on your timing. When you see a base trade setup, take it. Don’t hesitate, doing so only creates a lack of confidence and indecision. You take the trade only when the price action tells you to, if not, stay out.
For most people 1500 per week would be a good wage. Many in America only average about half of that per week, so if you are able to do better than Most Americans and do it in 1 to 2 hours per day, would you not say, that is a good living for the time you are putting into your work. The answer would have to be yes. You always have the ability to get a raise, but only if your performance warrants it.
So, just getting started, let’s break this down. A weekly salary of 1500 per week is 300 per day. You would need to trade with 2 contracts and pick up 3 points per day and or 15 points per week. When you say 15 points per week, it sounds like a lot, but when you say 3 points per day, it sounds possible. That would be three 1 point trades or one 2 point trade and another 1 point. You can also get it this way, by picking up four 3/4 point trades. If you get out too soon on a big runner, why would you care, if your daily goal is to make a consistent living. If you become greedy, you will likely end up with nothing. Greed and Fear are your enemies.
Let’s focus on “Greed”. This is a natural emotion that traders have to deal with. You need to put this one in its place and control your desire for more. It is a victory knowing that on any one trade that you could get more, but you choose to only trade for the amount left that will give you your goal for the day. This is especially important in the beginning, confidence is critical and you cannot get it if you are not able to put a string of winning days together in a row. If you don’t control this particular emotion early on and get rid of the idea of making thousands per day, you most certainly will not make any dollars per day.
Just because it is possible does not mean it is going to happen, not to say that it will never happen, but not before its time. There is no get rich quick stories that should be floating around in your head while you are getting started. Again if you are able to string these modest targets together each day, it is so imperative that you do not give back 3 days of profits all in one morning or day. You need to preserve your capital and chip away at it.
When a sculptor sets out to create a piece of art, his intention is to create it with one chip at a time, day after day until he has what he was intending to create. The same is true here. Take it step by step and control your emotions for wanting more – it will only hurt you in the long run. There will be plenty of days in the future that the price action will give you a lot more than few points a day, but you should not be looking for what is not there in the beginning. It takes 21 days to create a new habit, start now, with DAY ONE.
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