Are you winning?

This post was prompted by something I read today. elite trader asked myptofvu if he was a profitable trader. myptofvu apparently gave an honest answer. No details, but quite frank. Well, this is something I would dearly like to know about all residents and visitors here. Are you winning or losing?

Many posts here have alluded to successes. Several contributors are revealing their basic strategies. PT is posting daily logs of his trades, both wins and losses. I think that's awesome and want to thank you all for sharing. But let's take it further.

We all keep pretty tight about our overall profits/losses. I've visited several trading rooms and it's the same. Not many traders will reveal their real performance. Over and over, we put these vendors under pressure to supply broker-verified statements. Well, without going to that extent, how about a general summation of your successes/failures? We'll take it on the honor system.

Now I realize that it may be considered extremely rude to ask a guy how much money he makes. It's kind of like asking a couple how often they have sex. Not only is it personal, but you will probably get a different answer from each participant! And of course, no one wants to appear a braggart, nor a loser.

But I'm curious. If 90% of traders lose money, does that statistic transfer into this forum? Or could it be that we are actually blessed with a high percentage of substantially profitable traders? I see a lot of intelligence here (beyond my level) but how about a dollar value? In the words of elite trader: "Are you a profitable trader?" That's what I want to know.

I propose a thread whereby anyone willing can brag about individual victories, cry about heavy losses, or simply reveal their long term performance. Bare your soul for the benefit of those who follow.

I will personally kick off the discussion with my own experience to date. If anyone else would care to contribute, here's to ya!

myptofvu: Good of you to shake of elite trader's feeble attempt to insult your intelligence with a bit of humour, but you know I only accept cash, not wires.

Let's talk that trade from yesterday. My email address is not here. After we make email contact, let's use skype to talk. Looking forward to hearing from you and remember, the first shot is free.

T Rex

no, that's where the band will start filling in.....I have 4 on and just added 4 at 1459.25..now initial target is moving up to 56 even...keep in mind that I will sometimes average into trades and this is what I am doing today..this looks tough and the only thing I like is they are breaking out of the first hour on low volume but sometimes we justify when a trade is running a bit against us...like I am doing now....Tick mostly above zero so that's certainly not a good sign...

I got stoppedout for 1pt although I liked the trade I wasn't willing to risk much with news going on. If its going to go down there will be other opportunities after the news is over.

T Rex

I wrote your email down. You can delete it now if you don,t want to give it out to everyone.

This doesn't give me any details so can you describe it..? Otherwise it has no meaning or educational value...thanks

Bruce

quote:

---

Originally posted by myptofvu

Short 1458.50 due to what I call a Plateau trade. Because Uncle Ben is speaking I wouldn't recommend this trade.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by BruceM

This doesn't give me any details so can you describe it..? Otherwise it has no meaning or educational value...thanks

Bruce

quote:

---

Originally posted by myptofvu

Short 1458.50 due to what I call a Plateau trade. Because Uncle Ben is speaking I wouldn't recommend this trade.

---

---

I'll try. This is a trade where I rely on only the pattern of the candles(1min chart). I call it a plateau because of the well defined swooping pattern that it makes. When it makes a double top or higher high that is your entry.

Did that help? If not I'll try to do better.

quote:

---

Originally posted by BruceM

no, that's where the band will start filling in.....I have 4 on and just added 4 at 1459.25..now initial target is moving up to 56 even...keep in mind that I will sometimes average into trades and this is what I am doing today..this looks tough and the only thing I like is they are breaking out of the first hour on low volume but sometimes we justify when a trade is running a bit against us...like I am doing now....Tick mostly above zero so that's certainly not a good sign...

---

Bruce,

I think I've asked you this before. Where do you decide to add to your position, at a set price or S/R. I think you told me S/R. My question is why did you determine 59.25 as Resistance? And it looks like a good call so far!!!

I got stopped out at 56.75 on 6 contracts and then took a small .25 loss on my remaing 2 contracts.... I think if my Wife didn't have me out shoveling snow I may have managed this better..lol... but the educational part ( which is what this should all be about)of this post is that I was watching to see if the buyers would step in at 56.25 as this is where single prints begin on the downside...read Daltons book or look on this forum for that one in Market profile section


To answer your question about add ons, I will watch the Volume with the Ticks on Hour breakouts to sell if I feel it is a good trade when I can't find any good S/R numbers..I will also watch 2.5 points off a previous days high or a key high or low which I have at 57.75 on February 7th....so this is a good zone.

I'm now starting to build another short from this 1460.25 area with only 3 contracts though as this may become a longer term hold...I will target the 1457.75 area first.....with all indexes trying to go higher I consider this a lower probabilitry trade but the Ticks are no where near new highs and volume is fairly low but we'll see.....lots of gaps and holes on the downside so That will be my bias for a while...I will probably add if we get up into the 65.50 area today and will post if I do.

Bruce

well I got filled on all three at 58 even in the overnight...not worth carrying this against such a strong trend today.. I think better sales will come tomorrow and we will trade into that 1456 area. Hopefully from a higher open. The market constantly retests key highs and lows so that is why I had the 57.75 as my first target...if it hit earlier I would have tried to hold at least one contract but it didn't happen during the day session..anyway a good day considering these trades where against the trend of the day..If you can learn how to post a chart MYPTOFVU that would be great...it's real simple


Bruce

Short from 58.25...looking for 56 first..more later///

Sure, I have no problem commenting. Sorry to hear you had a bad week and thanks for the kind words. I hope you are getting some value from these posts and glad to see you take responsibility for your trades and it sure sounds like you learn from others after investigating a methods effectiveness which is fantastic. That's what it's all about...

Anyway I have been "successful" since about the year 2000 but I define success as being able to follow a discipline, adapt to market conditions and make money while keeping my sanity. I started day trading in late 1997 and took a beating the firs 1.5 years or so...then I got better...for a while...lol. In late 2001 I had my worst period as I had a new born at home and just didn't have my head in the game...my own fault. Since then I keep evolving and have done well. I have a long way to go as the market is forever changing it's colors so I realize the need to be flexible and keep the market in it's proper context. What turned my trading around was having multiple contracts on and averaging into trades, this solved the fear and greed factor for me. I like daytrading a lot but lately ( last two years)I seem to be trying to hold positions longer as volitilty is lower and I can stomach that. I'm a fairly simple guy and I am conservative. I beleive slow and steady wins the race so I strive for consistency and make sure I follow rules that are comfortable for me. I don't beleive you have to make a certain amount of money to be considered a success as a trader. That's ridiculous as we all have different circumstances. Just because you think I have more knowledge or experience doesn't mean I am a better trader. This is why I try to encourage anyone to "make the setups your own" and do research.

As a side note I beleive it would be a greater value for me to post the ideas instead of my specific trades. I wouldn't want this to turn into a "posting and bosting " thing. I also beleve based on your comments that this isn't the thread for it. So I apologize for getting side tracked myself and taking this off of your original topic. I hope that helps and if you have specific questions I will be more than happy to answer them.

Bruce

quote:

---

Originally posted by felix

[quote]One question, Bruce, if I may. When this thread was started, I was curious as to which contributors here were day-trading successfully. I have seen you put on some good trades. Of course you acknowledge that you have bad days too. But I'm curious if you are long-term successful.

Naturally, you have the right to remain silent, and I don't want to pry or put you on the spot publicly. But you have been at this a lot longer than I, and you have a lot more knowledge and experience with the markets. I'm wondering if your efforts have paid off for you. Care to comment?

To everyone: Have a great long weekend!

---