Transition To Real Trading

cando22 · Feb 8, 2008

Hi all,

ive been part time spread betting for three years now and last year was my first slightly profitable year.
it is becoming clear to me that if i am to progress and develop as a serious trader i must go brokerage,spread betting is deforming my trading plan with regard to stops,the spread and also the expectancy of my system.
i currently trade with a 10,000 euro account.
i trade the dow and s+p at 5 euro per point risking about 250 per losing trade and i place a max of two trades per day.

id like to please ask the more experienced members of t2w how the above points would translate to say interactive brokers,for example is one e-mini contract equivilent to 5 euro per point or tick.
the system i use cranks out between 5 to 15 s+p points a week. mildly profitable but not when spreadbetting!!

im very thankfull for any advice.:smart:

Rhody Trader · Feb 8, 2008

It's not a translation to the broker. It's a translation to the instrument you trade. You would be trading futures, presumably, which have specific fixed point values. For example, the S&P 500 contract is $250/point, while the mini contract is $50/point.

firewalker99 · Feb 8, 2008

cando22 said:
Hi all,

ive been part time spread betting for three years now and last year was my first slightly profitable year.
it is becoming clear to me that if i am to progress and develop as a serious trader i must go brokerage,spread betting is deforming my trading plan with regard to stops,the spread and also the expectancy of my system.
i currently trade with a 10,000 euro account.
i trade the dow and s+p at 5 euro per point risking about 250 per losing trade and i place a max of two trades per day.

id like to please ask the more experienced members of t2w how the above points would translate to say interactive brokers,for example is one e-mini contract equivilent to 5 euro per point or tick.
the system i use cranks out between 5 to 15 s+p points a week. mildly profitable but not when spreadbetting!!

im very thankfull for any advice.:smart:

With IB, 1 point on the DOW e-minis represents 5 USD. 1 point ES is $50.
Any DA broker will use whatever it is the exchange sets.

So you can find these information at the exchanges:

Equity Index Products

Just select the approriate instrument and look up the contract specifications.

Good luck and welcome to t2w!

cando22 · Feb 8, 2008

thanks very much for the advice,
so 1 es point would be $50 per point, which would make it $5 per tick ?
it moves in ticks and theres 10 ticks to a point??
am i gettin it??

Rhody Trader · Feb 8, 2008

Actually, the ES trades in 0.25 increments - so each tick (price change) is worth $12.50

cando22 · Feb 10, 2008

now i get it.

thanks very much lads.
my other problem is the tws workstation.it scares the life out of me,theres just too much goin on under the surface!!

timsk · Feb 17, 2008

cando22 said:
my other problem is the tws workstation.it scares the life out of me,theres just too much goin on under the surface!!

Hi cando22,
I know just how you feel, I felt the same way when I opened my account with them. What I've found is that 95% of what's 'goin on under the surface' isn't necessary or useful for my simple style of trading. For example, there is something in the region of 47 different order types that TWS will execute - I use just three: market, stop and limit orders. I suspect that, on average, most retail traders use half a dozen or less. Getting your head around what you need to know won't take you long and there's loads of resources on their web site ranging from FAQ's pages, videos and articles to help you. Go for it!
Tim.

cando22 · Feb 18, 2008

HI TIMSK,

thanks for the encouragment,
I havent made the jump yet although i did open the account i havent funded it yet,im still spread betting.
ive done the sums and i know ill be better off da, ive become consistant in my trading and my results show it,im straining at the leash to go for it, being honest, i think im probably afraid of the change.
ive only been consistant about 5 months.before that i blew out two accounts,and lost about 60,000 euro over 3 years, ive gone through a lot of emotional pain and despair.
its funny but it took all that loss and losing my job to snap me into shape.
my approach and i think my whole view of trading seems somewhat different now.
im very optimistic( but never again euphoric).
i believe that i do now truly think in probabilites!!!!:innocent:

Transition To Real Trading

cando22

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Rhody Trader

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firewalker99

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cando22

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Rhody Trader

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cando22

Junior member

timsk

Legendary member

cando22

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