Almost there.

[Buzzard76]

Hi all,
I've been reading and studying all about trading, TA, psycology, risk and money managment, support and resistence and just about anything i can get my head around about trading in general.
I've even managed to open a trading account here in Australia to start paper trading. I even put together a trading plan that I based off the trading plan thread on the site here.
All I'm waiting on now is for my computer to arrive which wont be long, hopefully. All i can do now is keep educating myself as to the where when and why aspect of actual trading.
My plan is to trade cfd's on the ASX in simulation and hopefully try and grasp the concept of when to enter and when to exit. Setting stop loss and targets correctly. Cutting losing trades fast and finding the intestinal fortitude to let my winners run. Scaling in scaling out, or just plain sitting it out until all looks and feels good to jump in and have a crack.
Luckily for me i see that as the easy part.

I think the true test will be when I go live. When it hits home that this is all real and i will have a myriad of other things to concern me. Such as, is my timing going to be right, am i even trading in the right direction, will i get filled, will i still be able to see with the sweat running down my brow. Will my stomach ever stop turning. Have i set my stop in the right place. Am i being overly ambitious with my risk to reward target.
Hopefully I won't have any of that to worry about because I will be focusing on only the following.
Am I following my meticulously laid out plan that i have tested and found to be profitable.
Am I calm, relaxed and ready for action with total faith in said plan.
And last but most importantly, am I totally in control of and have faith in MYSELF.

Hopefully it will be enough to get me off to a good start.
Now if only that computer would turn up. I can't trade on this tablet.

Looking foward to all the great educational resources on this site. For those that post it I thank you. Also looking forward to getting to know fellow traders on here, new like myself and experienced alike. Just have to take the slow and cautious route to start with so I'm around long enough to do so.
Glad to be onboard and happy trading to you all.
Buzz.

 

[Quantt]

Hi all,
I've been reading and studying all about trading, TA, psycology, risk and money managment, support and resistence and just about anything i can get my head around about trading in general.
I've even managed to open a trading account here in Australia to start paper trading. I even put together a trading plan that I based off the trading plan thread on the site here.
All I'm waiting on now is for my computer to arrive which wont be long, hopefully. All i can do now is keep educating myself as to the where when and why aspect of actual trading.
My plan is to trade cfd's on the ASX in simulation and hopefully try and grasp the concept of when to enter and when to exit. Setting stop loss and targets correctly. Cutting losing trades fast and finding the intestinal fortitude to let my winners run. Scaling in scaling out, or just plain sitting it out until all looks and feels good to jump in and have a crack.
Luckily for me i see that as the easy part.

I think the true test will be when I go live. When it hits home that this is all real and i will have a myriad of other things to concern me. Such as, is my timing going to be right, am i even trading in the right direction, will i get filled, will i still be able to see with the sweat running down my brow. Will my stomach ever stop turning. Have i set my stop in the right place. Am i being overly ambitious with my risk to reward target.
Hopefully I won't have any of that to worry about because I will be focusing on only the following.
Am I following my meticulously laid out plan that i have tested and found to be profitable.
Am I calm, relaxed and ready for action with total faith in said plan.
And last but most importantly, am I totally in control of and have faith in MYSELF.

Hopefully it will be enough to get me off to a good start.
Now if only that computer would turn up. I can't trade on this tablet.

Looking foward to all the great educational resources on this site. For those that post it I thank you. Also looking forward to getting to know fellow traders on here, new like myself and experienced alike. Just have to take the slow and cautious route to start with so I'm around long enough to do so.
Glad to be onboard and happy trading to you all.
Buzz.

Good luck Buzz, sounds great, if everything works as expected, the next step would be to automate your trading, this will take care of the psychological aspect and prevent stupid mistakes... Cheers!

 

[tomorton]

Practice, practice, practice.

 

[dbphoenix]

Good luck Buzz, sounds great, if everything works as expected, the next step would be to automate your trading

Might be. Not everyone is into automation.

 

[Quantt]

Might be. Not everyone is into automation.

Yep, just an idea for easier life...

 

[Buzzard76]

Thank you for the replies.
After looking over the site a bit more and finding the essential stickies, it looks like I have found a mountain of reading material that I won't have to scour the internet for. My goal is to paper trade for at least six months and make sure I have found a strategy with a positive expectancy before I hit the live account. Haven't really looked into automated trading as yet. So much to learn, but I'll keep plugging away at it and yes, pratice practice practice.
Until then it will be read read read. Sort the wheat from the chaff and try to remember it all.
Hope to see you on the hard right edge one day.
Buzz.

 

[mpups]

Thank you for the replies.
After looking over the site a bit more and finding the essential stickies, it looks like I have found a mountain of reading material that I won't have to scour the internet for. My goal is to paper trade for at least six months and make sure I have found a strategy with a positive expectancy before I hit the live account. Haven't really looked into automated trading as yet. So much to learn, but I'll keep plugging away at it and yes, pratice practice practice.
Until then it will be read read read. Sort the wheat from the chaff and try to remember it all.
Hope to see you on the hard right edge one day.
Buzz.

hi buzz, sounds like you are doing your research and learning the principles which is a good sign. You didnt mention the sort of timeframe you expect to be trading ?

 

[Buzzard76]

I will be looking to trade the Australian market 10am open till noon to start with and maybe in the future look at trading the US market open which is around 11:30pm local time which is a much better time frame for me as I operate better of a night than I do of a day. Don't know why but I've always been a bit nocturnal. I'm leaning towards learning cfd trading on stocks as that has been my main focus up till now, and later on learn about options and the futures market which to be honest at this stage I know absolutely nothing about. Forex might be in my future but it hasn't sort of jumped out at me so to speak. So yeah, I will start on the stocks and hopefully go well, and then look at something else. I think I am better off trading one particular market with one strategy that can show a positive expectancy instead of bouncing all over the place. Being so green and having such a steep learning curve in front of me it seems to me to be the right action. Other wise i think it would be to much to learn all at once and do my head in.
Buzz.

 

[Buzzard76]

Sorry Kaeso, I didnt exactly give you a time frame. I intend to trade intraday. Probably the first two or three hours of the open. Like I said being so green and having so much to learn I just feel that intraday trading with no open positions at the end of the day will be a good start. Then if I want to look at swing trading I'll devote most of my study towards that time frame. To me it's a little overwhelming at the moment as to the choice of so many different instuments and time frames. My number one priority will be capital preservation to start with and i think intraday with good risk and money management will be the way for me to start. I intend to paper trade for as long as it takes to get proficient with the platform i will be using, order types entries, exits, stops and targets etc. And developing a strategy that works. It seems like such a huge climb at the moment but i just have to kick off one foot at a time.
Buzz.

 

[mpups]

I edited this post because we posted at about the same time and you already answered the question i posted ^^^

Ok.. so you get the whole timeframe thing as well, you really have done your homework! good for you.

Its important to be clear about timeframe because it will be a recurring source of confusion/errors if you are not clear and confident about what TF you are operating in.
I currently only do swing trading cos ive got a full time job and up to now have done better with fewer trades and looking at higher timeframes. My trades last anywhere between a couple of hours and several days.. depending how long it takes to get to target/stop

 

[Brumby]

Ok.. so you get the whole timeframe thing as well, you really have done your homework!

Actually no. Buzz said so himself. He has scoped out tactically he will only engage the market intra day with no open positions by end of the session. He did not mentioned what time frame he will use to make trade selection and trade decisions.

 

[mpups]

Actually no. Buzz said so himself. He has scoped out tactically he will only engage the market intra day with no open positions by end of the session. He did not mentioned what time frame he will use to make trade selection and trade decisions.

oh yes i agree i was using confusing terminology! i meant the basic tactic (keeping it simple) but of course the more detailed specific timeframe is also important.

he "gets it" but is in early stages of "figuring it all out" in terms of his own trading

 

[Buzzard76]

I have read some articles on swing trading including one strategy where a trailing stop was used. The trailing stop was based on 3% of average true range I believe, instead of a set amount of cents $. From what I gathered it looked to work quite well so its something I will look at if I do end up swing trading. Will give it a run in the simulator and see how it goes. But like I mentioned previously I will definitely be staying intraday to start. I dont think I should leave a position open overnight to start off. Just part of the risk aversion in my plan as it sits at the moment. No doubt I will have to tweak things as i go in the simulator. I'm a bit lacking in my entry rules and triggers for my plan as you would imagine as i haven't traded yet. Time in the simulator will iron this out. I'm quite happy to paper trade for as long as it takes to find all these things out and define my edge.
I've been reading/studying nearly every night for about 12 months and feel like i have only scratched the surface. Looking foward to getting my trading room finished. It is a spare bedroom that i have nearly finished painting at this stage. Im currently waiting on a computer that I am having built. It is going to be used as my trading station and double up to do a fair amount of 4k video rendering so its a bit of a unit. I have twin Uninterruptible power supplies and my internet connection also has a battery back up. Its been a long process but one that I'm hoping will cover as many bases as possible. The computer build actually starts tommorrow after months of waiting on two specific graphics cards that i want in the build. Damn bitcoin miners have created a world wide shortage, go figure, should of bought some nividia stock twelve or so months ago. But hind site is always 20/20. Anyway all that aside it has given me a great deal of time to at least get a grasp on the study side of things. I am really looking forward to start paper trading and plan on continuing to read as much as I can as I go as I believe that you can never stop learning. There will no doubt always be something that crops up that I will never have encounted before so I will just keep educating myself. Just trying to give myself the best chance I can i suppose.
Buzz.

 

[Buzzard76]

I think you are asking about my actual trading time frame (sorry I'm as green as grass). I basically will be following the daily, 5 minute and 1 minute charts. Entering on the 1 minute chart with confirmation off the 5 min chart. May also put up a weekly as well. I will be running two 43 inch 4k monitors and onlt trading a maximum of three stocks at any one time. Probably 2 stocks to start out. Basically screen real-estate wont be a problem and was a big factor in the build. Hopefully this clears it up and I haven't missed the point completely.
Damn, so much to learn.

 

[Brumby]

I think you are asking about my actual trading time frame (sorry I'm as green as grass). I basically will be following the daily, 5 minute and 1 minute charts. Entering on the 1 minute chart with confirmation off the 5 min chart. May also put up a weekly as well. I will be running two 43 inch 4k monitors and onlt trading a maximum of three stocks at any one time. Probably 2 stocks to start out. Basically screen real-estate wont be a problem and was a big factor in the build. Hopefully this clears it up and I haven't missed the point completely.
Damn, so much to learn.

You have done some leg work regarding your infrastructure requirements and redundancies. What is your backup plan for your internet connection should your main provider goes down? Do you have a backup for your trading station should your main goes off line? What is your planned pre market daily stock screening process? Have you bedded down your screening software and filtering criteria? Do you have a universe of stocks that you intend to trade from e.g. top 100 or anything that moves on that day? Do you intend to exclude stocks that are also listed off shore e.g. BHP in London where you are subject to trading movements overnight and potentially gap plays that are somewhat artificial? Do you intend to monitor correlated activities like base metal or oil prices during the day which might impact your intended stock? Do you intend to have real time news source or squawk audio providing you with real time information on news that might move the market during your intra day session?

 

[mpups]

I have read some articles on swing trading including one strategy where a trailing stop was used. The trailing stop was based on 3% of average true range I believe, instead of a set amount of cents $.

i think it will have been 3 X ATR if he was a swinger, not 3% of ATR ?

I've been reading/studying nearly every night for about 12 months and feel like i have only scratched the surface.

Gooood you are studying hard! You probably know plenty of sexy theory already and next its the practical experience and revision of the key issues which you need in order to make a start in developing your own process :cheesy:

 

[Buzzard76]

You have done some leg work regarding your infrastructure requirements and redundancies. What is your backup plan for your internet connection should your main provider goes down? Do you have a backup for your trading station should your main goes off line? What is your planned pre market daily stock screening process? Have you bedded down your screening software and filtering criteria? Do you have a universe of stocks that you intend to trade from e.g. top 100 or anything that moves on that day? Do you intend to exclude stocks that are also listed off shore e.g. BHP in London where you are subject to trading movements overnight and potentially gap plays that are somewhat artificial? Do you intend to monitor correlated activities like base metal or oil prices during the day which might impact your intended stock? Do you intend to have real time news source or squawk audio providing you with real time information on news that might move the market during your intra day session?

Hi Brumby and thank you for the questions as they expose just how much I have to learn before even contemplating going live.
As to my main provider going down I will have a laptop with the platform ready to go running off a mobile hotspot. Is this sufficient do you think.
Will be looking at the asx 20 xtl to start, with a focus on cba,anz,wbc,nab, as i have been following the banks and trying to look for patterns that they move in.
Also been looking at ramsay health care (rhc) rea, wow, and woodside as they seem to have some good intraday moves.

I have absolutely no idea where to get my stock screening software from as yet and any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Do we have an equivalent to finviz or trade ideas for screening? And on the news/sqauwk situation, what would be our equivalent to say Benzinga.
Any help you could give me on these sort of providers would be a very big help and i thank you for the questions. It does actually show how green I am and how much I have to learn.
Thanks in advance to any help and light you could shine on my blaring deficiency.
Buzz.

 

[Buzzard76]

Yes Kaeso it was 3x atr.

 

[Brumby]

As to my main provider going down I will have a laptop with the platform ready to go running off a mobile hotspot. Is this sufficient do you think.

If I am building redundancy in case of an outage, I would ensure my backup is with another provider. As often the case in Sydney, when Optus is down it is highly unusual that Telstra will be also. A data stick is inexpensive and the only way to know is to do a dry run. You just need to ensure your back up plan is viable - not just on paper.

Will be looking at the asx 20 xtl to start, with a focus on cba,anz,wbc,nab, as i have been following the banks and trying to look for patterns that they move in.
Also been looking at ramsay health care (rhc) rea, wow, and woodside as they seem to have some good intraday moves.

There are generally two fundamental drivers of intra day prices. The first is overnight US market sentiments overflowing into the Australian market. The other is counter/industry specific news e.g. earnings and company related items et al.
You need to know what market risk events are there on the trading day and be able to source real time or close to the real time news as it happens. Audio squawk would be useful. If you are trading purely on prices and not tapped into the market regarding fundamental drivers you are effectively trading blind. Institutional traders will have Bloomberg terminals. You will have to find something similar that you can afford. I am unable to advise further as I don't trade the ASX market anymore - not in the last 10 years.

I have absolutely no idea where to get my stock screening software from as yet and any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Do we have an equivalent to finviz or trade ideas for screening? And on the news/sqauwk situation, what would be our equivalent to say Benzinga.

You can try incredible charts as the charting program has a stock screener. The service is free. There is a premium version with prices updated before midnight.

 

[Buzzard76]

Thanks for the reply Brumby. I'll definitely look into incredible charts. My original plan was to trade the us market of a night which still could be on the cards. If I do go down that route I was thinking of useing lightspeed trader as my broker. Do you have any recommendations for brokers in the US. I have the capital to satisfy the PDT rule so all is ok there.
Thanks in advance
Buzz