Really, really damn confused!

[Pabmove]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie, dipping my young toes into stock trading and learning for me is really fun. I'm going to rant for a while, probably because I want to speak from the top of my head about trading and see if I'm making sense. I do have genuine questions and they are right at the end. If anyone can help me understand a bit more about trading, I would really appreciate.

Right now, I think I will try it as a Daytrader and a Swing Trader as I find both have advantages and disadvantages. So far I have learnt the following:

I need to take an objective approach to my trades, of course I need to be discipline in making trades because it is my bread and butter, my business, so to speak.

Technical Analysis of a stock is an interesting process in determining trades (there's a real magic there, of course I know that it's all about the numbers and probability). So for any trades that I wish to do, I should do the following basic steps:

Look at market first and trade stocks second. If the market is down, trade shorts and vice versa.

• Look at MACD for trending markets.
• Look at Scholastic Oscillator for trading ranges.
• MACD - combination of 50 ema and 200 ema
• Bollinger bands - use with RSI to determine overborught and oversold conditions.
• Fibonacci Numbers - still trying to understand this one

Being objective:
1. I need to see if there is a trend
2. see if there is any momentum
3. Look at different time frames; tick, hour, week, month etc...
4. Recognize chart patterns
5. Trend lines
6. Candlesticks (this is complex :whistling; doji, stars etc...)
7. Look at support and resistance. For daytrading, mostly pivot points reasearch.
8. Cycles in the market and stock
9. What is relative strength? Still learning ...

For daytrading:
Pivot points seem to work for most daytraders but I'm still learning about this indicator.

Anyway I have a question about charting software. I have three demo charting software. Metastock, Quote-Tracker and Amibroker.

I'm trying to choose which one to have. Right now, people have been talking about MS and I can see the advantages of it but I like Quote Tracker too, not because its free but charting seems easier than MS.

What I don't understand is getting information to the charting software. If I were to day trade, then I would need real-time data feed, is this correct?

With MS, do I only have two options for service providers: * QuoteCenter and * eSignal, these are really expensive (information about other providers is limited, probably because equis wants more add ons). So, is it possible to get my real time data feed from other places?

If I can get my data feed from other places, what format do I need the data (it wont be just MS format)? And, if I can get another provider to give me real time data, how do I get the feed to my MS pro? DO I need other software to make the feed data compatible with MS etc...

I guess the questions above apply to QT and Amibroker, thank you

 

[Rhody Trader]

Have you taken a look at what your broker offers? Many (most) of them have free real-time charting these days. I've used Metastock for years, but only EOD for the purposes of system testing, developing custom screens and studies, and longer-term charting. Yes, the real-time pricing is expensive, but that's going to be the case pretty much anywhere you look.

 

[Chorlton]

I'm trying to choose which one to have. Right now, people have been talking about MS and I can see the advantages of it....

I used to use MS for my trading but more recently changed to Amibroker and have never looked back.

I accept that MS is a great user-friendly piece of software and I'm sure in the past it was considered one the best choices. However, after exploring the features and flexibility of Amibroker, I think MS is now a little dated and a little inflexible.

I also found support for MS not to be the best but maybe that was only my experience. In contrast, if you have a problem with AB you can contact their Support and normally the author of the software replies straight away with a solution.

Finally, if price is a factor, then, again, Amibroker wins hands down!!

All IMO....

Chorlton

 

[Pabmove]

Well, I'm still deciding on MS or other software. AB is quite nice but I'm still learning about this stuff.

Can anyone tell me how I get real time feed into MS pro? Does it automatically load in MS or do I need to press a button all the time.

Also, I want to know if I can get other companies real time data feeds into MS (original question) because even if I choose the default real time providers from MS, it may not suit my location as I'm based in Asia. I'm worried about lag etc...

 

[mp6140]

MP -- gosh, where to go with this ?

greetings, salutations and all that

welcome pilgrim --- youve got a lot on your plate, but not the turkey yet !

first off is your consideration of trading equities ---- without decent sums of money, not a really grand way to increase income quickly --- requires ability to buy a decent size to take advantage of any increase in prices and usually beyond the pall of the newbie, unless blessed with a large inheritance !

forex, indicis and that type of "derivatives" would be a natural choice, and one ive turned to after 30 years of trading equities ---- VERY satisfying as i can almost count on a steady stream of achieving the same amount of profit daily.

i have used quotetracker for many a year now and find it extremely good and yes, you have to get an external feed for forex (in stocks, you simply become an ameritrade customer and its free)

the METATRADER 4 platform supplied to most forex brokers is not to be sneezed at, as it allows for hundreds of custom indicators and even automated trading and is used by most retail traders here in the states --- its amazingly good and free from your broker.

ill stay away from my usual "warning" greeting to the trading world, but please keep in mind youve entered a whole new world, with its own culture, rules and sharks and it will take TIME to simply learn enough to survive --- DONT jump in with real money without a whole lot of "demo" time, and a "whole lot" is way more than you think is needed !

the bottom line rule in trading is to simply use your experience and knowledge to find "something" that will be moving up or down, allowing you to go long or short, and to make a profit in doing so --- it WILL take time to learn how to do this, but is still easier than brain surgery instruction for most of us anyway.

take a year or so to learn basics and a little more --- never be satisfied with what you know and seek constant info, trying different things in search of what works for YOU, and in short order (relatively speaking) youll be way on the way to being bored while trading.

Once you have achieved that golden peace, you can call yourself a trader and so will your banker !

enjoy and trade well

mp