SB bias bites the dust?

IB should do the eurostoxx.

That's what I thought Neil, Though I couldn't find it when I had a look at all their markets. That's damn confusing so I may have missed it.

Have to have a look when I have a bit more time.

Cheers m8.

Options.
 
IB may be a crappy Java program, but at least you get to trade the real market with it, not some fictitious market manipulated by the Spread Betting companies... IB is a good and cheap starting point for a newbie...
 
YEEEEHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

Sierra charts are up and running with IB as of today according to Sierra's web site.

Soon see how easy the link up is.


Options.

:) :) :D :D ;)
 
Neil

Thanks JT albeit I am well aware of IB and emini's.

Eurostoxx allows me to get my feet wet in Futures at some ten euros a point, liquidity is good.

The Dax has a similar advantage at some £17 per point.
Needless to say, once I have confidence then the emini is next on the list.

And thankyou for your comment.


Remember that the S&P is around the 900 with Dax etc around 4000. Therefor the S&P Emini's would be comparatively $12 per point on the DAX i.e less likely to lose your shirt than with Dax and EuroStoxx I think. Fills are better, spreads lower and dealing cheaper!!!

JonnyT
 
re spreads.
Am I the oly one who is amost satisfied. I am with Fsinpsreads and ,yes. sometimes I steam at the price quoted, but they do tell you it is indicative only. I had the happy experience the other day of selling at a price higher than that on screen, so it does work both ways. I find confirmation fairly swift usually, and at a price not too far away from their quoted price. When I have placed stops, (always now) the amount deducted has been the exact amount of my stop. It seems to me that all SBs have their quirks and I am sticking with FS as I find their system easy and minimums great for a pauper like me. Profits can be made from £1, I have proved it to myself this week. So lets all stop moaning, the SBs are in it to make money, so are we, but we have the option of changing if we are not satisfied. Bias is natural in business and unless there is an unnatural bent in trading terms, then lets all just get on with it.
Orchard
 
I'm getting to terms with this beast now. ES an NQ futures charts have made a big difference to my performance. ( Thanks Skim) They give 90%+ advance warning of when SB's are going to flip their bias. I can regularly get in a position and literally a few seconds later I'm in the money because the bias has moved. OK so i'm still getting a lot of small points ( 1-10), but the last two days saw win/loss trades of 21-4 and 15-3. More importantly (mostly) I have been able to cut losing positions just as quickly with 1-5 point losses being relatively easy to achieve. E.G. If the bias is to the short side and you look to go long and get in before the bias, just a few seconds, or a minute will tell me if the move is going to happen. I don't know how big the move is at this stage, just that it's going to be a win. If it doesn't go , I can see the SB sell price move down a couple of points ( no more bias switch as it was already negative) and confirmed by ES futs. starting to produce a black candle as well- so hit the sell button.
Next tip.
Getting the winners rolling. I've been adding at various times, based on the overall TA situation. Typically on a pullback in a 5 leg elliott up move. In the first part of a move that I am confident in , I look for a place to "add". This is done by watching the bias to cash difference. No point in adding if the bias is at +15 from the cash. Often in the move up, futs will glitch and the bias drops to +6 or so. Time to add. So now by the time I get to a pull back ( or even a top) I have maybe 2 or 3 x my normal stake. At the top, I sell 1 position and try to guage if this is a top or a pullback ( often helped by previous TA i.e. a Bull Triangle breakout target). If we're way off target , I add back in at what I think is the bottom of the pullback and try and catch the bias in my favour again. Same again on the third leg. At the top, I have the option to sell 1,2 or 3 depending on how I feel. If it's clearly a top, then I sell all 3 within a few ticks. If it looks like there's more, then I leave 1 long, having locked in 90% of the profits.
The downside to all this for me, so far, has been getting myself caught in whipsaws and "reversing " positions. Each reverse can be a hit of 20 or more points. Using this "adding" approach has helped me stay in winning positions longer, whereas before, I'd sell on a pullback top and then be reluctant to get back in on what was the pullback bottom. I think it is psycologically easier to stay in from a position of strength ( having added) than closing a position, only to open again a few ticks later , missing 20 or so points.
Before doing this, do the sums for yourself and see how it pans out. It may be that you will need to adjust your stake size to 1/2 or 1/3 normal size to be comfortable doing this.
I'm still struggling with the mental block of shorting when I should. Reversing the whole position on a pullback, for example, I find almost impossible to do.....Perhaps that shows I have more fear than greed.....Still that's the way I am, and I'm cranking up the profits so I'm not about to change tactics.
 
Orchard,
Come back in 3 months and tell us if you still like and favour Fins.

Their confirmation time is akin to swimming in thick treacle,

All sb prices are so far removed from the real price in a moving market as to be nothing more than highway robbery. More so when the market is turning. Wait until you try to enter a trade or more importantly try to get out of one and the trading price is 30 points away.

Stops? There will be plenty of times (soon) when the stop gets activated at a worse price then wanted. In a fast market there will be other stops in front of yours and it can be ages before yours goes. This can work in your favour as well though.

Moaning: People on here only 'moan' to highlight to others the thieving practises of the sb's. Lots of people use the sb's daily, and there are quite a few of us who consistanly profit from them, but that is not to say that people like using them.
Your quote below.

"Bias is natural in business and unless there is an unnatural bent in trading terms, then lets all just get on with it."

Very soon you will see the 'unnatural bent' as it is.
They (sb's) do not trade as advertised, Or rather they do as they say they will quote a trading price on what they believe the market price to be. Yes they may have only a 4 point spread, but the dealing price they offer you is mostly way removed from the 'real' price. The result being that any profit is less and any loss is magnified.

No one begrudges them the spread. That as they will tell you is how they make their money as well as laying your trade off into the market place. It is also how you can trade tax free, as your 'tax' is in the spread.

If their quoted trading price to you stayed the 4 points (or however much it is) above and below the true price then everyone would be happy and no one would moan as everyone would win. The sb's. The tax man, and more importantly us.

BUT By moving the goalposts away from you when you are running with the ball, they steal more money out of your pocket. The FSA are a toothless lap dog and will do nothing to stop this thieving and protect who they are supposed to, (US), because of the vast amount of tax the sb's pay to the goverment each year.

You will find much better ways to trade as you progress. And yet despite all this I still trade with them. Not as my main account, but simply to take a bit of pocket money off them.

I wish you all the best in your trading, and when you start to raise the stakes you will find things get a bit more 'interesting'.

These boards and this site is one of the few places where you will get impartial advice from people that have journeyed down the same road as the one you take and the people will offer views as they see it, It does not matter if you agree or disagree with the author. Trading is no place for pampering the ego.

Good fortune.

Options.
 
This will go on forever and good luck.Great debate is always interesting and will have something for everyone. There will always be those that "have", and those that "have not". I know of a few that " have" ( and I mean a BIG have) and they are happy to use SB's to good effect. Sure, it's undeniable that the bias is most unfair and designed to protect their pockets. We all know that. The spread is so-so and 6-8 points on the DOW is unquestionably fair compared to a few cents on a stock + round trip dealing fees. The fact that one can win handsomely is not a myth. It may only be for a select few, but it is nonetheless very real. I know of people that have recently increased their accounts by more than tenfold in four weeks. I'm wondering why they stick with the SB's because they have adequate funds to trade any vehicle they wish...... Perhaps it's the satisfaction of beating the SB's system. It appeals to me that's for sure. No, I, we can't beat it 100%, but then we don't have to . No one does trading any system. You just have to make sure you run the winners and cut the losers as ever. If you want to dabble in the market with a couple of hundred quid, there's only one way you're going to be able to do it. For the un-wary and un-prepared, it won't last you long. If you get to make a couple of percent a day, you're doing well. At 10% a day, you're on the way to being a millionare in just a year or two...... I wonder if we have one of those persons in T2W ? I can think of three or four....
 
Top