Trader Q&A's

[Helenqu]

Hi Mark,

I think something that I have read somewhere (can't recall where) makes a lot of sense. "Earn the right to trade higher". You know from my business plan that I intend to keep my 1% capital risk on each trade. What that basically means is that for every £5K in my futures account I can trade 1 stoxx contract. Going to take me a while to get to two contracts but when I finally get there I'll be a much better and more confident trader. Slow, steady and boring

 

[Sharky]

This has turned out to be a great thread and a real complement to the trader Q&As. A worthy contender for thread of the month!

This week, Dominic aka Marathonchap (formerly Elliot Wave) is in the T2W Q&A hot seat! Dominic like a lot of people started trading nearly 3 years during the tech boom, but having suffered some big losses last year he is currently paper-trading until he can prove to himself that he can trade profitably. The emphasis for Dominic seems to be trading in the direction of the trend, buying support and selling resistance, cutting losses and letting profits run. All good solid advice.

If you'd like to be featured in on Trader Q&A and/or Journal section, or are willing to be interviewed by T2W, please email us at [email protected].

You can read Marathonchap's Q&A Here !.

 

[BeM]

Hi,
I've got a question, would someone please give me some good advice!
I have an account at Finspreads and I would like to open another account at some other company as well. Which company would you suggest, a company least biased and acceptable spread for indexes, especially S&P 500 daily or so? A nice trading software, real-time and not high betting necessity (e.g. over £1 per decimal) would be my preference too.
Thanks!

 

[Morris]

I have always had good service with City Index.

But as ever, DYOR.

 

[Sharky]

RogerM's Q&A

This week's Q&A is with Roger Middleton, better know as RogerM on T2W. Roger, a former RAF pilot and IFA, has been trading for 8 years, his approach is mainly TA based - he trades 3 or 4 uk ftse index options a month, and 3 or 4 US share trades a day. He uses EOD AIQ charting package with Mytrack to help him identify trends, patterns, breakouts and break downs, and is a keen advocate of an effective stop loss strategy and sound money management.

I think you'll agree, a very interesting Q&A, many thanks to Roger for agreeing to answer our questions.

You can read RogerM's Q&A here

 

[Mr. Charts]

Most enjoyable interview with an excellent trader

 

[neil]

RogerM

Excellent read from someone with his feet on the ground.

 

[Helenqu]

I agree with the others. It's good to read the Q&As from someone well in front of me in the learning curve. Many thanks Roger.

 

[streetwise]

this is my first post , so i pressume that this thread is alive despite being last weeks interview.

without exposing my performance numbers , as i know it will cuase howls of derision , let me say they are not too far from the +1000% return on capital . so first off congratulations to FTSE , well done , and dont let the sour grapers put you off. the same aplies to Mr.chart . i think winners deserve a pat on the back not petty whinging.

i dont see why you cant aim to teach others a proven trading method , i certainly am going to . i dont see anything wrong with that especially since a lot of " trainers " out there are net losers !

IF i wanted tuition, id rather learn from a guy whos doubled his money from 1000 to 2000 , rather than from someone who has a $100,000 trading account but who is a net loser at minus 30% . whats the use in that ?

im suspicious at people who disrespect smaller traders who have pulled in great returns , i feel these types are usually either net losers or the proverbial " big trader " that brings in paltry returns , and is effectively frustrated and even jealous of the double your money guys .

personally , i am confident that if i had a $100,000 acount i would near double it year on year , assuming the capital stayed at 100,000.

who says you cant turn relatively small sums into huge amounts , Randy mckay , turned $2000 into $70000 in his first year ! and michael marcus multiplied his company account 2500 times in just 10 years !

these are just 2 of the more famous traders , there are countless other who have made excellent returns.

Fact- very few are going to even get near these standards , but the point is , if we aim for the stars and miss we get the sky, but if we aim for the roof and miss , we get the dinner table or worse below the floor boards .

we have to be realistic with our goals but NOTHING wrong with aimig high .

thank you ,

streewise

 

[Mr. Charts]

Well said streetwise,
Those of us who trade for a living know what we do and how - just like the people I've trained to do likewise.
When you can do something it really doesn't matter if others don't believe you.

 

[hjk]

If you're losing money, you're losing money, how ever much you start with.
But which would you rather do, which would be easier, of these two?:

a) try to make 100% per year starting with 5k
b) try to make 10% per year starting with 100k

There is absolutely nothing wrong with starting out small, that's where everybody should start when beginning to trade even if they are sitting on millions. But no-one should go into trading with the AIM of making X00% returns. If that is the result at the end of the year then fantastic, but you are only setting yourself up for disappointment if not disaster if that is your initial aim.

 

[FTSE Beater]

Hi RogerM

After reading your Q&A, it made me realise just how much I still have to learn. Your thoughts on both life and trading are great.

To sell 90% of your portfolio at the hight of the tech boom - when the world and his wife were saying BUY BUY BUY, must have been difficult, but to have the knowledge and the faith to do it, earns my upmost respect.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with everyone, and it's something I know I'll look back on time and time again.

Hi Streetwise

Thank you for your kind comments

 

[RogerM]

Hi Guys, thanks for your kind words.

Neil - my feet will spend less time on the ground when I eventually get that Discus 2 high performance glider!

Helen - Having read your posts, you are immeasurably further up the learning curve than I was after only 3 years. It sounds as though you started just as the bull ran out of steam, and it is a real achievement to have survived the early learning phase in this environment - I am not sure that I would have.


FTSE Beater - the same applies to your own record.

Selling 90% of tech stocks seemed like the obvious course of action. All the main ma's had turned down, many tech stocks had already been falling in value for 3 to 4 weeks, and everytime there was good news, they responded by falling further - a classic topping signal. The tech mantra was that earnings didn't matter - new economy etc - it was all different this time. It is NEVER different this time! P/E ratio's in excess of 200 were a complete joke. Then there was the explosion of new tech funds on offer - you couldn't open a newspaper without seeing an ad for yet another tech fund launch. And there were loads of programmes on TV about investment clubs making fortunes - all good contrary indicators.

Finally, when I looked to see where the money ploughing into tech was coming from, there were loads of bombed out companies in the ftse 100 where the prices had halved, and yet they were continuing to grow old fashioned things like profits. I ran a routine through CD REFS to list all ftse 100 companies that had a dividend yield in excess of 5.65% (the yield on long dated gilts at that time), and to be safe I wanted them covered at least 1.5 times, and with no record of dividend cuts or even failing to increase the divi each year. I was amazed to find that banks, tobacco and breweries were running divis in excess of 6% (BAT was paying 9%) and that their share prices had halved in many cases over the previous 18 months. Seemed like bargains, and an investment with a high and rising dividend seemed like good value and it was only a matter of time before other people thought so as well and drove up the price. The 3 phone calls I mentioned in the Q&A was just the final catalyst for action.

For those who are not aware of it, the Rothschild reference (from memory) refers to a story about Lord Rothschild walking down the street in New York and stopping for a shoeshine. The shoeshine boy told him to buy GE 'cos it was going up. He was so shaken to get a share tip from a shoeshine boy that he walked straight to his broker and liquidated his entire investment portfolio, just 6 weeks before the 1929 crash. The 3 phone calls regarding lastminute.com was my "shoeshine boy" moment, although I hasten to add that I am no Rothschild!

Now of course you cannot turn on the TV without seeing yet another programme about house makeovers, amateurs doing a speculative renovation using a 107% mortgage and only £1000 of their own money (last week), and I recently received a brochure from an insurance company offering an investment fund with returns linked to the Halifax House Price Index. Deja Vue? Of course it's all different this time because blah blah blah!

 

[streetwise]

im not intentionally trying to blow my own horn , and i know there are many out there who could do the same , if not better than me.But starting with 5k i would expect not to make 100% but at least 300-400% within a year of active trading ! and ive already said i am confident of doubling 100k within a year .

people who disrespect other traders who make good returns , are just jealous either coz they: so called larger traders either making an outright loss , or making rubbish returns for the their capital size. their so called advice to in favour of limted ambition , is to limit their own jealousy in case others really do acheive EVEN better returns . hardly genuine sentiment is it ?

also , no one has the right to cap another's goal/ambition ,if he feels he can do even better , then only he will know if this is realistic and eventually the market will judge him . who the hell is anyone to put themselves on a pedestal to tell him what to do ?

i tell you sonething about reaching for the stars - it has a REAL affect on trading , i have learnt on many occasions that taking 100 points from a trade is good , but if i had greater amibition , i would have taken 180 or more !! i has learnt that lesson and i will never REPEAT it , be sure next time i will go for the 180+ points.

i hasten to say that this can all be done with limited risk .

thats all , thank you , good bye ,

the street man

 

[Helenqu]

[starting with 5k i would expect not to make 100% but at least 300-400% within a year of active trading
the street man [/B]

I don't doubt that such things are possible but the risks one would have to take to achieve that 300-400% would be well above those I would be prepared to take. But then I'm a wimp.

 

[streetwise]

300% on 5k, is only winnings of 15k , not really a big deal to acheive, in a years time , esp. when you consider how the markets are moving these days. you are not limited to indecies , theres forex , individual shares and even commodities are on the move now .

and no, the risk are not big but LIMITED if you know what youre doing , so you are not a wimp but too much of a risk taker , coz a wimp would always limit his losses .

sorry ,

thanks , bye ,

streetwise

 

[Helenqu]

Dear Steetwise,

May I humbly surgest that you take some of your untold wealth and spend it on some social skills training and English lessons
If you intend to sell your trading system to people, then being able to get on with them and communicate your thoughts clearly is essential.

 

[Skimbleshanks]

Streetwise - are you just believing what other people have told you? Or have you ACTUALLY seen the traders' records you refer to?

This business is full of people who have the need to boast - therefore in my experience those who boast are just full of hot air and sooner or later the market puts them in their place.

And finally, we would all appreciate it if you would learn to have respect and courtesy for other posters here. There is absolutely no reason for you to attack people as you appear to be so bent on doing.

 

[dsmodi]

streetwise,

1. all helen is saying is she is not a gambling risk taker and likes sticking to strict money management rules. The implication there is that as far as I can see, she is on her way to becoming a good trader, and not a bad gambler. This is apparent from her post. What is also apparent is she is not attacking your trading style, but is being prudent - for the sake of other people - to mention money managment. You must have heard about that.

2. just cos this board is about trading doesn't mean peeps can be rude.

3. i think your paragraph

and no, the risk are not big but LIMITED if you know what youre doing , so you are not a wimp but too much of a risk taker , coz a wimp would always limit his losses

may have been written very fast, unintentionally coming across as rudeas some words may have been missed out .... at least we hope that is what happened.

4. Helen is not racist - i will vouch for that - I'm Indian, and I know she is anything but racist...

5. Lets just stick to the original discussion - what is your trading strategy?

thanks and regards...

(and remember - let's keep it clean)....

 

[ChartMan]

Streetwise, there has been no suggestion of racism, except on your part. Please keep this thread on topic and "non-personal " or I will delete it all.
"Taking English lessons" is not an inference of being from any particular race. I can't spell too well and would benefit from English Lessons and I'm as English as they get. Leave it at that please.