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I always feared futures because of a lack of understanding of them. As I saw they got traded on tastytrade it made me took interest on what could be done to keep futures from being dangerous such as in options world I can sell a put but I can buy one underneath it to protect me. Tom from tastytrades pairs trades showed me how to use dual futures trades to protect yourself. What other methods besides hard stops do you use for protection?
What I like about futures so far is that you can see real profit(or loss) almost immediately. I have traded out the gate on what appears to be a platform not for futures (Options House). Having said that enough of my trades have been profitable on basic technical analysis indicators. What basic technical indicators do you find the most useful?
I opened a Trade station account but this platform is wow so much more than any of the other platforms I have used (Tastyworks, TOS, Options House, Etrade Pro). It's the first time I feel I might actually need to get trained on the platform and I am an IT guy. Have any of you left Tradestation? If so why? If I was to head back to TOS for futures would that be a bad idea? If you do use NinjaTrader what brokerage is the best and why?
I used the BOB app from Tastytrade. I was very impressed by Petes Futures trades (Toms not so much). I did not like the lack of explanation towards the trades so I canceled after a month. Having said that Pete seems to know what he is doing and I will listen to his show.
Do any of you follow Larry Williams? I subscribed to his basic course which seemed logical and informational. I am just unsure after getting the indicators how to use them. His TV show I have given a month trial. I have not paper traded the suggestions but might. But it is not a trading room, he leaves you plenty of room to go make your own evaluations.
Who else do you like for Training? Who is your can't live without class? I hear Al Brooks is a fraud but a lot of people say that what they learned is key to their success.
One of the biggest things I see to futures that is different than investing in stocks and is closer to equity options trading is finding that exact right entry point. If there is not a good entry leave it alone.
Oh Etrade wants to charge me a hundred and something for ICE Data and Futures Exchanges? How many of you subscribe to this extra and is it worth it?
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
1. Do you have a link to this example? When you place a trade, you take a risk of loss for the gain. There are only 5 ways to protect yourself in futures, (1) check to make sure no reports are being released, (2) only trade when you know what you are doing and have high conviction, (3) limit your leverage, (4) place a stop loss, (5) exit a trade if it doesn't work in time or hypothesis is wrong. But once you enter the market, you are at risk. The only guarantee protection is not to place a trade.
2. I doubt any long term successful futures trader is trading by going from indicator to indicator. Serious traders are probably (1) running systems, (2) trading infrequently, (3) trading based on extensive experience with their tools. Indicators will do well in some environments and poor in others. The key is how well you know the indicator and when it applies and when it doesn't. Regardless, I think indicators work better for swing trading.
3. Tradestation is good. It is not the most suitable for small accounts that want to trade multiple contracts, day trade, or scalp though. There is not a single best broker. It depends on what your needs are. Some brokers are better suited to newer traders, others are geared toward system traders, others to trade traders/scalpers, others want to trade many products, etc. Frequent traders/scalpers need to find the best rates. Newer traders might want to find a broker that can help them more, etc. There are many good brokers: suggest you check the brokers section for more info.
4. I do not follow Williams very much but he has a long trading history of ups and downs like most traders. Trading is very difficult. When you place a trade, there are likely rooms full of computers trading against you. So, you need to paper trade to have any confidence. Paper trading is not the same as live but it can be close if the simulation is realistic.
5. Training on the simulator, backtesting, etc will be worth more then any of these educators. There are many resources that are worth to see if they click for you. But every method will work in some environments and not others. At your stage, you probably do not need to worry if a trader is a fraud or not: just scan over the methods and see if any click for you and then put in the work to verify it can work. Every trader is a fraud in the sense that no one can know what anyone's future performance will be.
6. Agree. You have to be very precise when trading with leverage futures provide. The leverage is the #1 reason futures traders fail. It only takes a single critical mistake or a few mistakes to ruin an account.
Do you trade those markets? Only subscribe to the markets you trade. I strongly suggest you spend some time in the simulator and focus on trading 2 markets only. It sounds like you are trying to absorb a lot of stuff right now. I'd suggest getting a bit more experience and developing some core techniques before risking money in live markets.
Why I asked about indicators I only meant basic indicators such a SMA 8 or the MACD. Nothing more. I am not looking to hear about the best cooked up indicator on NT or Trade Station.
You are right about one thing, I am trying to suck in as much information as possible. No time to slow down.
I find these 5 ideas to be helpful and interesting. Did you purposefully exclude trading options on futures as a hedge? Also, do you apply all 5 ideas to any and every futures trade?