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hi, im new.

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:39 am
by cjackson
hi guys

i found this forum a few days ago and have been reading up on all the old posts. i found some great stuff and im very appreciative to the guys here that share info. knowlege is power to say the least!

just to let you guys in on me, im 25, and i manage/fabricate at a race shop for day job. ive been value investing on my own for a few years now which has been fairly successful, but ive recently been lured into what is the "pirate ship" around here :) i love the idea of get in - get out and dont get caught. just looking to learn a different trade....heh.

well i just thought id introduce myself before i start posting up and asking noobish quesitons. speaking of... what strategy/plays would you reccommend i learn first? i figure buy zone/gaps are in the simple category....any suggestions?

arrr!

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:08 pm
by TheRumpledOne
Welcome to the jungle..LOL!

If you are trading stocks, start out learning the Buy Zone / Milk The Cows.

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:07 pm
by eudamonia
TheRumpledOne wrote:Welcome to the jungle..LOL!

If you are trading stocks, start out learning the Buy Zone / Milk The Cows.


Avery what if he wants to trade Urea futures? Wouldn't the Buy Zone work just as well :lol:

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 8:02 pm
by TheRumpledOne
Yes, Ed.

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 8:39 pm
by cjackson
haha im tryin to keep it to what i know for now...futures - maybe in the future but not any time soon :)

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:39 am
by cjackson
well, this week was a crazy learning experience. i traded the open of aapl and rimm every day, and as an active member of the 'non morning person' team, it was quite a challenge to even get up let alone jump into fast paced trading.

monday was pretty rocky to say the least. i jumped right in to the mix (like i normally do with anything im new at) and made a couple buy zone trades that were profitable. very thrilling!

i got excited and entered into a non buy zone long trade that was out of the zone and the price dropped like a rock. not having been in this situation before i just figured id ride it out...the price would go up!....wrong. i exited -1,000 and ouch that was a hard hit. i realized that i need to stick to the rules and exit asap if the trade isnt going my way. not only that but stick to the buyzone heh.

after that beating i quit for the day to contemplate whether or not i should even be allowed to have a credit card. it was tough looking at chart later on that night to go over what i had done....but i learned A TON.

tuesday was better...ish

i tried my first short and F-ed it up royally. wow the price moves fast sometimes! went into another couple stupid trades on my part...and was down 600.00

funny thing is i was getting a hang of what i needed to be doing...it just took me about 1,700.00 dollars to pay for the experience hahah

i made some good buyzone trades the rest of the day tuesday and wittled my tuesday losses to about 300. a decent comeback! i was catching on. :)

wednesday i stumbled out of bed just in time to catch the open and i made some profitable trades right away and didnt make any trades after the first 15 min. i was already up about 250 so i just watched. it was definately a great feeling to have made good trades and come out on top for the day.

thursday was the same as wednesday except i pulled in 420.50! no bad trades...what a feeling. i was starting to reel in that horrible two day start.

friday(today...well, used to be) was another profitable day, i made some bad entries early on, but was able to stop loss quickly and gain back what i lost plus come out on top 220.

by the way, i havent figured out on tradestation how to buy in at a certain price and have it automatically set a stop loss for me...can someone point me in the right direction?


over all, this week was probably the craziest half asleep mornings i have ever had. made some mistakes and learned....one thing that im excited about is that my trades were profitable 71.7 percent of the time. :D

we'll see how next week goes.

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 5:22 pm
by TheRumpledOne
Hey cjackson:

Thanks for sharing.

What's the reason for the non buy zone trades? Were you bored waiting for the next trade?

I don't think you want an automated SL... the market makers like to run stops.

Are you trading via the MATRIX? You can set that up for ONE CLICK entry/exit.... you don't want to confirm buy zone trades... way too slow.

Are you using RadarScreen? If yes, then you can load up the TOP 20 COWS and see where the next trade is. I advise AGAINST THIS until you really get the hang of this style of trading.




Are you FADING THE GAP? Yesterday, AAPL gapped UP and then kept dropping. I know that $3 gapped filled... EASY MONEY!!




Please keep posting your results. A screenshot with your entries/exit would be very educational.

Thanks again.

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:43 pm
by eudamonia
cjackson,

Thanks for sharing your experiences. In my opinion there is NO BETTER way to learn than by experience. You are learning a lot right now. About how to execute at trade, deal with losses with real money, and observing how the market moves. Congratulations on your rocky but educational start. The key is to keep learning! Don't let your losses get so big that they stop the learning experience and you will be on the road to success. Only the market can tell you about the market.

Edward

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 10:06 pm
by TheRumpledOne
THOUGHT I WOULD DO SOME SATURDAY AFTERNOON QUARTERBACKING...

well, this week was a crazy learning experience. i traded the open of aapl and rimm every day, and as an active member of the 'non morning person' team, it was quite a challenge to even get up let alone jump into fast paced trading.

monday was pretty rocky to say the least. i jumped right in to the mix (like i normally do with anything im new at) and made a couple buy zone trades that were profitable. very thrilling!




ON MONDAY, WAS A GAP UP (WHITE LINE = OPEN, YELLOW = PREVIOUS CLOSE), SO YOU LOOK TO FADE THE GAP SHORT. But you have to be quick and NOT GREEDY. Price reversed and you should be long at open + .10

i got excited and entered into a non buy zone long trade that was out of the zone and the price dropped like a rock. not having been in this situation before i just figured id ride it out...the price would go up!....wrong. i exited -1,000 and ouch that was a hard hit. i realized that i need to stick to the rules and exit asap if the trade isnt going my way. not only that but stick to the buyzone heh.

after that beating i quit for the day to contemplate whether or not i should even be allowed to have a credit card. it was tough looking at chart later on that night to go over what i had done....but i learned A TON.

tuesday was better...ish

i tried my first short and F-ed it up royally. wow the price moves fast sometimes! went into another couple stupid trades on my part...and was down 600.00



TUESDAY, GAP UP SO LOOK TO GO SHORT. ONCE AGAIN, QUICK AND NOT GREEDY... BUYZONE KEEPS YOU ON THE PROFITABLE SIDE OF THE TRADE.

funny thing is i was getting a hang of what i needed to be doing...it just took me about 1,700.00 dollars to pay for the experience hahah

i made some good buyzone trades the rest of the day tuesday and wittled my tuesday losses to about 300. a decent comeback! i was catching on. :)

wednesday i stumbled out of bed just in time to catch the open and i made some profitable trades right away and didnt make any trades after the first 15 min. i was already up about 250 so i just watched. it was definately a great feeling to have made good trades and come out on top for the day.




GAP UP, TAKING THE BUY ZONE TRADES PUTS MONEY IN YOUR POCKET AGAIN AND AGAIN.



thursday was the same as wednesday except i pulled in 420.50! no bad trades...what a feeling. i was starting to reel in that horrible two day start.




GAP DOWN, FADING LONG, TAKING BUY ZONE TRADES NETS YOU A PROFIT, AGAIN.

friday(today...well, used to be) was another profitable day, i made some bad entries early on, but was able to stop loss quickly and gain back what i lost plus come out on top 220.



GAP UP, FADING THE GAP SHORT, MORE PROFIT FROM THE BUY ZONE.


by the way, i havent figured out on tradestation how to buy in at a certain price and have it automatically set a stop loss for me...can someone point me in the right direction?


over all, this week was probably the craziest half asleep mornings i have ever had. made some mistakes and learned....one thing that im excited about is that my trades were profitable 71.7 percent of the time. :D

we'll see how next week goes.

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 2:54 pm
by jana
I got beat-up a bit by aapl too on mon & tues., the rest of the week was great.

I also on fri. short the morning drop of GS, I am still glowing from that trade in which I used a load of .7 delta put options. Entered market buy just below the open @ .75 and had my sell to close @ 225. That was just awesome.

Must have been my lucky day Friday.

Thx TRO !!!