Saturday, March 1, 2008

Take Profits - Biggest Wall Street Misconception

Overview

When you start out in the trading game, you often will hear a number of pearls of wisdom. Keep your losses small, let your winners run, no one ever went broke taking profits. These anecdotes make trading sound so easy. One of the biggest reasons for so many losing traders on Wall Street is the fact they take profits too early. If you continuously take profits before you let your harvest come in, you will go broke.

Example of taking profits

First off trading is a game of odds. Anyone that tells you otherwise is either delusional or not a seasoned veteran. Since it is a game of odds, much like a casino, the only way to win is to have your winners be bigger than your losers and to have more winners. This sounds simple enough, but remember when you are wrong, you are not only in a losing trade, but you also have to pay commission. For day traders, this fact is all to critical to your bottom-line as you are looking for relatively small price fluctuations to make a profit. So, how do people go broke taking profits? Let's say Trader A purchases 200 shares of MSFT at $50 and pays 4 dollars in commission. The stock runs up to $50.25 and Trader A sells for a quick half of a percent gain. This sounds easy enough right? Well Trader A then puts on a short of 1000 ATVI at $10, but the stock quickly rallies and Trader A has to cover for a half of a percent loss. Trader A invests 10k on all of his transactions, but since the ATVI trade commissions are $16 dollars due to the 1,000 share lot. So, while the percentage gain/loss for the MSFT and ATVI trades are exact, Trader A will actually be down $12 bucks on these trades due to the commission costs.

Grinding Cycle

I know this all sounds really simplified, but what ends up happening over a 1-month period, is that you will end up grinding it out and not having any breakthroughs in your trading profits. This grinding cycle leads to stress and poor trading habits. You as a trader have to determine some method or means of allowing yourself to stay in winning trades, while limiting your risk. Trader A in the above example sold out the minute a half of a percent target was hit, but what if the stock was preparing for a move to $52, or $55? The answer to this question is that you don't know. But what you do know is that trading is a numbers game much like the casino, so if you structure your strategy to allow you to eat the big winners (whatever a big winner means to you), you will be able to achieve much greater success than to constantly sell a stock for the simple fact you have made a profit. If you get one thing out of this article, you must remember that you only sell a stock when you have a predetermined reason for doing so. Never sell a stock just to take profits, remember your security could end up going much higher.

Penny Stocks - Beginners Guide

Penny Stocks, even though a risky investment, are very popular among many new and seasoned investors. You don't need a huge investment to get started trading penny stocks and you can still turn a tiny investment into a huge fortune. Generally Penny Stocks or also known as micro cap or small cap stocks are sold for less than a dollar per share. Penny stocks are not found among the stock exchange giants such as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) or the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The modern way of buying and selling penny stocks is over the Internet. There are various on-line companies that make it very easy to get started.

When investing in penny stocks there are some risks you have to account for. Watch for stocks that are over-hyped and always be aware of the element of fraud. With penny stocks the companies do not have to report their financial health therefore you have to be very careful to research the company yourself if possible. Also the price of the stock does not reflect the companies value.

The assistance of a stockbroker or a subscription to a newsletter can be a great way to find good investments. Penny stock picks are a good way for a beginner and even an expert find stocks that are about to increase in value. Stock picks come from different methods, some better than others. You should still do your own research on the stock but this method helps you to narrow down your list to stocks that are being recommended by a reputable source.

Forex Autopilot Review - The Automated Trading Robot In Forex Trading?

Need a review of the Forex Autopilot software? Having tested this trading robot for a few weeks now, I believe that more and more people will be using robots to automate their currency trading in the near future. So, was this trading robot profitable for me?

1. Benefits Of Using A Trading Robot

If you have tried trading the currency market before, I am sure that you will agree that the worst part of it is to have to spend time in front of the computer screen waiting for your opportunity to buy, and you may not even get the opportunity sometimes! Forex Autopilot has freed me from being stuck with my computer all day, while automatically buying and selling for me when the right opportunity arises.

2. How Does Forex Autopilot Work?

It is programmed by an expert trader to generate its own buy and sell signals. This means that not only is the whole process automatic, you will never miss another profit opportunity again. This means that Forex Autopilot can do 24 hour market observation on your behalf, as long as you leave the software up and running.

3. Never Be Influenced By Your Emotions When Trading Again

The thing I love most about this system is that I never have to deal with my intuitions and emotions when trading again. When particular conditions are met, the robot will buy and sell quickly, and it will not be influenced by any other factors. I know I have personally made huge losses when I do not sell, even though I have met my stop loss goals.

4. Conclusion

It is worth noting that not all Forex robots can help you make money. Different robots are programmed with different trading strategies, and therefore their results will vary. This is one robot that has given me good profits for a few weeks now, and I would recommend it to traders who wish to automate their trading process.

Stock Picking - Automated Future Of Picking Penny Stocks

You may have heard of penny stocks before, but what are they? Penny stocks are stocks that are held by small cap, or new companies. What attracts people is the idea of making big money with a small investment. There is, however, high risk because many of these small companies have no financial data available and many will go out of business in a relatively short time.

What happens is your typical investor will spend countless hours researching these companies which takes time away from the ultimate goal, investing and making money. What is the solution? You can hire a financial advisor who can assist you in making sound stock picks. A typical financial investor can be very expensive and they all have vastly different ideas about what stocks are performers. Is there a more effective way to pick stocks? The answer is yes.

A couple of years ago a company released a stock picking robot which actually uses the power of many computers linked together by the internet constantly monitoring and filtering data to make predictions on what stocks are doing from minute to minute. Imagine thousands of computers all running day and night doing one thing, looking for choice pick stocks. This is an incredibly advanced and easy way to narrow down your selection of stocks to ones that have the greatest chance of succeeding. Whatever way you choose to go as far as picking stocks that will make you money, look at automated stock picking by the company DoublingStocks because I believe it's the wave of the future.

10 Top Reasons Why Most People Are Into Online Forex Trading

It is no longer news that the Foreign Exchange market, also referred to as the "Forex" or "Spot FX" is the largest financial market in the world. It is more than three times the total amount of the stocks and futures markets traded in the New York Stock market. So, there is no doubt Forex is a Money Maker!!!

Though this market rocks and highly profitable but at the same time highly risky. What a Paradox you would say. Because you're not trading anything physical, this kind of trading can be confusing. The Forex market is considered an over-the-counter (OTC), due to the fact that the entire market is run electronically, continuously over a 24-hour period.

However, because of the advent of Internet Technology, Online Forex Brokerage firms now have the capability to offer trading account to 'retail' traders like you and I. It's so simple! All you need to get started is a computer, a high speed-internet connection, and skills of how it works.

There are several advantageous reasons to trading Forex. Here are just a few reasons why so many are choosing this market, and why you should consider making "FOREX" a friend:

No Commissions: No clearing fees, no exchange fees, no government fees, no brokerage fees.

No Middlemen: Forex trading eliminates the middlemen, and allows you to trade directly with the market via your computer with internet connection.

No Fixed Lot Size: Unlike futures markets, Forex allows you to determine your own lot size. This allows petty traders to participate with accounts as small as $200.

Low transaction Costs: The retail transaction cost (spread) is less than 0.1 percent under normal market conditions. It is even lower when the deal is large.

Flexibility. Because of 24-hour trading participants of the foreign exchange market would not wait to react on some events, as this happens on other markets (for example: stock markets). On other markets you simply can be late if you have to wait till morning to show your reaction, as in the morning the event will be already in the price, greatly differ from the desired level.

No one can corner the market: The Forex market is so huge and has millions of participants that no single entity can control the market price for long period of time.

Leverage: Leverage gives a trader the ability to make nice profits and at the same time keep risk capital to a minimum. For example, Forex brokers offer 100 to 1 leverage, this means that a $100 dollar margin deposit would enable a trader to buy or sell $10,000 worth of currencies. Similarly, with $1,000 dollars, one could trade with $100,000 dollars and so on.

High Liquidity: Forex is the largest financial market in the world, with the equivalent of over 3-4 trillion changing hands daily when the volume on the stock markets is only 500 billions of dollars.Forex market is very enormous and extremely liquid. With a click of a mouse you can instantaneously buy and sell at will. You are never "stuck" in a trade. You can never set your online trading platform to automatically close a trade at your desired profit level (a take profit order), and/or close a trade if a trade is going against you (a stop loss order).

Free "Demo" Accounts: Most onlineForex brokers offer "demo" accounts to practice trading. A Demo account is an account given to you to practice and perfect your trading skills before opening a live account and risking your real money. The difference between the Demo account and the real live account is that in the former you can only trade with the money give to you but can not withdraw from it and also it involves no risk.

Low Start-up Capital: You would think that getting started as a forex trader would cost a whole lots of money, like trading stocks, option or future, it doesn't. With just $250 or less you can open a forex account depending on the broker. This makes Forex much more accessible to the average person who doesn't have a lot of start-up trading capital.

I hope have been able to convince you on why you should consider making Online Forex Trading your friend and another source of income (if you have any at all). Welcome to the Future of another wonderful Home Base Business.

Stock Picking - A Subjective Approach

Valuing a company not only involves working with numbers and predicting future growth but looking at a more general and subjective view of the company.

This all starts with the managers who are ultimately at the top making the strategic decisions. To asses the strengths of the management you need to find out things like who runs the company, where do they come from, what experience do they have in their various capacities. Are you dealing with a 20 year CEO or a 20 year old with out any prior business knowledge. Just because a company has bad management doesn't mean it's doomed but it's a definite red flag to investors.

Another thing to consider is why they are actually in business. What does the company do to make money? Knowing what a company actually does is fundamental to making a sound investment. It is surprising how many people own stock but knows nothing about the company.

Analyze the competition. Find out who the other players in the industry are and see where they stand in comparison. You don't need to make it too complicated but try to get a feel for the company and its competitors. With this information you can also get some ideas about what to expect for growth in the future.

Look at the advertising the company puts out. This is usually readily available information and an easy way to get a feel for what message they are trying to convey to the public. Many times you can order their prospectus which can contain a treasure trove of information such as general financials, brochures about the company and so on.

If you take a step back, take a deep breath and approach valuing a company with a general, rounded view you might get a completely different sense about the company than you initially had.

Sometimes, such as with penny stocks, there is not much information available to the public. Those companies are usually new startups and don't publish adequate information to determine much, if anything, about what makes it tick. In this case you might consider a stock picker newsletter, such as

Friday, February 29, 2008

Cup and Handle - Bullish Continuation Pattern

Cup and Handle - Overview

The cup and handle pattern is a bullish continuation formation. This pattern is one of the newer chart formations and can be easily spotted on a price chart. The formation was first popularized by William O'Neil in his 1988 book, How to Make Money in Stocks. In order for the cup and handle setup to have the highest odds of succeeding, it should come after a clear uptrend is in place. The pattern consists of two key components: (1) cup and (2) handle.

Cup

After a new high is set with an increase in volume, the asset will then begin an extended pullback. This pullback will occur on light volume and create a rounding bottom. Relative to the time it took to make the first high, the rounding bottom will take three to four times in duration to complete. Throughout this bottoming process, you will notice that the volume will diminish. In order for the odds of the cup and handle to be in your favor, the cup should not retrace more than 50% of the prior up move. There are times that the formation will work with retracements of 61.8% or greater, but the odds are no longer in your favor. Once this intermediary low is in, the asset will begin to rally back up to the last swing high, only to fail at the retest level.

Handle

The handle begins to form after the failed retest of the swing high. The asset will then retrace roughly 38.2% to 50% of the cup. The smaller the retracement, the greater odds of success. Once the handle completes this minor correction, it will then breakout above the two recent swing highs, with an increase in volume. The target of the cup and handle formation is calculated by adding the depth of the cup to the breakout level.

Day Trading Will Wipe Your Trading Account Out Quickly

One of the biggest puzzles of currency trading for me is that anyone takes day trading seriously as a way to enjoy success. You can't win at it and will lose all your money, the reason is obvious and is the subject of this article.

You may be thinking that if no one wins, why are there so many profitable day trading systems for sale?

The answer is:

There all made up in hindsight and simply simulated on paper but have never been traded for real. If you ever see a track record for a forex day trading or scalping system which claims extra ordinary profits, then check for the disclaimer:

"CFTC RULE 4.41 - Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not been executed, the results may have under-or-over compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown".

Keep in mind "if it looks to good to be true it probably is" in forex trading if it looks to good simply look for the disclaimer! Your sure to find it!

Of course we can all make money when we know the prices and can trade backwards but you don't have that luxury in forex trading, you have to trade not knowing the closing prices and trade forwards.

The people selling these systems know they wont make money in real time forex trading (otherwise they would trade them themselves) but they know that their buyers will not read the disclaimer to closely, as its hidden away at the bottom of the copy and difficult to see and find!

They then make up some exciting copy to sell it and promise the buyer unlimited riches a regular income etc etc. The novice trader buys and the reality of course doesn't live up to the hype They get a guaranteed profit selling a useless trading system and the trader takes the loss.

Now why doesn't it work - well it's obvious really:

All short term volatility is random in a day or less support and resistance is meaningless and you have no chance of winning because you cant get the odds on your side. It always makes me laugh, when I see systems that claim you can make a living and scalp 100 ticks a week etc - its lies you can't.

You have countless millions or tens of millions of traders, all over the world that make the price, all have different aims, objectives, skills and there all governed by emotions. You simply cannot measure what this vast diverse, volatile, group will do in just a few hours.

Its amazing how sensible people in other walks of life, think they can make money day trading, the logic it is based upon doesn't add up and it is clear to anyone it doesn't work and the facts prove it.

Want the proof? Well here it is:

Ask any forex trader or forex system vendor who claims that forex day trading works, to show you their track record over the long term of gains, audited with account statements. A word of warning here - if you do decide to try and find one, get ready for a long a fruitless search.

Forex day trading is a loser's game avoid it and trade longer term, where you can get the odds on your side and pile up some forex profits longer term.

Level II - Displays Market Data For Buy And Sell Orders

Level II - Overview

Level II provides the data for pending orders in the market. It displays the size of the best bids and offers with their respective depths. Day traders use level II to gauge the direction of the market over the short-term. This article will discuss the working parts of the level II screen based on the tools provided from the tradestation brokerage firm. While level II windows will look differently depending on the broker, the functionality is virtually the same.

Level II Window Structure

The level II window structure is comprised of four key components: (1) security information, (2) bid/ask window, (3) depth chart, and (4) bid/ask orders.

Security Information

The first element of the level II window is the general market information for the security. This information will include the symbol name, direction of the bid tick, last price, and net change. As the bid for the security changes, the arrow will shift up and down and from red to green. The last price is the last recorded price for the security. Finally, the net change represents the total dollar amount change for the security from the previous day's close.

Bid/Ask Window

The bid ask data contains the current bid/ask prices for the security. This data has four columns: (1) price, (2) depth, (3) size, and (4) spread). The price in the bid/ask window displays the current bid by the asking price. The depth represents the number of orders at the given price. So, if you have 3 * 1 then there are 3 buy offers for every 1 sell. The size shows you the actual size for the bid and ask orders. So, if you have 1000 * 100, that means there are traders attempting to buy a 1000 shares at the given price, while there is only 100 shares at the sale price. The spread represents the difference between the bid and ask. The tighter the spread, the better. Day traders should look to trade stocks with high volume and close spreads.

Depth Chart

The depth chart is the visual representation of the orders and their respective size. The color of the graph in the depth chart, will match the color of the bid/ask data. If you are attempting to go long, you will want to see the size and speed of the bars on the left side of the depth chart to be larger than the bars on the right. This implies that there are more buyers in the market.

Bid/Ask Orders

The bid/ask orders displays all of the pending buy and sell orders in the market. There are four components of the window: (1) ID, (2) order type, (3) size and (4) time. The ID represents the ECN that the order is routed through. The order type will be either the bid or ask depending on which window you are watching. The size is the size of the order. The time represents the time that the order was placed. The bid/ask window is the consolidated version of all the bid/ask orders. Traders will look at all the bid/ask orders in the level II window, to gauge the momentum and to see how many orders are at a particular level.

Penny Stocks - Sink Or Swim

Most companies that offer their stocks as penny stocks are new companies and you are going to find that financial information is not readily available in many cases. It's really a gamble when you invest in a new company so most seasoned investors buy while the stock is climbing in value and sell before it peaks out, all the time avidly watching the market. Many people are using real-time quotes which can, in the world of penny stocks, make a huge difference. You need the ability to buy and sell on a moments notice and also be monitoring your stocks as often as possible. It can be frustrating because penny stocks can be idle for long periods but then all of the sudden shoot up 200%.

Penny stocks can climb in value hundreds of percents and loose just the same in a very small amount of time. The unpredictability of this form of trading is amazing but the idea is that you aren't loosing or investing as much money as you would in the regular stock market. The highest a penny stock can go is 5 dollars and the lowest is a fraction of a penny.

Realistically, most penny stocks are doomed to failure. That's why you need to look into finding a good stock picker financial adviser. It can be unforgiving and sometimes impossible to get accurate information on these small companies so if you can find a way to pick your stocks with the least amount of hassle you are ahead of the game. There are several stock picking tools on the market, some better than others.

Stock Picking - The Key To Making Money

You probably know by now that if you choose the right penny stock it could lead to you making a lot of money. The question is how do you choose the right ones? It can be a fairly simple and straightforward task.

Penny stock websites that are subscription based is where you will have the best chances of finding that magical stock. In reality, would you give away your best penny stocks for free? Probably not and that's why when you are paying for the information you are probably getting the real deal versus a free stock pick list that could wipe away your whole investment.

Many stock picking services are somehow affiliated with the stocks that they are pushing. If they are a legit service they will have to disclose this on their website or they are in violation of federal law. If they are affiliated with the stocks they are picking for their customers this is not always bad. The bottom line is if you have people paying a company to pick stocks and they are on the average making money from this, then people don't really care about affiliations. These people are in the business of recommending stocks so if they are recommending bad stocks nobody will buy the service or continue to use it. Look at the company as a whole and look at how their customers are doing with the service, are they making money? You usually can find out by using google to search for information.

To sum things up, beware of using free information on picking stocks. Subscription based stock picking services on average are making people more money than other free alternatives. To learn more about stock picking and find out about some stock picking programs that seem to be working for people,

Wedge Chart Formation - Pause In Current Trend

Definition of Wedge Chart Formation

A Wedge Chart Formation is created when price fluctuations converge to a point on a straight line. There are two types of wedge formations: rising and falling. The wedge chart formation is not a trend reversal pattern, but only a temporary pause in the current trend. Volume in a wedge formation like other triangles, diminishes as the formation develops. In order to draw a valid wedge, the trend pattern must be compact with frequent price fluctuations and tightly bound lines that converge to a point.

Falling Wedge

A falling wedge formation develops as price continues to converge to a point after falling rapidly. When price breaks out of a falling wedge, it drifts sideways or in a dull rounding bottom before the rally begins. Falling wedges are most common in bull markets, as they provide the fuel for the continuation of the primary trend.

Rising Wedge

A rising wedge formation develops as price continues to converge to a point after rallying for a period of time. In many cases the price will rise to a clear apex, and in some cases, it will actually push through the top of the formation. However, once price breaks out of the wedge to the downside, they often begin to decline quite rapidly. Trading volume in a wedge follows the common rule of diminishing gradually as the price moves towards the apex. This is the one difference between rising and falling wedges, because remember with falling wedges the price action may drift out of the wedge before rallying sharply. Rising wedges are most common in bear markets, as they provide the fuel for the continuation of the primary trend.

See You At the Top,

mysmp.com

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Beating The Forex - It's Easier Than You Think

With the stark future facing the American economy its only logical that profit seekers would take their search for profitable gains worldwide. The economy is truly global in scope and the emergence of India, China as well as Europe have changed the landscape of a world that was once dominated by America and Russia.

Other countries currencies matter now. It's a new world and if you want to profit from the new markets created by these world powers, keep it simple. Most new Forex traders overcomplicate the situation. They see the wildly gyrating tick by tick pricing and become greedy by the thought of profiting from every tick.

Not gonna happen. Other than the timed to the second news announcements that shake the market most other movement is simply the normal operation of the currency exchange business. Trying to predict and time the random buys and sells of banks as they exchange currency is foolish.

Stop looking at the 1, 15 and 30 minute charts. Switch to 1 hour and greater and the larger trend of the market begins to expose itself. That's where your should be betting should be concentrated. Even when playing the market as a day trader I always try to make my bets in the direction of the larger trend. This will give your trades the secondary protection of the overall trend in the event that your intra-day play is wrong. Using this method has saved my bacon more times than I can count.

Exposing the trend is pretty simple if you have a basic charting application. Add a 72 period Moving Average Exponential (MAE) to the chart in red. Add a 24 period Moving Average Exponential (MAE) to the chart in yellow.

The crossing lines easily expose the trend when viewing on a one hour or greater chart. Trading just the MAE crosses would get you in trouble but as secondary support to your main trading strategy it can work wonders for saving bad deals.

Keep your Indicator usage simple too. Indicators can be useful when you understand their limitations. A lot of traders have an over reliance on indicators and believe that if they place enough of them on a chart that the computer will magically become a forex psychic. Wrong!

All indicators lag the market even the leading indicators. If you have an indicator that updates every minute you could easily be in a situation where the indicator updates one minute after you go broke! But there are a few indicators that can greatly enhance your trading success when used correctly. They include the Commodity Channel Index (CCI), Relative Strength Index (RSI) among others.

Future articles in this series will show you how to properly apply the information provided by these tools until then look them up. They're pretty straight-forward in their standard usage and very useful but I'll show you how to use them in a sideways manner that gives you a truer picture of the trading market.

Until then keep it simple. You'll sleep better and profit more.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Penny Stock Advisor - Advantages & Risks of Day Trading, Buying & Selling in Penny Stocks Investment

Penny stocks are the normal stocks which a share can be traded for for less than $5. In the US financial markets, moreover, penny stocks are traded outside NYSE, NASDAQ or AMEX and are sometimes looked down upon, hence, considered pejorative.

Nevertheless, SEC defines penny stock as the stock that has a low price and a speculative security that matches a small company whether it works through exchanges like NYSE or NASDAQ or the OTCBB and PINK SHEETS (two forms of over the counter listing services).

Penny Stocks are also sometimes referred to as nano caps, microcap stocks and small caps although penny stocks are mostly determined by share price and not listing service or market capitalization.

On the other hand, in the UK, penny stocks- or shares- mean the shares in small cap bodies that have a market capitalization of less than 100 million or whose share price is 1 and whose bid spread more than 10%.

The British penny stocks, moreover, are issued with the FSA (Financial Services Authority) warning. In France, the same term refers to risky stocks whose price is lower than 1 Euro.

Having market caps that are less than $500M, penny stocks (especially those trading on low volumes over the counter) are usually considered very speculative. They, moreover, are sometimes difficult to sell due to the fact that it is not always easy to find quotations for certain kinds of them. In other words, if you are thinking of investing in penny stocks, be prepared for the possibility of losing all your investment.

Day Trading

Trading

Day trading is difficult for several reasons. The key to successful day trading is to manage your trades and your emotions. Discipline is a requirement, consistency is key, and commissions eat away at profits. Day Trading requires prior experience and skills to be successful. If you are not up to spending the time learning the techniques of trading, reading about new and improved trading strategies, and working with commitment in a fast-paced trading environment, then day trading is probably not for you. Day trading isn't just investing, you need your investments to make profit (as any investment should) plus pay your living expenses. It is all about control and how much you have of it. Limiting your losses when day trading is by far more important than making big profits. Although it is commonly viewed that day trading is riskier than investing, the professional day trader will argue with you that the opposite is true. Successful day trading is about one thing -momentum- whether you are shorting the market or going long. Day traders want to ride the momentum of the stock and get out of the stock before it changes course.

Day trading is done in real-time. Real time charting software is essential for day trading, it will save you time and improve the accuracy of your trades. Day traded stocks are rarely kept overnight because of the extreme risk of prices changes to the detriment of the trader. Day traders depend heavily on borrowing money or buying stocks on margin. Overnight margins required to hold a stock position are normally 50% of the stock's value, while many brokers allow pattern day trader accounts to use levels as low as 25% for intraday purchases. Day traders use direct access brokers, not retail brokers as execution of trades are too slow. Low commission rates allow a day trader to make a large numbers of trades during a single day with out eating away at the traders' profits. There are a variety of online trading services. CyberTrader is one of the best online brokers in the market today.

Conclusion

Successful day traders have the discipline to follow their method because they know that only trades which are indicated by that method have the highest probability of resulting in a profit. Expect to make at least 500 trades before you really start to get comfortable. You must ask yourself, Do I trust myself to enter trades and do I trust myself to exit trades when my method indicates to do so? Remember, good day traders do not rush into trades. They take their time and pull the trigger when the right time occurs. So are you ready to begin day trading online and making money?

Conquering Day Trading Penny Stock Risk For Profit

Many believe day trading penny stocks is an art. I believe day trading penny stocks is a science. Day trading penny stocks may be a little thrilling for some people, but once you master it you're on the way to a life full of riches and commodities you didn't realize existed. The beautiful thing about day trading penny stocks is that the analysis required to select which penny stock to day trade is not as complicated as the analysis needed to select stocks for long-term investment. However, you should watch your trades hourly instead of monthly.

What Is A Penny Stock?

Penny stocks are stocks that normally trade for very low amounts. Penny stocks exhibit the greatest daily percentage increases of any other stockson the market... but they also carry the most potential percentage loss. Penny stocks are infamous for empowering you to make either huge gains or losses overnight. In order to maximize the potential from these high percentage increases, you need to day trade these penny stocks instead of investing long-term. This way you leverage the large daily percentage increases you only see in the area of penny stocks.

Then What is Day Trading?

Day trading is buying and selling shares of a stock on the same day. By day trading, you don't run the risk of watching the stock price go down over the long term. Many people view day trading as potentially risky. However day trading is only risky if you don't use the right tools or exercise the appropriate knowledge. With the correct tools and the right knowledge, you greatly minimize the risk. Figuring out how to make money from day trading penny stocks requires a analytical mind. The investment crowd tries to scare people away from penny stocks so they can be the ones making most of the money on penny stocks. This is because they know many people have weak hands and can be easily shaken off an investment with loss. Again, persistence is a key to your success with day trading. Don't let the big dogs scare you, and don't panic when you have a little loss. Learn and move forward.

So How Do You Learn Day Trading?

The more knowledge and experience you gain, the less risk you incur. If a person who has never gone surfing before was dropped on top of a wave, can you imagine how quickly he would taste salt water? But, if he spent time in the shallows learning and improving, then he might glide along with the wave with his next opportunity. The same thing applies to day trading. Taking the time to read and practice will greatly minimize the risks.

Remember you buy and sell shares on the same day -- occasionally within hours -- and lock in your profits. You don't even have to be concerned with your stocks overnight because you have already sold them and made your money. And it really can be enjoyable.

Penny Stock Day Trading - An Opportunity of a Lifetime or a Risky Investment

The stock market is a place full of complexities that will provide you with an opportunity to make a lot of money or a place that will make you lose a lot of it. It is a place where you have to be experienced, educated enough and you also have to have the money in order for you to invest and have a chance to get a piece of the action and also a piece of the big pie.

One form of trading is day trading. This type of trading is considered to be an integral part of the stock market and is invented by traders who want to have an easy way to make money. Day traders are traders who buy and sell stocks as much as they can during the day and hence the term "day trading". To this day, day trading is a very popular form of trading as it will provide you with an opportunity to profit in just a short amount of time.

All throughout the day, day traders buy and sell different kinds of stocks. They do this in order for them to gain a short term profit. You have to consider that the value of a particular stock will keep on fluctuating every second throughout the trading day. Because of this, the profit and the fortunes of day traders will also fluctuate. With this fact alone, day trading is also considered to be a high risk trading and is not for beginners or for one who doesn't have enough money to risk.

Penny stocks are a form of low priced stocks where each stock can cost less than a dollar. A lot of day traders consider that investing on penny stocks in day trading can be a great way to lower the risk of their trades as they will have a chance to purchase low priced stocks, therefore, minimizing the risk of losing a lot of money.

If you are starting out to be a day trader, you may want to start out investing on penny stocks. Here, you might actually learn how to be a very good day trader as penny stocks always fluctuates in value. However, because penny stocks don't actually cost that much, this is a great way to practice your skills and even acquire a little profit from it. Also, the risk is minimized as penny stocks cost less than other kinds of stocks out in the market today.

Here's how it works.

First, you should have money to buy the penny stocks. For example, you have a thousand dollars ready to invest on penny stocks. You then invest on a penny stock that costs fifty cents per share. You then spend all your one thousand dollars on this stock with the thought of getting it increase in value. After purchasing the stock, you then have two thousand stocks. Later in the day, you noticed that the value of the stock you are holding rises up to five dollars per stock. You then decide to sell all your two thousand stocks at this price. With your two thousand stocks, you have a return of ten thousand dollars in cash.

In this case, you see that one thousand dollars can turn to ten thousand dollars in just one trading day. So, now that you have an idea on how to day trade and how penny stocks work, you will see that penny stock day trading can indeed work for you. With this kind of trading, it will not only give you a chance to make a lot of money, but it will also give you a chance to day trade with minimal risk of losing a lot of money. Just remember to never invest money that you can never afford to lose.

Emini Trading - The Allure Of Day Trading Chatrooms

Many people dream about becoming day traders. Many have tried to make money this way trading individual stocks or emini futures. Most have failed or will fail. The success rate among day traders is a mediocre 5-10%, but then again, the success rate among upstart businesses is hardly any better if at all.

Launching a daytrading career is as risky as starting a new business. It's hard work, many challenges and frustrations to overcome and a lot of perseverance. That is, if you want to succeed.

When the things get tough and the clear progress is yet to be seen, it's quite tempting to look for shortcuts, for someone who would shorten your learning curve, for a mentor of sorts.

And it's very easy to find it. There are plenty of mentors out there, running Internet day trading chatrooms for a fee that hardly ever is commensurate with the benefits gained, not to mention, profits made by participating in their chatrooms.

This should not come as a surprise. The majority of such rooms are run by people who never made it as day traders yet were shrewd enough to capitalize on their "expert" advice by offering it to others instead of perpetuating the misery of putting it to use in their own accounts.

Some of such experts would like you to believe that they trade dozens of emini contracts in their own accounts, yet never allow the public at large to examine their trading records in a comprehensive manner. Sure, from time to time, on a really good day, they post their results for others to view (and admire), but that is not enough to know if they really are consistently profitable as day traders.

And if they are not, why would you want to learn from them? What they truly excel at is selling their services and not making money applying what they preach to their own accounts.

Mastering day trading takes time and effort just as does mastering brain surgery. But if you wanted to master the latter would you rather choose as your mentor an experienced brain surgeon or a guy selling tools for brain surgeons?

There is only one way to separate true day trading experts from bogus ones. By insisting that they take trades they call in the chatroom and prove it by disclosing their trading records. It does not matter how many contracts they trade. One is enough and already too many for most of them.

How many such experts can you find out there? When it comes to day trading emini futures, I know of only one. Out of dozens of such operators that I have seen online over the last few years. (I may reveal his name on my site in due time.) Think about it next next time you decide to seek help from one of them.

Forex Day Trading - Why You Are 100% Guaranteed to Lose

Forex day trading and success are a total contradiction in terms day traders don't make money. If you want to prove this, just ask anyone selling a day trading system for a real track record you won't get one. Why? Let's take a look.

The Odds

If you want to trade and win you need to be able to take calculated risks when the odds are in your favour and you cannot do this in day trading, as you have no reliable data.

Consider this:

Countless millions of traders all with different opinions trade trillions of dollars per day and to say that you can measure market movement in just a few hours or a day is ridiculous you can't.

Prices can and do go anywhere in a day and support and resistance levels are meaningless.

You may as well flip a coin it will be just as effective.

FACT - If you dont have relaible data you will lose over time its 100% certain - PERIOD

BUT I SEE GREAT DAY TRADING RECORDS ALL THE TIME!

Yes you do, but look at the track record and it will say:

Hypothetical and you will get a disclaimer.

In case you have never read one - it basically says that the track record is done knowing the closing prices!

Well that's hard!

Let's see if I knew tomorrow's price in advance would I make a lot of money of course I would. However, you don't have the luxury of knowing the closing price when you trade though and you will lose.

Claims with No Proof to Back Them Up

I have always maintained that these hypothetical track records should be banned - There of no use at all.

Vendors use them to dupe people into buying forex day trading systems and normally throw in some outrageous headlines as well that never have any facts to back them up.

The vendor wins You Lose

The vendor's don't trade these systems (as they know they have no chance of winning) so they sell them to you take your money and you trade and lose.

The Myth & Reality of Forex Day Trading

The myth of making money in forex day trading is perhaps the biggest myth in currency trading it's actually a guaranteed way to lose and if you don't believe me try and find someone who has made money at it.

Get ready for a long search!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Finding The Optimal Way To Trade For That Consistent Profit

Do you long for consistent profits on a long term basis? It is possible but nobody says it is easy. If anyone says otherwise, he is either lying or simply does not understand the complex nature of the most competitive arena in the world.

Anyone can earn a big return on one or two trades. With so many trade options available today and the amount of money which is transacted on each exchange, the odds are very high that everyone will hit a few big wins.

The difficulty is achieving consistent profits.

Many new traders enter the game with unrealistic expectations, little understanding of the true risk and guided by greed over knowledge. They may not realize that bad trade decisions are the profits which reward the better traders. Sad to say, the market needs bad traders, since they fund the better traders and keep the economy of the game in play.

The question is, "Will you be more consistently on the right side or wrong side of a trade?"

Here are 3 simple yet crucial points to optimize the way you trade. It requires much work and discipline to apply.

1. The first step is to perform a broad market analysis. This is the single greatest factor to maximum profits and minimum risk, no matter how technically strong any trade system may be. The broad market effects all individual trades, period. And should set the context for all trade decisions. All trades should be made in harmony with the broad market action.

The broad market should indicate when to get into a trade, which direction to trade and how aggressively are you to trade. You should know the answer to these three decisions before you even start trading.

2. Every trader should equip themselves with an arsenal of trade systems. Trade systems locate stocks or securities which are technically positioned to move in a predetermined direction. We are looking at three to five trade systems, which must be technically superior, based on sound reasoning and fully understood by the trader. With solid trade systems, and being consistent with the broad market, the result is trades at reduced risk producing a synergistic effect that gives the trader a tremendous edge.

3. Once trades have been executed, many traders just wait for the market to move. However, the work is far from over. Specific and carefully reasoned steps must be taken to reduce and eliminate risk, maximize profits and leverage the better performing trades.

Successful trading requires work, there is no question about it or escape from it. It requires knowledge. And it takes experience to develop the skills that will grow your trade account.

How To Stop The Bleeding - Why 95% Of All Traders Fail

I was in a trading forum the other day and a new trader asks the question, "Does anyone make money day trading?" What a great question! The fact is that 95% of all traders lose money. That's right...they blow their account out and never make money. Quite shocking, isn't it? But if the above statement is true, that means that 5% of traders do, in fact, make money. The question becomes, "Why do such a small percentage of traders in the vast universe of day trading make money?

Undercapitalized

It is true that you do need money to trade. How much is enough? For the beginning trader, more is better. There is going to be a certain amount of mistakes a beginning trader makes no matter how careful he or she is. Trading firms have margin minimums to help protect the trader (and the firms) from immediate disaster. My thinking is that those minimums are too small for the beginning trader.

Success In Another Profession

A good many traders come from a profession that they are already successful in. They come into the day trading world with a sense that they can do anything. And because they are already successful, they usually come into the trading game with a fair amount of money. Trading requires an entirely different skill set than most any endeavor in the world. Just because a person is successful in one aspect of their life, they may not be successful day trading. There have been documented cases of doctors, lawyers, or successful salespeople who did well in their chosen profession only to fail dismally day trading.

Instant Gratification

In our fast paced, get every thing you want without waiting, society, it stands to reason that anyone considering trading would come into it with the mind set that trading is easy and there is money to be made at the drop of a hat. That simply is not true. Trading requires a tremendous amount of dedication and screen time to become consistently profitable. Trading is not one of those things that can be mastered with little or no work.

Poor Money Management Techniques

Finally, poor money management techniques contribute to many traders inability to consistently make money. There have been many books written to cover this aspect of trading. The scope of this article is not to re-write those books but to point out that money management is much more than taking a trade and deciding where to place stops and limit orders. The real issue is how a trader deals with all of the influences a trader faces while in the trade. If a trade is up, do you move your stop? If so, when, and by how much? If your trade is approaching a critical resistance area, do you cut the trade short? There are so many different ways to manage the same trade. How a trader manages the trade will, to a great degree, determine if the trader is profitable.

In summary, these are just a few reasons why most traders fail. The best thing for the new trader is to come to the table with few, if any, pre-conceived ideas about trading. Then develop the necessary skill set specifically designed for trading. Those skills can be honed by studying, screen time and reading books that help the trader to have the proper mindset. Is it difficult to accomplish? Yes! But the rewards are well worth the effort.

Monday, February 25, 2008

The Ins and Outs of Day Trading

Day trading is one of the most popular forms of trading because the only components you need are a computer and an Internet connection. You can trade from almost any location you wish: your home, your office, the park, wherever suits you best. Because of this flexibility, day trading has the potential to be a very lucrative career for committed traders, but it's definitely not something you should jump into without a little planning and forethought. To succeed at day trading, you must be willing to work hard, stay focused, and learn as many new strategies and techniques as possible, just like the pros.

What Exactly IS Day Trading?

Day trading is the practice of buying and selling financial instruments throughout the day. As the day progresses, prices will rise and fall in value, creating both the opportunity for gain and the possibility of loss. When traded strategically, the trends and fluctuations in the markets allow for quick profits to be made in brief periods of time. Keep in mind, however, that day trading is specifically designed to result in smaller earnings on a regular basis; it is NOT designed to result in huge fortunes through a single trade.

Day trading can be very profitable, but it is not a get-rich-quick scheme (though many seminars convincingly sell it as such). Nor is day trading a sure road to immeasurable wealth and success (as some hyped-up websites would have you believe). Quite simply, day trading is just like any other business venture: in order to be successful at it, you need to have a PLAN. It would be very risky to dive in head-first without looking. However, with the right tools and with the knowledge of how to use these tools efficiently and effectively the risks of day trading can be greatly reduced.

How to Succeed With Day Trading

Traders who enjoy the most success in day trading, regardless of whether they're in it for a living or for some extra income on the side, generally have solid trading strategies and the discipline to stick to their trading plan. Keep in mind that day trading is a very competitive field, and, in order to succeed, you need to maintain focus on a set of simple strategies which you can implement immediately, without hesitation. Remember, a proven, strategic trading plan can give you an edge over the rest of the market.

Now, devising a trading strategy is all well and good, but you may be wondering how to determine whether or not YOUR strategy is a SUCCESSFUL strategy. There are a few ways to determine this. Most traders rely on back-testing. Back-testing allows you to take a closer look at a certain strategy and see how it would have performed in the past, thereby allowing you to predict with more accuracy how it will perform in the future.

(NOTE: Although back-testing is an effective technique, be aware that past performance is not always indicative of future results).

Unfortunately, even with a tested, proven trading strategy, you are not guaranteed trading success. It takes something else. It takes discipline. A profitable strategy is useless without discipline. Successful day traders must have the discipline to follow their system rigorously, because they know that only trades which are indicated by that system have the highest probability of resulting in a profit.

Whether you're new to trading or have been trading for years, it's all too tempting to place the entirety of your trust in graphs, charts, and software. If only trading was as easy as that! Simply purchasing trading templates and computer programs does not guarantee your success as a trader. Too many hobby traders have tried that, and, unsurprisingly, they've failed. They bought the tools, but they didn't have the knowledge they needed to succeed. As in all things, education will do wonders for the aspiring and experienced trader.

Of course, this is not to say that software programs and markers are not helpful when it comes to day trading. On the contrary, many traders use technical indicators which are instrumental to their success a few examples of these are the MACD, moving averages, and Stochastics. However, though profitable day traders DO follow their indicators, they are also aware that nothing is 100% foolproof.

You will not get rich on just a single day trade. Successful traders know that trying to hit a lucrative home run on just one trade is a sure way to get burned. The key is consistency. You need to devise a solid strategy that produces consistent trading profits, and you need to learn and adapt as your experience with day trading grows and evolves.

In Conclusion

There's no doubt about it: day trading can be a profitable and exciting way to earn money. And, with the right knowledge, you can radically reduce the risk, which will create even more opportunities for achieving trading success.

If you are not willing to spend the time learning the techniques of trading, reading about new and improved trading strategies, and working wholeheartedly in a fast-paced trading environment, then day trading is probably not for you. However, if you have the drive, dedication, and discipline, day trading could seriously impact the shape and success of your financial future!

Day Trading Futures Contracts - How To Win

The successful futures day trader knows that trading is a form of betting. It is a numbers game based on probabilities. The trader's task is to adopt a strategy with favourable odds and execute the strategy as perfectly as possible.

To be successful, the trader identifies one or more setups which signal high expectancy trades. The setups are most often related to some kind of chart pattern, or a signal given by one or more technical indicators. I look at some ideas for setups in other articles. For now it is sufficient to understand that a setup should be measurable. It is a clear, unambiguous signal to enter a trade, and each trade should be managed in exactly the same way so that the results of the trade can be accurately determined in a theoretical test situation.

The expectancy of a trade cannot be estimated without testing the strategy. You test by either trying out the strategy on historical data (back-testing), or paper trading the strategy for a period of time. In either case you are unlikely to get a decent estimate unless the sample includes a minimum of 20 trades, preferably more.

You should observe the results for the trades in your test sample and calculate the Probability of Winning - P(W), the Probability of Losing - P(L), the Average Win in dollars - A(W), and the Average Loss in dollars - A(L). Use the following formula to estimate the Expectancy for your strategy:

E = P(W) x A(W) - P(L) x A(L)

For example, you test 50 trades resulting in 30 wins (60%) and 20 losses (40%), with an average win of $300 and average loss of $200.

E = (60% x 300) - (40% x 200) = 180 - 80 = $100

This means that in the long run you expect to make $100 per trade using this strategy.

Many people examine historical data to determine a good trading strategy. After this, you cannot use the same data to estimate Expectancy, because the strategy is optimised for this particular set of data. To estimate Expectancy, back-test data from a different period or run an independent paper trading trial. Ignoring this principle results in curve fitting and you delude yourself into thinking your strategy is better than it really is.

No strategy can be profitable unless it has a positive expectation, but higher expectation does not necessarily lead to higher profit. You must also consider the opportunities to trade generated by your strategy. A strategy averaging 10 trades per day with an Expectancy of $50/trade is better than a strategy providing 2 trades per year with an Expectancy of $1,000/trade.

You can see from the formula that Expectancy is a function of both the Probability of Winning and the Average Win to Average Loss ratio. If you only win 1 in 4 trades, but the average win is $400 versus an average loss of $80.

E = (1/4 x 400) - (3/4 x 80) = 100 - 60 = 40

This is a situation where a strategy with a low probability of winning has a positive Expectancy because wins are much bigger than losses. In contrast, suppose you win 8 out of 10 trades with an average win of $80 and an average loss of $300:

E = (0.8 x 80) - (0.2 x 300) = 56 - 60 = -4

This strategy wins much more often than it loses, but has a negative Expectancy because losses are substantially bigger than wins.

There is no right answer for the balance of these parameters, other than that the Expectancy for your trading strategy must be positive. Often, improving your average win to average loss ratio will decrease the probability of winning, and vice-versa.

However, for a small trader there is an advantage in gaining positive Expectancy by having a high probability of winning. Sticking to a strategy that generates a lot of winners is less strain on the trader!

A positive Expectancy is no guarantee against a run of losses. Indeed, with most strategies it is almost certain that there will be significant strings of losses at some time. However, a positive Expectancy should lead to profits in the long run, providing the trader uses proper money management and can survive losing sequences.

In summary, the trader needs to specify clearly defined strategies which can be traded in a mechanical manner whenever their setup occurs. The strategy should be tested (avoiding the trap of curve fitting) to ensure that it has a positive Expectancy. Thereafter, the trader should execute the strategy at every possible opportunity.

That is how to win.

Futures Day Trading - Money Management

A key attraction of trading futures markets is that the small trader has an opportunity of quickly turning a small amount of capital into a substantial sum of money. Leverage makes this possible, and the tool to harness leverage is money management strategy.

Leverage can only enhance strategies with positive Expectancy. It cannot turn a losing strategy into a winning one. Indeed, use of leverage will accelerate the ruin of a trader utilizing a strategy with negative Expectancy. For that reason the trader must be diligent about thoroughly back-testing the strategy to ensure positive Expectancy.

Leverage is a double edged sword and must be treated with respect. But there is little point in choosing futures as your investment vehicle if you are not prepared to use it (with due caution).

Money Management comes in several different forms, but the focus here is on the technique known as the fixed percentage method.

In this method, the trader calculates a fixed percentage of available capital prior to entering a trade, then divides this by the risk amount in the trade to determine how many contracts to enter.

For example, if capital is $8,000, the chosen fixed percentage is 5% ($400), and the risk per contract is estimated at $175, then you would trade 2 contracts ($175 into $400 goes 2 times).

The biggest decision you have to make is to choose the fixed percentage you are willing to risk on each trade. The larger the percentage, the greater the leverage. The greater the leverage, the greater the risk of ruin. Obviously, if you risk 20% of your capital on each trade, a run of 3 or 4 consecutive losses will decimate the account. However, the same bad run would not have a major impact if you risk just 1% per trade.

Professional money managers with large accounts usually choose 2.5% or less. Given a strategy with a positive expectancy, this keeps the risk of ruin very close to zero.

A trader with a small account will likely choose a higher percentage to accelerate earnings. Doing so introduces a significant risk of ruin which gets bigger as the percentage increases.

Day Trading Penny Stocks Newsletter - A Doubling Stocks Review

Can A Day Trading Penny Stocks Newsletter Provide You the Day Trading Stock Tips You Need?

Keep hearing about day trading like it is some kind of game people play to make money? Wonder how anyone actually makes any real money with something called "penny" stocks? How are people buying penny stocks and where do they find the penny stocks lists they use to succeed? Do you need an online trading broker?

Doubling Stocks provides you with a successful, acclaimed and established weekly email newsletter featuring good stock picks on day trading penny stocks. Instead of just abstract advice, Doubling Stocks tells you the specific stocks to buy and why, then tells you exactly when to sell them to maximize your profit.

Michael Cohen and his father John Cohen have been providing successful good stock picks for decades. Michael Cohen carries on his father's legacy in a program renown for its uncanny selections on day trading penny stocks by such esteemed online sources as BusinessWeekOnline, InteractiveInvestor and Entrepeneur. My Doubling Stocks review will reveal my hands-on experiences with the newsletter and caution you about any possible shortcomings.

One indisputable value of Doubling Stocks is that it offers you a full eight week 100 percent risk-free trial. You don't even need to bother with my review if you can just try it out yourself without risk and immediately start day trading penny stocks with Doubling Stocks' good stock picks. If after eight weeks you decide you don't want to buy Doubling Stocks because it hasn't provided you with day trading stock tips that work for you, you get all your money back, no questions asked.

If you choose to stick with it, you pay 49.97 just once: you never need to renew or pay anything more ever again and you'll receive the Doubling Stocks email every week for however long you wish. Different methods work for different people, so if you really want good stock picks and you're determined to succeed, there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't try mastering day trading penny stocks through the Doubling Stocks newsletter. You have nothing to lose with the Doubling Stocks trial, but if you don't join soon you may miss your opportunity to join the newsletter. Michael limits the number of subscribers to his newsletter.

Day Trading Penny Stocks: Day Trading Stock Tips to Get Rich Quick?

Make money online and get rich? Sure. Get rich QUICK? In short, no. Don't fool yourself here. Doubling Stocks will provide you the good day trading stock tips you need to begin mastering day trading penny stocks, but it requires you follow through and accept some risk. In my three months with the program, despite few home runs, more than 3 out of every 4 picks made me money. But that means one in four picks didn't succeed. This is simply the nature of day trading penny stocks and no matter how many good stock picks you're provided, you will have to steel yourself for an occasional risk. I do strongly suggest you stick with it for a few weeks. You'll refine your trading wisdom with each newsletter arrival and any issue could suddenly provide the pick that really makes it all click for you.

The great news is that we are dealing with day trading "penny" stocks, not trading hundreds of shares of Microsoft or Exxon. When you start, you can easily limit your risk to pennies. Even if you're completely new to investing and have very little money to start, Doubling Stocks starts you slow, then you can reinvest what you've made until you're making some serious profit through day trading penny stocks.

Although I found it a benefit, one possible criticism of the newsletter is the no-nonsense approach Michael takes towards trading stocks. Like any business venture, you need to put in some time researching the topic a bit for yourself, because Michael is more interested in very direct and explicit good stock picks. You won't see him wax philosophical too often. "Just the picks, ma'am."

Will This Penny Stocks Newsletter Really Work For You?

As long as you put in a reasonable amount of effort, I really do think it will. Why? Because you have John Cohen's lifetime of wisdom and Michael Cohen's savvy and diligence providing you all the research and good day trading stock tips you could possibly need to succeed. You will need to put in your own work, but I found it remarkably simple and quick to begin making a bit of money right away with Doubling Stocks. You need to stick with it and reinvest your earnings slowly, but eventually you will reach some serious profits by day trading penny stocks.

I've tried a few different online programs and bought a few day trading books on Amazon. I am sure some of this material provided me some wisdom I do not realize I am using, but they all provided me too much background information and abstract theory. Doubling Stocks provides good stock picks so you can soon profit from penny stocks. You'll find very little dry, sleep-inducing theory.

Michael Cohen has made millions for many people. He has a loyal following and my time receiving his newsletter illuminated the reasons why: Simple, direct success with good stock picks for day trading penny stocks. But why should you give Doubling Stocks a shot? Because you have absolutely nothing to lose. Maybe you won't find it as worthwhile to you as it was for me. But why would you not at least give it a shot with the incredible eight week 100 percent risk-free trial? This is not expensive. This is not time-consuming. You have to decide how bad you want your financial independence. You don't even need to read my opinion when you can check it out for yourself. Go try Doubling Stocks now while there are still subscriber slots left.

And that is one final, important point. If you're at all interested, just do it and do it now. This isn't a service open to everyone all the time. Michael closes off access to Doubling Stocks every couple of months because he doesn't want too many people pillaging his picks and affecting the market. So if you want in, go to it! Start day trading penny stocks now!

Forex Day Trading - Critical Facts You Need To Know

Here we are going to look at the facts in relation to forex day trading that are essential to learn if you do not want to lose your money. Lets look at forex day trading in more detail and how to make money from it.

You will see more adverts for forex day trading systems than any other method of trading and the headlines are enticing: scalp 100 pips a day, make a regular income, make 100k per annum etc

FACT: All Daily Volatility Is Random

The problem is that Forex day trading simply doesn't work and the above headlines are simply advertising hype. These vendors making money selling systems to naive or greedy traders not trading their systems!

So why doesn't day trading work?

Well it's pretty obvious and common sense the time period is to short.

All volatility in daily time frames is random and support and resistance levels are meaningless you can't get the odds in your favour so you will lose PERIOD

If you think about it there are millions of traders trading trillions of dollars each day and to say that you can predict what this diverse mass will do in a few hours is laughable.

If you don't believe that day trading doesn't work try this task Ask any vendor selling a forex day trading course for their real time track record of profits over two years and see if you get one.

Get ready for a long search!

Of course you won't get one because these systems are never traded by the vendor.

What you will get are testimonials (friends or made up) or a hypothetical track record of outstanding profits which is not worth the paper it's written on.

For those of you who don't know what a hypothetical track record is - its one that's done in hindsight, knowing the closing prices well that hard!

Let's see - if I knew the prices in advance I would be a multi millionaire but we don't know the price in advance and it's a lot harder in the real world!

The biggest myth in currency trading is that you can make money in Forex day trading You cant.

I Know Why So Many Traders Lose - It's The Game, Stupid!

Why do so many Traders put up with Losing? Let me tell you why.

Losers Play a Loser's Game!

Most trading we do is emotionally charged. We find themselves overwhelmed with information from all directions. In this mood, you can feel out of control, not knowing where the markets and stocks will take you or do to you next.

Unlike the tech rally days, when winning was virtually effortless and all you needed to do was get on the bus for the ride, winning in the current market is rare. Rather than winning a lot, you now experience losing a lot - for many, losing, over and over, seemingly without end.

In hopes of winning with their very next trade, losers push on and on until they begin to feel both demoralized and deenergized - with a sense of embarrassment (as they think about how they will explain their plight to others), feeling like failures as they reflect on the past months/years of books, courses, and expos they you immersed themselves in - overall producing dead-end results. Losers frequently think their dream of trading success may never be realized. Sound at all familiar?

Not a pretty picture.

The Old School Trading Game - listen carefully to what I want you to hear: the Trading Game, as you and I know it, has gone the way of the Model A (Model A Ford, that is).

Yet losers innocently, stubbornly, and arrogantly persist in playing this obsolete trading game to their detriment, with no let-up in their losing. Losers go on thinking hopefully that somehow they will be able to win again with their very next trade. They are completely unaware that their obsolete, loser's trading game is being used against them by the big money traders (hedge and other funds) who have completely changed the trading game to the little guy's guaranteed disadvantage.

The old school trading game, as you and I know it, is dead. It's a trap. And you and I know it. But, until now, you may have had no clue as to why. Now that you know. You are not likely to accept this closely held news, as you have so much at stake in being right about whatever you have been up to as a loser, expecting to be a winner. Just think about the years of study and practice you have invested. Not gonna let those go to waste. Well, you may think differently when you view your situation like the sinking ship that it is.

Don't feel alone. The old school, obsolete trading game is still being used by over 90% of the traders out there. Losers, financially, are, simply put, not profitable. Not after deducting overhead and a salary they are accustomed to. Losers are, at best, trading break even. Those losers who have never been profitable are draining themselves and those around them. No, losers are not having any fun trading stocks.

Old school trading is being offered everywhere - it's in all the day trading courses, seminars, and Web sites. Most of those who fork over their money for all this stuff will tell you, if honest, that trading for months and, yes, years this way has not been at all satisfying as they feel on the brink of failure.

You now have the sad picture of the consequences of playing a loser's trading game. The question now is why play a losers game? Why have losers been losing when everyone has been telling them their adopted system will make you rich? Well, maybe they don't say this outright, it's inferred anyway, for sure.

Here's your answer about why traders lose. Moreover, you are not going to like what I have to say.

It's all about Software. Software is king. And, software controls the game of trading and always will.

You see, big money, billionaire hedge funds and others, have been hiring and training brilliant scientist from MIT, Wharton, and other leading institutions, to design sophisticated software to take out the little guys, the crowd of losers, continuously and relentlessly. That's how they make those huge returns - on the backs of all the smart, arrogant losers, like you and me. (Well, for us, not any more.)

How is that possible? How do the big boys do their thing? Easy. They know all that you know about trading and then some. They use all your strengths and weaknesses against you by design, to your guaranteed disadvantage. Think about all those big losses you took, certain they would be winners. You think your losing was some sort of an accident or fate or bad luck? Think again. Their software is designed to trigger precisely at the point when the crowd has the greatest certainty, the most arrogance, the very point of vulnerability - and Boom!, they take you out once again. They, without the usual warning, kill you, not just financially but at a heavy emotional toll to your system and confidence. Your loss is far greater than the money you lose. I think you know what I'm referring to here.

So what's a guy or gal to do, you ask?

You now have a picture of your trading problem. The solution is the subject of my next article. Here is an overview.

It's time (actually, long overdue time) for losers to move on from what I've describe above to have a fresh and financially powerful trading approach and perspective, a new trading game (system), a game winners play.

It's time for each loser to become a winner - to begin to develop a trading career with the trading skills of a consistent winner, a champion trader. For those who qualify, and then seriously apply themselves, they can develop a lucrative career, second to none, in a matter of months - day trading stocks.

Comments, questions, suggestions, and more information: www.daytraderswin.com

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Forex Day Trading - Why Day Traders NEVER Win Long Term

If you are new to Forex trading you may consider day trading but beware of the fact that day traders ALWAYS lose for the following reason:

All short-term price volatility is random

There are countless millions of traders each day that trade trillions of dollars worth of currency and to say that you can measure what they will do in a few hours or a day is the biggest myth of currency trading.

THE PROOF

You may say that you have seen forex trading systems that claim profits and what they do is claim and NEVER produce a real track record.

You normally get the following:

1. Outrageous Claims

Advertising copy pure and simple, with no substantiation - designed to appeal to the greed and naivety of the buyer.

2. A Hypothetical Track Record

Let me explain what this is, for those of you who don't know:

It's a hypothetical track record done in hindsight KNOWING the closing prices! How hard is that?

Anyone can do it and there not worth the paper they're written on. The fact so many traders don't question them or don't ask for a real track record, means they lose and wonder why.

Anyone can make money knowing the closing prices but in Forex Trading you don't get that luxury its what makes forex trading so hard.

The reason you don't get a real time day trading track record is simple - day trading DOESN'T work.

If it did you would see a day trader with a real track record but of course if you try and find one you're in for a long search.

Day Traders don't make money PERIOD.

If you want to make money with forex technical analysis you need to trade in time frames where the data can help you get the odds on your side and this means normally data of a few weeks minimum, not a few hours.

Think about it - if you have random volatility that can and do take prices anywhere in a day, its impossible to apply any technical tools to it. The tools maybe good but the data is unreliable and that's why day traders lose.

The proof is a real time track record and you wont get one in day trading try asking one of the vendors who try and sell day trading systems for one and get ready for a long search.

Day trading does not work and never has and it's one of the biggest myths of trading that forex traders fall for - dont fall into the trap or you will lose to.

Day Trading

Day trading is the most unpredictable and risky obsession in the stock market. Most of the investors might lose money when they trade everyday. You cannot make wealth from day trading. However, let me tell you, you can make wealth in stock market day trading. You can use it to become wealthy stock trader.

Most of the investors in the online stock investing market today who are persistently sitting in front of their PCs and scrutinizing their investments to decide whether the time is the right to sell or buy or not.

What is day trading?

Day trading is nothing but a trading in which people buy stocks for short periods with a hope to make money in the market swings in the short term. However, most of the people engaged in day trading either loose money or are unable to make any considerable amount of money.

Why does this happen?

This is because of the simple reason that the successful investors in stock market trading are the ones who make investments for long term. To explain in lay man's words it means they only invest if they are sure of a gain in the long term and hence they don't opt for the quick hitters.

How to make money in day trading and then?

The only way to make money from online stock market day trading is to guess the trends of the stocks swinging in the market and make money when there is an upswing. Confused? Let me explain you how it works:

A day trader in the

Stock Market Day Trading - How To Become Wealthy From The Market

Is stock market day trading the best strategy to help you get wealthy? The vast majority of investors on the market today are constantly at their computer, analyzing their investments and whether or not it would be a good time to buy or sell.

Day trading is where someone who buys a stock for the short term, hoping to capitalize on the short term swings in the market. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those who engage in this type of active trading either lose money or don't make any significant money. Why is this?

Actually, the most successful investors in the world typically always invest their money for the long term. In other words, they don't just go for the quick hitters; they will only invest their money if they are sure of a long term gain.

The only way that day trading in the stock market ever works is to guess the patterns of a stock and try to capitalize on a short term upswing. Here's what that means.

The average investor on the stock market, for example, may see that company X's stock is going up. They will then look at a stock chart and see that the company typically has their stock go up for a couple weeks at a time, followed by a sharp downturn.

If the stock has only been going up for one week, then the investor very well may buy, planning to sell when he believes the stock is due for a crash. Obviously, there are many risks to this method. Yes, some people do make some great money with this short term approach, but the vast majority don't because of the high risk involved. Often times, day trading in the stock market is more gambling than investing.

Your best bet is to become financially educated; learn to read a companies' income statement and determine their overall profitability, and if their future outlook looks good, invest for the long term, assuming they are selling at a good price. No, you may not make a million dollars overnight like some have with stock market day trading (very few), but if you keep it up, you will make a lot of money from your investing.

Day Trading

There was a time when day trading was considered as the forte of the professional stockbrokers and avid stock market followers. With the growing popularity of online broking, now day-to-day trading is no more a specialized area of investment. Investors with little or no knowledge of the stock market are doing day trading in a big way and there success rate is quite remarkable. Gone those days when day traders needed to devote significant time for trading on day-to-day basis.

With the encroachment of online trading, you have the same flexibility and freedom of doing day trading as with any real form of stock market investment. You can choose a particular time of the day of your convenience to get on the horses of trading. With the online stock broking organizations, you can even pre program your investments and schedule your stock buying and selling actions. So, with online stock market investing opportunities things have become much more convenient.

A common notion about day trading persists that it is total gambling. But, the truth lies far away than that notion. It is actually a calculated risk that needs to be headed. Like any other investment, you need to do your research to trade stocks as well and day trading is no exception to that. You can just go ahead and buy a few stocks simply because your friends are having them. They might have invested at a particular time when the stocks were promising, they might be doing that on the basis of some news in the market or they can have a long-term investment plan.

In fact there are host of other factors that determine the prospects of a stock. You need to set your priorities and do your research based on your resources and goal. As far as

Why Day Trading Futures is Better!

I am surprised at the number of articles I see that claim it is impossible to make money day trading. They are simply wrong. I make money day trading and I can prove it.

For years, I position traded various instruments over medium to long term time frames. Now I exclusively day trade futures contracts, because I like the consistent profits and the low risk.

I trade two futures markets, during the first 30 minutes of their primary trading sessions. I use simple support and resistance strategies based on taking defined actions if specific chart patterns occur during that opening half hour. If no pattern develops, I enter no trade.

If I put on a trade, I enter a limit order to take profit, a stop order for protection, and a market order to exit the position just prior to the end of the primary session. These orders are in an OCA (one cancels another) group, so I leave them working knowing that one of them will close the trade before the session ends.

Critics of day trading often say you have to stay glued to the screen for an entire market session, but I find it is best to walk away once the trade is set and your contingent orders have been placed. Two thirty minute periods of focused concentration represent my work for the day.

Critics also say that day trading is a game for fools because short term market fluctuations are completely random and impossible to trade. I think this is nonsense. Suppose I printed the 1 minute bars from the chart of an S&P 500 session, and then printed a similar number of weekly bars for the same market. If I hide the labels and scales, I am confident nobody could tell me which chart is which. The fact is the short term market establishes support and resistance levels, trends and generally exhibits the same behaviours as the longer term markets.

There are differences, of course. Intra-day movements are smaller in absolute magnitude, so trades are smaller. Consequently, brokerage fees and slippage represent a much larger percentage of profits than for a longer term trader. So low fees and good fills are vital for success. Fortunately, brokerage fees are very competitive now, and electronic markets with high liquidity have minimal slippage.

If day traders have strong discipline, follow a consistent routine and stick to predetermined trading plans, they have lower exposure to risk than longer term position traders.

Take the current market turmoil sparked by the sub-prime mortgage problems. I know position traders taking an absolute bath in this situation. In contrast, my trading has not changed at all, despite the fact that one of the markets I trade is the S&P500.

No longer am I sweating on wildly volatile long term positions, as I was in the stock market after 9/11, in natural gas futures during 2002, or in live cattle futures after mad cow disease was identified in the US. In my experience, these freak events happen much more often than you might expect.

Believe me, if you are in the market with leveraged instruments, you want to minimize exposure not extend it! Unless you want an ulcer, I recommend you are out of your positions whenever the market is closed or illiquid. The chances of blown stops, massive slippage, or being caught in limit moves is far higher if you hold positions through these periods.

Another reason I prefer day trading is consistency of profits. No matter what system you use, it will have losing streaks. If your average trade holding time is two or three weeks, draw-downs will often extend to months. Sometimes, even a good system may have a losing year!

In contrast, the day trader is in the market far more often. Losing streaks still occur, but they are over much sooner. Draw-downs tend to be relatively short a few weeks at most. This is a huge positive in terms of cash flow, peace of mind, and general enjoyment of the process.

Forex Day Trading - Want to Try It? Then Get Ready To Lose

One of the biggest myths in forex is that day traders make money longer term - they don't and if you don't believe me then consider these two facts:

Fact 1 No Valid Data to Work With

Trillions of dollars are traded daily by millions of different participants and to believe that you can work out where prices may go in a day is laughable.

The data is to short in time span and support and resistance levels are meaningless and cannot be traded.

Volatility is random in short time spans, prices can and do go anywhere and day traders lose over time.

Fact 2 the Evidence

You may not believe the above is true and to be fair, there is a lot of information on the net about how you can scalp profits each day, make a monthly income and predict daily support and resistance with scientific accuracy but this is just hyped advertising copy and there is nothing to back it up.

Of course, you do get a hypothetical track record (done in hindsight knowing the closing prices) well my 12 year old daughter could make a profit! The problem is you need to trade going forward and you don't have the luxury of knowing the closing prices.

Ask this question of any vendor selling a forex day trading system:

Can I see your track record of real profits over 2 years or more?

See if you get one and let me know if you do won't hold my breath though.

Fact is the vendors tell a good story and appeal to the greed of buyers and make a guaranteed profit selling them the system and the forex trader who trades it makes a guaranteed loss.

I have been a trader for 25 years and NEVER known a day trader win longer term and am surprised people buy courses and systems without looking for a track record.

Vnedors offer you in many instances your money back if the course doesn't work for you but that's not much consolation when your trading capital gets wiped out!

Avoid day trading and look at longer time spans forex trading is an odds game and to trade the odds you must have data that can put the odds in your favor and forex day trading wont do that period.