To settle an arguement-Can anyone out there give me an example (name could remain confidential)of a 'successful' trader ie anyone who has made his/her fortune out of tradeing the stocks on a regular basis. I have been told that this is a VERY rare breed only to be found in fiction novels!
I'm in the running, but a wee while to go yet !!
Thanks-Jim

Hi 38, Ive been using OT end of day for several years, and bought it originally after comments by users.This years version has improvements over the Y2k as you would expect but needs a newer computer. There is a lot in the package and you can choose from an impressive collection of indicators and systems. I posted up on this board abt Kirshenbaum signals on the daily Ftse from abt Jan 2003 to Apr 03,taken from my OT.(see Spreadbetting thread by Tradman) I was very pleased that acting on the sigs at next day opening prices and closing the day after the reversing signal would have given something like 1100 points over that period.The market trended up from march though, and the Kirshenbaum sigs gave repeated sells. No signal fits all! Back to the drawing board, atm I am using a combination of trend signals which are infrequent but very reliable so far,I may post up on this if reliability continues. I do look at the OT charts before occasional betting on the daily ftse,but do not have the feed for the"Real Time" facility I imagine this to be mainly for US users.If you read Playboys thread he daily posts up the OT free comments on the Dow ,Traders Room.OT also do a live email to subscribers saying what to do when the Dow reaches / breaks a resistance. I subscribed, but although they did as advertised it was not for me so I tried to cancel.The subs were dealt with by an agency, not OT, the result was I had made the 4th or 5th payment after my original request to cancel before I got it stopped and my card account was refunded. Anyway back to whats good abt it: you can use trending or 7day or swing trading youcan choose the style which best suits you but its not for intra day as a rule.There is an unmentioned cost of the daily data, 15 per month and vat, I also get sectors and indexes, there is no volume with these, if the sector goes one way and your proposed share goes tother may keep you out of a loss!One other thing is the guide book which explains much better than I do. Yes I would certainly buy it again, I do best when I dont think I know better and I simply act on the signal but then thats just me.The London agent is always very helpful at:
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161 Elm Park Mansions
Park Walk
London, SW10 OAX

Telephone: 020 7352 8179
Regards,
Chris

SignalTraders
161 Elm Park Mansions
Park Walk
London, SW10 OAX

Telephone: 020 Good luck whatever you choose.P.

Thanks. Keep you posted

pericles - Thanks for that post on omni very timely, I have been looking at that or trendsignal which zarif has just bought. do not know if they are similar but ts is 995 for EOD + feed,big diff. Must admit I like the look of omni and the on site presentaton is good. Happy hunting to all this week

Molatovkid Hi, Interesting to read your post (and all the others) I have had a similar reaction from my peers, especially my familly ! most of whom were/are genuinely afraid that I would lose everything and end up signed in to a gamblers annonymous club!! which is to be honest is fair comment from their angle, it is also an area that I take very seriously. To reduce the risk of 'gambling fever' I have tried hard to treat this as I would any other business venture-cut out the emotions and stick to the plan!
I work on a very simple system that seems to come up with the goods, haveing lost a significant sum during the recent'crash' I now know what it's like to lose your shirt, a valuable lesson indeed. However it has not put me off the idea of making a good steady living on the 'market', just made me a lot more carefull.
I won't comment on your house-selling idea, exept-does your starting fund have to be 100k?
All the best

I keep very quiet about my share dealing. To my family it's my 'hobby' but I regard it much more seriously, after all it pays my bills and for holidays. I went over to doing it full time when because of work commitments I missed out on some potential big profits and also found that I was making more from shares than from working.

Molatov Kid you are still going to need somewhere to live. Work out how much you are going to need to pay all your bills and living expenses (food, entertainment etc) for a year and take that out of your 'pot' and put it in a separate account to give you a cushion. Keep extremely good records and a running profit/loss total because if successful unless spreadbetting you'll have to face the IR capital gains form. Don't be emotional, be disciplined. Be prepared for the fact that you will lose money on some trades but as long as you don't fall into the trap of either being too paralized to trade or increase the size of your trades in the hope of recovering your losses too quickly and risk being wiped out totally. Remember, discipline, discipline, discipline and good luck.

KAndrews,for an account of Omnitrader Real Time speak to Chris Byars who will tell you what it will cost to go live etc, then you can compare to Zarifs latest buy. His number is at the foot of post 22 above. You guys interested in the best way to go abt day trading shd chat with Dave (crocodile) at snappy trader.com he can point you in the right direction and is very experienced I think. P.

pericles

Thanks for that have been in contact and ordered acopy + silver data feed, I think a good place to start and I like the platform. Can still spend extra to change if I do not like and within the 60 day return if not happy. rgds KA

I think japris hit the nail on the head when he stated that successful daytraders are a very rare breed. It's probably not uncommon for daytraders to make a 'fortune', but extremely common for them to lose it plus a lot more. I was a daytrader for 3 years, and without question the most demanding & frustrating task I have ever undertaken! How can anyone (other than the brokers & data providers) win overall in a short term random environment? Unless you are exceptionally skilled then imo you are entering very deep waters...

edit:
....much more relaxed to just trade the swings for more points over longer timeframes - just widen your stops and reduce your position size!

Traders magazine comes out every other month and has some useful articles. For a free copy go to www.traders-mag.com.

Crocodile runs courses for small groups at his home.

PS I have no connection whatever with the above mag or contributers to it. Got sent a free copy and found it interesting.

Hi everyone, it is good to hear different views. Day trading is easy with covered warrants if you want to try buying both calls and puts, comdirect is offering 1.00 per trade until the 30th of June. BUT please read a good book on OPTIONS before diving in Covered warrants, because they are both cousins. I do both daytrading and long term trading, dont want to but the market forces me to do both.
It is bloody uncertain and to figure out what will happen next is impossible. I buy both call and put at the sametime, sell my winning position and average my losing position until I come out of loss and you know what, it works. At least working for me for the last 6 months.