Archive for the ‘Trader Tactics’ Category
Sunday, October 7th, 2007
The power of the media to lead public opinion has been demonstrated time and again. While the fourth estate would argue that they are merely reporting the news, they do, in fact, manipulate – and to a certain extent create – the news, particularly with regard to the economy and the markets. The market is a reflection (some would say, prediction) of national and world economy. In part, market movement is driven by the emotions of people, their confidence or fear, satisfaction or greed. (more…)
Tags: Bill McCready, futures market, futures trader, futures trading, futures trading secrets, media impact, pulling the trigger, trading mentality, Trading Signals
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Thursday, October 4th, 2007
In 1982 the futures markets started trading options. The appeal of trading options as opposed to futures is the potential to increase profit — often substantially — while limiting risk.
What is an option on a future? An option gives the buyer the right but does not obligate him to buy or sell a particular futures contract at a set price at any time prior to a specific date. When the option is exercised, it is the actual futures contract that is delivered to settle the transaction, not cash. (more…)
Tags: Bill McCready, futures market, futures options, futures trader, futures trading, futures trading advice, futures trading secrets, pulling the trigger
Posted in Money Management, Pulling the Trigger, Trader Tactics, Trading Advice, Trading Systems, Trading Training | No Comments »
Monday, October 1st, 2007
You can profit in futures trading when you understand what the spread is and how to make it work for you. An arbitrage technique, the spread is the purchase of one futures contract and the simultaneous sale of a different but related futures contract. The goal of the futures trader is to make money on the change in the price difference between the two contracts. (more…)
Tags: futures traders, futures trading, futures trading course, futures trading education, futures trading secrets, futures trading training, market spread
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Friday, September 28th, 2007
Practice makes perfect, my mother used to say. It’s as true of futures trading as of anything else. Before you put your hard-earned cash on the line, you need to practice trading if you want to succeed as a futures trader.
Making practice trades allows you to: (more…)
Tags: Bill McCready, e-Mini, futures market, futures trader, futures trading, futures trading secrets, pulling the trigger, Sims Broker, trading mentality, Trading Mindset, trading tactics
Posted in E-minis, Pulling the Trigger, Trader Tactics, Trading Mindset, Trading Signals, Trading Systems, Trading Tools, Trading Training | No Comments »
Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
If you’re going to be a successful futures trader, you have to learn to take emotion out of the equation. Learn to trade like a robot. There’s no room for emotion in futures trading.
Futures traders learn to trust themselves and their system. If you start letting emotion rule your decisions, fear, anger and greed will undermine your carefully planned and practiced strategies. It is by persistently following your system, by dispassionately relying on what your charts tell you, by religiously following your indicators that you will succeed as a futures trader. (more…)
Tags: Bill McCready, futures market, futures trader, futures trading, futures trading secrets, pulling the trigger, trading mentality, Trading Mindset
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Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
Futures traders use two types of stop losses when they trade: mental stops and physical stops. It’s important to understand the difference between the two and figure out how and when to use them. The purpose of a stop loss is to limit your trade losses. When traders set a stop loss, they are determining the specific price at which they will sell to limit their loss — in other words, their exit strategy. (more…)
Tags: Bill McCready, exit strategy, futures market, futures trader, futures trading, futures trading secrets, pulling the trigger, stop loss, trading tactics
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Friday, September 14th, 2007
Successful futures traders have learned that there are times with NOT trading is the most successful strategy. Achieving success as a futures trader is 90% mental preparation. If you are not mentally prepared, do NOT trade. It can be dangerous and financially disastrous to trade if you are distracted, angry, worried, scared or emotionally distraught. Just as physical illness, tiredness or pain prevent you from focusing on your trading, so does emotional distress. You must have your head in the game every second to succeed as a futures trader. (more…)
Tags: Bill McCready, futures market, futures trader, futures trading, futures trading secrets, pulling the trigger, trading mentality, Trading Mindset, Trading Signals
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Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
Show me the money! In a nutshell that’s the goal of futures trading: to make money. Charts track money. They peel away the rumors and the news reports, the CEO’s prognostications and your neighbor’s hot tip. They show us what master day trader Oliver Velez terms the footprints of money (ref. Tools and Tactics for the Master Day Trader by Oliver Velez and Greg Capra). (more…)
Tags: charting, futures trading, futures trading analysis, futures trading course, futures trading secrets, price charts, technical analysis, Trading Signals, Trading Tools
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Sunday, August 19th, 2007
When you’re climbing the learning ladder to success (see our last post), that last step is a huge leap! You may find yourself at the conscious competence level for a very long time before everything becomes so practiced and so ingrained that you reach unconscious competence and start trading in the zone as a master trader. Even when you’re in the groove and really working it, it takes time and practice, practice, practice before your routine and technique click to autopilot and using your system becomes automatic and effortless. (more…)
Tags: futures trading, futures trading course, futures trading education, futures trading secrets, futures trading training, trading education, training shortcuts
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Wednesday, August 15th, 2007
If you learn to make your losses work for you, they can become your ally, not your enemy. Last time we talked about loss and how it can galvanize you to refine your system and improve your approach, setting you up for success as a futures trader. It’s like they say in sports, “No pain, no gain.” Loss motivates you to learn. (more…)
Tags: futures trader, futures trading, futures trading secrets, trading losses, trading psychology, trading techniques
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