Best markets to trade for a living - full or part-time

[baby_swallow]

For all budding daytraders who wanted to make a living (NOT a killing), I recommend you trade Futures, preferrably stock index futures, like the SPI200, S&P emini, DJEuroStoxx50, FTSE, etc.
Advantages:
- Concentrate only on few markets, leaving extra time for other important things in your life.
- Big bang for your bucks - thats why its the daytraders bread&butter
- low capital requirements and low trading commissions.
- low research - dont have to know hundreds of companies
Disadvantages:
- difficult to trade at first because of volatility but you get used it once you know the trick when to enter and exit.
I've tried stocks (blue chips and penny dreadfuls), options, CFDs and Forex - they didnt gave me the kind of return and convenience of trading like Futures.

 

[nomore4s]

Baby Swallow out of curiosity what futures market(s) do you trade?

And how long have you been trading futures?

 

[brty]

I could of sworn there use to be a "what he said" smilie.

brty

 

[baby_swallow]

Baby Swallow out of curiosity what futures market(s) do you trade?

And how long have you been trading futures?

Mainly ES & SPI and occassionally other commodities.
Been trading futures since 2006.

 

[brty]

BS,

What is the basic premise for your trading methodology that you think is a no-brainer for newbees??

brty

 

[jampola]

BS,

What is the basic premise for your trading methodology that you think is a no-brainer for newbees??

brty

As above. interested.

 

[Wysiwyg]

- Concentrate only on few markets, leaving extra time for other important things in your life.

Yes the less research involved is a huge time saver. Keep it simple ... a few indices, a few currencies, a few commodities and get to know them intimately.

 

[vincent191]

BS,

What is the basic premise for your trading methodology that you think is a no-brainer for newbees??

brty

Me too.

 

[baby_swallow]

BS,

What is the basic premise for your trading methodology that you think is a no-brainer for newbees??

brty

As a daytrader, it is very important to be aware of the major Support/Resistance of the trading day. I make my trade decisions based on the price action around S/R levels.
S/R is easy enough for newbies to understand and yet this important "indicator" is being neglected or misunderstood.
My advice to newbies is to spend some time to observe and take notes on how price behave when it reaches a S/R level.

_________________________________________________________
Leopards break into the temple and drink to the dregs what is in the sacrificial pitchers; this is repeated over and over again; finally it can be calculated in advance, and it becomes a part of the ceremony - Kafka

 

[baby_swallow]

Here's a good example of what Support/Resistance is all about for daytraders.
On today's SPI, there is an overhead resistance of 5005 (R3 pivot). If you have a resting short order at 5004 you got filled. If you exited just before 10am cash market open, you have made 10 points. That is $250 for one contract.
The trick to long term survival in this game is not to be too greedy. Don't overstay your visit. There is a very bullish sentiment going on and your are actually betting against it. You're here to make a living and NOT a KILLING. If you're a newbie and your intention in playing this game is to make a KILLING, there's a good chance you're going to get killed first.

__________________________________________________________
Leopards break into the temple and drink to the dregs what is in the sacrificial pitchers; this is repeated over and over again; finally it can be calculated in advance, and it becomes a part of the ceremony - Kafka

 

[Joe Blow]

Leopards break into the temple and drink to the dregs what is in the sacrificial pitchers; this is repeated over and over again; finally it can be calculated in advance, and it becomes a part of the ceremony - Kafka

baby_swallow,

If you wish for a specific quote to be at the bottom of every post you make, please put it in your signature: https://www.aussiestockforums.com/account/signature

That way you wont have to cut and paste it each time and it wont be quoted by those responding to your posts.

 

[nomore4s]

Here's a good of what Support/Resistance is all about for daytraders.

SPI could range like that all day though, providing limited opps for day-traders.

It's fine to say trade off S&R but you still need to know

1) Which way it will move
2) And when it will actually start to move
3) If it will move enough either way to give good R/R

 

[baby_swallow]

SPI could range like that all day though, providing limited opps for day-traders.

It's fine to say trade off S&R but you still need to know

1) Which way it will move
2) And when it will actually start to move
3) If it will move enough either way to give good R/R

Thanks Nom..
Am just giving an example of what an S/R is in trading as I mentioned in my previous post. Of course, a newbie has a lot to learn what the principles behind this particular trade. But its up to him/her to research how market really works. We're here giving some few pointers

 

[Twiddle]

What would you suggest for someone looking to trade between the hours of 5:30pm and 10:30pm?


Is it possible to trade overseas markets without paying large brokerage fees?

 

[Trembling Hand]

What would you suggest for someone looking to trade between the hours of 5:30pm and 10:30pm?


Is it possible to trade overseas markets without paying large brokerage fees?

Forex, Ftse 100(UK), Dax (Germany), Oil, Gold. US pre open futs,

Huge amount to trade in that time all cheaper than trading the ASX.

 

[nomore4s]

Forex, Ftse 100(UK), Dax (Germany), Oil, Gold. US pre open futs,

Huge amount to trade in that time all cheaper than trading the ASX.

Crude is a ripper to trade, loving it

 

[Twiddle]

Forex, Ftse 100(UK), Dax (Germany), Oil, Gold. US pre open futs,

Huge amount to trade in that time all cheaper than trading the ASX.

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. As you can tell I am a complete beginner.
I am under no illusions however, i realise i have years of hard work and learning ahead of me, and will not be trading any time soon. I am currently in the process of figuring out if it is even a viable option for me.

Can you please explain how they are cheaper than trading ASX? (which as far as i know is $30 + percentage per trade)

 

[Trembling Hand]

Can you please explain how they are cheaper than trading ASX? (which as far as i know is $30 + percentage per trade)

ASX stocks through one of the retail brokerages (commsec, etrade etc) are probably the most expensive market to trade in the world. $30 cost for $10,000 trade where futures are around $3 for a $60,000 - $100,000 dollar trade.

Thats expensive

 

[Twiddle]

ASX stocks through one of the retail brokerages (commsec, etrade etc) are probably the most expensive market to trade in the world. $30 cost for $10,000 trade where futures are around $3 for a $60,000 - $100,000 dollar trade.

Thats expensive

So far all I am familiar with is the ASX from paper trading, I find just from being familiar with stocks and observing what the market is doing in real time I am able to get a reliable indication of what to buy and when. The paper trading is going well. (I realise this is not a true representation, but it is at least a positive sign)


Is futures trading more of a guessing game, or are you able to get the same amount of real time information and indicators etc as you can do with regular stocks?

If one only has a few hours a night to trade, can they be effective within that time frame?

 

[nomore4s]

Is futures trading more of a guessing game, or are you able to get the same amount of real time information and indicators etc as you can do with regular stocks?

If one only has a few hours a night to trade, can they be effective within that time frame?

Twiddle,

Trading of any instrument should not be a "guessing game", you should have a method/system & plan that provides positive expectancy.

Trading futures offers twice as many opportunities as shares imo and is a hell of a lot cheaper but you need to be an experienced trader with a good system & plan and understanding of how the markets work. Ask nearly any futures trader and you will find out most of them lost money at first, I myself lost over $20k when I started trading futures and it was a real wake up call but it's paying off now.

You also need to decide what sort of trader you want to be. Trading shares for a couple of hours each night means you will be an EOD trader and hold time will be anything from 2 weeks to 6+ months depending on how you trade. Trading futures you will be more of a intra-day trader and hold anywhere from less then 1 min to maybe a couple of hours again depending on how you choose to trade.

I posted my results from yesterdays trading but I deleted it, I will reattach it now to give you an idea of what is achievable trading futures. The results are from about 20min of trading on the SPI yesterday and about 3 hours of trading Crude last night.

Quick disclaimer though - It has taken me a lot of hard work and as above I lost a quite bit of money not paying my dues and respecting the market enough. And while I'm not in the class of someone like TH, to get to this level isn't easy, you need to put in a lot of time, practice and a decent sized account - futures are not a instrument for the inexperienced.

Good luck.