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Well worded informative post Jim nice job.
Robert
At 08:43 AM 6/7/00 -0400, Jim Johnson wrote:
>I got a private e-mail from someone on the list asking what advice I could
>give a newer trader of SP's. What follows is my top of head response. I'm
>sharing it here not because it is the best or only advice but to stimulate
>some other thoughts along these lines, especially from those more
>experienced than me.
>------------------------------------------------------------------
>First let me say I'm no greart expert. I've been trading SP's for two years
>and still feel like I have a long way to go. I am trying to make a living
>as a full time trader, mainly in the SP's. I love it and the workstyle
>suits me fine. My background is in psychology of organizations and I had
>very good statistical training. Both helped me because they are very
>"probablistic" in orientation. Nothing works all the time and somethings
>work some of the time. aAny other mindset in trading will get you in
>trouble.
>
>Here are a few conclusions that I wish I had come to sooner.
>
>Research all your own systems even if you have seen others performance data.
>
>Buy first quality tick data to do your own backtesting. I believe Tick Data
>Corporation is one of the best butnot the cheapest. But a good database
>will serve you for years to come.
>
>Test systems on as far back as you can. Many systems perform well in
>certain periods.
>
>Avoid the simplicity of using dollar based stops when backtesting. Daily
>range in the SP's have increased faster than price over the last decade
>making dollar stops meaningless.
>
>Be aware than in most SP systems, larger stops lead to better overall
>performance (net profit).
>
>Omega's 2000i products are not good enough for real time, intraday trading.
>I use my copy only for backttesting and on a separate machine.
>
>
>Have total redundancy--two machines, two ways to get quotes, two ways to get
>on the net, two charting programs (the second low tech), two mice-keyboards,
>etc. battery backup is also good.
>
>If you can, go right to a datafeed--software combo that minimizes data
>maintenance. You want to spend your time trading, researching,
>studying--not downloading missed ticks, cleaning out bad ticks etc.
>
>I now use TS4 and FutureSource satellite. My backup right now is
>Quote.com's QFeed which I can run into QCharts or TS2000ki using
>DynastoreLight.
>
>I use BestDirect from Peregrine Financial for online trading. I trade
>e-mini's usually because their software goes directly into Globex. I have
>fills on my screen in 2-3 seconds. Trading the big contract is OK for
>position trades but the fills are not nearly as good. Mini's also allow
>most smaller traders to scale in/out.
>
>Focus on SP's only at least for a while. Daytrading them is a full time
>job. Let your stocks go into funds or cash. Focus on a particular style
>of trading/type of system--breakout, swing, patterns, etc. and master that
>before moving onto others. There is a toystore of stuff out there and it
>can distract you easily.
>
>Don't monitor IRC rooms during the trading day. SP futures is a solatary
>endeavor. I don't want anybody's opinion or bragging or lamenting to affect
>my assessment. I do read several morning commentaries (Chis Cadbury,
>TradeHard.com's Landry and Borsellino, Jeff Walkers RBI letter).
>
>I hope this gives some food for thought.
>
>
>
>
>
>Regards,
>
>Jim Johnson
>jejohn@xxxxxxxxx
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From:
>Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2000 4:34 PM
>Subject: S&P DayTrading
>
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I see that you day trade S&P.
> >
> > I am also day trading S&P. I am working towards being successful at it, at
> > present am not.
> >
> > Do you have any suggestions for a new comer into this game.
> >
> > Regards.
> >
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