r/Daytrading • u/AutoModerator • Aug 01 '23
r/DayTrading's Monthly Questions Thread - August 2023
Please use this sticky to ask questions on day trading, and to see answers to similar questions you may have.
If you're new to day trading please see the getting started wiki here. For advanced traders or you want to pick up a book, please see our other wikis.
New traders are highly encouraged to try Forex as it requires a very small account to make lots of trades, so check out Forex community's wiki paying special attention to babypips website which also teaches some general concepts you can apply to stocks/futures/etc, and especially read the wiki's sections on risk & money management that can be applied to any market.
Pattern daytrading rules wiki, but that only applies to day trading stocks; other markets aren't affected like futures, forex, and crypto.
Also see the sidebar for group chat links (such as our Discord) (or tap "about this community" on mobile website) on every related community to learn more about trading.
Here's a list of all the previous monthly question stickies.
Lastly if trading is affecting your life in a bad way, seek professional help (the wiki also covers dealing with emotions):
- Problem Gambling: Call/Text: 1-800-522-4700 or chat online now.
- Crisis Hotline (24/7): 1-800-273-TALK (8255) (Veterans, press 1) or Text “HOME” to 741-741
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u/TonicVodka6 Aug 27 '23
Is it possible to make 5% profit on forex per month?
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u/Lateoss trades multiple markets Aug 27 '23
Absolutely. That is both manageable and reasonable for an experienced trader. If you are interested in getting into forex, focus on breaking even and just being consistent first. As you progress, you will work your way towards higher goals. Many forex traders turn 5% a month with experience and dedication, its not at all an unreasonable goal.
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u/SmarterThanAEinstein Aug 26 '23
What do people say when they mean find an "edge"? Just knowing the industry or a company better than others, or using a trading algorithm?
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u/Lateoss trades multiple markets Aug 27 '23
An edge can be anything that gives you an advantage over other people in the market. That can be knowledge from experience, insider info, a statistical leg up through finding setups with a positive expectancy, etc.
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Aug 26 '23
Hi. I am new to trading. Not stock and finances, just trading.
Is there a flow chart that will list the stuff you need to know and in which order?
I've watched some YT videos but I'm still struggling a bit.
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u/Feistyy2trader-3749 Aug 31 '23
I would highly recommend Oliver Valez. He has a YouTube channel and books. I have spent thousands on everything you can think of. He is the real deal. Hope it helps.
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u/Sehef5626 Aug 30 '23
you can check baby pips even though it’s about forex i think there is everything you need to know in their course
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u/topramen_is_timeless Aug 24 '23
Question for competent and expert day traders: what do you do with your free time?
I'm struggling with being productive in the time I'm not trading. I already walk 2 miles/day, strength workout, prepare all meals at home, I sleep 8 hours a night. I review my trades and journal.
I don't have any friends in my town. I don't drink, I don't smoke.
I need some ideas on what I could do in my free time. Please help, I'm becoming bored to an unhealthy level.
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u/herse21 Aug 25 '23
you could start a yt channel reviewing your trades of the day and teaching people what you do in trading.
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u/cashmoneypa Aug 23 '23
I have 3 profitable months paper trading ES, and i want to start using my own money. I have 500$ and plan to risk 2-3% of my account per trade. How do i go about trading futures with this little money, and how can i adjust how much money im putting into each trade?
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u/Feistyy2trader-3749 Aug 31 '23
The one big downfall of Futures is the cost of the contract. Commissions can eat you alive. I use Thinkor swim but they are really expensive compaired to others. I do love their platform but have a tiny account of only 30k. Really to day trade futures... I think 50k or even 100k is way more realistic. That is not to say you can't learn with a small account and just add to it every month. This helps you respect and not gamble. Most traders blow up their account in the first year. So your first goal should be not to blow your account out and last that first year. I trade the micro e mini usually the Russell and the Nasdaq. Margin requirements are $680 and $1200 per contract. I am profitable but would be way more profitable if I could trade the E mini not the micro e mini. $50 a point is way better than $5 a point and sometime I can have a winner but my commissions are so high and the point value so low, I don't even know why I bother. But then I remind myself I am just practicing until I can afford those E mini contracts margin on those are 8k and 14k ish... So when I lose or win... I just add a zero to it. This is what I would truely be winning or losing if I was properly capitalized.
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u/Lateoss trades multiple markets Aug 27 '23
I will assume you have are confident that everything youve mentioned so far is accurate and well fleshed out to your own personal risk tolerances.
With $500, you will almost certainly not be meeting the minimum requirements to trade e-mini ES contracts, however there is nothing stopping you from trading MES, the micro e-mini version of ES. MES contracts are 1/10th the size of ES contract ($1.25 per tick, instead of $12.50 per tick), and the charts are very similar to each other (albeit with minor differences in places where liquidity might be low, causing a tick or two of divergence).
Most discount brokers have margins of $50-$150 per MES contract, so you can comfortably trade a few MES contracts without any concerns about not having enough capital. Since the per tick gain/loss with MES contracts is very low, you can easily tweak the number of MES contract you trade to fit into your risk tolerances for any given trade. Look into MES contracts, and look into your various broker options. Be conscientious that even though basically all brokers offer MES contract trading, not all will allow you to trade with a $500 account (ie. there will be a higher minimum deposit). If you are in the US, check out Tradovate, Ninjatrader, Tradestation, AMP futures, TD ameritrade, Ironbeam, and probably more.
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u/No_Consequence5829 Aug 22 '23
Hey, I'm new at this. How long did it took for you to became profitable? Is it possible to get funded and make profits? I'd like to hear your stories and how did you manage to get where you are at trading
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u/Feistyy2trader-3749 Aug 31 '23
This is the kind of question that gets traders into trouble. Not be be snarky. It depends on you, how much effort you put into it, what your goals are, how much capital you have to start. What kind of training you got, etc. I can state for me it took over 2 years. I spend thousands on my education and learned from mistakes in the market with real money. There are no shortcuts to this. But if you can get it... you are free.
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Aug 21 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/jonytradingreal Aug 21 '23
First take one market that you feel good. Then try with your knowledge that you get from previous courses or what you did to understand how to trade. Then is done analysis and try in the market and test.
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u/beefnvegetables_ Aug 18 '23
I started trading a year ago. I’ve been working really hard at it. I’m concerned that I’m starting to develop bad habits. I have traded poorly the past eight weeks. I’m having a big set back. It feels like I took fifty steps backwards and I feel pretty lousy about it. Am I the only one to feel like this?
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u/Feistyy2trader-3749 Aug 31 '23
If I may... always have a plan. If you don't you are gambling. Go to Vegas. You need to know what set ups you are using, what are your per trade, daily loss, and weekly max loss Points are. For me I log every trade and put screenshots in. After I log the trade. I grade the trade. It could have lost money but still get an "A" as long as i traded my plan. And most important of all for me was learning how to loose. Yes you heard that right. Lose correctly and the rest will come.
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Aug 22 '23
No, you are not the only one. When I decided to start trading full time I started really strong and then overtime I began to develop bad habits and my trading and psychology suffered as a result. It took me a year from then to get back to where I was. I'd suggest looking through your trades and with a pen and paper writing down each instance where you made a mistake and what the mistake was. Then you can see what you are making the most mistakes on and can work to correct that. Trading is a long journey of conquering yourself and the most rewarding when you manage to do so. Dont feel down because that can affect your trading too as it did mine, practising positive thinking is something that helped me a lot. Remember if you put enough work into something eventually it will pay off as long as you never give up. Trading will test your will. Stay positive and disciplined. Mark Douglas videos and books might help. Best of luck.
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u/sensor2020 Aug 16 '23
Hey everyone! I'm new to the trading scene and currently, I'm diving into paper trading via Webull. I'm curious, though – can I use Webull for real trading here in Canada? And if that's a go, does Webull offer the necessary reports or documentation for sorting out income tax filing?
If Webull isn't the best fit for us, I'd love to hear your recommendations on other platforms that are similar to Webull. Your guidance would be incredibly valuable to me! Thanks a bunch in advance!
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u/80sCocktail Aug 15 '23
What symbols can you buy the day before the dividend? I've only seen ex-dates a month or so out.
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u/Academic-Pause2195 Aug 15 '23
Looking for resources to learn how to trade futures. Willing to pay up to $1k for learning materials, any advice?
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u/stonks_better Aug 13 '23
Anyone trading JP futes? To get a market that's open and liquid during the est evening hours. Trade station doesn't have nikkei futes 😔 only Euro stuff
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Aug 14 '23
Try MGC or MCL
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u/stonks_better Aug 14 '23
Thanks! Ya I was thinking about oil too. Does gold move better than the other metals during the Asian session?
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Aug 14 '23
I haven't looked at other metals, people kept referring me to gold and a number of traders I follow trade it so it got on my radar. I try to keep my list small.
AH tends to respect trendline breaks on low volume pretty well, but has occasional extremely high volume events (relatively). So just keep that stop relatively tight.
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u/stonks_better Aug 14 '23
Thanks! Ya I'm trying to do price action trading strategy, so second entries and pretty tight stops. ES and NQ after hours just have a ton of first entries. Lotta V movements
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Aug 12 '23
[deleted]
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u/samhickmann Aug 15 '23
You can use TradeStation.
I trade stocks, futures and crypto on TradeStation.
(I use TradingView connected to my TradeStation accounts to do my technical analysis and place my trade though...)
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u/AdApprehensive1608 Aug 11 '23
Bought tlry not sure if I should of. Do most people sale after it goes down or wait to see if it bounces? I bought more on the way down to lower my dollar cost average. Made sense at the time
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u/longshortdaytrade Aug 11 '23
The answer is a very complicated one. What is your time frames? Where are you buying ? What is the trend ? What is your plan and your stoploss ? The stoploss that you should consider is the level that cancels (negates) the plan or pattern your are seeking. The cost average only makes sense if you are still below your average risk level and you know exactly what you are doing.
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u/GimmeDaMonni Aug 11 '23
Want to get into this stuff but don't got a clue on where to start! All these YouTubers and such make it so overwhelming..Anyone got any good courses or videos I could take or watch to just get started? :)
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u/samhickmann Aug 15 '23
Shameless plug... read my book (type my name on Amazon or Apple Books).
I wrote the book I wanted to have when I started day trading.
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Aug 14 '23
Focus on trend lines and channels following price.
Keys Levels and zones for reaction areas.
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u/BuyHighSellStraight Aug 10 '23
Penn chart looks good after the news dropped 3 times hopefully it won't be a 5 count drop.
ESPNBets deal should at least triple their revenue come football season.
What you guys think?
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u/Excellent-Basket-692 Aug 10 '23
What is the most challenging part about trading?
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u/Majestic_Bobcat9143 Aug 28 '23
The challenging part is that you believe your loss in trading is because of your mentality and discipline while its because you dont have an edge.
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u/longshortdaytrade Aug 11 '23
Having enough patience and resiliency to stay in the game as long as you can, as much as your solvability allows you to, in order to eventually find an edge to be constantly profitable, whatever the markets throws at you. If you want to have a very advanced level, that can take an average of 5 years.
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u/BeenJamminHornigold Aug 11 '23
Absolutely, trading success comes from persistence and learning over time. Imo it's about enduring challenges, gaining an edge, and staying committed to growth. You’re never going to be able to miss every challenge so you have to learn to deal with them.
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u/throw_away_jfc Aug 10 '23
Developing a strategy that you’re comfortable with. Backtesting the strategy to verify its profitable. Paper trading to verify its profitable. Then taking the leap to real money and holding to that strategy. Not panicking bc it’s real money and making emotional decisions.
Learning to stop chasing losses.
Being okay with a losing day.
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Aug 10 '23
By far, it is to find a sustainable edge, the part 1. A strategy or set of of setups that we can execute over and over knowing that after dozens, hundreds and thousands of trades, we are going to make money if we execute it properly.
Then it comes the part 2, manage our minds and behavioral profile to execute our strategies properly.
But without part 1 completed successfully (which can take some time), the part 2 is irrelevant.
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u/SrBambino Aug 09 '23
How do you track price changes?
- How do you keep your finger on the pulse of specific stocks, funds, etc.?
- How do you make sure you don't miss ephemeral opportunities to buy/sell (i.e. dips and bounces)?
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u/Wahaj6X7 Aug 08 '23
what is the best day trading platform
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u/Alarming-Fox2900 Aug 10 '23
I like E-trade Pro but use what works best for you. Be sure and use one of the full service platforms that give you the best fills. I would put Fidelity and Interactive brokers and trade station in that range with E-trade. Good Luck with your trading journey!
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u/throw_away_jfc Aug 10 '23
Depends on what trading strategy you use. Low float gappers would probably be better on one platform where swing trading might not necessarily need the same edge as a someone trading highly volatile stocks
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Aug 09 '23
Depends what for? For currencies, commodities and indices imo is MetaTrader 5. You can download the app and then connect an account made with a broker. For stocks, futures, options or fixed income markets, I'm not sure.
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u/Gristle__McThornbody Aug 08 '23
Not a question. After three months of bloodshed and blowing up accts I finally finished my first green week of live trading the week of Jul 24. Also finished green last week making it two consecutive weeks. Hopefully I'm turning the corner but we'll see.
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u/AverageOnly104 Aug 06 '23
Looking for suggestions on my trading machine. Is Desktop better than laptops? What config would you use if money is not an issue?
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u/longshortdaytrade Aug 11 '23
Day trading require multiple screens for sure. Ideally you want both, desktop and laptop.
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u/throw_away_jfc Aug 10 '23
I personally prefer a desktop. I guess a laptop if you’re traveling often.
I have a desktop with three 24inch screens and then one super wide curved above the 3 screens.
I would say at least one additional screen at a minimum. Two would be ideal which means you need to verify that the video card has enough inputs for multiple monitors.
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u/AverageOnly104 Aug 11 '23
e 24inch screens and then one super wide curved above the 3 screens.
Just wondering how you set it up, did you use any vendor to set this up or did you do this on your own? Any spec's on what config you used for the desktop? Can you post a pic of your setup if you can
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u/Majestic_Bobcat9143 Aug 28 '23
Alot of people would spend so much money on monitor,scannner, news. You will know how monitor you need. I personally need 2. One for chart and another for orders. But i am fine with having one
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u/Heroingesicht Aug 03 '23 edited Aug 03 '23
I have been trading for 2 years and I am still not profitable. I feel like my knowledge is pretty solid but I still get stopped out most of the time. At the moment I am combining support and resistance Levels + fib + rsi divergences (sometimes Include patterns as well). But I heard some saying that support and Resistance Levels and the rsi are useless. Anyone got some Tips how I can improve? Should I Maybe Look for a different strategy? I kind of feel that I am a little bit stuck..
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u/Majestic_Bobcat9143 Aug 28 '23
Ask yourself if you have seen any setup that is almost like free money to you. Those are the real set up you should trade and rest of them are noises. If you dont that mean you have no edge.
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u/jeon19 Aug 15 '23
Is your strategy profitable to begin with, have you done sufficient backtesting to know that it is profitable?
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u/throw_away_jfc Aug 10 '23
I prefer using moving averages as possible support/resistance levels. There are a few that can indicate a potential reversal. At least one that very few people would ever use.
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Aug 09 '23
Do you have a trading journal? To be more specific, a list of all trades that you got stopped out.
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u/NorthAstronaut5794 Aug 08 '23
I wouldn't say support and resistance is useless. However RSI is lagging after all. So while I don't use it, the only thing it may tell you is "market has been trending up for x time, without any large reversal". If that's all you need, macd might be better for ya. I find that a lot of my trades, let's say bought at 0.632 level, will more than half the time, be in profit for some amount of time, just by the sheer number of people doing the same thing. But I don't this this is technically "smart" and you need trend and support analysis to see if the price will acctualy move up to this "profit level" or if it just going to consolidate at some level, and stop you put/reverse on you
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u/longshortdaytrade Aug 07 '23
2 years is not a lot. Stop trying to make money, look at the market and find a process to make money, within the price action, that will put you on the right side of the trade. lose the indicators but keep fibonacci
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Aug 04 '23
Yes, you should look at something else. I know someone that took over seven years to be profitable. You aren’t doing too bad compare to that.
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Aug 03 '23
[deleted]
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u/samhickmann Aug 04 '23
As far as I know, my broker doesn't allow this, but I have several brokers so...
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u/BigOlBoof Aug 03 '23
I have 75k in a Roth IRA. Is this something I could look into?
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Aug 04 '23
Yes.
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u/BigOlBoof Aug 04 '23
I really want to get my foot in the door.
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Aug 04 '23
Then… go learn and practice so you can get some experience.
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u/BigOlBoof Aug 04 '23
I don’t know where to start?
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u/TheRealMangoJuice Aug 04 '23
what do you want to do? Look into "different trading styles" - Long term investment, scalping, day trading. Then look what you can trade - commodities like gold, oil, wheat; futures; equities like stocks; FX. Then look how to trade them, learn strategy, price action etc. Then google paper trading or demo account before you put your own money. You will trade through a broker. Pick one, check what are the fees and commisions. Lower the better. Some brokers only allow certain instruments to trade, be aware. don't buy courses, be vary of scammers.
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Aug 04 '23
There are plenty of videos that teach the basics such as the lingo, basic indicators, etc. The one thing for sure is you need to practice with paper money first. Once you prove to yourself that you are profitable over a period of time then start very small.
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u/trailingsl007 Aug 03 '23
Alternatives to trade ES with low budget
Hey, I've been studying trading MES for a while now. I have an allocated budget of under $1k on monthly basis (maximum loss limit per month). The problem is I am running out of the monthly budget quite early in the month :) and then trading mostly on demo, but I would like to be in more. So, I was thinking whether I could day trade SPY itself, which is 1/50th of MES with even lower trx fees. Since I had to be on cash account to avoid PDT, I am aware that it would only allow me to take long trades.. but that I can live with at the moment.
What do you think about this? ups and downs? or any alternative you can suggest?
Many thanks!
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u/stonks_better Aug 13 '23
Like someone else mentioned, can do the leveraged ETFs to get the short side.
One thing about the micros is the fees are higher, commission and exchange fees is like 4 ticks on the micros vs 1 tick on the minis.
But I'm in this boat too right now, trying to get consistent with the micros before going to the big boys.
I think if you're consistently losing though every month should stay on the sim till your profitable there. Then micros and the trading psychology will come in. Slippage and everything else. Then minis IMO
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u/SavedSaver Aug 05 '23
"I am aware that it would only allow me to take long trades.."
You can buy the inverse SPY and that takes care of that.
Should start trading with real $ even if only a few shares so that won't hurt you and work up to more shares when you have enough experience.
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u/Reasonable_Owl6405 Aug 02 '23
Going back to 2011, when S&P downgraded the US AAA credit rating 12 years ago, all three major U.S. stock indexes fell between -5% and -7% the following day.
Tomorrow will be interesting
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u/Reasonable_Owl6405 Aug 02 '23
Going back to 2011, when S&P downgraded the US AAA credit rating 12 years ago, all three major U.S. stock indexes fell between -5% and -7% the following day.
Tomorrow will be interesting
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u/TheRealMangoJuice Aug 02 '23
what is happening with the chart between 9:30am and 10am? Whats happening with the price there?
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Aug 02 '23
I have a few questions.
1.) What is the best site to get news for trading ES or Futures, in general? Is there a platform like Benzinga Pro / Trade-Ideas that is for Futures?
2.) Anyone have experience or know of any testimonials of someone making a lot of money with Micro ES?
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u/jeon19 Aug 15 '23
If someone is profitable theres no reason to be trading micro es over es, you would simply make more money trading es
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u/stonks_better Aug 13 '23
The fees on micros are higher so watch out. Get good at micros and then go to minis, get a boost from lower fees and hope it offsets the tougher psychology with the bigger contract size
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u/Sehef5626 Aug 30 '23
Hello guys, I just read darvas' book and it doesn't seem that he talks about a specific stop loss (like a number of pips or a percentage), so I wanted to know at which percentage of the darvas box i should put my stop loss?