Re: TMTT

On 2/20/07, LR wrote:

Hello, my name is Luis, I 'm interested in taking the 3 days class to learn to trade stocks and options, but i was wandering if i can get an Honest opinion from you, Is the tree day class is all you need to successful in trading stocks and options or is it just a hook to try to sell more expensive classes.

an honest opining will be appreciated.

I don't think there's any 3-day course that will teach you to successfully trade stocks & options. TMTT's 3-day course is a crash-course introduction to trading. It will teach you what you don't know, and will give you enough knowledge to be dangerous. Part of the 3-day introduction course from TMTT is a sales pitch for more expensive classes. If you're really interested, start with a book (such as: "Trading for a Living"). Books are cheap, you won't need to take a loan out to read one. You don't even have to pay a cent if you get it from your local library.

Trading isn't for everyone. It is not fast and easy money. It is true that once you're proficient and are making a consistent return in the market, it's not as difficult as many other investment and money-making systems. However, professional traders work for their money. They are disciplined, intelligent individuals that spend a lot of time learning, seeking more knowledge and refining their techniques.

After you've increased your knowledge about what it means to be a professional trader, consider getting a private coach, either thru TMTT or independently. TMTT brings all the pieces together, but you may be able to find a reputable mentor to help you on a one-on-one basis if you are diligent in your pursuit. Having a personal mentor will ease your learning curve.

Best of luck in all your pursuits and come back here to check out ScoreCard, especially if you decide to become a professional trader.

Mark

Questions from a Novice

On 2/11/07, JT wrote:

I don't quite remember how I surfed to your blog, probably as a result of looking for info on TMTT. Your blog seems to be well written and informative. If you have time to respond, I have a couple of questions about your experience.

My background:

I'm 46 year old surgeon in lower Alabama fighting the dueling demons of spiraling overhead costs and plummeting re-imbursements from Medicare and third party insurers. While my income level is satisfactory (for now), it requires ever increasing productivity on my part; more patients in clinic so that I can schedule more surgeries; longer hours in the office and at the hospital are the result. My satisfaction with my profession is diminishing. I would like to develop an alternative source of income that would allow me to return to a reasonable life in my chosen profession (orthopaedic surgery). There are several choices, one of which is stock trading. (others include real estate, business franchises, sending my wife out for a job, etc)

My question(s):

What sort of time investment (on my part) would be required to first, become proficient in stock trading (based on your experience) and second, what would the ongoing requirement (on a daily or weekly basis) be. I am willing to create time by adjusting my practice schedule but, I can't walk away from my practice as it provides the income for everything else I do (including trading stocks, if that's what I choose to pursue).

Finally, If I decide to pursue this avenue, I would like to gain some working knowledge of the "language" and principles of stock trading. Is there a book or group of books you would recommend for the absolute novice in this area?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

JT, MD
Daphne, AL

Hi John, quite a pleasure to hear from you and thank you for the nice comments about my blog. I'll be returning to regular postings as other pursuits wrap up. I've most recently found myself on a bit of a spiritual quest. I've hesitated to post to my trading blog recently because all the latest activities haven't had much to do with trading.

Trading does take time. About 2-4 hours each day. There is a lot of terminology that is specific to the domain, but it shouldn't be too difficult a stumbling block. I have recommended a few books on my blog which will help get you started. Just getting the " Trading for a Living" book alone will help you understand a bit more about what you will be getting into. It's truly not easy in the beginning. The best place to start is to learn your own style and what strategies appeal to your risk tolerance, time commitment, etc...

The truth about trading is that you only need to be really good at 1 strategy (though knowing other strategies will allow you to make money in a variety of market conditions). Something else to be aware of is that many professional traders only make 20-80% APY. Oh sure, an individual trade now and then will yield amazing returns, but the "expense" trades (losses) will average out to something more reasonable APY-wise. Even 20% APY is still pretty amazing, and certainly something you can't get consistently in other investments. Of course it is not exactly a passive investment strategy (depends somewhat on the strategy employed and time-frame).

Allow me to plug the trade journalling program that I have in the works. The preliminary name of this product is ScoreCard and I hate to refer to it as simply trade journalling software. After my development team gives the green light for beta testing, I'll extend a few offerings for some select people to help work out the final kinks. We're expecting to be ready for beta testing in just over a month. ScoreCard will be a tremendous aid to burgeoning Traders and veterans alike, as it includes simple and powerful features to help Traders get feedback about their trading style and the effectiveness of the various strategies, evaluation criteria, etc...

Mark

Re: Thanks for the blog

On 11/9/06, CV wrote:

I’m also a TMTT student. As of now we (wife also) just started and completed the master trader on demand and will go next to covered calls. We are also taking a trip to UT in Dec and spend back to back weekends for the master trader and covered calls. We are also reading a lot to try to keep just above water with all the information the academy has. We have a mortgage and 2 kids, so time is in short supply every day. We took the package with 6 classes and extra mentor days (don’t remember but may have been the elite package). We to have signed up for the coaching and additional class and mentor time. We did put a lot of money in, but as for education…they have a ton of stuff to become proficient in trading. Although thinking of the money we let go still gives me a tightening felling in my head and chest; my wife and I have come to a crossroad. We have to be proactive in our future, it’s just a little scary when all you life you grow up thinking that if you just work till you retire (so far it’s 75 they way I’ve calculated it) you will be just fine. I have to consider what I need to do for the future in terms of cash flow, not to mention having 2 kids and how much that will cost in college alone.

I think I’m rambling on so, fell free to contact me. I sit in front of the computer all day long (yes my dreaded J.O.B.). We’ll it’s not really bad here but I really don’t see them planning for MY future as much as they plan it for the executives. So I’m on my own….

Thanks
CV
South San Francisco

I hear you loud an clear CV. I have enough trouble keeping my head above water between work, markets & music, and the money spent on training certainly feels like a lot today. I look forward to the day it seems like pennies. The folks at Teach Me To Trade are as dedicated as you are to your success, you really are not alone. Granted, they're not there to suggest trades or advise you on a specific trade. No, they're there for something far more powerful: to teach you to trade in order for you to be able to take control and be a success.

I've needed a break from everything market related for the last couple weeks, and knowing my schedule will put me at a severe time disadvantage for getting back in. I've already learned the lesson to not jump back in after a break (see: Discipline, Patience & Timing). I have rehearsals and performances starting yesterday for 11 days straight. I have much to say and do with the markets and will be posting in updates and clearing out the blog-webs (think cob-webs... I know my blog has been attracting dust & lint lately). I need to find some way to balance it all out... I feel like I binge on one thing and then another, when I really need to find a way to balance out each week (and probably each day).

In other news, I purchased: taotrading.biz (nothing there yet) which I plan to put a discussion board for others that are interested (amongst other pursuits relative to trading). I'm looking forward to having more of an open discussion rather than the one-sided leaning blog.

Thanks for saying hi, I look forward to hearing from you again soon.

Mark

Moving to TradeStation, too

Hi Mark,

Sorry to read about your tribulations. Hang in there.

I went to my mentor last week. Sam showed me Fibonacci and gap strategies. He showed me several stocks he thought would go down and a few bullish ones. I played several. I didn't play CMI (coulda made a bundle) and I did play GS and MRO. So far, they don't look good, especially after today's rally. I'm ahead in more spreads than I am behind in but GS and MRO have me in the red.

...

I sent a check to Interactive Brokers a day before I saw your post about TradeStation. I looked at the TS web site and liked it. IB returned my check because it had my old address. I felt so happy about the returned check that I knew I really wanted to try TS. Did you know there are third party plug-ins that you can use to automate your trading? All I would need is a computer and a Doberman. I would feed the dog and the dog would keep me from touching the computer. Anyway, I'll fund the account after my options expire on 11/17, if I have any cash left. -- GG

He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee.
If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself. --Seneca

GG, thank you for your support. I'm making a comeback from the recent emotional and trading lows. I just needed a little time to mourn. I can't afford any more mourning, so it's time to move on. That's over and aside from having an over-extended schedule, I'll be back in the markets soon enough (later this week for paper trading at least).

It seems like we'll be on the same timeline for funding our TradeStation accounts. I'm looking to TS to leverage my time a bit better. From my understanding you can program in automatic trading without 3rd party tools by simply using EasyLanguage. As a programmer, this should be fairly natural for me to write out my trading rules and then I won't mis-manage nor micro-manage my trades.

Of course the thought comes to mind that there is no "black-box" trading system that will work, which puzzles me a little, I must say. Since, logically, if you are strictly trading by your rules, you are essentially being your own black-box system. I imagine my entry rules will be pretty simple, but my exit rules will be a bit more interesting when I get around to programming them into TradeStation. It's all very interesting and I don't know exactly what to make of it. I'm most certainly going to be more involved in choosing which trades to enter, but even that will be honed down to a strict set of explicit rules that should be able to be described in TradeStation's EasyLanguage. It's a head-scratcher for now.

Aside from EasyLanguage, TradeStation's charts are top-notch and, along with a 22" ViewSonic widescreen display that I recently purchased, ought to save me some time in evaluating any given chart. Yes, that's right, I'm beginning my equipment upgrades with a rather large second flat-panel display. Eventually I'm sure I'll have about 4 or more displays working for me, but 2 will have to do for now.

Mark

Re: Mark I like your BLOG! - Trade Seeker Question

On 10/7/06, TG wrote:

Hi Mark,

It looks like we are all learning the same way, through a bit of study and trial & error. I really enjoy your posts!

I recently took the TMTT 3 day class and learned about the use of technical indicators and TMTT philosophy of not making a trade until 3+ "high probability indicators" signal getting into a position. In looking at some of your trades, I am not sure I have been able to discern your signals to get in or out based on the technicals, but I do see you using the technicals to set up your stops. Do you use the 3+ high probability indicator approach?

Also on that note, do you use the "Trade Seeker" software? Is it worth the purchase price or can i get as much using say stockcharts.com's scans?

Just would ejoy another enthusiast's thoughts!

Hey, keep on having fun and best of luck in your trading!

Regards,

T

Hi, thank you for your compliments on my blog, I'm glad you're finding it interesting. It seems that all indicators are almost always lagging and give the signal late. I focus heavily on the source of those indicators: the price action. I look at what institutions are doing and volume characteristics for confirmation. I also prefer to see the Stochastics hitting stronger peaks or valleys on the previous swing highs or lows. I glance at Chaikin Money Flow, but it generally only reflects the price action and doesn't offer much actual insight into where the stock is going. I look at the broad market charts to help me determine if I should be selling, because the market is at retail price, or buying because it's at wholesale price. The broad market charts factor in heavily to individual stock price movement. I also look at where the stock is on it's weekly chart (retail or wholesale) as that time-frame also helps determine how likely the expected move may be.

There are various strategies and approaches to trading. The one thing that I completely understand at this point is that you must have a trading plan and you must trade the plan. Having a system will give you consistent results. If the results are consistently bad, then the system must be tuned. Emotions are a battle, one that I think I'm gaining control of. Even though my trades have been virtual trades, I'm mentally coming from a position of "that's my money!" and although I don't think the pain on the losses is quite the same on paper trades, it is with the intention of using real money that I practice systematic trading.

All systems must be evaluated based on current market conditions and this is where black-box systems will all eventually fail. The hard part is that just about when you think you've found a really great system to rely on, the market changes enough to cause your system to no longer be as valid. I know, it seems like a contradiction in and of itself, but one thing in your system must incorporate is the idea that "anything can happen" and you should be prepared for anything. Playing both sides of the market, keeping your cool when others are panicking (read: systematic approach) and having the patience to enter the trade you want -- not feeling the urgency to place trades just for the thrill of doing so. Patience, discipline, and a consistently calm approach with a plan will do wonders.

With all that said: part of the reason you've been having trouble figuring out what system I've been using is that I've been a bit inconsistent. My exits are based on price-action. If the trade has made the initially anticipated move, then I'm likely to put a reasonably tight trailing-stop. I'll definitely do this if I think I'm seeing an exhaustion gap. Also, on extended range candles I'll look for some sort of intraday support or resistance to set my stop. Exiting is something that I let the market do for me, when the trade is showing signs of weakness.

Now, for your question about Trade Seeker. I don't know what scans are available on StockCharts.com. I just now took a quick glance to not have to speak to something I know nothing about :-P. I find Trade Seeker to be very easy to use, especially in combination with The Trade Center, since it flows the symbols over into The Trade Center software and I find it very easy to sort, scan and otherwise go through a list of thousands of charts a week (> 100 every night and more on the weekends). I'll probably end up settling down on my watchlist maintenance routines eventually as I get better at everything. It seems StockCharts.com has some good things going and I think the custom scans could probably be used to emulate Trade Seeker's built-in facilities. I really do like Trade Seeker, and it is the source of my watchlist (of course I filter it down from the original scans).

Email Question: Am I Making Any Money?

On 8/18/06, Jane* wrote:

I recently attended a 3 day seminar on tmtt as the guest of someone who had paid. I thought it was quite interesting but I'm well aware of the sales tactics used and am skeptical. I saw some negatives on line about the company as well. Jane*

I'm pretty sure I've seen most of the negative posts or "reviews" online. The vast majority of the negative reviews are not from actual students but from people who have very limited first-hand experience with Teach Me To Trade/EduTrades. Since starting my blog, a few TMTT students have come forward to report that it is working for them and to wish me all the best. I believe these are honest, real people taking a moment to say hi and encourage me. You can see some of their comments on my blog and a few more have emailed me directly.

I've been rather diligent to seek other sources of information on trading and, if you've been reading my blog recently, you're probably aware of some of the books I've been recommending. TMTT isn't teaching something strange or magical. Similar concepts, tactics and practices can be found in many reputable books. TMTT does distill down the information to its essence and highlights and teaches the most successful of the tactics, including easy-to-follow guidelines and rules. Their marketing may be a bit over-the-top (which I personally think is what has garnered the negative "reviews"), but they teach best practices and responsibly. That's not going to stop some people from going out and donating their money to the market on haphazard trades. I have heard of some people losing a lot of money after jumping into the market -- sometimes only based on the 3-day seminar! They walk away thinking they're going to be market genius overnight! The people that have lost big-time didn't even follow the guidelines, yet they want to blame someone!

Sorry, I'm beginning to rant... how 'bout I just answer your question:

No, I have not made any money yet. The more in-depth answer is: Yes, I'm beginning to make profitable paper trades. I have not yet placed a live trade with actual money, so it's not possible for me to make money yet (it's also not possible for me to lose money yet). I will be placing live trades very soon, but am still refining my system/style and learning from some mistakes in my paper trading account. It's far cheaper to learn on a virtual account, but I'm actually a slightly positive for the last couple weeks. I've been keeping a trading journal starting from last week and I'll share some entries demonstrating the good the bad and the ugly here in my blog.

The good news is that I am getting better at entering and managing my trades. I'm also getting more consistent about my analysis. I'm more thorough and am getting a better feel for the market. I'm putting it all together and will be making trades soon, stay tuned!

*Name changed to protect the presumed innocent.