Here We Go Again!

Hey Futures Fans!

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. I have been trading, though. I'll include my screenshots for trades that I haven't posted to get everyone up to speed, but... later.

I'm lovin this new strategy that I'm using, by the way. It's the best. I haven't lost one trade so far using it. Although that's sure to change at some point, I know it's a consistent winner. MMT calls it a "sniper". I can't go into any detail about it -- sorry -- but I just wanted to give it some quick props so that when you decide to trade with MMT, you'll learn it too!

Today I made 1.5 points on the multiple 6:30 am announcements. I set that as my profit target and was completely confident I would hit it. It was a zero-stress trade with real money, which is a rare thing.

Here's the screenshot:

In case you're wondering, I was trading 1 contract (leveraging $500). So the 15% return on the day -- minus commissions -- equates to $70.20. The total time commitment for the trade was 16 minutes, including prep time. Now on with my day!


PS In one of my last posts I asked you to predict what my total percentage returns would be on that week. No one got the answer right... so we'll continue it at some other point. For this week, I have a new challenge. Who is the second richest American according to Forbes.com and how did he make his money? Post your answer as a comment. First to respond with the correct answer gets a special shout-out.

Bad Day Yesterday, Back On Track Today

I lost overall in my trades yesterday, but in my frustration I forgot to get a screenshot of my trading platform to post here. Don't worry, I will give a brief synopsis of what happened. I traded 4 times yesterday, I won 2 and lost 2 and was down overall $124. Moreover, I was trading on 2 contracts, which I told myself I wasn't going to do (I was going to start conservatively with 1 contract). And I went to bed at 2 am, then traded half-awake at 5:30 am. Basically- no excuses- I was dumb. I broke my rules and lost. I lost because I was nervous, slow, made poor decisions, and was too tired to see what was going on. It was one of those days that I should not have traded, plain and simple. Many fellow traders calls it "being in the zone", and emphasize that you just don't trade when you're not prepared, not in the zone. Also, you should never break your rules, and that's exactly what I did. Lesson learned.

Anyway, today was good. A fresh start. Because of my losses yesterday I was back trading 1 contract. And I was fully awake. I was Trading In the Zone. While I can't tell you specifically what MMT strategy I used (for obvious reasons-- the information is exclusive to those who pay for it), I was able to put in practice some very recent MMT instruction to easily win my trade. In 6 seconds I made a 10% profit. Below is the screenshot:

You'll note that I added comment boxes to explain the basics of what you are looking at in that picture. If it seems intimidating, don't let it. It's really not complicated and you learn it in the first MMT lessons.

On with my day!

I tried going live...

Hello Futures Fans. Interesting story for you today.

I've been paper trading for a while now in preparation to go live again.*

If you are familiar with my trading history, please skip the following paragraph. If you aren't familiar with it, here it is:

*I have been a Market Mover Independent Trader for a number of months. I started out very successfully by implementing MMT strategies. I made over 100% on my initial investment within just a few weeks. Then I got greedy. Aggressive. Irresponsible, really. I ventured way beyond the scope of MMT and into no-man's-land. I had no idea what I was doing and lost all my money, all because I didn't stay within the confines of the MMT strategies I learned. It really is as simple as that. Thus my slow, methodical rebirth and dedication to sticking to what made me successful and the avoidance of the amateurish pitfalls that hurt me before. Oh, and thus my advice to all my friends: Don't be dumb like I was. When I was sticking to the rules, I won 11 out of my 12 live trades.

Mentally, my poor decisions from so many months ago were a huge obstacle to overcome. It shattered my confidence, and in the end I had to recover mentally more than financially.

Well, now I'm back. I know from personal experience how powerful a tool MMT is. The education it gives you costs very little and gives you a skill that will literally transform your life. I will do this until my dying day or the end of the world, whichever comes first (unless they come simultaneously I guess).

Now, transitioning back to the topic of the post and the interesting story I promised...

I finally began trading live again today, after a few months' hiatus. That is, at least, I TRIED trading live. I talked to my broker to get my account active again and went to trade the 7:00 am Consumer Confidence announcement and had my trade rejected due to my account being blocked. In a nutshell, my broker let me down and didn't fully activate my account. Nevertheless, despite their screw-up, the important thing is that I properly executed the strategy and had the account been active, I would have made 1.5 points, equivalent to 15%. Since I am starting out small, that would have been a real money profit of $150 today.

So while I'm pretty annoyed with my broker- Global Futures- they have now fixed the issue and tomorrow I will be good to go. Nothing is perfect in life, right?

Holy Movement, Batman!

Okay, you have to check this screenshot out for yourself or there's no way you'll believe me. Today was intense! Nonfarm Payrolls and Unemployment Rate at the 5:30 am hustle, and Nonfarm Payrolls came in WAY worse than expected, leading to an immediate, precipitous drop in the futures market. Fortunately, I capitalized on it and made a killing (paper trading).

I made over 5 points today in a total of 10 minutes. Here's the proof:

I was going to stop after I made an initial profit, but seeing that there was still a lot of momentum left, used my MMT skills and drop kicked another 4 points or so on its trash. Hi-yah baby! Pow! Splat! All I know is that in all the amazing volatility and carnage I came out on top with a substantial gain. Like Bruce Lee. Or Batman. Or Chuck Norris even. After starting my morning like this I feel like a superhero for sure. I don't know, maybe not. Maybe I'm just a regular guy putting into use some simple trading skills that I was lucky enough to learn from some other expert traders. I don't know... You be the judge.

Am I a hero?...

Haha. Doesn't matter. Either way, I'm happy.

Jobless Claims Spike

Don't let negative news get you down! Come good news or bad, you can stay afloat (and even prosper).

Today there was more negative news that immediately drove down stock prices. Jobless claims spiked to 479,000 for the week, from 460,000 last week. Economists had predicted that initial claims would fall modestly, leading to an unease among investors that lingered throughout the day.

In better news, the immediate drop in the futures market netted me 2.5 points in less than three minutes. The market's reaction was so immediate and drastic that it dropped 5 points in under a minute. I was able to get in and make my $250 profit with 2 contracts. Remember, with this strategy we can make money regardless of whether the market goes up or down. Again--referring back to yesterday's post--if I'm a person working with $5000 (to choose a fair number that lots of people would have to invest), my profit today alone would have been $1250. And the best part? Done in three minutes and on with my day.

It's a crazy world we live in. Everyone could use a little stability, as we saw from today's spike in jobless claims. I doubt there is anyone left who doesn't have friends or family affected by the recession, and most of us have been affected ourselves. If you find yourself in survival mode right now, you're not alone. Many worry about what the future holds. Yahoo! Finance reported this today:

The high unemployment rate in the U.S. remains one of the biggest worries for investors. The surprise jump in claims last week suggests that employers are still reluctant to create jobs, which could keep a damper on economic growth the coming months.

 "The trend is going exactly in the wrong direction," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors. 

That brings me back to my original point. It's a crazy, unstable world we live in today, and everyone seems to feel it. But you don't have to let it affect you negatively, because you can prosper in this economy. Stay ahead of the curve. Use the news to your advantage. While others fret over the data that the government and economists are spewing out like an overflowing septic tank, make yourself immune.

All this talk about what's wrong with the world reminds me of this:

10 Minutes To Make Some Dough

After a needless and irresponsible sabbatical from trading, I resumed last week. It was my first trade in almost 3 months. Why the absence? Outside of the obvious "I'm an idiot" response, there's not much else to say. Somehow "I was busy" doesn't quite cut it. I could list off all the excuses, but I won't. Frankly, it was a mistake to stop trading for one day, much less 3 months. I'm back on the wagon now though, and very happy to be here. I give this as a piece of advice for prospective traders: trading is a mental game. For people like me who struggle to wake up early in the morning, one missed day can turn into 30 before you know it. It takes discipline to trade. Don't be lazy and repeat my mistakes. That's one of the biggest keys to success that I have learned from my lapse. Did you know that success or failure isn't determined by your market knowledge and analysis? In fact, that really has NOTHING to do with one's ability to continuously make hundreds or thousands of dollars in this business. It's for this reason that I recommend reading Trading In The Zone by Mark Douglas to every trader I come across. This is perhaps the most comprehensive, in-depth look at the psychology of trading. It is looked upon by many as the greatest tool to turn regular people into master traders. You'll love its simplicity and insight and immediately notice the changes it prompts in you.

So back to discussing my trades. Just as a little precursory explanation about Market Mover Trading, one of the differences with this strategy compared with day trading strategies is that we trade market announcements. These announcements occur ALL the time. Every week there are several regularly scheduled announcements that give traders tiny snapshots of the overall future health of the economy. Why is it great to have so many respective snapshots of future economic outlooks? Well, for a Market Mover Trader the answer is simple: Volatility. It is a trader's best friend (or worst enemy). See, MMT is so simple it's ridiculous. The company gives its traders everything they need to capitalize on market volatility that arises immediately following an announcement and lasts for about 5-10 minutes subsequent. It is the emotional reaction to announcements, and we make money off of it. That is why MMT trades only take a few minutes start to finish.

So my paper trade (aka practice trade, aka trade not involving real money) from last Thursday, July 29, 2010, trading Unemployment Claims, took only 8 minutes to complete. I was practicing a different strategy than the ones I normally use, and I really liked it. I plan on continuing to paper trade using that strategy until I feel comfortable enough to use it in a live trade in a few weeks. At the top of the page is a snapshot of my trade results from the trading DOM (Depth Of Market- pronounced "DOME") that I use. I will include these in every trade, good or bad, so my results are visible and transparent. That way people can see the genuine results you achieve through the education and tools MMT provides.