Firstly, thank you for this awesome system!

I don't understand the stats. For example, the last trade bot at $217.96 and sold at $219.03 for 1.07 points gained. But then it shows 288.90 profit. How does 1.07 points translated to 288.90 profit??

Thanks. Need to know this to help figure out how many contracts to trade.

Thanks for that, Zach06. I'll have to reread it more slowly to understand it better. Seems important!

Susan

Sorry - how does one condense a long post? The video showed another option (condensed subject or something like that) but when I clicked on make a new post, that option didn't show up. Thanks,Susan

"Picking up pennies in front of a bulldozer" comes to mind when viewing the current situation, where many stocks have rallied after breaking through primary support. Markets find short-term support and the temptation is to snap up bargains. But probabilities have inverted. Buying on the dips is no longer the profitable strategy that it was in the bull market — with high probability of substantial gains outweighing the low probability of material losses. We are now in a bear market where we face low probability of material gains versus high probability of substantial losses.

Why have probabilities inverted? There are two types of sellers active during a crash: astute investors seeking to reduce their market exposure; and traders seeking to profit from the fall by selling stocks short. The first group are likely to sit on the sidelines after they have sold, waiting for the turmoil to pass. But short-sellers tend to take profits when the initial spurt of selling slows, their purchases encouraging a few brave souls to venture into the market, picking up pennies in front of the bulldozer. There are two forces ranged against these buyers. First, short-covering will fade as the market rises and short sales are likely to again rise. Second, there is a large group of investors sitting on stocks who missed the opportunity to reduce their exposure during the initial sell-off. Their confidence now shaken after the sharp fall, the group forms a large block of resistance. As stocks rise, they enter the market in increasing numbers, causing the rally to falter. When the rally falters, the number of sellers swells alarmingly, initiating a second decline. The cycle may repeat several times until eventually new buyers enter the market.

The market in times like this is driven by sentiment. Gauging reaction to good and bad news is the best measure of investor resilience.

Yes - option pricing is crazy. I'm short some ES calls way up at 2200 strike. Thot I could buy them back for pennies. But they cost more now than when the ES was 100 points higher.

circuit breakers

The daytime limit is 7% but the overnight limit is only 5%. So trading on the ES was halted twice. First time at 1870 before the open, then at 1830 after the open.
Here's CME site I've just discovered for realtime circuit breaker numbers on ES.

http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/equity-index/price-limit-guide.html

I agree with you. Today's move up just about equals yesterday's move down. But today's volume is HALF of yesterday's volume.

This gap indicator chart is interesting! What does "maximum up" and "maximum down" mean on the gap indicator chart? Is that sort of an envelope where prices aren't expected to go up more than 37.25 points, nor down more than 30.75 points?

(I've taken so long to get back into trading fulltime again. It's been so long since I posted anything, sort of embarassing to start with a question. Hope to start contributing soon.)

I'm confused - so S&P money flow is moving down relative to S&P, whereas broad market money flow is moving up? Is that the correct interpretation of these charts?

Suzn

I haven't seen any posts about maximum pain lately. Does anyone know whether it's been pretty accurate lately? or has it been way off?
Here's a link. I think you have to subscribe to get more details, but this link gives pretty good free summary on a chart for max pain for SPY and DIA. Just type in the symbol and select the expiry date.
http://www.optionpain.com/OptionPain/Option-Pain.php

Ahh, you're right Zach06 - because the number of days in a month isn't divisible by 9, nor come to think of it, is the number of months in a year. Nevertheless, there are about 3 11-days every month, sometimes 4. But if an 11-day fell on Op-ex, I'd watch out. :-)

If that's all there is to it, then every 9 days is an eleven day. Sort of takes the anticipation-excitement away when you realize that.

JO, and CAFE. Apparently CAFE might be the better one to trade. ETF's are calculated based on futures. BUT we really have to understand "backwardation" and "contango" if we're trading ETF's.  Apparently, the way the calculation is done for CAFE, makes it more smoothly reflect the futures during rollover times.

Here are 2 links.

http://www.etftrends.com/2012/10/coffee-etfs-which-cup-of-joe-is-right-for-you/

http://www.etftrends.com/2012/09/what-is-an-etf-part-23-backwardation-and-contango/

.....Suzn

I didn't want to install chrome, so I just followed your suggestion and clicked on "Link to mp3". The sound came on in my mp3 default player which at the moment happens to be RealPlayer. No problem at all. One extra click. Never thought twice about it.

Susan

Hi Poohnana

I use E-Quotes directly from the CME. They have different levels - I pay $120 per month which isn't cheap but is less than tradestation. E-Quotes was invaluable for me when I traded options on ES futures so I would highly recommend it just for that. (I wasn't using it as a trading platform but just as a charting software and for the data.) There's probably a free trial. They have a feature called "indicator builder" which would cost an extra $30 per month I think. It's greyed out on my screen so I can't comment on it. Their customer service is excellent too.

Suzn

Hey RitchieD

Just a couple of things to think about - If it first dips to support, then breaks out, you're good! BUT what if it first breaks out, then dips and stays down? Can you put a stop loss on the breakout order at the same time as you place that order? Or can you place both orders on one of your accounts but make them OCO? OCO means "One cancels the other".

Suzn

I know there are a million trading educational sites nowadays, but I stumbled across this one with free articles and videos which seem pretty good. I just watched the entire series of 9 videos about various reversal patterns. Nothing revolutionary but well-organized and comprehensive. There's a candlestick series as well.

http://www.yourtradingcoach.com

.....Suzn (Off topic comment - someone suggested another spelling of my name for luck. What the heck, no harm. :-))