It must have been with difficulty that you guys decided to drop the original system as the one-and-only extra special system on this site. Still, there was so much emotion, you probably made the right decision to just move on.

Personally I wasn't able to take the last (winning) trades because of the PFG hassles.

I'm going to just stick with my account with TD Waterhouse for now which in Canada does not trade futures. I'm still readjusting my perspective - especially margin is calculated so differently. And I sure don't have the time (nor the mental energy anymore) to consistently day trade.

So THANK YOU SO MUCH for all these new systems, which can be traded in a non-futures account. It must take so much dedication and work to maintain this awesome site!
.....Susan

Well the slide did NOT continue during those final 45 minutes from 4:30 pm to 5:15 pm. March E-mini futures closed a couple of points off those lows. Final close was 1386.75. Not that anything means anything.

.....Sooz

OK, I did some googling. It seems that, EVEN on Fridays, globex trading resumes after the 4:15-4:30 break, and continues another 45 minutes till 5:15. Go figure! I just don't know how much I don't know! LOL!

OK, am I in a time warp or something? Doesn't trading end for the weekend at 4:15 est? Maybe not?? My charting software is still chugging along in real time. This IS Friday, right? Is there a new trading schedule or something?? Is it an old schedule I've never been aware of??

.....Susan

off topic - quote by Douglas Adams - oddly appropriate for these times in the market :-)

There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

Ohhhh. Thanx. Then, I guess the next one will be this December 21st 2012. Winter solstice and it will also be options expiration. As if I don't have enough to worry about!

.....Susan

Hi Zach06, I just have to ask. :-) And how do you get 11 from 12/12/12 anyway??

.....Susan

Although I've made no bad mistakes trading with TD Waterhouse, sometimes the limitations - due to not having a futures trading account - are frustrating. So this evening I again started looking at Canadian futures brokers. First one I called was OptionsXpress.

My prepared questions in order of importance are about 1) how safe is my money, 2) do they use SPAN margining, 3) trading platform.

So my first question to the OptionsXpress rep was to ask if they're with CIPF (Canadian Investor Protection Fund). His answer was that they've "made a business decision to close the Canadian section of their business". He wouldn't divulge anything else.

Sounds suspicious to me. My paranoia kicks in and I imagine brokerages dropping like flies. :-) Anybody know anything about this?

.....Susan

Hi Matt,

Seems like a very nice system.
What are your rules for your version of this system for its 2nd, 3rd, and 4th entries? eg for 2nd entry now, would the RSI2 on spx have to stay below 10% for another day?

Well...I didn't go back to check, but didn't we determine that the 3rd entry of a trade is almost always a winner? So good luck to all. :-)

.....Susan

Here's a quote from John Mauldin's free weekly newsletter:

"In a book that we have looked to many times, This Time Is Different, Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart detail over 200 instances where nations had a credit crisis. One of their main points is that nations seem to be able to borrow money right up until what they call the "Bang Moment" happens, and the bond market no longer functions. Right up until that moment, proponents of ever more debt argue that "this time is different," but it never is."

OK, so, just SUPPOSE this time is not different and the bang moment actually happens (although when is anybody's guess). Here's what I just don't understand: what happens to the U.S. stock market? Articles keep talking about the bond market. That's Greek to me because I've never traded bonds. (No pun intended and certainly no offense to Greeks.)

.....Susan

And Hussman this week (free weekly articles) is particularly bearish even for Hussman.

http://www.hussmanfunds.com/

Nice that this one and the previous one were winners! I didn't have my act together yet after the PFG fiasco to enter either of them! Just another example of how trading (and life) simply doesn't go according to plan. Never mind - I'm still optimistic. (weak smile)

Thanks Muslhead and Parkridge77 and Bkout3.
I'd be selling a long ETF, not buying a short ETF so I think the leverage wouldn't work against me so much. I had no idea that they were based on futures, nor did I consider they might be hard to find to short. Hadn't heard of spxu. Will look into it. LOL, so much I didn't know! Will look into all of it.

.....Susan

Trying to find how leveraged ETF's work. One article says that "given enough time, they'll all go to zero" in a relatively flat market.  I don't get it - do they behave like options?? But how can they behave like options if there's no strike prices to trade - you just trade whatever the market is, don't you?
Can anyone direct me to a site that explains this.
Since I'm getting kinda bearish, I'd be interested in shorting UPRO - but first I better know what the heck I'm doing. Thanks anybody.

.....Susan

Yes, everything seems to be cycles. I completely missed that recent (finally-profitable trade because not set up with a new broker yet.

Only thing that saves me time and again is my sense of humour, and counting my blessings. (Driving to work this morning in air-conditioned car, listening to 60's rock&roll - how bad can life be. :-))

This is first time in about a week that I've read the SPY system messages - just didn't want to know what I was missing.

.....Susan

I got this email dated 11 am this morning. It doesn't affect me because my account was with Canadian branch. But it may cause some weakness in the market in general over the next day or 2. Here's cut-paste.

"Wednesday, July 11, 2012

PFGBEST's clearing FCM continues to liquidate open positions. We are still processing for the trade date of Tuesday, July 10, and will send July 10 statements out as soon as processing is complete. "

.....Susan