Daytrading Qqqq

[uppernet]

i am new to this forum ... but i have been trading usa market for a long time ..... anybody here daytrading qqqq for a living ?

[LivinLOS]

Harmonica like short term QQQQ plays as I understand..

[uppernet]

Good to know somebody daytrades QQQQ in this forum ....... i hope we can exchange some ideas on how to daytrade profitably QQQQ ....... i wonder what time frames do you prefer using in your daytrading ?

[daxbr]

If you daytrading qqqq, wouldn't it be easier and cheaper for you to trade futures instead?

[uppernet]

If you daytrading qqqq, wouldn't it be easier and cheaper for you to trade futures instead?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[uppernet]

yes ... for serious daytrading it is best to trade futures if you already have a workable good risk/reward trading methodology simply because you will already make money if you are one tick ahead ........ but if you are just a novice daytrader that is still trying to master your daytrading skill, it is somewhat safer to start with stocks ....

and the choice of brokerage is also a big factor in determining your speed execution and transaction costs ...... example.... in tradestation, you are charged only $1 per 100 shares for each stock transaction .... but they charge around $100 per month for letting you use their trading platform ........ therefore there is also a need to consider if you are heavy trader or if you just seldom trades when deciding which brokerage you want to use .......

[ProThaiExpat]

Thanks uppernet for starting this thread. It will be a great educational tool for me and hopefully help me to augment my meager retiremment pension.

I lost most of my retirement stake in the meltdown of 2002 investing in individual tech stocks and so am now limiting my activity to the QQQQ.

I am not a day trader by definition, but looking to develope a strategy that is satisfied with a 5% return, or perhaps a 10% return over many months or even a year. I am very risk adverse but do follow the market daily, perhaps not such a good idea.

I may start investing a small amount on a more or less daily trader model to see how I do, unfortunately I tend to put all my eggs in one basket, which I know is foolhardy.

I am now under the water by about five percent as I have an average purchase price of 39.5, the result of an emotional buy and attention paid to a timing service which still has a buy signal up, which they issued at 37.5 in October and has remained in place since then. I sold my investment of 33.5 shares at 34 based on their sell signal which was in place all the way up to 37.5, then they went long and remained long until today, completely missing the top in late December and all of the subsequent activity.

Needless to say, I no longer subscribe to their service.

Harmonica has been very helpful to me in crystalizing my thinking on many isssues.

[uppernet]

actually any trader can visit nqoos forum to learn more about trading methodologies of different traders ......... there is no such thing as ultimate single holy grail to successful trading ....... any methodology can work well for some traders if they know how to use it well ....... if a certain system has an edge over a particular market , then trading in mechanical like manner can also produce profitable result .........

[uppernet]

qqqq is an option for safer trading simply because it is just an index and unlikely to experience bankruptcy ....... you can also design a trading plan wherein you can trade different time frames to keep you busy just trading qqqq ........

[uppernet]

learning to cut loss when necessary is also important risk management to protect the financial health of traders ........ but there is also no fix rule ......... it all depends on trading plans of each trader ...... and of course the time frames choices ...... but before making trading decisions, i believe it is best to always know the monthly, weekly, and daily charts before engaging yourself to trade i the smaller time frames to avoid being too focus on the tress and neglecting the forest .....

[ProThaiExpat]

uppernet, do you know this website, if not, take a look!!

http://www.americanbulls.com/StockPage.asp...cker=NASD&Typ=S

I am going to chart their "record" today and see if in fact they have anything to contribute. They have gone to bullish today, from wait for a few days and perhaps a sell before that, but I am only talking about their commentary, not their "record" as posted on the right of the page.

Comment???

[ProThaiExpat]

Stuck with an admittedly high average purchase price (app), I stop/lossed at 37.99 but missed the sell as the market opened at 37.40 that day.

If I don't sell at a loss, I don't suffer a loss and do have a very long window. although I do regret not having cash to "try my hand".

I am holding on in hope of the price gettting acceptably near my APP and then selling. Perhaps in the interim, I can learn more and feel more confident.

May I have the link to your reference to a site I should study?

[uppernet]

visited the site just now ....... actually learning from any teacher is good education ..... but it is not wise to become dependent on other people's advice ...... you need to learn to eventually develop your own trading workable methodology that suits your trading personality if you want to survive long in the market ....... if you are into daytrading, there is no short-cut to avoid constant monitoring simply because the market is constantly changing in scenarios specially when we are taking about smaller time frames .... if you dont have the time to monitor by the minute, then you need to adjust to bigger time frames for your trading plans .......

[uppernet]

STOP LOSS strategy is also an art ... you just need to experiment which works well for you .... too much whipsaws is also unhealthy ........ and the secret to formulating a workable cut-loss damage control is to first know the monthly, weekly, daily charts so that you wont lost track of the big picture ......

nqoos website

http://www.nqoos.com/default1.htm

[uppernet]

http://www.nqoos.com/Articles_and_Reprints.htm

[uppernet]

http://www.nqoos.com/FloorTraderMethod.htm

[Harmonica]

[uppernet]

thanks for sharing the chart analysis ..... as per my observation about trading ... for a trader to be more active and dynamic in trading he also needs to be more flexible in adapting to market's frequent changes in characteristic .... the world is never designed to be constant , that is why no single methodology can work all the time ..... it is more favorable to have many simple trading tricks available to adapt to different scenariors ...... looking at different time frames and also different moving averages can sometimes help us discover where the action is ........ while the standard 10ma 20ma 200 ma are the most commonly used, it does not necessarily mean those odd averages wont work all the time ........

[uppernet]

there was once an excellent truly profitable daytrader who told me that he oftentimes have to adjust his moving averages inputs to search for the recent actions ...... example ... it can be 20ma or 21 ma, 22 ma , or 23 ma etc etc

that particular trader wont disclose to me his holy grail setup for daytrading the s&p futures ... but he is definitely very very profitable ......

[Harmonica]

there was once an excellent truly profitable daytrader who told me that he oftentimes have to adjust his moving averages inputs to search for the recent actions ...... example ... it can be 20ma or 21 ma, 22 ma , or 23 ma etc etc

that particular trader wont disclose to me his holy grail setup for daytrading the s&p futures ... but he is definitely very very profitable ......

yes, I do that too -- the only exceptions are the 50 and 200-day -- and the reason I don't change these is that they still work.

[uppernet]

agree ... 50 and 200 do work simply because this is the unviersal reference of almost everyone ........ changing some parameters from time to time is mostly for active trading purposes .....

[ProThaiExpat]

Many thanks Harmonica for the chart. I have yet to learn how to superimpose the 200 day onto my QQQQ chart. Schwab has an interactive charting service but don't know yet how to superinpose 200 day. May end up e-mailing them for this information.

I have been trying to correlate my QQQQ data with the marketbull website as previously posted.

They are lying with statistics, as TimingCube did. MarketBull posted a Buy signal on Friday, after being neutral for a couple of days from a sell signal.

However, the Buy was posted on their chart as 37.30 while my best possible buy on Friday would have been 37.70. I found that both timing services usually quote the best price of the day as their "signal price". I am not willing to stay up all night to try to catch their "signal price" even if I could get the information fast enough.

My conclusion is they lie with statistics to sell their product. Not surprising.

Harmonica, posting your QQQQ chart monthly would be a godsend to those not subscribing to charting services.

Would I be considered a day trader if I bought when QQQQ hit the 200 day and sold after a dollar increase, as Harmonica predicted would happen before the recent rebound/rally/increase?

[uppernet]

prothaiexpat ..... being able to sell within the day some of the time does not qualify you as a legitimate daytrader ...... if you cannot monitor the market during trading hours , then it is unlikely that you can be a profitable daytrader ........ anyway daytrading is just one of the trading methodologies some traders do for a living ..... but daytrading is not the only method that can make money ...... you can trade the larger time frames and still be profitable ...... maybe harmonica can guide you along the way in this forum ..... from the way i read your posts .... it seems you are more suited to trade the daily charts , with weekly and the 60min , 30 min charts as your entry and exit added references ......

[Harmonica]

Many thanks Harmonica for the chart.  I have yet to learn how to superimpose the 200 day onto my QQQQ chart.  Schwab has an interactive charting service but don't know yet how to superinpose 200 day.  May end up e-mailing them for this information.

I have been trying to correlate my QQQQ data with the marketbull website as previously posted.

They are lying with statistics, as TimingCube did.  MarketBull posted a Buy signal on Friday, after being neutral for a couple of days from a sell signal.

However, the Buy was posted on their chart as 37.30 while my best possible buy on Friday would have been 37.70.  I found that both timing services usually quote the best price of the day as their "signal price".  I am not willing to stay up all night to try to catch their "signal price" even if I could get the information fast enough.

My conclusion is they lie with statistics to sell their product.  Not surprising.

Harmonica, posting your QQQQ chart monthly would be a godsend to those not subscribing to charting services.

Would I be considered a day trader if I bought when QQQQ hit the 200 day and sold after a dollar increase, as Harmonica predicted would happen before the recent rebound/rally/increase?

Nothing wrong with $1/share profit and then cashing out -- but the Q's are superb for medium-term plays, both LONG and SHORT -- also there is then no need to watch the market in real-time as it can be fatiguing; especially considering the time difference.

The same principles that work in medium-term also work in the smaller time spans all the way down to micro-periods for which we have micro-traders who sell within seconds of buying.

They all work, but which suits you, your time and energy, your health, your wife, her health etc. etc., best?

[Harmonica]

Here's the monthly you asked for --

[Harmonica]

And the weekly to get a view of what's under the hood --

[Harmonica]

And lastly, the main engine, the daily -- which as its name implies, should be viewed DAILY -- just once is enough

This is the same chart I showed here earlier, but this time I've expanded the view to include the bear-market rally in its entirety and to give you a monthly/weekly/daily view of the all-important trendline.

[uppernet]

by the way ... most indicators can be unversal truths but at the same time based on after-the-facts calculations ... while the indicators can give you hint on the characteristics of the market, there is never a guarantee that history will repeat itself ...... trading is all about calculating risk/reward and not expecting to be correct all the time ..... we are all trying to find a system that can give us more wins versus lesser losses ....... aside from using indicators to guide you ... there is also a need to observe price actions in its bare form to avoid bottom fishing or top fishing at the wrong time ....

[Harmonica]

This is not the time to fall asleep, guys.

Get some espresso and get ready for the office.

Check your bank balances this weekend -- moves are at hand, in a subterranean sort of way.