I really liked how you applied this chapter to your trading. This is something that I am also experiencing in my trading, that of being a curious calm trader. Thanks for sharing that!

Hi! I was wondering if anyone (or Kyle) knows how Kyle's fixed risk hotkeys for stocks/ETFs on DAS Trader could be adapted to trade futures. The futures i'm interested in trading are the micro E-mini S&P futures which have a 'ticker' constructed by # symbol followed by M (for mini), ES (code for S and P futures) followed by a letter for the expiration month (currently it is M) followed by a number for the year (currently it is 2 for 2022) = #MESM2 For NASDAQ futures, it is the same process but with NQ instead of ES = #MNQM2 The fixed risk hotkey that i'm interested in adapting is the simple one where you double click on the chart where you want your stop and then when you press the hotkey it calculates your share size. I don't think interactive brokers allows you to purchase or short fractional futures so the hotkey would have to round up/down to the nearest whole number The hotkeys I use are the following: Long: StopPrice=Price-0;DefShare=BP*0.925;Price=Ask-Price+0.00;SShare='insert fixed risk value in $'/Price;Share=DefShare-SShare;DefShare=DefShare+SShare;SShare=Share;Sshare=DefShare-SShare;Share=0.5*SShare;TogSShare;ROUTE=SMRTL;Price= Ask+0.05;TIF=DAY+;BUY=Send;DefShare=200;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice-0.05 ACT:SELL STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+; Short: StopPrice=Price+0;DefShare=BP*0.925;Price=Price-Bid+0.00;SShare='insert fixed risk value in $'/Price;Share=DefShare-SShare;DefShare=DefShare+SShare;SShare=Share;Sshare=DefShare-SShare;Share=0.5*SShare;TogSShare;ROUTE=SMRTL;Price=Bid-0.05;TIF=DAY+;SELL=Send;DefShare=200;TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:MARKET PX:StopPrice+0.05 ACT:BUY STOPPRICE:StopPrice QTY:Pos TIF:DAY+; If someone could help in doing this I would be extremely thankful (as a european/UK resident I cannot trade SPY/QQQ ETFs so SP futures are the best alternative for an extremely similar day trading experience/chart and I seem to have became profitable in simulator trading these market ETFs but not trading stocks which I find harder) Thank you, Jack L

Chapter 5 W- Fear is something that is very dynamic and what you do to overcome it needs to be revisited often. To bring yourself to a sense of calm curiosity in your trading, you need to think and see what would be an ideal circumstance that you can recreate time and time again. A- When you experience something you can go two ways: curiosity or confusion. You cannot learn something without experiencing it. A- The best way that I can see to apply this to my trading is to focus more on reversals. I feel when I am in a reversal trade that I’m less shocked with what the outcome may be. I hope that by putting myself into trades that trigger curiosity it will help to condition myself to being curious. I also hope that by conditioning myself to being curious that I will be able to apply the feeling to more difficult trading patterns.

Chapter 4 W. Accepting the risk means accepting the consequences of your trades without emotional discomfort or fear. This means that you must learn how to think about trading and your relationship with the markets in such a way that the possibility of being wrong, losing, missing out, or leaving money on the table doesn't cause your mental defense mechanisms to kick in and take you out of the opportunity flow. A. Mark points out that accepting risk is when we truly accept the consequences of our trades without it affecting us emotionally. A. It is difficult not to feel happy when the trade flows in our favor and even more so if it shoots in our favor. Even worse if it does not flow in our favor then fears, anxieties can block us and we stop acting objectively. A. I have experimented these days in accepting the risk and taking the loss objectively even before my stop. Waiting for it to flow in the expected direction has given me a new opportunity or I have even been able to find it in another stock. In the end I was able to finish with a favorable result because there will always be opportunities. This is just now, and I must keep generating the practice and the habit. It is still recent in the past, when I did not accept a loss, I withdrew the stop and it became a giant loss that made me go back several days, weeks or a month. In July it did not happen, and I had an excellent month, although one day I lost 2, 3 times the day after that day I won what I lost, because if the losses are according to our risk we will always have the opportunity to improve on the day or the next day.

We recently had discussions in the BBT chat room on how to read the tape or better described as interpreting the tape. This has led me to make this post and present my ideas and observation which may help in the discussion and make this critical excercise easier for traders. To help I have included an image below with a specific layout of DAS windows and 4 numbered focus points(FP). I have defined a simple 4 step mechnical process to interpret the tape and make a decision when to enter/exit a trade in the direction of a predetermined bias. The windows layout is rooted in trying to be logical and efficient for the physical process, minimize head/eye movement and a logical decision making process. The Layout a) Montage L2 top line is the potential future transaction, i.e. a crystal ball looking into the future b) T&S top line is a "large tape" of most recently executed transactions (note: deliberately on same eye level as L2) c) 1 min chart as close as possble to T&S and montage L2 (Note: BID/ ASk spread is on charts for easy visual reading with no lines across charts) The Focus Points (what to observe when price is moving into a S/R level which the trader previously marked on the chart) FP#1. - Select which price you prefer to observe, the BID or the ASK. No need to watch both. I watch the BID as it is physically closer to the T&S info. - Watch as price changes on this line, is the price change moving up, down or holding at a specific price point? - Only need to observe the change in the cents. - Verbally speak the value to yourself as it changes. - Is the price re-aquiring a specific price point? - Is the share size signifcant at that price point? - How much is the change in price? - Is it large/small for that symbol? FP#2. - Is the most recent transaction an aggresive BUY or an aggressive SELL ? - Did the price change up or down with last transaction compared to previous transaction? - Note the price changes for white transaction, they are also important. - What was the quantity of shares? FP#3. - What are the last 3 to 5 candle sticks communicating at this level which is drawn on chart? FP#4. - Increasing or decreasing volume? - What is the volume for each candle stick communicating? - What VPA patterns are being displayed in the volume area? Repeat FP#1 to FP#4 until ideal entry/exit is provided and/or everytime the price approches key levels marked on chart. Use key levels to add or partial. Blue Areas The areas will be in your peripheral vision. On montage you will observe if the pools of liquidity/LIMIT Orders/PASSIVE Orders are increasing or decreasing on the BID/ASK sides of montage. Observe if a ladder up/down is formed and the sizes. On T&S observe speed on the lower tape, blocks of small BUY/SELL flowing thru the tape. Generally try to have eyes centrally focused so you eliminate head and eye movement as you are trying to be as efficient as possible as the process can be a tiring exercise depending on intensity. BEARISH BIAS For a bearish bias the trader ideally would need to observe the montage level-2 price points holding then dropping, supported with T&S red transactions with dropping price points. Large BIDS parked on L2 lower down.(If green T&S transaction and dropping price expect a big flush) BULLISH BIAS For a bullish bias the trader ideally would need to observe the montage level-2 price points holding and then popping up, supported with T&S green transactions. Large ASKS parked on L2 higher up. Generally Market Makers will move the symbols price to genuine large pools of liquidity to achieve their own legal obligations and generate revenue as they have to make a profit for themselves. Market Makers like all companies have daily, weekly, monthly and yearly profit targets. BTW, You need to reduce the number of color bands in the Montage L2 from the default number to something that is more manageable. Too many flashes will distract your eyes. This a personal preference and should be explored by trader.

Good Afternoon Everyone, My name is Ercilia (Ercilia182 in chat) , I live and work in New York City. I have been working for Columbia University in the Finance/Accounting Field for the past 15 years, since graduating College back in 2003. Like many of you here, I have always been interested in learning how to trade but never knew where to start or find someone who was willing to help me. I love my job and I what I do, but I feel that there is something more to life than just that. I like the flexibility and freedom that this career offers. The ability to be able to work from home and spend more time doing the things you enjoy. I am 39 y/o with a daughter in college and on her own. This is the perfect time to embark in this new venture. Even though I work full-time, I have a very flexible schedule and available during the mornings. My goal is to master the skills of day trading and use it to my advantage. I came across Andrew's book on Amazon, it was one of the top 10 day trading books, and I have to say I absolutely love it. I recommended the book to my friends and gave it an excellent rating. It is a simple, straight forward, easy to read guide on day trading. I will of course, read many others. I am happy to be here and looking forward to being part of this trading community. I start my first class next week, and once done with online classes will move on to simulator. Cant wait to be part of the team! Ercilia182