Robert H

Since everybody has different levels of experience with the stock market, it is difficult to have a one-size-fits all objective list. I am going to try to cover all the areas that you should have a firm grasp of by the end of the 3-months. It is a rough outline of what I have learned after 4 months of paper/real trading. This post will be a work in progress, but here goes. ~IN PROGRESS~ Day Trading is probably the most deceiving profession on the planet. On the surface the concept seems very simple: buy low and sell high. Then why is it that 90% of traders fail at his endeavour? Surely they aren't trying to do the exact opposite of what is profitable. Even flipping a coin has better odds at 50%. Let's take a look under the hood to see what is required to be a successful trader. CLASSES There are four classes in total. Each one runs about 1 hour, except for class 4 which is almost 2 hours. It is recommended that you attend the classes multiple times to reinforce your knowledge, refresh the concepts, as well as stay updated on any new material. It is your responsibility to go over the slides and understand what is being taught. If you have any questions, please ask them during class, in the forums, or in the chat. The community is always here to lend a hand. You should also bookmark the Bear Bull Traders FAQ and DAS Trader Pro FAQ. Some members choose to read additional day trading books, as well as practice trading replayed market data. What you get out of the course is directly related to how much effort you put in. In a sense, the entire 3-months is more of a self-paced learning program than a structured course. There are no quizzes, no tests, no projects and no scoring. It is up to you to wake up every morning and spend time in the chair mastering the trade. Nobody will hold your hand, watch over your shoulder, or monitor your performance in any way. That is how day trading is in real life: absolute freedom to stake your fortune or self-destruct and implode. STOCK MARKET BASICS -Warren Buffet once said 'The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.' This is true for long term investing and for day trading. Remember that for each transaction you see in the Time/Sales window, there is a buyer and seller. When a stock is down 20% on the day and you short it, somebody is on the other side of that transaction buying. You don't know their hand though. They could be covering their short from earlier, it could be institutions loading up for long term investment, somebody hedging an options contract, etc. Beginners often gloss over this point. Volume represents transactions being filled; a transaction always involves two parties. You are trading against other people, not the market itself. -Exchanges: NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX -Market Makers -Pre-market and after-hours -High Frequency Trading (HFT), algorithms -Bid, Ask, Spreads -Short-selling. What does it mean. -Short inventory. Why are some stocks shortable and others not -Short Sale Restriction (SSR) -Short interest, or Short Ratio -Share float -5-cent tick programs -Circuit Breaker Halts -News, earnings, and catalysts -Buyouts -Pattern Day Trade Rule >>> Make sure you understand the above prerequisites before proceeding any further. Investopedia is a great resource. CHARTS -Candle Sticks. How to read them. -Understanding Price Action. Bearish vs bullish candles. Indecision candles. -Higher highs and higher lows / Lower highs and lowers lows -1-minute vs 5-minute chart -Moving averages and how they are calculated in different timeframes -VWAP. Why it's an important intraday indicator >>> The above concepts are not tool-specific and apply to all trading platforms MECHANICAL ASPECTS -Knowing your tools (DAS) -Platform, Hotkeys, Scanners, Journaling -Order entry. Limit, market, marketable limit, stops -Level 2 -Calculating commissions and tickets >>> The goal is to familiarize yourself with DAS and be comfortable using it. For some this could take days. For others this requires weeks. TECHNICAL AND STRATEGIES -Finding Stocks in Play -Good vs. bad pre-market price action -Finding Support/Resistance Levels -Day trading Strategies. Master recognizing the patterns, entries, stops, targets. -ABCD / Reverse ABCD -Bull Flag Momentum / Bear Flag -Fallen Angel -VWAP False Break Out -VWAP Reversal -VWAP Trend Trade -Opening Range Breakup / Opening Range Breakdown -Red-to-Green / Green-to-Red -Moving Average Trend Trade -Top Reversal / Bottom Reversal -Time of Day: Open, Late Morning, Midday to Close >>> Everybody will pick this up at a different pace--learning to recognize different strategies, figuring out which one works best for you (at what time of day), etc. MANAGING YOUR ACCOUNT -Risk Management -Position Sizing -Money Management PRACTICE THE PROCESS OF EXECUTING A GOOD TRADE Putting on a trade is more than buying at point A and selling at point B. You need to combine everything you learned to get in and out of a single trade properly: 1) finding good stocks in play 2) identifying chop and staying away 3) identifying the strategy or setup 4) quickly calculating risk-to-reward 5) getting a good entry and avoid chasing/jumping the gun 6) managing the trade based on live price action and new information which the market is providing you 7) taking profit (often overlooked, yet it involves half of the entire trade) 8) you need to do all of the above while keeping your emotions in check and fighting your psychological demons >>> Over the 3-month period, you will repeat this process hundreds of times. This is where the bulk of your time will be spent. Learning to take good trades and improving on your mistakes. This is the only path to consistency. Don't waste time trading unrealistic sizes on low-float stocks because you won't learn a thing. >>>Some of your trades will turn out to be winners, some will turn out to be losers. Most likely you will have a few trades that blow up your practice account (but don't worry, you weren't taking things seriously and would never do it live, right?). GOING LIVE -Choosing a broker -Starting small and gradual position sizing -Returning to Simulator -Peer-to-peer support PSYCHOLOGY OF TRADING -Why do most traders fail here -I'm highly intelligent, analytical and very disciplined. Why this will ruin your trading. -I'm a good poker player. Good--you will be playing against yourself -Revenge -Overtrading -Fear of missing out (FOMO) -Fear of pulling the trigger -Trading scared -Averaging down -Turning a day trade into a swing trade ~IN PROGRESS~

U.S. based. They accept foreign clients but no Canadians. See full list here: https://speedtrader.com/faq/

Yes, the Montage has to be active for hotkeys to work. There is an option to double-click the chart to make the Montage active. Right-click chart > Config > Double click to trade (bottom right)

Wormser, Speedtrader is a very attractive option if you have the $30k to fund. Andrew recommends them in this post. Sounds like they gave you quite the sales pitch 1. I'm pretty sure all brokers trade against their clients in one way or another. They know who is a consistent winner/loser and are privy to all sorts of other information. But remember that one single broker cannot manipulate a stock when there are millions of shares being traded in a 5-minute period. If you don't use hard stops, then the broker has no advantage their either. I would be more concerned about HFT's and algos--whose sole purpose is to capitalize on spreads--than my own broker (who makes money off me either way). Lastly, it is a known fact that brokers always hedge CFD bets against their clients. 2. That's a pretty good deal. $25 in commissions per day is pretty easy to achieve if you scale out. IB doesn't offer any rebate for accounts linked to DAS; I'm with IB 3. I recall some members e-mailing IB to get UVXY shares for short. They ended up getting some in their inventory shortly after (not sure if this was driven by market conditions or client demands). But you are right, day traders don't have the time to call intraday--maybe swing traders. As for the off-shore broker comment, that's a moot point when comparing to IB. Andrew discussed the risks in the above link, and many members have done their own due diligence in the CME Announcement post.

Right-click the Volume area of the chart Chart Area > Add new area after Right-click the new area > Study Config Double-click RSI on the left Use Config and ConfigEx to change colour and axis display options Right-click the RSI area > Chart Area > Config Area to modify label, ruler, and additional settings End result should look like this

Great post! Added to the DAS Trader Pro FAQ.

PCL is a very strong level. I've heard Andrew call it a magnet that prices are attracted to. So yes, it can be used as a potential profit target.

Great additional info! Do you happen to know how to set the Panic Hotkey to be account specific?

KThu, check out this post for the solution.

Trader H, when I successfully created my DAS/IB account, I downloaded the software per their instructions. Then I transferred my hotkey and layout files to the new installation folder (DAS Trader Pro). Afterward, I stopped using the DASTrader DEMO that I installed during my Bear Bull Traders 3-months simulator. The VANXXX account was expired anyway. Hope that clarifies things for any one stumbling upon this post.

MU ABCD/Moving Average Trend - March 12, 2018 MU was a freight train today. It was on the Gappers Watch List and surged after the Open. I missed the 5-minute ORB that Andrew and some other members in the chat took. At 9:52 AM EST, I saw an ABCD forming. I waited to get in on a new 5-min high at $57.40. My stop would be a break of point C, around $57.20. The first target would be HOD at $57.90, with higher targets between $58-$59. The stock was relentless and surged up in a panic-buying frenzy. I took profit--selling a third at a time--between $57.80 and $58.10. Seeing how bullish the stock was, I decided to keep my last 10% of shares until break-even. I set a hard stop and took a nap. When I came back, the stock was trading above $61! The momentum began to fade and it finally lost the 9 EMA. I sold my remaining shares at $60.75. The last ticket (10% of position) generated nearly three times as much profit as the first ticket (33% of position). Wow.

Skruf, take a look at the Class 3 video, roughly the 25:50 mark. Andrew explains how Time & Sales can be an indicator of traders' psychology. As you mentioned, Above Ask is considered aggressive buying (bullish), and Below Bid is aggressive selling (bearish).

All credits go to Jamie N. Great work and thanks again.

Louis, you mean this post by Lee? https://forums.bearbulltraders.com/topic/interactive-brokers-commission-structures-and-regulatory-fees/ ECN fees can either be debited/credited depending on whether you add/remove liquidity to the market. Andrew covers this topic in Class 3. That would explain why sometimes you see inconsistent total commissions. The SEC fee is calculated based on the total dollar value of the trade and not share size. I still have no idea how FINRA is calculated. Hope that helps.

I just corrected the original post with correct values for Groups 0 through 7. Here is how to change the button colours: How to Change Order Button Colours (BUY, SELL, SHRT, CXL, RPL)

Right-click the lower part of the Montage (where buttons are), and select Trading Settings. On the right hand side, there is a section for Trading Button Colors. Click each one individually and change the colour. Note: to make the buttons match the grey window background, set the RGB values to 240, 240, 240.

U R, that's perfectly normal and does not result in extra fees or commissions. It's called a partial fill (denoted by P below in the IB trade report). Sometimes IB is unable to fill through a single broker/ECN/market maker, so it has to split the order. Regardless of per-trade or share-based commission, the execution counts as one ticket. See this prior post explaining partial fills.

Hi Louis, which type of extra fees are you referring to?

If you have no open orders (i.e, stop orders), PANIC will exit all open positions with market orders. If you have open orders, PANIC will cancel those first. Pressing PANIC again will exit all open positions.

I'm so sorry to hear that, Stan. I just removed all unnecessary hotkeys after reading this. Thank you for openly sharing this story as a warning to others.

Thank you for pointing that out. I've corrected the forum post and we'll update the website shortly.

Right click on a specific AREA to open the “Study Config” dialog window. Click on a study on the left, in the “Studies” field. Click the right arrow or double click on PriceMarker (YY Low, Y Low, Y High, YY High) to move the study to the “Studies in chart” box on the right and then click CONFIG (Y = Yesterday, YY day before yesterday). Also check out this post on adding multiple Price Markers to accommodate additional highs/lows. Credits to Abiel.

Link Trade Montage windows To Time &Sales and Charts by pointing your mouse cursor on the anchor button on the Trade Montage window. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor to the Time/Sale window and release the mouse button (point, click, drag and drop). Credits to Abiel.

Since this subforum is by far the most active, we've stickied this FAQ which contains links to individual posts. This post will be updated regularly. [Last updated: May 17, 2021] DAS Trader Downloads DAS Trader Pro Production Releases for Interactive Brokers DAS Trader Pro Production Releases for CMEG BBT DAS Simulator Production Release (ONLY IF YOU GOT DAS SIM THOUGH BBT) When doing an install of a new version, it is always a good idea to back up your settings! DAS Trader Pro references, education and support OFFICIAL: DAS INC DAS TRADER PRO - DEMO Tutorial - How to Correctly Use DAS Trader Pro User Guide and Manuals DAS Trader Official YouTube Channel DAS Weekly Free Q&A Webinar DAS Trader Pro Knowledge Base DAS Trader Pro Risk Control explained in Knowledge Base. Common DAS Trader errors No More Order Server to Connect’ error message ‘Wrong Trader’ error message “Lost Connection to Quote Server” error message General Where can I subscribe for DAS Trader Pro live account for Interactive Brokers? How to Change Your Equity and Buying Power in Simulator How to Switch Between Live and Demo Accounts Update/Upgrade DAS To Latest Version Understanding the DAS Account Report DAS Deluxe Package - Switching Options L2 for ARCA Book DAS Trader on MAC OS also see DAS Trader FAQ > 5. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS How to link symbol selection in Trade Ideas to DAS How to set a price alert in DAS How to add Audio Alerts in DAS How to Configure DAS Mobile for Android or iPhone Definition of Time and Sales Flags How to use the DAS Risk Control Page List of Index tickers (SPY, DJIA, NASDAQ, RUSSELL, etc.) How to Make a Pre-Market Scanner in DAS DAS Trader Videos Playlists in YouTube DAS Trader Tutorials (basic DAS Trader configuration) DAS Trader Pro Instructional Videos (Advanced DAS Trader Features) Market Replay Mode How to use new DAS Trader Market replay feature Montage, Windows, and Layouts How to Make Your Custom Layout Load as Default on Startup How to link Montage to Time&Sales and Charts? How To Setup Multiple Monitors in DAS How to Duplicate a Montage, Chart or Other Window Montage / Level 2 color and shade settings How to Quickly Add Rows to Watchlist (Market Viewer) How to Change Order Button Colours (BUY, SELL, SHRT, CXL, RPL) Select Active Montage to Trade Definition for each of the Level 1 (L1) fields at top of Montage How to select the montage before placing a trade How to use the New L2 Highlight Feature in DAS Trader (YouTube video) Charts [VIDEO] How to configure charts in DAS Trader Pro: Education Center How to Add Index Tickers for SPY, DOW, NASDAQ DAS Trader Tutorial – Make Your Chart Look Like Andrew's How to Add Average Line to Volume Study How to Drag and Drop Horizontal Lines How to Transfer Price Levels to Another Chart Drawing Support and Resistance Lines in DAS How to add previous day close (PCL), high of day (HOD) & low of day (LOD) How to Prevent Chart from Zooming out When Switching Symbols How to Add/Remove Trade Icons on the Chart Show trade info on chart (triangle click) How to Increase Y-Axis Scale to See More Price Levels / This can now be done with the newer versions (5.4.0.0+) of DAS using hotkeys Change Default Number of Candles How to add Relative Strength Index (RSI) to Chart How to Draw a Diagonal or Sloping Line How to Change font size in Chart How to add separator line for Pre-Market (Open) and After-Hours (Close) How to correct short/small candlesticks by excluding Studies from Y-Axis Scale (Y LOW, YY HIGH, etc). How to Zoom in on Specific Area of Chart Why is VWAP sometimes different between 1-minute chart, 5-minute chart, and/or Montage? How to add vertical lines on 1-minute chart to show each 5-minute period How to add Average True Range (ATR) to DAS Daily Chart How to add and use Volume by Price study How to add bid & ask to your charts How to add RVOL in DAS? Exceeded max number of global trend lines Order Entry Placing Orders in DAS Trader Pro Trailing Stops How to Lock Your Montage How to set a Bracket aka Range aka OCO order (includes hotkeys) Hotkeys and Hotkey Buttons - Always test your Hotkeys in simulator Most frequently used hotkeys Terminology Clarification: Hotkeys vs Hotkey Buttons Programming hot key for stop loss Buy/Sell Hotkeys for Automatic Stop Loss How to Create HotKey Buttons on the DAS Montage Level 2 Window Hotkeys for Flipping Position Hotkey for buying based on a percentage of Buying Power How to Adjust Montage Hotkeys Button Size What does the Panic hot key do? How to set up hotkeys for trailing stops Hotkeys for adjusting share size How to create hotkey which launches Finviz page for a selected stock Hotkey for automatic share size based on max dollar loss Hotkey for automatic share size based on % loss of account How to short stocks in SSR: see here and here Thor´s Freeroll Hotkey DAS Trader Pro Support Live Chat Support Das Trader contact page to send messages DAs Trader Support Email DAS Hotkey Line Style Configuration tool.

Monk, the simulator layout is offered as a starting point. It is much better than the default layout that comes out-of-the-box with DAS. That being said, it does not match Andrew's since he has six screens. Because each trading station has different monitors (resolution, orientation, etc.), it is difficult to just load Andrew's layout and be on your way. We encourage you to play around and build a layout that works best for you. In time, you will find that it is better to customize your own layout rather than mimic Andrew's. Personally, I built mine from scratch as my screen sizes were non-standard and I had to have things a certain way.