Can You Day Trade Successfully?

Sure you can!

Why then do most day traders end up broke?

I think it is because they try to apply a long term strategy to a short term time frame. Once they get on the right side of the trade, they have the illusion that they are going to ride that trade for 60, 80, or 100 pips. Most of the time they get a price reversal, stopped out or scared into a losing trade. There are a few exceptions when you can ride price like that, but normally you can not, so let's deal with the everyday market.

If you are going to be a long term successful day trader; it is imperative that you understand that you are not going to ride a 5min set-up into everlasting pip glory. On a short term trade set-up like your 5 chart, look to get in after a confirmation in the direction of the trend, then get out quickly.

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After a confirmation, you can usually get out with about 5-10 pips, before price begins to retrace(in the candles) on you or it begins to trade sideways. I think your 15 min chart is a better chart to trade from as a short term trader. Be sure to trade in harmony with the trend.

In the morning, draw a short term trendline on your chart. Be sure to also check to see what the trend is on your daily chart. I generally check my hourly, 4 hour and daily, just to see. If I have an evening star pattern on my hourly chart, then I am not going to take a trade to the long side on my 5 min chart. You have a much stronger chance of quick profit if all or most of your charts agree. You will have the opportunity to go short or long on your 5min chart, but your most successful and profitable trades are going to come when you trade in harmony with your trend.

Keep in mind that your trend is likely to CHANGE or take a BIG DIP or a HUGE SPIKE, so watch your candles for that.

I know traders who get 200 or more pips many days. I can tell you I don't even close to net those kind of pips on an average day. I usually set my TP level for 5-7pips on my 5 min chart and 10-12 on my 15 min chart. I use my small trades to build up my accounts, and I use my larger trade set-ups for my profit rides. My smaller trades during the day give me that extra SL money I need to facilitate my longer term trading, so if I am stopped out, then it doesn't hurt nearly as bad.

(K.I.S.S), Keep it simple sexy. Trading is not physics, it is just a bit tricky until you get use to the way price moves.

I am an equal opportunist and trade all time frames, and I can tell you from experience that a valid set-up on a larger time frame is going to give you more accurate and profitable rides. The downside to longer term trading is that you have to wait longer for those trade set-ups. The downside to day trading is that your profit run isn't as long and the trend within a trend can get confusing, and you must be very good at getting in and getting out quickly. The benefit of course is that you get more trading opportunities and you don't wait as long for valid set-ups.

Short term trades - GET IN, GET OUT!!!!!!
Longer term trades - sit back and enjoy the ride!

Learn your candlestick patterns and always let price be your first indicator. Only take trades with proper confirmations.



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Commodity Newsletter for Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Gold and Silver

Everyone is talking about commodities as the place to be in the coming months. I tend to agree, but it is still important to know where each commodity is trading to maximize returns and reduce risk.

That being said we are also seeing money flow out of the small cap stocks and into the large cap blue chips Stocks. These companies prove year after year that they are profitable and that’s where investors have been putting their money the past couple weeks. This can be seen by simply looking at the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Russell 2000 index as the Russell has dropped in value much more than the Dow. But if we see the market turn back up and make a new yearly high in the coming weeks, small cap stocks will most likely provide explosive opportunities for traders.

Below is some analysis on Crude oil, Natural Gas, Gold and Silver....

GLD ETF Trading – Weekly Trading Chart
By looking at the weekly chart of gold we can see two simple things.
1 – Each breakout is happening quicker as money continues to move into gold.
2 – This step like pattern (bull flags) is very powerful and can continue for a very long time.


GLD ETF Trading – Daily Trading Chart
This chart shows the same price action but on a daily chart. It also shows one way to find and trade low risk setups for the GLD ETF traded fund.


SLV ETF Trading – Weekly Trading Chart
Silver ETF trading has not been as exciting. Silver has yet to breakout above the 2008 high. It is actually trading at a major resistance level and still has some work to be done before looking really bullish in my eyes. This is acting like major resistance level for two main reasons.

1 – It is testing the 2008 highs where a lot of traders bought silver over a 5-6 month period. There are a lot of sellers to flush out before moving higher.

2 – The drop in silver price in late 2008 was so scary for investors who bought at $16-20 that they cannot believe they are getting their money back. I think this is making a higher volume of investors sell their positions at break even because they just want out after seeing 50% loss at one point last year.


UNG Fund Trading – Daily Trading Chart
UNG has been sliding lower and lower since hitting its head on resistance back in October. The gap down on Friday is bearish indicating traders are starting to panic out of UNG and willing to get out at any price.


UNG Fund Trading – Natural Gas Seasonality Timing
UNG and the seasonality chart seem to be spot on for timing the price of natural gas. Keeping an eye on seasonality and general market seasonal patterns can really help improve ones performance. It may be better to trade stocks or commodities, or maybe just carry more cash depending on the timing and situation the market is in.


USO Fund Trading – Daily Trading Chart
USO has broken out from its large multi month consolidation from August – early October and is now forming a bull flag. While this flag could last a couple months I have feeling we will see a breakdown or a breakout sooner than later. This is just a gut feel and I will continue to watch and wait for a low risk setup.


Commodity Trading Newsletter Conclusion:
To sum up next weeks market action I feel it will not be anything to write home about. Gold and silver will most likely trade sideways or up, natural gas should continue lower and crude oil should trade sideways. With any luck stocks will continue to rally and test the highs once again.

GLD ETF continues to be our investment of choice as it provides the more accurate low risk setups time and time again. With any luck we could get some low risk setups this week but I am not counting on it.

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Saudi Aramco Says WTI ‘Disconnected’ From Its Customer Markets

Saudi Aramco is abandoning the West Texas Intermediate benchmark to price oil for sale to U.S. consumers because it is “disconnected” from the company’s customers, Chief Executive Officer Khalid Al-Falih said. The state owned oil company said on Oct. 29 it will start using the Argus Sour Crude Index published by Argus Media Ltd, from next year. Sour refers to the oil’s sulfur content.

“WTI has really become disconnected with the market where we sell and what we sell -- we sell sour crude, heavier sour crude in the U.S. Gulf coast, that is where most of our barrels in North America go,” al-Falih told reporters today in Rabigh, near the Red Sea town of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Aramco has priced its U.S. deliveries against WTI, a light, sweet crude delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma, since 1994. The price is determined by oil futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange and published by Platts, the energy- information division of McGraw Hill Cos.....Read the entire article.

UNG Takes Baby Steps Toward Reopening

Sponsors of the United States Natural Gas Fund, UNG, took baby steps toward restoring the fund’s ability to issue new shares yesterday.

UNG is an exchange traded fund that invests in the natural gas futures market. The fund stopped issuing new shares on Aug. 12, citing regulatory uncertainty in the commodities marketplace. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating the role of ETFs in the commodities market and is expected to announce strict position limits for such funds. Many expect the $4 billion UNG ETF to exceed the allowable limits, as it controls a significant portion of the front-month natural gas futures market.

Since halting the issuance of new shares, UNG has traded at a sharp premium to its underlying net asset value, as demand for the fund has outstripped supply. As of 2:32 p.m. ET, Aug. 21, it was trading at a 16% premium to NAV. The sponsors of UNG have been looking for ways to maintain exposure to the natural gas market while reducing the number of futures contracts they hold. Yesterday, UNG secured a $500 million total return swap that could help.

Total return swaps are privately negotiated agreements between two parties to exchange cash flows based on the performance of a target index. In this case, UNG entered into an agreement with a bank to exchange cash flows based on the performance of a front month natural gas futures contract. Because swap contracts are privately negotiated and not linked to any underlying holding, they should not count toward any new CFTC limits.....Read the entire article.

New Video: Is Crude Finally Heading Higher?

A Quick Update on the Crude Oil Market from Adam Hewison at The MarketClub.

I was just looking at the charts and they are beginning to look very, very bullish. The formation I show you in today’s video is a classic continuation pattern to the upside. This pattern also confirms a Fibonacci target number we are looking at.

This video is short and to the point and I think it will get you thinking about this energy market.

Just Click Here to watch the video and as always our videos are free to watch and there is no need to register. After you watch the movie, please feel free to leave a comment.

EIA Natural Gas Weekly Update

* Natural gas spot prices fell over the week at most market locations, declining on average 16 cents per million Btu (MMBtu). Decreases ranged between 2 cents and 77 cents per MMBtu. In the few trading locations where prices rose, increases were modest, ranging between 1 and 4 cents per MMBtu. The Henry Hub natural gas spot price fell 10 cents on the week, closing at $4.49 per MMBtu.

* At the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the December 2009 natural gas contract fell 34 cents per MMBtu, or 7 percent. The November contract expired on Wednesday, October 28, at $4.289 per MMBtu.

* Working natural gas in storage increased to 3,788 billion cubic feet (Bcf) as of October 30, according to EIA�s Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. This figure represents an implied net injection of 29 Bcf. Storage levels reached new record highs in all three storage regions, as well as on a national level.

* The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil contract rose $2.91 per barrel, or 4 percent, ending the report week at $80.30 per barrel, or $13.84 per MMBtu.

* The number of natural gas rotary rigs rose by 3 to 728, according to data Baker Hughes Incorporated released on October 30.



Click Here to Read The Entire Report and Charts.

Gold, Silver, Oil & Natural Gas Going Wild!

Precious Metals ETF have gone wild the past 2 weeks. Last week we saw gold and silver prices drop sharply as it shook out short term trader’s stop orders before breaking out and moving higher. Also there is a disconnect between the gold and the dollar. Energy commodities like natural gas and crude oil are moving in opposite directions and look to be picking up speed. Natural gas is losing pressure and oil is on fire.

GLD ETF Trading – Pivot Trading Low
Last week we had our pivot trading low generate another buy signal for gold. Trading pivot lows is a simple trading strategy. I call them low risk setups and take advantage of buying a stock, commodity or currency after a pullback to support and when a reversal candle is formed. This chart clearly shows when you are trading with the trend buying on the dips is generally a low risk play with great up side potential.


Precious Metals ETF Trading – Gold Bullion Takes Control
This is a chart which shows the performance of gold stocks (red), silver bullion (blue) and gold bullion (green). As you can see the past 2 weeks while the market has been selling down precious metals stocks have been hit harder than silver and gold.

Because of the heavy selling in stocks recently the smart money had been going into commodities especially gold bullion. Gold stocks are a great play but this is telling us investors feel safer in physical bullion than stocks.

Gold is the most known precious metal and safe haven which is why it’s holding value better than silver and stocks. This week we are seeing gold become more valuable in several major currencies which means gold is actually making a real move higher.


USO ETF Trading – Breakout & Bull Flag
Crude oil has had some great breakouts this year and it looks like we are about to get another buy signal shortly. We had a breakout in Oct from the large pennant and are now flagging which is very bullish. We could see USO reach $50 in the next month or two.


UNG ETF Trading – Pivot Low or Waterfall Sell Off?
Natural gas is at a crucial level for a higher low bounce or another massive panic sell off. Trading right now with UNG is a 50/50 shot so we will just have to wait and let things unfold more before taking any action.


The Stock Markets, Precious Metals & Energy Trading Conclusion:
The market is starting to feel a little squirmy as it tries to find support. Small cap stocks continue to get crushed while blue chip (large cap) stocks are holding more of their value. Gold has broken higher this week while silver and precious metal stocks under perform their big sister Yellow Gold.

Crude oil is holding up nicely forming a 3 week bull flag and showing signs of life while natural gas continues to get hammered.

The market has been jumpy the past 2 weeks because market participants are very uneasy about the future direction of the US dollar.

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Oil Rises After Unexpected Decline in U.S. Crude Inventories

Crude oil rose after a government report showed that U.S. inventories unexpectedly dropped as imports declined to a two month low. Stockpiles of crude oil fell 3.94 million barrels to 335.9 million last week, the Energy Department said today. A 1.5 million barrel gain was forecast, according to the median of responses in a Bloomberg News survey of analysts. Oil also advanced as equities gained and a weaker U.S. dollar bolstered the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment.
“The inventory report today was definitely supportive,” said Tom Bentz, a senior energy analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc. in New York. “Prices were already up because of the weak dollar and rising stocks. These numbers just added to the upward momentum.”

Crude oil for December delivery rose 59 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $80.19 a barrel at 2:12 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $81.06, the highest since Oct. 26. Prices are up 80 percent this year. Oil traded at $80.13 before the release of the supply report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. “It is very hard to justify oil going from $30 to above $80 based only on the fundamentals of supply and demand,” Nouriel Roubini, the economist who predicted the global economic crisis, said today at the Inside Commodities Conference in New York. Oil touched $32.40 in December. Current prices are “in part” a bubble.....Read the entire article.

EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report

U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 14.0 million barrels per day during the week ending October 30, 233 thousand barrels per day below the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 80.6 percent of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.0 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production increased last week, averaging 4.0 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil imports averaged 8.1 million barrels per day last week, down 764 thousand barrels per day from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports have averaged 8.6 million barrels per day, 1.5 million barrels per day below the same
four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 1.1 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel imports averaged 197 thousand barrels per day last week.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 4.0 million barrels from the previous week. At 335.9 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are near the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 0.3 million barrels last week, and are above the upper limit of the average range. Finished gasoline inventories increased while blending components decreased last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 0.4 million barrels, and are above the
upper boundary of the average range for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories decreased by 1.4 million barrels last week and are in the upper half of the average range.....Read the entire report.