Marsh’s company, E-mini Trading Strategies offers a  30 Day Double-Your-Money-Back-Guarantee which states The Tick Trader Method will achieve a minimum of 1 point a day.

If you are or haven been interested in day trading and the possibility of trading for a living, take the time to research this course. David Marsh makes himself availabe to speak with potential students, so ask as many questions as you like.

Visit his website and read everything especially his daily blog in which he recaps every single trading day. It will also give you insight into the type of person that he is.

His emini trading strategies are not difficult to learn.Day trading is not for everybody and you must have the discipline to follow the rules. The eminis can be traded from home or anywhere that you have a computer and high speed internet connection.

If you have a basic understanding of the futures market and trading, you can begin trading this method in less than a single day.

You should have a basic understanding of charts, technical indicators, and order placement. You should have a decent knowledge of the markets before taking the course.

If you do not he does offer a Beginner’s Course.

The system’s goal is to make a one point profit each day. A daily income is the goal.This is a consistent and conservative approach to earn daily income.

The system trades the same way each and every day, and it is usually done for the day early in the morning. The rest of the time is yours to do as you please.

Most people work 40 or more hours at a job or business and have very little time for themselves and family. It simply does not have to be that way

It is possible to spend 30 to 90 minutes a day trading the e-mini markets to earn your living. Day trading is a wonderful way of life.

This trainingcourse offers you the opportunity.

At first they were going to charge for it … but they have decided to start
the New Year by giving it away to all of their students, subscribers and readers.

Ot is just their way of saying “thank you” for your friendship, and to help you make this your best trading year.

There are no strings attached and you don’t have to “opt-in” to anything. Simply go to the site, download the PDF outline and then follow along with it as you watch the 3 videos (there is about one hour of training in all).

It’s there for you at the Top Dog Trading Blog

To access the course, just go to the front page of the blog and you’ll see the most recent post at the top of the page gives a quick introduction and then gives you the link to the course.

The post is entitled: “Top 20 Daytrader Secrets for Day Trading Stocks, Emini Day Trading, Forex and Other Markets.”

Just go to  Top Dog Trading Blog

Momentum Day Trading

A good momentum trader would wake up early in the morning reading up on the news that may have affected existing trades, or new ones generated the previous day by his system. Momentum traders use online trading platforms more often as it gives them the power of speedy trading. These platforms also provide the latest market news and picks for the trading period. Commodities that have shown very large volume growth with an increase in momentum recently are ideal candidates for the next few trades. Business channels often blare out the latest commodity market updates live and traders gather as much information as they can to help them determine which trades they are going to take.

Momentum traders use charts regularly to determine trends and momentum picks.

Momentum Trading With Charts

A good momentum trader picks trades by using key indicators which usually includes the momentum indicator. This indicator analyzes actual total changes in a commodities closing price over a predefined amount of time while comparing its traded volumes. These are what will tell the trader whether he can shortlist the commodity or not. Once the trader has picked out the trades that match his criteria of being in momentum, the chart for the commodity is pulled up and analyzed. Here, re-confirmation of a trend and momentum are established in different timeframes for the same commodity. When a breakout is confirmed either up or down, then the order to buy or sell the commodity futures is placed. As soon as this order is executed, the disciplined momentum trader immediately places a stop order limiting his loss to a certain fixed amount, which is determined by his trading system.

If he is correct, the commodity will move in momentum, and breakout of its range. If it does so, and the trader keeps investing the money on this particular trade, he will maintain a keen eye on his technical indicators and oscillators for any exhaustion signals. When he gets an exhaustion signal, or his target is reached, he will place an order to close the trade. While his trade moves in momentum, he will also move his stop up slowly to make sure he locks in some gains every time the trade responds in his favor. This is called a trailing stop. Of course, he will be stopped out if he is wrong.

Thus, a momentum trader essentially uses momentum indicators to trade possible breakouts in futures or futures options, which are showing momentum according to the trading system on the charts. However, to be a good momentum trader, discipline and hard work is necessary.

%K = (Recent Close-Lowest Low (n) / Highest High (n) – Lowest Low (n)) x 100

%D = 3 period moving average of %K

And (n) = the number of periods used for calculations

Hence, a 20 day stochastic oscillator would take the most recent close, the highest high of the last 20 days as well as the lowest low of the last 20 days. The general time period used here is the 14 time period. These formulas are shown here for clarification only. One rarely ever needs to calculate these values manually, as the software used for charting will automatically plot it straight on your commodities chart.

Stochastic Oscillator – How Do We Use It?

Essentially, Stochastic Oscillators have three types. Fast, full and slow. By default, most trading software tends to use the fast one. Here, the oscillator comprises of two lines. The first one is %K which measures the raw momentum of the commodity. As discussed earlier, %D is just a simple moving average of %K, but is still more important than %K. Generally, it is seen that the %K line is the faster line, and the %D line is the slower one. A trader needs to look out for %D line and price both moving to either overbought territory, or the oversold territory. One can sell the commodity when it moves above 80, and then crosses over to begin moving down again and buy when it reaches 20 and begins to move up again. The slow or full stochastic oscillators are smoother, as compared to the fast stochastic. However, it is important to remember that just because the oscillator shows that it is above 80, this does not mean that it is overbought. It may well continue to trend upwards a long time after that.

Divergences

Sometimes, something unusual happens. There is sometimes a divergence between the prices and the stochastic oscillator. When prices are moving up the oscillator is showing that it is oversold, and vice versa. This tells us that the current trend is losing steam. So, if the commodity moves up, but the %D is going down, this would be a bearish sign. However, it must be noted that the signal is not considered a divergence till %K line moves across the %D line in a direction opposite to the price. One has to be careful with the stochastic oscillator as there are a lot of whipsaw possibilities. Divergence trades are best taken when the oscillator moves below 80 once, moves back up again, and gives a double top formation to move down again below 80.

It is not advised to use this oscillator by itself for commodity and commodity options trading. It is always better to get verification from as many different indicators, but this indicator will give you a very good idea about the trend momentum of a commodity.

When you are interested in investing or index trading, one of many questions you must answer is whether you are interested in fundamental or technical analysis as your trading strategy. These are the two main philosophies used by investors, and each trading strategy has its unique characteristics and merits. The current state of the major markets, as well as your personal financial goals, will end up dictating what strategy you will choose.

Technical analysis is a system that tries to predict the price movements of a stock based solely on its previously observed patterns. In contrast, fundamental analysis focuses on the fundamentals, which are economic factors directly affecting the company, when making trading decisions.

A Closer Look at Fundamental Analysis

Fundamental analysis looks closely at a business, analyzing its cash flow statement, income statement, and other financial records to determine the intrinsic value for that particular company. When the stock price is below this supposed intrinsic value, the asset is considered a good buy. A stock is considered a poor investment if the purchase price is greater than its intrinsic value. Of course, there are many other economic factors considered by the fundamental analysis trading strategy, but this gives a basic idea of how the analysis works.

With fundamental analysis, investors must analyze the market and the company over the long term. Most fundamental analysts want many years’ worth of information from the companies they are considering investing with in order to make a decision. Also, the investments are considered long-term investments, as it takes a while for the company’s actual value in the market to reach its intrinsic value as stated by the analyst. In a down economy, this can translate into lost income, because the investor must buy and hold the asset for many years without seeing any increase in value. The investor is assuming that the increase will come later and that the stock will eventually have the same value as the company’s intrinsic value.

Fundamental analysis has a longer history of use by investors. This has been a tried and true investing method for years. Conventional financial wisdom holds it to be the safest method of investment. However, in order to succeed in long-term investing using fundamental analysis, you must have a thorough understanding of economics, the resources necessary to find the economic statistics about a particular company, and a sound company in which to invest. Many have lost money in recent years when companies that appeared to be sound on paper suddenly went bankrupt. In the long term, some losses like this may not affect an overall investment plan, but for many seeing them is discouraging in the short term. This has led to a growth in the popularity of technical analysis and index trading.

A Closer Look at Technical Analysis

Those who are interested in swing trading often take the technical analysis approach. This involves analyzing the stock alone and not focusing on the economic factors affecting the company. An investor using technical analysis is unconcerned with the underlying value of the business, as perception of a stock’s value can often influence its price more than the underlying performance of the company. Index traders using a technical approach find everything they need to know in the price and volume movement of a security’s chart.

As such, the technical analysis approach is a more short-term investing style. The goal is not to buy an investment and hold on to it for a long time, but rather to buy an asset when it has a low price and sell it as soon as it has gained enough to make the trade worthwhile. These investors are constantly making trades back and forth, which is why this type of trading is often called swing trading. The charts they use are also short-term in scope. They may cover a few days or a few hours, depending on the type of trading being done, but they rarely cover several years. Active index traders try to determine the likely short term price action of a stock, in order to position themselves favorably for future market conditions.

Technical analysis often produces outsized returns in the short term, as compared to fundamental analysis methods.  Traders using technical analysis need a reliable trading strategy in order to cement their gains over the long term.

Technical analysis and trading often perform very well when the the market as a whole is performing poorly.  When markets as a whole hold steady or drop, there will always be days when a particular stock will do very well, and others when it will do very poorly.  Index trading allows the investor to analyze past trends and predict when these spikes and drops will occur.  This means that the investor can sell when the price jumps up and buy when the price goes down, creating a return even in a time when buy and hold investors are not seeing any.  When trades are done well, nearly every movement in the market earns a return, even if it is just a small one. Investors relying on fundamental analysis are hoping to see a return based on the predicted performance of a company.  If that company’s product or service stops selling well, the investor will lose significant amounts of money.

Which Method is For You~Which Trading System is Best for You}~{Which Method is For You}~Which Trading System is Best for You}?

It is up to you to look at your financial needs and goals and decide which method of trading you are going to use. Are you looking for a long-term investment option, or do you want a short-term option to get you through the current economic downturn without significant losses? Do you need to see an increase in your investment soon for an upcoming expense, or do you have the luxury of time to wait for future increases? A mixed approach utilizing both methods of trading may help balance your portfolio and meet your financial and risk management goals. Regardless, understanding both schools of thought and how they play out in an economic downturn is crucial to your investing success.

Day Trading Defined

Those who trade and complete all their trades within the period of a day’s trading session are known as day traders. Day traders have to square off all their trades by the end of the 24-hour period. That is their time limit. If they hold their positions for any longer, they can then be called position traders, and not day traders. They are the most common form of traders to be found in commodity markets.

Day traders like to churn their capital on a day to day basis to maximize its return. They prefer not to lock in capital for extended periods of time. More often than not, they have very limited capital to leverage, and cannot afford to block it all. Speed is the name of the game where day trading in commodity futures is concerned.

Facts About Day Trading

It has been observed that you stand a better chance of earning money in day trading commodity markets if you are prepared to invest a bigger amount of money. This is because more money gives you the option to diversify your investment and manage the risks better.

An important component of commodity futures trading and futures options trading, is using charts that allow you to decide what you want to do. Secondly, those who follow trends taste success.

As in all things, there are limitations that day traders face. The most important being that they only trade in a single day’s session. Hence, they cannot let their profits run any longer even if they want to – they are limited by time. They prefer by choice to take the money and run. Time is money, and time is limited. Another issue that crops up at some time or another for day traders is their stops. They cannot have too large a stop for fear of losing a lot of money. Therefore, they have to keep narrow stops, and thus increase their chances of being whipsawed out of a trade early. Ask any old hand about being whipsawed, and they will tell you that it is a part of the game. Daily ranges also limit targets, as the luxury of hanging on is not available. Quick profits are targeted, and many a time commodity day traders have to get out of a trade at the end of the day having made very little or no money from it.

However, day traders are not to be under estimated in any way. They truly form the volume numbers in the commodities market. Many intraday movements are because of day traders. They cause sudden spurts in commodity prices with heavy buying or selling. An integral part of the commodity market, they form the backbone of the commodity market.

Commodity futures trading, as we know it today, came about for the first time in Japan in the 17th century, where rice was being traded in future contracts. It was a period when farmers and buyers came together and decided to commit to each other future prices negotiated on suitable terms in exchange of grain for money. For example, a dealer would agree to buy a ton of rice at the end of the next month for a certain price from a farmer. This would be ideal for both parties, as the farmer would know how much he would get for his rice in advance, and the buyer could plan to raise the money he needed for the purchase. Contracts such as these became more and more popular and common, and were even used as collateral for taking loans. If the buyer could not take delivery of the rice, he could sell the contract to someone else. On the other hand, if the farmer could not deliver the goods, then he could hand over the contract to another farmer. Thus began commodity futures trading, as we know it today. 

What Are Commodity Futures?

Today, most of the futures commodity trading exchange are set up in a similar way.  Members of the exchange do the actual trading on the floor.  Stock stands for equity in a public company, and can be held as long as you want whereas commodity futures trading contracts have a specified life. In the past, generally people used commodity futures trading methods to hedge risks and fluctuation in prices, or to take advantage of them, and not for actually buying into the commodity. The idea is that a contract requires delivery of a commodity within a certain predefined time period unless it becomes null and void. The person buying the commodity futures trading contract agrees to buy the specified commodity at a fixed price on a certain date. The person selling the commodity futures trading contract agrees to sell the commodity at a certain price on a certain date. As time goes on, the contract price fluctuates, and this brings about profit and loss in the trade. It is to be noted, however that, the delivery generally doesn’t take place. The contract is usually liquidated before its expiry. The entire trade is based on the idea that there will be no delivery, but we can speculate on the price of the underlying commodity at a future time to make money. Commodity futures trading and futures options trading is done all over the world now.

Different Types Of Commodities

There are many types of commodities that are traded in the international market.These can be broadly categorized into the following:

•    Precious metals like Gold, Platinum, Silver, etc.,
•    Metals such as Aluminum, Copper, Steel, etc.,
•    Agricultural products like Rice, Corn, Oils, Cotton, Wheat, etc.,
•    Soft commodities such as Cocoa, Coffee, Tea, Sugar, etc.,
•    Livestock like potbellies, cattle, etc.,
•    Energy commodities like Crude oil, Gasoline, Gas, etc.

If we include forex markets, it has been noted that volumes for futures
trading is far more (or many times over) than those of equity markets in
the US. This goes to show us the amount of interest that futures trading generates worldwide.

Trade Correctly Or Not At All

A lot of people don’t realize it, but they end up learning through trial and error. However, you are unlikely to become a good trader if you use this method. The first thing you need to do to trade the right way is to read as much as possible about commodity trading. This may not give you the best trading plan, but it will definitely prepare you for the trades you might want to take in the future. You will gain more knowledge about the risks you are about to take, and how to limit them. You will also have the benefit of learning from the mistakes made by the experts, rather than having to go through them yourself.

Essentials Of A Sound Trading Strategy

The first decision you need to take while formulating a trading strategy is to decide how much capital you want to invest, as this will greatly determine how much you will end up making as profit. The more you invest, the better your chances of making money. It provides more lasting power in the markets if you have more ‘risk capital’. Risk Capital is the amount of money you are willing to lose without it affecting your way of life. The next step is to decide what your average trade investment will be – as in the value of each trade taken.

The four essentials of any good trading strategy are as follows. Firstly, always remember to trade in the direction of the market trend. Remember, the market trend is your only friend. Secondly, always keep stops in place. They will determine how much capital you will lose. Thirdly, let your profits run as deep as you can. Don’t be in a hurry to exit a trade if you are making only a little money. This sounds like it is easy to do, but is perhaps the most difficult of all the four principals. Lastly, manage your risk wisely and carefully. Make sure that the risk reward ratio is always leaning in your favor when you are taking a trade.

Use Of Technical Analysis

Most traders use technical analysis as part of their trading strategy. Technical analysis provides many vital tools that allow you to be more informed about the trades you are taking, and help to decide which ones to ignore. Among other things, indicators that are used in technical analysis allow you to determine trends, entry points, stops, target prices, supports, resistances, possible breakouts and breakdowns. It would be wise to use these indicators when you are formulating a strategy to trade in the commodity markets and also with commodity options.

Remember, it is wise to always trade a commodity that you are knowledgeable about. Try to master one commodity and know the factors that affect its movements. Know what you are trading, and you will find your self on the winning side more often.

The Basics

When you trade in the commodity futures markets, you are not actually buying something. Instead you buy its future contract purely on the assumption that the price of the commodity is likely to move upward in the immediate future before the expiry of the contract. You buy to gain profit from this increase in price. For example, if you buy gold futures at $650 now, and the price at the expiry of the contract is $660, you would have made $10 on the commodity futures contract without actually trading in or buying any gold.

People choose to trade in commodity futures and futures options because it offers them an opportunity to get very large leverage on their invested capital. If, for example, you had about $20,000 you would be able to buy an S & P 500 stock future of the index. The same in actual equity stock could cost you $350,000. So, you get leverage of 17 times on your $20,000 if you invest in futures. This has huge ramifications where return on investment is concerned. If you make $20,000 dollars on an upward trend on this contract, you would have ended up with a 100% profit on your investment! This is as opposed to investing in actual stock worth $350,000 and getting $20,000 as return on investment. Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

What Are The Risks Involved?

However it’s not all roses out there or everyone would be trading and doing nothing else. The truth is that there are many inherent risks in doing commodity futures trading too. The key is the risk to reward ratio. A lot of people are not as concerned about the return on their money as they are of their invested money returning. Greater the risk, the greater is the return. Of course, if you’re wrong, you lose just a few thousand dollars trading carefully over a long period of time, but if you don’t have the luxury of patience, you may lose a fortune quickly in just a few large trades.

Hence, one must remember that there is a huge risk of loss in commodity futures trading. To limit this loss, people use what is known as a ‘stop’ or a ‘stoploss’. These are orders placed to square off your position if it turns against you in any trade to limit your loss. These are considered an essential part of commodity futures trading, as you never know what unforeseen event lurks ahead that has the potential to wipe out a large chunk of your invested capital. To make money, one has to accept that you will lose money also. If you have a good trading system, and use stops in your trades, you are sure to succeed over time.

Sometimes markets move so fast that your stop loss will not be hit. This is due to the broker not being able to trade the market for you because of these limit moves. It is for this reason, many only choose futures options. 

Commodity futures hold immense potential in making for you huge amounts of money. However, one needs to be careful, and invest funds wisely and with patience.

For example, if the underlying futures market was trading at 3.00 and I sold a 3.50 call option, this option is not yet in the money. It is “out of the money”. If the futures hits 3.50, then the option is “at the money”. Once it goes beyond 3.50, it is in the money. If I sold the commodity option and the futures eventually goes to 5.50, then it has 2.00 worth of “real value” or intrinsic value. So we can lose more than we expected. Some people only buy options for this reason.

When buying futures options though, you are paying premium and this is risk as well. The chance that you will be in the money and recover your premium payment is the risk involved. There is unlimited profit potential with limited risk. But the disadvantage is that the options usually expire worthless. Leverage is the reason people buy futures options. You can control  the underlying futures with a smaller investment and less risk than by buying or selling the futures contract. I am paying a premium to put this on and I am trading time as well. Meaning, I only have until the option expires to be correct, so time is a factor in futures options trading also.

Futures options sellers are trading the fact the an option will not be profitable for the option buyer before a certain time frame. Hopefully the futures option will expire worthless or lose value before the expiration of the option.

I will write about other techniques in a different article. There are many ways to trade futures options. You can buy an option or sell an option or you can put on a credit spread where you do both.