Our day trading blog just went through its 2-year anniversary! Wow; time flies! It was actually on November 3rd, 2008 that the blog section of Day Trading Tutor turned two (see “News” section on navigation menu).

For two years, we’ve embarked on a wild journey through the forex day trading market. In that time, we’ve learned the hard way about all the games many FX brokerage firms play, the advantages and shortcomings of the technology behind the scene, and how a historical credit crisis impacts every global market in existence. We’ve also met an endless number of day traders and money managers in the process.

I almost forgot that the Day Trading Tutor website also underwent a major revamp in the middle of it all (read Day Trading Tutor gets a New Look) – and we launched a series of live forex webinars to help day traders become more successful (after years of requests from our visitors).

Happy Anniversary Day Trading Blog!

Dear traders and investors; what bloodshed have we witnessed courtesy of the stock market! Over 8 TRILLION DOLLARS in wealth have evaporated after Thursday’s stock market close – down 39% from its peak. Ouch!!!

Aren’t stocks supposed to be the backbone of all retirement portfolios? Only if you believe the giant brokerage firms that recommend them to us or the PhD Finance professors that pitch’em to our sons and daughters in our universities – or the millions of poor souls that hold them in their investment accounts.

As I witness the Dow shatter through 10,000 and 9,000 (levels of important psychological significance) in less than a week, I’m disgusted on how far down our throats stocks have been jammed. Hopefully, this entire experience won’t be in vain. After this catastrophe, whoever doesn’t realize that traditional investments (like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds) are extremely dangerous, is just a plain masochist.

People; wake up! Don’t you realize that buying and holding stocks don’t offer you any protection to the downside? I’m just bewildered by how people insist on buying these ticking time bombs as they plunge into oblivion; trying to catch the bottom. It’s not about correctly guessing where the bottom is located. It is about being exposed ALL THE TIME while you’re in this treacherous equities market.

At the end of the day, the stock market returns around 10% a year based on historical records (probably less after this year’s drop) – but your downside risk by buying and holding is huge. How many bottles of Pepto-Bismol are you willing to drink to make 10%?

Here’s the million dollar lesson: there are other ways; ways that don’t involve stocks or any other economically sensitive asset class. There are some alternative investment products that can basically eliminate traditional market risk from the equation.

Want to learn more about ways to weather the stock market storm perfectly well?

Sign up for our next free day trading webinar right here.

Americans’ love affair with stocks has caused the delay in many retirements (perpetually in some cases).

This historical credit crisis and real estate bubble blow-up has impacted 401(k) balances across the nation – as well as IRA accounts and non-retirement stock portfolios. Even diversified bond portfolios have gotten whacked, as corporate debt across traditionally “solid” (yeah right!) sectors, such as financial services and insurance, have suffered devastating blows (due to blatant gambling with real estate).

We’ve been warning people against this for years, but unfortunately, the stock-and-bond-centered traditional views of retirement and financial planning are too ingrained in the minds of many investors. It takes a lot of unbrainwashing to bring people out of that spell.

But don’t get me wrong here. I’m not rubbing it in. I feel a lot of sorrow for what our country is going through right now (and it can get A LOT worse). I just want people to throw the traditional investment pyramid in the garbage and open their minds just a little bit. Don’t wait for your stocks to drop to the level of Lehman Brothers (i.e., zero) to take action.

There are other ways to add diversification and safety to your investment portfolio, without lowering your return to that of bank savings accounts. Even though, I’m a fan of day trading (but not with stocks), that should only be a small part of your financial pyramid; assuming you learn to day trade correctly (sign up for our free training and start learning). Most of your pyramid should be composed of investments that provide an attractive return, but with little market risk; investments that your overdressed broker at Merrill doesn’t know about.

During critical times like these, retreating in a fetal position to a dark corner of your closet while sucking your thumb and crying for your momma is not the best solution by far. You need to be proactive and take action early – and don’t wait for any politicians to rescue you (they’re only interested in saving the fat, corporate pigs that caused this mess in the first place).

So what do you do then?

Sign up for our next day trading webinar by clicking here. Believe me; we’re not only going to talk about day trading.

If you want to read the entire article about the heavy toll stock losses are taking on retirement savings, click here.

Day traders; this may sound a bit dramatic, but at the rate the SEC is going with the regulation of short sellers, this might become the next headline!

In my blog post yesterday, “SEC Adopts New Short-selling Rules,” I commented on the SEC’s latest move to regulate naked short-selling. Even though I agree on restricting this activity, I expressed my opposition to wining politicians wanting to ban ALL short-selling of financial companies like banks and insurers. Banning short-selling goes against the principles of free market economics, where supply and demand dictate the price of a commodity. It makes total sense for traders to want to sell stocks short of companies that are in trouble – and now, what a better bunch to sell the crap out of than the glutton banks and insurance companies that fattened their rear ends out of the latest real estate mega bubble?

Early this week, it seemed that the excess was beginning to get squeezed out of the market at full speed when stocks began to suffer severe losses; but then, what happened later in the week? Regulators stepped in with their sloppy, patch-up-the-holes mentality and began regulating the “evil” short sellers. Things got even more dramatic today when the shorting of 799 financial stocks was banned altogether.

In the MarketWatch article, “SEC bans short selling in 799 financial stocks,” SEC Chairman Christopher Cox is quoted saying,

“The emergency order temporarily banning short selling of financial stocks will restore equilibrium to markets. This action, which would not be necessary in a well-functioning market, is temporary in nature and part of the comprehensive set of steps being taken by the Federal Reserve, the Treasury and the Congress.”

That’s just too funny! With the phrase, “restore equilibrium,” the Chairman seems to imply that the market has to go up to be in balance. Nonsense! These financial stocks should suffer for their excessive greed. Why should they go up? The same holds true when he states that the short selling restrictions won’t be necessary in a “well-functioning market.” If it ain’t going up, something must be broken?!?!?

Fellow stock day trader, this is why I strongly suggest that you don’t day trade stocks. What for? The stock market is one of the most manipulated markets in the world with blatant favoritism for rising prices. The forex market is a much “cleaner” and “purer” market for day trading. I strongly suggested that you take our free, live day trading webinar and find out more.

But what about for “longer term” investments; “aren’t stocks the best asset class for that?” – you ask. I know that financial planners and stock brokers have been preaching this since the dinosaurs, but that’s all they know. It’s one of the big lies our society is founded on.

If you want to learn about alternatives that, in my honest opinion, are much better than stocks for the long run, dare to give us a call (305-600-4651). But please note: you will have to make an important choice when you dial – if you want to take the red pill or the blue pill. It will all depend on whether or not you want to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes!

“The SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] adopts rules against naked short-selling,” writes Marcy Gordon of The Associated Press. I laughed my assets off when I read this headline just a few hours ago. This is why I love forex (or foreign exchange) for day trading so much better than stocks.

I’m not saying that naked short-selling should be allowed, but things like this always happen in the stock market during times of crisis (like today when the Dow dropped over 4%). There are so many stupid regulations in the US stock market to control the price of stocks that one might wonder how “free” of a market the stock market really is.

You never hear forex day traders blurb out terms such as “curbs in” or “halted for news pending,” when referring to the buying and selling of Euros, Dollars, and Yens. It’s really quite silly how regulators attempt to control periods of high volatility in the stock market. Many traditional investors and traders (by that, I mean folks who believe that stocks are the best thing since sliced bread) actually swallow the moronic excuse that such artificial price controls are there to protect investors when the world is “freaking out.” Nonsense.

A free market should be allowed to fluctuate by the laws of supply and demand. If traders want to take the stock of a greedy insurance company who got caught with its hand in the real-estate-bubble cookie jar to zero, so be it (anyone got life insurance with AIG? . Why does the government have to use my tax dollars to bail them out?!?!

Let the system implode from its own avarice I say. We’ve been screaming bubble when it comes to stocks and real estate for over three years now during our managed account webinars. The best way to get rid of a bubble is to let it blow up; not to patch it up with rules against short selling. If you’re trading stocks, how else would you make money when the market is getting hammered other than by selling short?

Apparently, our government doesn’t even want us to sell short stocks anymore. In the same AP article, Gordon states, “Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, New York Democratics, asked the SEC to temporarily ban all short-selling, not just naked short-selling, of stocks of major financial companies.” That one made me pee in my pants (can I say that here?).

If you are a day trader or want to take up day trading, please do yourself a favor and get out of the stock market. Trading currencies, in my humble opinion, is much better. If you don’t believe me, sign up for our free day trading webinar by clicking here.

If you want to read more about the naked short selling mess in the Associated Press article, here it is: SEC adopts rules against naked short-selling

Thank you so much for the information you put out online. I’m still in the process of reading and learning about forex day trading. I also wanted to mention that I love the way you provided this information. Not only you’re smart, you’re also funny. Again, thank you for sharing the knowledge. I’m looking forward to day trading and I will definitely let you know of my results.

The first “Becoming a Professional Day Trader” live webinar was officially delivered this Thursday. We actually had two live training sessions on Thursday; one at 3 PM EST and one at 8 PM. We were very happy with the outcome.

During the webinar, different day trading strategies were covered in full detail on the MetaTrader platform. It was super cool seeing all the indicators come to life on the MT4 canvas in full color.

As mentioned during the webinar, our main objective is to incubate successful day traders that want to either trade their own accounts successfully or become professional forex money managers. Part of our goal is also to create a network of day traders who communicate and share ideas and experiences on an ongoing basis.

I would personally like to thank all of the attendees of this day trading webinar.

The new FX day trading webinars are off to a great start.

The launch date was August 7th – when we had the free trading webinar, “Understanding the Forex Market;” the first webinar in the series. Since that time, we’ve had pretty good feedback from the attendees during the webinars; which have ranged from aspiring day traders to existing stock and futures traders interested in the forex market.

The most important webinar in the series (“Becoming a Professional Day Trader“) will be taught for the first time this Thursday, August 21st. In my opinion, this is the most important training webinar and one that anyone that’s serious about making day trading a career should take.

Our objective with this day trading training program is simply to create successful day traders. Furthermore, traders who rise above the ranks and are consistent in their trading and risk management ability will also have the opportunity to manage money for others. Therefore, this training program may also propel interested investors and traders into a money management or professional trading career.

See you at our next webinar!

The previous article in this series outlined what spyware and adware is. In this article I will discuss symptoms of spyware and adware so that you can determine if you have been infected.

How do I know if I have Spyware or Adware?

As previously discussed, there are plenty of spyware and adware bugs out there that are harmless. If that is the case, you wouldn’t really know whether or not you have it. It is always wise still to scan and search your computer with tools to determine if even the most harmless bug exists. If you have a malicious spyware or adware problem, you’ll definitely know.

Listed below are some signs that your computer may be running one or more deceptive adware or spyware software programs.

1. Your homepage changes to an unknown site or continues to change back to a particular site even if you change the homepage settings in your browser. Many deceptive spyware and adware software programs try to force you to use specific sites so the site owners can earn advertising revenue.

2. When you click on the Search button in Internet Explorer, you are taken to a page that you’ve never seen before.

3. Your browser window starts displaying unwanted toolbars or search forms that are difficult to remove or keep coming back.

4. You receive an increase in pop-up windows, even while browsing to pages that have not had pop-up windows before. Under normal conditions, pop-up windows come from the Web pages you visit. Adware is able to create its own pop-up advertisements independent of the page that you are viewing.

5. Your computer seems much slower than it used to be. Deceptive software steals your computer’s resources such as computing power and bandwidth in order to deliver advertisements or track activities.

Okay, so now if you know you have some sort of spyware or adware bug on your computer. In the next article, I will outline how to control the issue at hand and terminate these annoyances.

The author, Jordan Peterson, of Custom Trading Computers, Inc. is a well-known expert in custom built high performance computers, which must be specifically designed for currency traders. Such computer systems can handle heavy volume trading periods with complete success and without any danger of locking up.

Our live tests on the Strategy Runner forex trading platform have been prolonged. The problem is that Strategy Runner employs a very cumbersome way to enter the market. When we started our tests, we didn’t think this would matter, but it does – especially when trading right after economic reports and news releases. Forex scalping becomes extremely difficult with the way the platform is currently set up.

In the next week or so, Strategy Runner agreed to add two additional buttons to their platform that will hopefully allow Nigel to enter and exit the market faster. This won’t solve all the problems (since the platform needs more modifications to meet our needs), but it should increase the quality of execution to an acceptable level. If this happens, we will inform clients at FXLQ to transfer their accounts to ODL.

MT4 Currenex Tests

On Friday we received the login information for the new MT4-Currenex project we have been waiting for. The brokerage firm involved still has to resolve the latency (delay) issues present, but even having something to test is progress. We will continue to monitor the platform and pricing. When everything is ready for live testing and we get to run some successful live trades, this might become another option for our forex traders.

New Forex Trading System

We will be testing a new, fully-automated forex day trading system next week that works directly with Currenex. It does not need MT4 or any other platform to run and the server where the program is installed is located in New York. Since all Currenex execution servers are also in New York, this should reduce execution delays significantly. I will let you know what the live results are once we have them. This might be another option for some of you to diversify.

New Forex Scalper

Next week we’ll also be running some live tests with an additional forex scalper. If these manual tests are successful, we’ll also start testing a fully automated version of the scalper’s strategy.

I know we don’t have a solution for our FXLQ clients yet, but I know that we soon will – the [near] future looks very promising.