Day Trade Futures Safely For Reliable Profits: How to Use Smart Software to Develop Profitable Strategies and Automate Your Trading

By David Bennett

David Bennett is a system trader, day trading futures contracts. In 'Day Trade Futures Safely For Reliable Profits' he describes his specific trading approach. He explains how he personally researches strategies, builds a trading plan, and submits trades. By learning about the way one successful trader operates, you will gain an insight into how you can refine your own trading approach.
Central to the approach outlined here are two pieces of computer trading software: a tool that automates the trading process and a simulator that assists in the discovery of profitable trading strategies.
If you are interested in finding out more about how computer programs can be put to use by system traders, or about how a structured system can improve your day trading, 'Day Trade Futures Safely For Reliable Profits' is for you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harriman House
• Release date: Jan 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9780857192882

David Bennett

David Bennett is from Sydney, Australia and is pursuing a DPhil (PhD) in theology at the University of Oxford. A founding member of the Church of England’s Archbishops’ college of evangelists, he holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from Oxford and a master’s degree in theology from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.  

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First published in Great Britain in 2013

Copyright © Harriman House Ltd

The right of David Bennett to be identified as the author has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN: 978-0-85719-288-2

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library.

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publisher. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without the prior written consent of the Publisher.

No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person or corporate body acting or refraining to act as a result of reading material in this book can be accepted by the Publisher, by the Author, or by the employer of the Author.

Preface

When I talk about day traders I think of them falling into two main camps – intuitive traders and system traders.

If you watch markets long enough (some people watch every tick for years), you begin to get a feel for what is about to happen. If you enter and exit trades based on this feeling, you are an intuitive trader. Some of the most successful traders are intuitive and we can only envy their talent and skill.

If you analyse markets carefully enough, you can begin to formulate rules about the way they usually work. On the basis of these rules you can build a trading plan, which says: If this situation occurs, I will take this particular action, because over time I have seen that it is profitable to do so. This is the approach of the system trader; it is my approach and it is the subject of this book.

In this book, I will describe my specific trading approach to day trading futures contracts; it is a description of how I personally research strategies, build a trading plan, and submit trades. It will give you an insight into the way that one trader does things.

Central to my approach are two software programs, the first being a tool that completely automates the day-to-day trading process (by implementing pre-defined trading plans), and the second being a simulator that assists in the discovery of profitable trading strategies. I built these tools for myself and I now sell them to other traders from my TradeOnAUTO website (www.tradeonauto.com). It is not essential that you purchase TradeOnAuto software to make use of this book, as you will still find the techniques described instructive, but if you wish to replicate what I do the software tools are essential.

I assume that the reader has some basic knowledge of trading techniques. For those who find this book heavy going, my earlier book Day Trading Grain Futures would be a good place to start. That said, beginners who are willing to do some internet research along the way will get along just fine.

Good charts are essential to the trading plan development process, so it is important to ensure that your broker provides the facility to study historical intraday charts in several different time frames, or to ensure that you have access to some other quality charting product that will enable you to do this.

Chapter One: The Way I Trade

Different traders, different approaches

There are as many approaches to trading as there are traders, and that is as it should be. What works for me may not work for you, and vice versa, because our psychological makeup, knowledge and implementation skills are all different.

This book is about my way of trading, how I perceive the market, how I develop a trading plan and how I implement it. It is neither right nor wrong, because in trading there are no absolutes. I am not saying you should do it this way, because it may not suit you, but I hope that at very least you will find some useful pointers for your own trading approach.

Why futures?

I am a futures trader because, when I started trading, I didn’t want to put much capital into it. If I was to make a lot of money quickly, I needed a leveraged instrument.

Futures contracts are highly leveraged. They are traded in genuine markets (unlike the artificial contracts offered by many forex and CFD brokers). Their commission structure is low. There are several liquid markets to choose from, each with their own character and feel.

So futures were a perfect choice for me, providing an opportunity to make good money on a relatively small capital investment. But, like many tyros, I didn’t pay enough attention to the obvious fact that, if you can make money fast, you can lose it equally quickly.

That is why this book is focused