What is day trading?
Day trading is the buying and selling of a futures or commodity contract or shares of stock, all within the same day. There are many markets suitable for day trading. Our software works well with any active market.  Some examples are the Emini S&P 500 (ES), Russell 2000 (ER), Dow (YM), Eurocurrency, Bonds, Forex, and Stocks!  In our live trading demonstration room we actively follow the Emini ES and ER, but any market and any timeframe can be traded with our system.  Although our focus is primarily day trading, our system was designed to serve the needs of any trader: Day Trader, Swing Trader, Position Trader, or Scalper.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of futures day trading?

In two words: leverage and volatility.  To set up a futures day trading account you only need $2000.  Making just 2 points trading 1 contract in the ES equates to a $100 gain (or a 5% profit) on your account!  We favor the Emini S&P & Russell markets because of their inherent leverage and volatility.  There is enough money to be made intraday that going home with a position overnight is unnecessary.  Accordingly when day trading, we close all positions before the end of the day.  Day traders sleep well at night, as they are not exposed to any overnight risk.

The leverage and volatility available to the Emini futures day trader clearly makes this the best "game" in town.  Of course the disadvantages of futures day trading are the same as the advantages.  With the high degree of leverage and volatility in these markets, you could lose all your money very fast, hence the utmost importance of proper education and training, and then only trading with risk capital.  Always consult a licensed broker/dealer or investment adviser before entering any trade.  Please review our disclaimer.

Why can’t I consistently make money trading?
We suspect this question is commonly asked by most traders.  The simple fact of the matter is that over 90% of all traders lose money.  The amateur futures day trader will most likely blow out their account within a few short weeks to months.  Most brokers will tell you the reason why most amateurs blow out their accounts is that they are insufficiently capitalized.  While that is probably true, it is clearly not the only reason.  We believe the primary reason most traders fail is because they are using a subjective and incomplete trading system.

If the markets can only go up or down, why is trading so difficult?
There is no doubt many a spouse has asked his/her losing trader spouse that very question.  Broken down into its basic components, a trade involves 3 defined steps:  1. Proper entry into the market, 2. Proper placement of the stop, and 3. Proper placement and management of the exit target(s).
These 3 simple steps prove to be not so simple in actuality!

Most systems focus on trying to define the proper entry and then use recent experience to subjectively determine where to place the stop and targets.  For example, based on past experience, some trading systems will always use a 3-point stop on their Emini ES trades if trading off a 5 minute chart.  This 3-point stop is determined by looking back at recent history to see what has worked in the past.
Other systems try to optimize system parameters (curve fit the system to an historical dataset).  The unsuspecting trader using a trading system that has been optimized quickly learns he cannot trade in the past!  The problem with using the same fixed stop and target for a given trading timeframe is that markets continually change.  The stop and target that you used successfully on Monday might not be the optimal stop and target you should be using on Wednesday.

Also, since a successful trade requires timely entrance into the market with proper stop and target placement, most programs that focus only on the entry are providing only 1/3rd of the equation necessary to complete a successful trade.  They get you and your hard-earned money into the market, but leave the rest (the stop and target placement) much to chance.

As an example, what if you always use a 3-point stop and 5-point target when trading the 5 minute timeframe on your favorite market?  You may be saying to yourself, “It worked today and therefore it should work tomorrow.”  At first glance that would seem to be a reasonable thought.  What happens, however, if the market is very flat tomorrow and would only require a 1.5 point stop instead of your “standard” 3-point stop?  What if the market is so flat, in fact, that your usual 5-point target is not achievable, but the market moves enough that you could have made a smaller, but still profitable 3-point gain?  You entered the market using the usual parameters, but your usual stop and targets were poorly placed due to changes in market volatility.  This is what we call an “Incomplete Trading System.”  Since you may be trading with such a system, do you understand now, why your trading results are (and will likely continue to be) inconsistent?

You can only trade the present -- never the past!
To consistently obtain successful trading results you need a Complete Trading System. We believe a Complete Trading System is one that objectively and mechanically adjusts to changing market conditions.  It should provide dynamic self-adjusting entries, stops and exit target(s).  Our Tsunami Trading software is a Complete Trading System.  It continually monitors in real time the price, volume, and momentum of the market, and then provides the trader 100% mechanical 100% objective volatility-adjusted entries, stops and exit targets.