Futures Trading and Professional Mentoring - Not All Markets Are Equal

Not All Markets Are Equal – what to do in difficult times

I know that it comes as no surprise to anyone reading this that the stock index futures markets have been hard to trade for over a year.

The fact is that not all markets are equal.

What to do in difficult times There are times, like the late-nineties and early 00′s, when the stock index futures markets were, dare I say, easy to trade.

And times, like today, where the markets are very hard to trade.

In the late-nineties, traders quit their day jobs to make easy money as stock daytraders. Many of these traders told me they would make $1,000 in the first thirty minutes of the trading day and, then, go play golf.

Today, these same traders are about as likely to be working at the golf course as playing there.

The fact is that the easy money went away and they did not know what to do.

Today, traders wonder how they can overcome these difficult trading times.

I was lucky to have arrived on the trading floor in 1977 just at the beginning of a very hard period, right after one of the best trading periods in grain market history (the Russian Grain Deal).

The traders who had arrived just before me during the easy times did not have a clue as to what to do in the new hard times. As for me, I never knew what it felt like to trade in easy trading times so I assumed that the then-hard times were the norm.

What I did back then and what I suggest you do today is to make the best of these hard trading times.

Build your own strong foundation of trading using a clear written trading plan executing trades in a disciplined fashion, adjusting as necessary.

Do not be disappointed if you are advancing in your trading at a slow, but steady pace. The secret in difficult times is to hold onto your capital.

When easier times return, the secret is to exploit your advantage. Realize that the easier times are a rarity and the right thing to do is to get the most out of those times using strict discipline and all that you have learned during the difficult times.

The key is to advance in your trading during these difficult times and, importantly, to press your advantage when times become easier.

The concepts of advancing during difficult times and pressing your advantage during easier trading times are explained fully in my new Foundations of Futures 12-part video course and are an important part of my Electronic Trader Mentoring Program.

Wishing you success in your trading,

Jeff