Hello and good evening! Trader Jim here. . .

I appreciate you spending your evening with me here tonight. Quite a few markets have been on the move since our last chat, so we have a lot to converse about this evening.

Wow! What more can be said about the Wheat market? Absolutely crazy volatility! A number of other markets have been on the move of late too. March Oats and March Rough Rice moved nicely the last couple of weeks. So did April Gold and March Silver and the March Dow mini.

All of these markets have, at one time or another, been featured in our nightly Premium Alert Service™ (PAS) videos.

If you've had a successful paper trade or real money trade in any of these markets (or others), Feel free to share your trade details with fellow Course Members.

Discussing your market experiences lets others know they are not alone in this business. So please feel free to share your excitement, enthusiasm, and dedication. It supplies others hope and optimism of what's to come.

I'd like send a big "Thank You" to Ken Roberts. Ken started introducing folks to the Greatest Business on Earth™ over 20 years ago. I was fortunate enough to not only be a student of Ken's, but I also had the great pleasure to work for him for 12+ years. I'm happy to be able to share with you what I've learned over the years.

As we begin this evening's session, remember the reason these monthly chats are conducted is to provide you the opportunity to ask questions and to pick the brain of a 20+ year student of the markets.

It's not the best use of our limited time here together for me to define basic terms and explain introductory principles taught in your Course materials. (That's what our Course Counselors are here for. They can be reached at 541-955-2885) This chat is the time for you to use me to help you apply the basics you're learning and to prepare you for what to expect once you're out in the market itself (either paper trading or with real money). And if we have some fun and laughter along those lines, so much the better.

NOTE!!! When commenting on one of the GBE strategies or US Charts, please identify WHICH STRATEGY AND/OR MARKET. Also, when relating trading experiences and/or results, please provide details: Futures contracts, options, option strike prices, options AND futures, real money or paper trading, etc. This helps others follow along and learn from your experience too.

I wouldn't put a time limit on it camper, just think if we had done that to March Corn! We'd have never been able to take advantage of the opportunity.

I think you can stay with the formation until your stop gets triggered. Then look for another opportunity. Patience is the key. If your analysis suggest the market is going to move in an anticipate direction, then consider going for it! 

I don't like it, JON-N-BISHOP. My reason is this. . .  if you purchase an option instead of using a stop you begin the trade in the hole. In other words at a negative. Now your trade has to make up the cost of the option just to get you back to break even. Plus options usually expire prior to the futures contract, so eventually you could be holding a naked position.

Hope this helps and nice to hear from you. 

Welcome Shell! I like to trade an option that corresponds to the underlying chart. In the instance you mentioned you may want to focus on the May chart and the May options. The April options are known as serial options and don't have much activity.

To help you further be sure to watch the Training Video titled Which Options to Paper Trade? dated 11/09/07. It should help ou a lot.

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I suppose it's possible, Texas Tennis, but I would be more concerned (or happy) about the safety the option provides in a volatile market. Knowning that the max you can lose is the option premium plus commissions and fees can be a real comfort to many folks.

Remember, if you buy an option correctly -- i.e. as close to the money as you can afford --  then the option will act much like the underlying futures contract.

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Yes, shell. I don't chat about the stangle strategy because there are folks that do not have that report. That said, I figure it's one that each individual can tackle. If you're interested in using it I highly suggest you paper trade it first. Get the hang of it.

You are right. There have been several opportunities to use it recently. Good eye! 

Good eye, Layne Thrasher Macon! That is definitely a strategy! In a nutshell, it's buying at support! It is something you could seriously consider. Nice job in the analysis!

Check out the "E" chart of April Hogs. I just drew a line across the top of the prior channel that also coincides with support from last October and November. 

The easiest thing to do is to focus on one chart of that particular market.

Stops only work in the day session right now. That hasn't changed since I've been in this business. The only thing new is that you can now enter/exit positions via the electronic markets during the evening or early morning hours via market or limit orders. Eventually the exchanges will allow stops in all markets 24 hours a day. But until that happens you must realize that your stops are, for the most part, only working during the day. (Note there may be a few exceptions to the above comment. Be sure to check with your broker.)

Hello camper! I always set profit targets and always set stops. If the market begins to move in my favor I'll trail my stop behind the market to help protect any accumulating profits. All the while letting the market move toward my target.

I think setting targets is vitally important to successful trading. Trailing stops is a necessity.  

Good question, hi lo man. The June Eurodollar is basically at this point on its chart. In this case, I'll slightly adjust my trend lines if possible to enclose the price bars. If it's not possible, I'll simply monitor the market and still look to enter the market in the direction of the Trend Seeker Trend Rating.

This aspect of charting is really an individual thing. And is more "art" than anything. Follow along on the chart in the Chart Book or the PAS vidoes and watch how I follow it.

Thanks for hte quesiton. 

It was great to have Ken stop by during filming. Glad we could share his time with us -- with you! The orange cone story is a great one for sure. Glad you enjoyed the DVDs too!

Thanks for the question, JT. You know, I just produced a training video about that subject last Friday. Be sure you check it out. It's titled Why Use Trend Seeker?

To answer your quesiton directily, it's great if all three time frames line up. But it's not necessary.  Be sure to check the Training Video for more detail.

Glad to read that you're enjoying your subscription. It's not that I don't necessarily like the above mentioned strategies. I just prefer to use chart based strategies or patterns.

I prefer the pennants, flat top and flat bottom triangles, channels, bull and bear flags, and 1-2-3 formations. Then I confirm these patterns with the Trend Seeker Trend Rating.

These are the tools I like to work with.  

Nice job, mrbaxtor! I didn't do a thing. It was you who pulled the trigger and kept to your plan! Congrats!

Glad you're picking up on the fact that we don't always have to be in the markets. It's vitally important to develop patience for this biz. If not, it generally won't work very well.

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate them. And again, great job! 

Glad you enjoed the Trading Camp DVDs.

In regards, to the inside bar. It could trigger a reversal. I like to think of it as a day of indecision. So the next trading day you surely could be on the lookout for a reversal cause the day the inside bar took place was indecisive.

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Tre-Tre from Toronto is in  the house!

Glad to see you tonight Tre-Tre! Not much to do in response to your question. You could trade options like you mention. Or you might consider trading mini futures contracts if the market in question trades them. Or the other thing you can do is to pass on the setup.  

Remember, the crazier the volatility, the higher the margin. Margin minimums are set by the exchanges. The brokerage house can add to that amount if they desire. 

Well chicken tracking, there isn't much you can do. If you can place the order so that it works in the oversnight session that would be best. I would chat with your broker about the different option you might have. Other wise, if you can't place an order to work in the evening sessions and the price level is hit, you'll miss out. No easy way to say it.

But all is not lost. Many times the tradng range of the evening session will be retraced in the day session. Anyway, be sure to talk with our broker to find out more. 

Great question. . .  I don't have anything that I want to release at this time. Perhaps down the road a bit.

I've found that folks are still unsure about Trend Seeker (thus the reason for last Friday's video), so it's hard for me to feel comfortable releasing another new concept. I want things to be easy as pie. So for now, we'll take baby steps and continue using support/resistance for stops. 

I think it's all relative. For one person stop placement may be close. For the other person that same price point may be far away.

Stops are generally placed below support and/or above resistance. From my point of view, if my stop is hit it means my analysis was wrong. The trade went too far against me. When this happens, I don't want any part of it. Those that don't set stops are playing with fire. 

I can't emphasize enough how important I think the use of stops is.  

It's different for everyone, another jim. I would say $5k is a good starting point if you can afford it. Anything above that would give you more opportunities. But always remember the risk associated with trading. Don't trade with the rent or food money! Only trade with funds you can afford to lose -- that won't hurt your lifestyle.

The next Master the Chart DVD series is titled Targets, Stops and Money Management Made Easy.  It's a two disc set that runs about 2-1/2 hours total. I provide five different methods to find targets. And five for stop placement. That's on disc one. Disc two is all about money management with samples provided. 

Hopefully we'll release more info. about it in the next week or two. 

Well that's it for this month. Keep in mind, that you're not alone in your trading journey. US Charts Online, myself, and our wonderful Course Counselors (541-955-2885) are here to help you become the best you can be. On that note, be sure to check out our weekly video traing lessons at: US Charts Online. This is a fantastic teaching tool and free to all GBE Members and Online Chart subscribers!

Finally, make sure you have a plan prior to entering any trade and use stops to protect your trading capital. As a trader your capital is THE most valuable asset you have!

Plan your trade and trade your plan!

My next chat will be on Tuesday, March 11, 2008. God Bless and I look forward to seeing you then!