Last week I started to take a look at the QM or Mini Crude Oil contract as an alternative to trading the CL or full size Crude Oil contract.  I am primarily a scalper/very short term trader and set out to trade the QM on Friday before the news as can be seen by the following trades.

My biggest concern trading the QM was execution speed and overall liquidity. The QM or mini contract represents 500 barrels of versus the 1000 barrels of oil in the full size CL contract. I was a bit more difficult to get fills when I would try to scratch a position. The CL contract although more leveraged still provides more “stopping places” with 100 ticks per point versus 40 in the QM. At the end of the day IMO the QM contract lacks liquidity and is only a more viable instrument for those trading small accounts and need a less leveraged contract in order to trade more contracts. For more information regarding contract specifics see:

Regular CL:

Light Sweet Crude Oil

E mini QM:

E mini Light Sweet Crude Oil

I have recently subscribed to StockTkr journaling software in hopes of finding a trade journal software that meets my needs. My challenge is that I take several hundred trades a week now scalping across three brokers and really need a somewhat automated method for inputting trades. Stocktickr is very robust and has many features. I have been able to export trades in .csv format from all three brokers to input. The only real problem so far is that I can only export Infinity trades from the AT platform and that is limited to trades within that session. That sounds simple enough just download you trades for the day at the end of the day. The problem is that the AT platform resets itself for different instruments at different times of the day. I have found this to be too cumbersome for my needs. I contacted Infinity and they explained that they are working on a solution. I assume it will be a web based solution provided by TransAct as that is where customers currently find reports. I have had several asking me about this so I will post an update as I receive more information.

I am giving another long overdue update. January is finally over and I have been very busy with other non-trading business tasks as I am setting up a website and marketing material for our vacation rental business. Check back later at www.Cabinsof BlueRidge.net for updates. January was my third solid profitable month at 9.8%, lower than November and slightly higher than December. I am having difficulty compiling so many trades from three different brokers to extract needed statistical information. I have slowed trading equities futures and now almost solely trade the currency pair futures 6A, 6B, 6C, 6E, and 6J. I will occasionally trade NQ and rarely trade ES. This has been a pretty dramatic change and has been reflected in my results positively.

I have finished the Market Profile studies part of Joe Mertes mentoring program but still need to complete other aspects like refining my business and trading plans and completing detailed strength/weakness analysis. I am planning on spending another trading day with Joe live sometime over the next few weeks. I will post later on my progress with some thoughts on the use of Market Profile in general.

The Expo started on Wednesday and Chris AKA breezerhead and I did not arrive until Thursday around lunch. We attended seminars pretty much all day over the two days. We also had a chance to meet with several fellow traders from the Emini Addict Trading Room. There were about 11-12 of us total and we had a chance to drink and dine together both nights. It was great to put faces with some of the people in the room and get to know them better.

From left to right: RV, breezerhead, Ripster, Letrader, me SteveC, DH aka EminiAddict, RayC, and AnnArbor.

Here is the schedule for the Memorial Day Holiday for CME.

I finally booked my travel to the International Traders Expo in Las Angeles June 3-6. I am only going for 2 nights arriving on the second day and departing on the last day (Saturday). The intent was to stay through Saturday and take only one “pay” course,  Linda Raschke’s condensed 3 day course, Classic Technical Trading. I have not decided if I will take her course as there are others during that time that are free. This is my first of these events and I am looking forward to learning and meeting some fellow comrades in person.

The problem with banks buying the assets from themselves…

I ran across this amazing graphic….For the original image, go to

http://www.mint.com/blog/finance-core/golden-parachutes-how-the-bankers-went-down/

Here are two Forex Resources that I ran across and added to useful links:

http://www.forexmarkethours.com/ – Easy way to determine market hours for global markets in your timezone. They also have an applet you can download if you prefer.

http://www.fx360.com/ – Great site for Forex information.

The “Jobs, Opportunity and Business Success Act of 2009” has cleared the committee and will be voted on next week by the GA State House of Representatives. If you have not already contacted your state representative, please do so and urge them to VOTE FOR economic stimulus bills for Georgia.

The bill contains tax credits for businesses that hire unemployed people, elimination of the State inventory Tax on all Georgia businesses, elimination of the Sales Tax Deposit, and the gradual elimination of the Corporate Income Tax.

Go here to find out who your State Representative is:

http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/polllocator/PollLocator.aspx

I ran across a great poem that will have a lot of significance to all the traders out there:

[IF]

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,

If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!

–Rudyard Kipling

The Administration’s preliminary budget came out and apparently they are adding over a trillion dollars. According to their numbers, they will have spent the amount that George W. spent in his 8 years in office (through 2 wars, 911, and tech bubble burst) in only the first 22 months and 11 days of Obama’s office. Amazing…

It’s no wonder the markets don’t respond well to the Administration. Here’s an informative article:

http://www.greenfaucet.com/the-market/new-trading-tax-to-pay-for-universal-healthcare/58686

The main link:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-676&version=ih&nid=t0%3Aih%3A173

I would advise that everyone contact your Representatives/Senators. You can find instructions to do so online in my previous post:

http://www.tradersteve.com/2009/02/it-looks-as-though-government-is-trying.html

I will soon be faced with having to purchase private health insurance for my entire family. I am in the process of research and will be posting links and information periodically. Here’s a few articles to start:

The COBRA Subsidy and who qualifies:

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0475582.htm

General Information:

http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/buying-private-health-insurance-14819/

HSAs have been getting a lot of good press as of late. I will post additional information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_savings_account

The government is trying to change taxation on your futures transactions:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1068

Use this link to vote against the proposed bill:

http://www.rallycongress.com/no2tradertax/1536/tell-congres-to-block-trader-tax/

Reach out and let you Representatives/Senators know what you think!

It’s easy to do online:

Congressional Contact Info

This is the Official website of the United States Senate. When sending your message you will be asked to:

1.Select your home state under “Find Your Senators” and click “GO”

(top right corner of page).

2.Click on “Web form” link under Senator’s name.

3.Complete contact info section and write your message.

The Official website of the United States House of Representatives. Here, you can send a message using the web form for your specific Representative. All you need is your full 9-digit zip code which can be found on your drivers license, junk mail, or a utility bill. When sending your message you will be asked to:

A link to the web form for President Obama. Simply fill in your contact information and write your message.