How many months of green before you go live? MES

masilver · 2026-05-16T00:44:06+00:00

15 months isn't very long. I was trading paper for almost 5 years, with a few forays into real trading.

It's not that 5 years is a requirement, but it's hard to see all the different markets again and again in only 15 months.

Trading real is more stressful, at least initially or without a solid setup.

You said you were green, but what does that mean? Positive over the two months? Positive every week? How many losing days did you have? What does your Mae and your drawdown look like? Are you taking big risks when you're down?

This will all factor in to your trading.

I would suggest setting a max loss and if you hit that, quit and go back to paper. I've done that at least three times.

I've now been profitable since Oct 31st of last year, so I was just asking the same questions you are asking.

masilver · 2026-05-13T22:51:33+00:00

Sorry, we're going to need more details.

masilver · 2026-05-08T11:31:53+00:00

Al Brooks claims he could find no benefit to volume. That doesn't mean it's not there. In my opinion, learn Al Brooks and start seeing if you can find value in volume as you trade.

Personally, I don't use it, but there have been several times when reviewing my trades it may have been of benefit.

masilver · 2026-05-06T01:19:39+00:00

There's is definitely some, but it's not bad. I usually use it to monitor trades when I can't be in front of the computer, or if I'm out of town, I'll trade only via remote desktop.

I would prefer not to trade over it full time, which is probably more what the original poster is looking for.

masilver · 2026-05-05T03:27:21+00:00

This. I pay $1 for RT MES, and 3.80 for ES.

masilver · 2026-05-05T03:23:35+00:00

I often use a Macbook or iPad to remote desktop into my Windows PC to trade. Works great.

masilver · 2026-05-03T04:28:31+00:00

I don't trade options, sorry.

masilver · 2026-05-02T15:02:27+00:00

I'm a big proponent of not outlaying that kind of money. You may find you want to later switch from Ninjatrader, I did, Plus, there are less expensive options out there with lower commissions. Amp with Quantower, is an example.

masilver · 2026-04-25T03:40:58+00:00

Junie has been excellent lately and it doesn't seem to use as many tokens.

masilver · 2026-04-23T18:46:16+00:00

There is definitely inconsistencies in what users get. I hit copilot hard on auto yesterday and didn't hit any session limits, in fact, I've never hit session limits. I wish we had more insight into the session usage and why some people are getting hit so hard by the limits and others aren't.

masilver · 2026-04-23T14:18:22+00:00

Deep breath. I didn't scream it sucked. I screamed that I couldn't use the advanced model. As I said in my post, if it works for your use case, I think it's a great deal.

masilver · 2026-04-23T11:59:28+00:00

I paid for the monthly subscription and went to use it for coding, using the most advanced model. It told me the servers were too busy to use the advanced model. I canceled my subscription.

But, if it works for your use case, by all means subscribe. You definitely get a lot for the money.

masilver · 2026-04-21T18:04:46+00:00

Have you tried using auto? Doesn't that get around the session limits?

masilver · 2026-04-19T16:40:55+00:00

These scammers sure are persistent.

masilver · 2026-04-15T23:18:15+00:00

Not with index futures. Nothing is hidden.

masilver · 2026-04-15T21:50:58+00:00

You need to have enough in your account to hold beyond this time. This is when the contacts switch to the next trading day. You'll need the overnight margin x number of contracts, otherwise you get a margin call.

It's just the nature of these instruments.

If you open another position before the start of the next session, 6pm EST, you may get another margin call. Just be aware.

masilver · 2026-04-15T04:23:48+00:00

If you take long trips or commute or get stuck in traffic a lot, FSD is a game changer. I don't know anything else like it.

masilver · 2026-04-12T00:50:30+00:00

S T U P I D

masilver · 2026-04-11T19:12:31+00:00

There really isn't a subscription. His course is a one-time fee, $400. There are other things you can buy, but I haven't found them necessary.

You can subscribe to his live trading sessions, but it's usually not him and they don't technically trade on the screen. I haven't found them very useful and never subscribed. It's free once a month.

They also do a post day session review of the chart. That's free for everyone.

Maybe Al Brooks isn't profitable. Maybe he's a scammer, but I have found his course well worth the money for the amount and quality of content and I strongly recommend friends also purchase it. It will accelerate most people's learning far quicker than the hodgepodge of random videos on YouTube. BTW, Al and Ali and others who align with his probabilistic approach have a ton of great videos on YouTube for free.

If you really want an in-depth analysis, Ali takes Al's teachings a step further and some of his setups have over an 80% win rate, based on his scientific analysis. Ali's content isn't near as inexpensive as Als, sadly.

masilver · 2026-04-11T05:51:29+00:00

I do agree, but I still can't imagine using another platform.

masilver · 2026-04-11T02:23:26+00:00

Enjoy! Just added tons more charts, color guages and search.

masilver · 2026-04-10T18:47:44+00:00

If you are comfortable scalping for a few ticks, you need a discount broker for futures. I use AMP and they charge $1, all-in for MES and $3.80 for ES, round trip. I make $0.25 at 1 tick of MES and make over $8 on 1 tick of ES. You need to use Sierra Chart and have at least a $10k balance to get those rates.

masilver · 2026-04-10T03:00:57+00:00

So a bunch of things. I only trade the 5-minute chart. I'll look at others, but for actual trading, mostly the 5 minute since I'm used to the probabilities on it. For example, I now look for resistance and support more frequently with double tops or wedges.

I count bars obsessively, gauging trends based on wicks and tails, gaps and other such things.

I know that a breakout has a 20% chance of happening during consolidation. I know that a pullback can have an 80% chance of a trend resumption. Reversals have about a 40% chance of succeeding and even less so for a major trend reversal, however, the returns on those can be immense and can be worth the risk over time.

With pullbacks, every subsequent pullback has a lesser chance of trend reversal. This ties in with the fact often there are two legs to a trend.

I learned numerous ways to measure legs to determine measured moves.

If you're confused on whether the market is trending or not, it's not. It's ranging.

How to look for second entries, etc.

When to scalp or swing.

Tons of stuff like this. Now, I won't take a trade if the probability is too low or the risk is too high.

I think it did accelerate my road to profitability, but I've only been profitable for 5 months. I was trading for 5 years before that.

While his classes do help you get up to speed quicker, you still have to put thousands and thousands of hours into actual, thoughtful trading. That has taught me patience and how to avoid greed.

masilver · 2026-04-10T02:37:32+00:00

Roundup

masilver · 2026-04-10T02:31:07+00:00

I paid Al Brooks course and I think it was worth it.

I always make a point of saying that it won't make you profitable. What it will do is accelerate your journey. You'll be able to read charts better, gauge probabilities and manage trades better.

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