Monday, October 29, 2007

Trader #1 M.A. Perry (NihabaAshi)

A new feature of this Blog that I will be writing about often will be to highlight "TOP TRADERS" I've discovered and to tell a little about these traders and how they are successful.

The First TOP PROFESSIONAL TRADER going down in the books is-

M.A. Perry;
(a.k.a. NihabaAshi) at forums like EliteTrader.com and TradersLaboratory.com

Perry is a Fulltime FUTURES TRADER.

Academic Background: Microbiology, Immunology and a med-school drop-out in the 80's to become a full-time trader...He says he's "never regretted the decision."

Location-
Provinde du Quebec, where he speaks English and French.

Trading Experience- Fulltime tader for ~20 years, with 30 years of studying the markets.

Perry's Trade Methodology-

I'm a price action only trader (no indicators) via rule based methodology involving day trading, swing trading and position trading.

Just as important, the foundation of my strategies are via volatility analysis, market seasonal tendencies (cycles), intraday market tendencies, intermarket analysis, support/resistance analysis and the psychological aspects of trading.

http://www.thestrategylab.com/WRBAnalysis.htm

Risk Management-

He uses an emergency fixed hard stop and a variable mental stop that doesn't exceed a particular number that's much less than the hard stop. Average position size is around 3 contracts, but this can change depending on market volatility.

Trading Instruments

He can trade profitably almost any futures trading instrument, exchange traded fund or forex currency, however, he currently mainly trades the Russell 2000 Emini ER2 futures contract while keeping a close eye on other key market trading instruments.

His favorite trading instruments are the Eurex DAX and EuroFX EC but he's unable to trade those due to family restrictions.

Best Kepted Secrets

* He prints out every trading day key trade signals and studies them over the weekend.

* He does live-recordings of his trading day via Camtasia Studio software.

http://www.techsmith.com/

* He has a trading plan for every one of his trade signals from entry to exit.

* He listens to music while trading.

http://www.thestrategylab.com/iTunesiPodsFavorites.htm

* FOMC Announcement trading days and the price action on other trading days in reaction to FOMC announcements are his most profitable trading days.

NihabaAshi (M.A. Perry) started posting his realtime trades in #FuturesTrades beginning the month of November 2002 when other traders started complaining that there are no quality online realtime trade posting room that has good traders and educational support info...

I asked Perry how he became so consistent as a Futures trader and this was is reply-

I'm starting to think my consistency each week or each month has more to do with my market experience in comparison to the methods I use.

Also, I approach trading differently than most traders and my approach makes most traders very uncomfortable.

For example, I'm primary a day trader but between 0930am - 4:15pm est I'm away from the computer (intentionally) about 1 1/2 hours during the trading day.

I do this to regain my perspective regardless if my performance for the day was good or bad.

I also have another 45 mins on average each day of family distractions as a retail at home trader.

Maybe I shouldn't use the word distractions but it does take me away from trading.

What I'm trying to explain is that the psychological aspects of trading is critical to my trading and profits.

I use it to manipulate my approach from one trade to the next trade.

For example, as soon as I reach my profit goals for the day, I go into what I call profit protection mode in which I dramatically reduce my position size down to 1 -2 contracts for the remainder of the trading day.

This doesn't allow me to milk the cow sort'uv speak and that doesn't sit well with most traders because most think when things are going well...

That's the time to keep up the pace.

My view is that when things are going well...we need to slow down the pace and position size management allows me to control my trading pace along with the time-outs during the trading day.

This is one of the main reason why my performance is not just consistent...

There seems to be a controlled pace to my profits.

In addition, I'm very aggressive during high volatility trading conditions while most traders stay on the sidelines or freeze in losing positions.

In contrast, I tend to stay on the sidelines or freeze in losing positions (let me stop get hit) during low volatility trading conditions.

Another thing, understanding the markets is much more important than my pattern signals.

I need to know the reasons (why) the price action is doing something interesting.

In contrast, most traders concentrate on their pattern signals and could care less why the market is doing what it is doing if the reasons has nothing to do with technical analysis.

That understanding of the price action can be taught up to a basic level and from that point on...

It's market experience, extensive screen time and trader psychology (how we interact with the markets) that can't be taught...

It's learned.

Also, I studied the markets (futures) for many years prior to me very first trade.

In contrast, most traders are placing their first trade after opening a trading account or after completing reading a trading book. My approach to trading itself (not my pattern signals) is different than most traders.

It's the main reason behind my consistency.

Thus, I'm very serious about trading but just in a different way but in a way that any other trader can do if the trader wants to.

No holy grail, no re-invention of the wheel...just in control of my interactions with the markets.

Something else, the chat room or forum I have is not setup so others can watch me trade.

I use the chat room as my personal diary of my trading thoughts from trade to trade.

Just as important, I use the trades and commentary by others using the room as if I have more eyes on the market.

The website and it resouces gives me that interaction with others to help my understanding of the price action because I can't possibly see everything on my own in realtime during stressful trading conditions.

To learn more about Perry, check out The Strategy Lab and for information on his trading results check out his Trade History.

(Please note, High Probability Trading has no affiliations with M.A. Perry)

(If you think you have what it takes to be in the Trader Hall of Fame email me)