FAQ’s

What is the Netpicks DAX Futures LIVE Service?

The Netpicks DAX Futures LIVE Service is a live trading room that you log into each day. From that room, we generate trade set-ups in real time. The room is hosted by a live trader who will talk you through the set-ups. While we will try to provide the trade set-ups via text when possible or marked up on a chart, it is important that you write the trades down as you hear them, in a notebook.

Some traders in the room actually enter their order when they hear us call it out, and then write the trade down.  That way, in a fast market, they will get their order filled.  Stops and targets can then be set to the proper levels.  We repeat the trade enough times for everyone to hear and act upon.  You will received the entire trade, live, as it is happening, with plenty of time to get your own order into your broker. You will receive the entry price (E), along with the target (T) and Stop (S).

All orders should be placed as stop market orders for E. They should already be bracketed with an oso order (order sends order/one cancels other) so that once you are entered into the trade, your T limit price and S stop price are automatically placed in the market. Then, you just let the trade play out. When your T is hit, your S will automatically be cancelled and vice versa. We recommend you set up a template with a 20 tick distance from your E to you S and T.  Then when you hear the trade, you can readjust T and S to their proper levels.

Many times though, due to market conditions, we will adjust our stop to reduce risk or lock in profit. We will also stop out and reverse position, so you need to be ready to take those actions as well, from our signals but we’ll always tell you ahead of time.

How Does One Use the Service?

First, you must subscribe, http://www.netpicks.com/daxfutures. By doing so, you receive two free weeks with no obligation. At the end of those 2 weeks, your credit card will automatically be billed for the terms you have agreed to. You can cancel at any time.

Second, you log-in to our live trading room with this link, http://www.netpicksllc.com/dax/daxtrader.html. Once you are in, you will be able to listen to our live trader, calling the trades and you’ll be able to interact with other traders, ask questions, etc.

What is a bracket order?

A bracket order is an order that ‘brackets’ your position with a target and stop. Once you enter a trade, a T and S are automatically placed for you. Once one is filled, the other automatically cancels. It is the ONLY way we trade this system. So for example,, if price moves up and hits our T on a long trade, the S (stop order) is automatically cancelled, and vice versa.

How do we place a bracket order?

All brokers are different. Please check with your broker and make sure you fully understand how to do this prior to acting upon any of our signals. Executing bracket orders is critical to trading our signals effectively.

What are the stats on the trades?

Trade stats will be posted in our blog with time stamps. We will be tracking our core strategy as well as any bonus trades that we offer, as opportunity presents itself in the market.

Are you trading the signals too?

When we are not hosting the room, we are taking these trades. While hosting the room, we are concentrating on calling the proper set-ups and following our system rules. Trading our own accounts, may at times be distracting and so we put the broadcast of the trades to you first. It’s a tough decision because we are all traders here at NetPicks, but our commitment to the room and the integrity of each trade being called accurately and timely, takes precedent.

How are stops adjusted?

At times, we will adjust the stops to lock in profit or to reduce risk. Many times we will move the stop to reduce risk, and enter a new stop order to reverse our position at that same price point. When we reverse position, as always, we do so with bracket orders.

Our typical stop management would be that when price gets to 80% of target, we will begin reducing risk. When we get to 90% of target, we will look to lock in a few ticks by moving our stops. At 95%, we typically will lock in 75% of our profit potential again, by moving our stops. This is a basic guideline and not a set-in-stone rule. 10% of trading is art, and exiting out of a trade is probably the most artful side to trading that there is. We will talk you through these situations as they happen.

How do we make trades using your signals?

You must already know how to place trades with your broker. The host will tell you that a long trade is setting up, for example:

“ATTENTION! A long trade is setting up. Please be ready to place a trade.”

Then,

“The entry is 6502. Set your Target at 6522 and your stop at 6489.” Then a text will be typed into the chat part of the room.

Charts will also be displayed showing the set ups when time allows.

What that means is that you place a stop entry order above the market at 6502. If filled, your bracket orders are placed at T and S. (We will assume that you already know how to do this, as that is a prerequisite to successfully using this service). We use either the Tradestation Matrix to place orders, which makes it easy to set up a basic bracket order template, and then drag our T and S to the proper price level. We also use Ninja Trader’s super dom for basically the same thing. We highly recommend trading with Tradestation. As an excellent alternative, you can trade with Interactive Brokers and use Ninja Trader to manage you bracket orders. There are many broker choices – feel free to work with the one that is most convenient for your situation.

What do you use to determine your trade set-ups?

Our trading strategists are constantly working on new cutting edge trading techniques from within the Netpicks Trading Lab. We use a combination of our highly protected proprietary systems – the Universal Market Trader strategies. All our systems must pass the very simple common sense 2/3’s rule. What that simply means is that our systems generally win approximately 2/3’s of the time, over a series of trades. So long as we take all the signals, in sequence, the edge will always be on our side.

Our systems are based on trading a sequence of trades. Any trade can win our lose. Just because we win approximately 2/3’s of all our trades, doesn’t mean the other 1/3 can’t come at any time. It does. No system is 100% perfect. We can lose on any trade and we can even lose on consecutive trades. Some days are just going to lose, no matter what. But, that being said, so long as you take the trades, we will hit our winning streaks too, and our equity curve will continue to grow. 2 steps forward, 1 step back is a good thing. Another way to look at it is that we are willing to sacrifice 1/3 of the trees in our forest so that we can grow our forest 2/3rds bigger. It’s a simple analogy that helps put things in perspective on a trade to trade basis. As the formula goes, you can not win 2/3rds of your trades if you are not willing to also lose the other 1/3. The two parts of this very powerful formula are indeed, inseparable.

We don’t care if we lose on a trade. We know that any one trade doesn’t matter. Our edge comes from the sequence of trades. We then employ a strategy where we limit our market exposure and try to end each session positive. Pehaps our winning percentage is not as good as it could be due to this strategy. But the net result keeps our account growing steadily over time, and that is the most important stat of all, and the one we really care most about.

How long do we trade for?

Typically, we want to get our trading work done quickly, and let our edge work for us, over time. So, we begin trading when the market opens at 8:30 am, exchange time. We try to be finished within the first 90 minutes, but often we will be done in the first 30 minutes or quicker. We all have busy lives, and our strategy is designed to build up an account steadily, with an exponential growth curve over time. If we can get two winners and be positive for the day, we will call it a session and be done until tomorrow.

Sometimes, if we are still negative by the first 90 minutes or so, we will come back to take trades in the afternoon session, from 12:50 to 14:40, exchange time. These can be considered bonus signals at no extra charge. From time to time, we will also issue other bonus trades outside of our core strategy. These trades are market opportunity trades that tend to have a high rate of success, so we’ll offer them when we spot the patterns developing.

Can I try the service for free for a while to see if I like it?

Yes; we give a 2 week free trial, which is probably the most generous offering out there. We at Netpicks, take a personal interest in all our member’s trading success. So, if you can make money trading our signals for free, that’s great! First though, we would hope that you would test us out thoroughly, by spending the 2 weeks paper trading or sim trading in real time, so you can witness our results, prior to making any real dollar commitments to us or the markets.

What does it cost?

We charge a reoccurring monthly subscription fee of $297 per month. Basically, you will need approximately one winning trade per month to cover the cost of the subscription. Is that a fair deal? One trade per month, to pay for perhaps over 100 trade set-ups in a month (approximate). Sign up for your 2 weeks free, here: http://www.netpicks.com/Free_Trial_DAX.htm

What markets do we trade?

DAX Futures (trades on the EUREX exchange with a point value of $25 EUR per point — convert to U.S. Dollars based upon current exchange rates which at this time would be $36 per point)

How do I log into the service?

Click on this link, http://www.netpicksllc.com/dax/daxtrader.html, and type in your username and password. Follow thru with any prompts that might pop up. That’s it. You’ll be in our LIVE trading room.

What kind of account size do you recommend?

We recommend nothing less than a $10,000 starting account size but $15,000 would be better. This is so that you can trade our signals without fear, and the eventual drawdowns that occur at times (the one step back), won’t knock you out of the market, just before the winners start coming in. Although it would be bad luck, it could be that the one day you decide to start our service, is a day where we lose a few trades. If you have a small account, you will not be able to keep trading, and thus, won’t hit the winners. In order to be successful trading our signals, you must be adequately funded, and of course, you must take the trades.

What kind of money management do you recommend?

We recommend that you don’t risk more than 2% of your account size on any trade. Perhaps when first starting out, you can bump that up to 3 or 4% especially if you have a smaller account size. But 2% is what we officially recommend. That is why a $15000 starting account size (or larger) is desired.

Start by trading only 1 position. As your account grows you can add another position. So, perhaps, once you add another $10,000 in equity, you can add a 2nd position, always staying within the 2% rule. Little by little, if you are consistently taking our signals, over time, you can grow your account and add on positions, while still enjoying our limited market exposure strategy.

What is the average size of each trade?

See the blog for trade results. Typically, a trade could be anywhere from 1.5 points to 5.5 points, give or take. We will even offer bonus scalp trades that might even have smaller profiles.

Will there be trades every day?

For the most part, yes. There may be the occasional exception to the rule where we won’t take a trade.

What if I have a question?

Please submit questions to shane@netpicks.com. In order to keep subscription costs down, we have set up a simple to use signal service. Please read through all the material on our site where all your questions should be answered.

What if I want to cancel the service?

You can cancel at anytime. All cancellations will take effect for the upcoming month, no exceptions. If you are already into a month, you will be charged for the full month. You will continue to have access to the service until the month completes, at which point you will be canceled. We are doing it this way to keep administrative costs low. That way, all paid subscribers benefit by our continued commitment to keeping our subscription rates extremely low.

This is a very valuable service. We would love nothing more than if you could pay for each month by merely making 1 winning trade. The rest, is for your trading account. That is our goal and in keeping with the overall spirit of Netpicks.

Will there be a limit as to how many subscribers can be on the service?

Yes! Our goal is to provide a quality service to as many subscribers as possible. Inherently, there is a limit to how many subscribers we are able to help without sacrificing our service quality.

Are There Risks to Trading?

Of course! All trading has inherent risks. You should know what those risks are. Our strategies are designed to put the edge in your favor, but as we already discussed, winners come with losers. If you are not adequately funded, or second guess the system, you stand to lose your money and destroy your account. Moreover, market conditions change. Past results are no guarantee of future results. Please refer to our disclaimer for more information.

You must accept these risks if you are to be a trader. For that reason, we are offering this service for the purposes of learning and reference only. We officially can not advocate that you take our trade signals. If you do decide to take our signals, you do so at your own risk. Such is the life of a trader.

Why do the Trade Times on the Trade Result Posts not Match up with the Actual Entry Times?

When we post our trade results, the times we post refer to the set-up bars that signal our trade entries.  They do not reflect the actual entry times. We do it that was so that we can easily track and identify the trades and as a standardized format for backtesting, forward testing etc.