Professional Futures Trader

Professional Futures Trader

Course Type: On Location, Online (both with Lifetime Retake Option)

Duration: On Location - 5 days, Days are approximately 6.5 hours
Online - 10, 3-hour sessions

Print Curriculum

Overview

Futures trading is a zero sum game which means serious competition between two sides where there is always a winner and a loser. To be successful in trading the global Futures markets, you must have a an edge that tells you where banks and intuitions are buying and selling along with a simple rule based strategy that offers consistent low risk, high reward opportunities. This course delivers this key "edge" through our award winning market timing market timing strategy in Futures. Market Timing is the ability to identify key market turning points and strong market moves in advance with a very high degree of accuracy. This course covers the five major groups of Futures market including the Equity Index Futures, Treasury Futures, Energy and Metal Futures, Commodity Futures, and Forex Futures. The Professional Futures Trader Course delivers a strategic edge and rule based strategy by combining powerful skill building lessons and hands on live market trading sessions during this five day course. No heavy math or a solid understanding of economics is required. What you will learn in this class you will not find anywhere else or read it in any industry trading books.

Why Trade the Futures Market?

• Major Markets – When you trade Futures, you are trading major markets like the S&P, Crude Oil, Euro, 30 Year Bond, Gold, and many more, unlike individual stocks which are small components of the S&P.
• Income, Wealth, and Portfolio Protection – Futures trading offers the opportunity for short term trading for income, long term trading for wealth, and hedging portfolio risk which is very important.
• Liquidity – The main Futures markets are huge and offer strong liquidity allowing for immediate execution with minimal slippage.
• Tick Values/Price Range – All Futures markets have different price points and tick values, allowing you to trade the market and price point that matches your comfort level.
• Leverage / Commissions – Plenty of leverage, low margin requirements, cheap commissions.
• Around The Clock Trading – Most major Futures markets have nearly 24 hour trading.
• Key Correlations – The Global Futures markets are the only markets in the world where you have both correlated and non-correlated markets which is key for proper risk management and diverse opportunity.
• Minimal Account Size – No $25,000 minimum day trading requirement like you have in Stocks.
• Risk – Overnight gap risk dramatically reduced due to most major Futures markets being open overnight.
• Tax Benefit – 60/40 Long term capital gains tax treatment and simplified end of year reporting.
• Portfolio Risk Management – Excellent hedging instrument.
• Stock and Forex Benefit – Can really help the stock and Forex trader increase odds of success.
• Fast Executions – Futures are direct access order routing offering Instantaneous price fills and reporting.
• Transparency – Platforms are very transparent, everybody sees the same bid and offer prices.
• Central Exchanges – Prices are disseminated from exchanges such as CME, CBOT, NYMEX, Eurex, and more.
• Level Playing Field – Orders are treated as “first in – first out” regardless of size.

Audience

This course is designed for students of all experience levels who are serious about learning to trade like a professional trader.

Prerequisites

Core Strategy. Online Student Orientation and the Platform Orientation are recommended prerequisites for this course. No trading experience is required.

Format

• Each day’s agenda contains 2-3 powerful and fully interactive lectures led by a professional trader combined with 1-2 hands on, live trading and analysis sessions focusing on market analysis and trade execution.
• Maximum 22 person capacity providing individual attention from your instructor.
• Each student is provided a classroom computer where they learn in a hands-on environment.
• Students are provided trading workstations with real time data so they can practice strategy execution while under the guidance of a seasoned trader/instructor.

Course Objective

To clearly understand and properly execute OTA’s rule-based Core Strategy in order to attain short term income and long term wealth.

Detailed Course Outline

Day 1

• Futures Basics
  Get introduced to the futures markets.
• Futures Foundation
  Learn the building blocks needed to trade futures professionally.
• Benefit of Futures
  Understand the advantages of trading futures.
• Terminology
  Learn to properly speak the language of futures traders.
• Global Futures Markets
  Discover all the futures markets available.
• Order Types Review
  Reinforce your understanding of Market, Limit, Stop Market and Stop Limit orders.
• Core Strategy Review
  Reinforce your understanding of key tools and processes to time the markets professionally.

Day 2

• Bracket Orders for Income
  Practice set-and-forget order placement for short term income trades.
• Analysis Techniques
  Understand the dos and don’ts when using analysis techniques.
• Futures Selection for Income
  Learn a process to create a proper watchlist of futures markets to be traded in order to create short term income.
• Position Size
  Learn to define the proper position size in order to manage risk correctly.
• Risk Management for Futures
  Learn to manage the specific risk attached to trading futures.

Day 3

• Trading Sessions
  Discover the times at which futures markets are open and futures are tradable.
• Trader Time Zones
  Learn the characteristics, pros and cons when trading futures at different times during the day.
• Economic Reports
  Learn how to use economic reports as a source of trading opportunities.
• Key Market Correlations
  Understand how some markets work in tandem with other markets.
• Currency Futures vs. Spot Forex
  Discover the spot forex market and its pros and cons compared to currency futures.
• Odds Enhancer Review
  Reinforce your understanding of Odds Enhancers to improve your scoring skill.
• Asset Class Specific Odds Enhancers
  Learn a very special Odds Enhancers specific to forex trading.

Day 4

• Bracket Orders for Wealth
  Practice set-and-forget order placement for long term trades.
• Options on Futures
  Discover the world of options applied to futures.
• Commitment of Trader's Report
  Discover a key source of information where key market participants have to report their positions.
• Seasonals
  Understand how some market have very defined behaviors based on seasonality.
• Futures Selection for Wealth
  Learn a process to create a proper watchlist of futures markets to be traded in order to create long term wealth.
• 10 Laws of Trading
  Learn a set of rules to be kept safe at all times.

Day 5

• Gaps
  Learn to differentiate between different types of gaps and get ready to use them for higher probability trades.
• Mastering the Mental Game
  Discover a very important formula to achieve desired results.
• Trader Tax Strategies
  Better understand some options available to keep your money more efficiently.
• Introduction to Spreads
  Get introduced to the effect of combining different futures contracts together.
• 10 Survival Skills
  Learn a set of rules to make sure traders don’t lose too much money while in the process of learning how to trade.
• Final Exam and Graduation