Frequently-Asked Trader Questions About Daytrading University:
  

Q: What's the difference between the online course, ChartScans alerts, your DVD systems and the downloadable videos? If I buy one, do I get others included?
No. Everything at Daytrading University and my other sites (ChartScans.com, StockTradingSuccess.com etc.) are all sold separately and purchase of one product/service does not give you free access to others, of course. Also, the content in each is different, so there is little or no overlap; the training is intended to build on each other, like university classes build upon each other, or books/videos that cover different topics.
 
Q: Are you a real trader? Why should I trust you?
Yes — I'm a genuine trader and test my trading techniques regularly, as you can see from these sample actual REAL trading brokerage P&L screencaps. As someone who was one of the original dot-com 1999-era day traders, I think authenticity is important, and you should request to see PROOF that the techniques have the potential to work in actual live real trades like I show — another Daytrading University advantage... learn from an actual trader with proof and current trade blotters. I make no profitability nor suitability claims of any kind, per FTC/SEC/CFTC regulations.  Typical customer results are that all traders incur trading losses and most do not become profitable, regardless of the quality of training they receive, as trading is a very high-risk speculative activity that is not suitable for most people in the general public.
 
Q: Do You Take Alternate Payment Methods Other Than Visa/MC/Paypal?
No — we accept Visa/Mastercard for all items and services available at Daytrading University and are not set up to accept money orders or checks.   Please use Visa/MC.
 
Q: How Do I set up my monitors for day trading?
Here's the 2 most-important monitors I use:
http://www.DaytradingUniversity.com/2monitors.gif
 
 
Q: Ken, I Have This Trading Problem (....) Can Your Course Help Me?  What
Should I Do? How Can I Stop Making Mistakes In My Trades?  Which of
Your Courses or Videos Is Best For Me?  How Can I (...) In My Trading?
How long will it take for me to become a successful day trader?  etc..

In compliance with SEC regulations, I cannot answer individual traders' questions,
particularly in regards to suitability of courses/resources for individual trading
backgrounds/trading styles, because I am not a registered investment advisor. 
Nor can I give you individual advice on how to trade.  

So please do not email me these, as I will not answer them.   Even if I had time to answer
the staggering volume of questions I get via email each week, I simply cannot, by law.
It's not that I don't want to help each of you who writes in; however I must remain
compliant with SEC regulations and therefore CANNOT answer individual traders'
questions for these matters.   

The good news: I address common trading related questions I get in my videos, online
course, and in the video traders' blog; so there are questions to commonly-asked trading
situations (eg "how can I use close stops without getting "shaken out"? etc).

The only types of questions I can answer are related to content and delivery of the instructional
materials provided by the site (eg "what's covered in your __ DVD? Is there a lot of overlap
between DVD __ and DVD __? (the answer to that is no, all my materials are designed to
cover new techniques, with little or no overlap)... etc. 


 
Handy Tip: You can also reach this site by simply typing

http://www.daytradingu.com   or http://www.dtu1.com or http://www.kencalhoun.com  
into your browser

 
Q: Can I see PREVIEWS of some of your training?
Yes, you can see preview clips for some standalone downloadable trading videos at my site at http://www.TradingTelevision.com and there are preview clips of all our videos, DVDs and other resources on their individual pages and/or websites, plus you can see my youtube videos.


Q: Can I ask a lot of questions by email if I buy one of your products?
No - I'm a working trader and do not have time to answer individual questions, EXCEPT during the occasional free webinars I deliver, during which I generously answer all trader questions (I've stayed around as long as 1-2 hours after free webinars just to answer everyone's questions, from thousands of traders who've attended my online webinars). See what 100+ traders said here about one of my webinars I did.

For the current schedule of webinars, see my http://www.TradeWebinars.com site. Just because you buy a product does not entitle you to a lot of free consulting time/emails. I do not answer individual trading related emails. See why here. Do not buy anything here and expect to be able to get free consulting time/trading questions answered by email; that is not included. Your product is. Not email support (except for questions related to product delivery etc).
 
Q: I am unable to register using your credit card links, why?
1. Your credit card limit has been reached, and/or there's a billing/address mismatch (eg your IP address doesn't match the country of your credit card or your billing and shipping addresses do not match)
2. Your name and/or credit card may be in our blacklist database due to prior refunds or chargebacks made at other trading websites (anyone on our industry blacklist, e.g. with history of being a difficult customer or a serial refunder will be refused service and their order disapproved — we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason we deem fit)
3. Note: please do NOT try to re-enter an order if it's not approved the first time; contact us using the support tab above instead. Do not try and re-enter an order.

 
Q: What is your refund/returns policy?
As with Amazon.com, none of our DVDs or services or other products are refundable, since they are copyable media. This is to protect us against "serial refunders" and people who are not sincere about purchasing. We've provided preview clips of all videos so that you can see sample content for yourself before buying - so you can see what each video/service provides. We take fraud and "theft of service" as well as piracy and unauthorized resales of our licensed content very seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy in such matters and work with law enforcement officials to actively prosecute piracy. Unauthorized returns/fraudulent chargebacks are turned over to legal and or/collections agencies for collection actions. 

Hundreds of traders have been highly satisfied with our systems and products, as you can see from the video testimonials on the sites. By ordering you hereby agree to our Terms of Sale and Disclaimer.

Limit one refund per life per customer: If you've ever asked for a refund for those services that I offer a refund for (like ChartScans alerts, or occasional premium webinars), I will of course honor your request... however you will then not be permitted to ever buy from me again and I will refuse/cancel subsequent order attempts. Anyone who has asked for a refund for a refundable product/service will get it, but are then blacklisted for life from ordering anything again from me from any of my sites worldwide (we keep a list and check it prior to approving each order), since we need to protect ourbusiness against unscrupulous 'serial refunders', which are thankfully rare.  I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason I deem fit.  Our refund rate is less than 2% lifetime, traders are thrilled with my products and services, but I do need to put safeguards in place to protect my business.

End User License Agreement (EULA): All dvds and other materials sold via this and all our other sites are sold with a non-transferable End-User License Agreement and by purchasing from us you hereby agree to not resell nor give away nor otherwise redistribute these DVDs (and/or the content you'll be getting via webinars and downloads) in any manner whatsoever, which is expressly and specifcally prohibited under this sales agreement, to which you hereby agree to in its entirety, by placing your order. You hereby agree to waive any first-sale doctrine rights by purchasing this and agree that it is licensed for your personal use only and that you will remain the end user of the media and content you receive and will not resell nor redistribute either the content or its media in any format, shape or means. All information including DVDs are for private noncommercial home use only and may not be used in any commercial venue nor shown publicly nor for any commercial purpose under any circumstances, nor may be redistributed nor resold via any venue under any circumstances.
 
CHARTS: I use www.esignal.com basic with 100 extra symbols option and the CME feed. I do not use any commercial scanner, including any esignal scanner. I scan through charts manually, rapidly.

BROKER: I use www.interactivebrokers.com since they have $1 commissions and instant executions.

TRAILING STOPS/INITIAL STOPS: With all but the widest-spread stocks (BIDU, GOOG, AAPL, RIMM), I have .4 as my goal for maximum initial daytrading stops (and usually 1 - 1.5 points for swing stock/etf trades).   I use manual stops for everything, since we need to follow the time & sales movement in price, in realtime - I prefer that to entering broker-initiated stops, which may trigger on a single transaction, vs the 8-10 prints I like to see in the tape.

MONITOR SIZE: I use 4 widescreen 24" monitors.


Q: Do Daytrading University's stock trading courses apply to forex, Canadian/Australian markets, eminis or other type of trading, like options?

We have a variety of products and services designed that are published for many types of traders. Look at the preview videos and/or other information available for each to help decide which are best for you. While we specialize in high volatility, high volume open range and gap breakout trading techniques for active US-market stock trading, we also publish educational materials for emini, forex and other trading styles.
 
For Forex trading, see our http://www.ForexOnFire.com and http://www.ForexFirepower.com sites.


Q: How Do I Use Daytrading University's products and services?
Where Do I Begin? You've Got So Much Content!

It's best to start by looking through all the free resources first, such as our articles.

Then, try our ChartSCANS Alerts Service. Once you see how well it works, you'll likely want to join for several months, and get additional materials such as our videos and online course. Thousands of traders worldwide have enjoyed our materials. For those who would like a step by step approach, we recommend the following:

- Months 1-3: Online Daytrading Course : enroll in the course, study the hundreds of pages of materials and worksheets, skim through all the charts, and use it in combination with the video to begin your study.

- Month 2: Get the "Traders' Secrets" 7 DVD System with Ken Calhoun and Steve Nison to learn specific trading strategies



- Month 5: Get the Winning Chart Patterns and Advanced Day Trading DVDs and begin applying the techniques you're learning in all the examples to your own papertrading efforts.

Follow as our "Over the Shoulder" cam shows realtime charts (Info)		This bestselling classic reveals exactly how to day trade stocks. (Info)

- Months 6+ : After trying out the ChartSCANS alerts, papertrade and practice using the alerts to learn which patterns make for successful breakout and gap continuations and fades. Also consider adding the new 14-DVD system with Steve Nison and myself, available exclusively at:

http://www.StockTradingSuccess.com <- See the preview videos and trader feedback. That's my most comprehensive, advanced and best trading system available, done with my colleague Steve Nison (includes 14 DVDs and more!).
 
 
Q: What Do I Get Access To When I Enroll with Daytrading University's Online Course?

Once you enroll, you get instant access to everything in our exclusive trader members' area. This includes full access to all lessons, audio clips, vidclips, worksheets and activities for our members. New videos may be added regularly as a bonus in addition to the current content (every few months), in the members' area, that you can download and keep for your own private use.   Online course access does not include my ChartScans.com trading alerts nor DVDs, all resources are available as separate purchases.
 

Q: Are you hiring? Can I work for you? Do you pay for ideas or suggestions?

Hi - no we are not hiring at the current time. While we welcome ideas for new products, jv/affiliate partners, new trading services and other ideas you may have, we do not pay people for suggestions. We get more than we have time to implement, anyways — though all thoughtful suggestions are certainly appreciated.

Q: Do you have an affiliate program? How can I join?

Yes, however it's only open to webmasters of established, high-traffic trading related sites located in the US/UK/Canada (we verify via whois lookup prior to approving new affiliates), and we manually review all sites/applications prior to approval. We do not want new blogs or similar for affiliates.
 
For my products/services, see http://www.DaytradingAffiliates.com
For my products co-produced with Steve Nison, see http://www.TradingAffiliates.com
 
JV Relationships and cross promos. I'm open to doing these with credible industry figures. See my guidelines for the type of people (character/integrity) I want to work with here:

http://www.DaytradingUniversity.com/jvpartners.htm

I'm very selective about with whom I work, since most of the trading industry is populated by less-than-credible folks.

Room Abbreviations & Glossary:

COMPQ: Nasdaq Composite, also known as COMPQ

2dhi: two-day high, as in the stock is making a new high over the current + previous day's trading high (see chart below)

2dlow: two-day low, the stock is making a new low under the current + previous day's trading low (see chart below)

ir: intrarange, as in, stock is trading either inside the current day's high/low range, or within the 2day high/low range

fade: going against the major trend, as in "we're fading INTU here after this 3 pt run up on a bear cup reversal if it loses the 51.5-"

bull cup: a cup pattern, looks like the letter U

bear cup: an upside down cup, looks like letter A (or upside down U)

volume pivot: often, after an extended run, a stock will have a new inflow of volume, at which point a reversal may occur. Example, if EBAY drops 1.7 points in 20 minutes and starts to consolidate, then we see two small 1-minute candles, we may say "EBAY volume pivot here, long bounce over 57.3+ if tape strong"

tape strong: meaning, if you see at least 60-70% of transactions in a 1-2 minute timeframe in your time and sales window go off at the ask or higher

doji, hammer, 3-line break: get Steve Nisons' books.

sup: support level, as in the most recent price level at which a bounce, reversal occurred

res: resistance level, as in the most recent price level at which a stock turned back, reversal occurred

fibo: fibonacci retracement level, the 38/50/62% bands within a stock's current trading range

+/- : these are directional indicators, showing when a stock is starting to get close to a specific long or short trigger that's been previously posted in the room

"later": will likely be awhile before this new alert is triggered, as in "EBAY 60.5+ later" meaning, EBAY long trigger buy once it clears 60.5+, likely to take at least 10-15 minutes to get there

lol: "laughing out loud", as in if something funny was said. "Maria's saying MU strong buy lol"

re: regarding, as in "re if our SOX gets over 2.1% here" ..

"Sector Watch": this is where we ask room members to post their reading on which sectors are strongest and weakest at any given point in time. a daily routine/drill designed to help traders identify key money flow times into/out of sector rotation

Core Daytrading Patterns for NASDAQ Stocks: - Being selective on breakout longs/breakdown shorts, of which Do still occur frequently, using good scanning skills, is a key to successful daytrading. Stocks require careful attention to the chart patterns, time & sales, Nasdaq composite, trin, volume, candlestick charts and other indicators.

Below you'll find a handy, simplified overview of many of our core trading patterns. Enjoy, and contact us (above) if you have any questions!

Trading Related ABBREVIATIONS:

2d hi -- two-day high: means the stock is currently trading at or near the high established in the previous day's trading

ir = intrarange: means the stock is trading inside of the range established by previous day's high and low

(c): we rate stocks on a a-b-c-dd scale, depending on how likely we feel they are to continue moving in our direction at the time that the entry will be triggered at

What stocks are in each sector?
To find this out, use this bigcharts. com link, eg enter a ticker and then click "see industry" above the left top of the chart.

Q: If you were to share just one part of your experience with me, what would it be?

Keep very small stops and exit quickly if the reason for your entering the trade doesn't work out within a couple of minutes. I began to do better when I limited my losses to no more than 2-3 spreads, using Level 2 and other indicators. Discipline to keep small stops when you're wrong and use trailing stops up as your stock gets bid up is important to take profit out of the markets daily. And, using the right trading software: try out www.esignal.com and www.quotetracker.com

When I was a beginning daytrader, whenever I was in a losing trade I would rationalize the fundamentals and confuse investing with daytrading (one of the "7 Deadly Sins"). Now I've developed a handful of specific techniques to limit losses and let winners ride, using limit buys and offering stock out on the bid. We can show you how to do this and dozens of other techniques (using Cyber, Level2 etc.) to help you learn faster.

Q: If you're a good trader why offer this service?

(The answer is easy: I'm a professional trainer, I owned a leading training and consulting business in Hawaii (over 130 hotel and business clients) and enjoy training and teaching. Besides, I can remember what it was like getting started and would like to spare everyone the expensive learning curve. I'm asking very little for knowledge that has been hard-earned. Plus, having to articulate my trading experiences helps me sharpen my edge and become more effective in my own actual trades as well.

Q: How long do you hold your positions for?

My best trading is done with roundtrips lasting from several minutes to 30 minutes. Occasionally, I may buy an oversold stock that tanks > 5-7% at the end of the day (small shares) for an overnight bounce/gap up play (eg AAPL/RIMM/DRYS), but I am generally all cash 99% of the time. I play the market like a video game, not an investor.

Why? First, I like to sleep at night. Second, the risk in holding overnight (eg bad news, overseas market weakness etc). outweighs the benefit of any potential opening gaps I may miss. If its a great stock to own at 4pm then I can always buy at the open if I believe it will continue up. Cash is king. Occasional swing trades are fine too, if you know the stocks you are trading very well and can play the trading ranges profitably. We have a whole module devoted to swing trading.

Q: What type of stocks do you identify trade alerts for with ChartSCANS?

I have a core basket of "trading stocks" (eg AAPL SHLD RIMM EBAY DNA and others) that have good intraday ranges and for whom I know the levels and market makers. I usually avoid low volume under-$5 types of stocks, since I prefer highly-liquid high-range stocks for active trading. I like to post alerts for stocks trading between $30-$70 in general, but like some of the hi-fliers on occasion. Daily volume should usually be >1.5M shares/daily to give me the liquidity I need to enter and exit quickly.

Q: I'm new to daytrading, do I really need level 2 to trade?

It's been said that "daytrading without level 2 is like driving in the city at night without headlights on - suicide".... You can daytrade without level 2, my first year I learned a lot just using Medved's QuoteTracker (www.QuoteTracker.com) and the Datek streamer. I traded better when I had those resources plus level 2; I find that eSignal (www.esignal.com) is a terrific quote service that I use with InteractiveBrokers.com, a direct-access broker.

It also depends on your trading style and length of time you want to be "in the trade" for. If you are like me and prefer to be in and out in under 30 minutes, you'll definitely want level 2. If you want to trade for several hours, or hold overnight and "swing trade" (2 days to a week or so), then you may not need level 2 or a direct-access broker. It's up to you.

Our online DTU has been designed to help both beginning and professional traders improve their trading results. Good luck!

One FAQ: "Help there's text overlaid in the browser what do I do?

Answer: Your monitor should be at 1280x1024 or better resolution to view content at DTU. You shouldn't be daytrading anyways if your monitor is set for 800x600. Maximize your browser to make sure it's at 1280 pixels wide or better.

To fix, right click on your screen and choose properties, settings etc to readjust your monitor for 800x600 or better resolution. If your display card won't go higher than 800x600 go get a $99 monitor card that will help you improve screen resolution. Good trading!

More FAQ answers coming, let us know your questions - Good Trading everyone!

Best wishes for successful active trading.   To return home, click here.

Fade Play: Shorting a Top after stock's ran it's range on bearcup reversal: very high-risk entries for very experienced traders only, rarely likely to follow through, example here trying to short a stock after it's ran up quite a bit on a sharp, weak run. Preferably short only after it's already ran it's AITR (avg intraday trading range) and is getting sellers following a bear cup pattern. These should be less than 10% of all trade attempts, even for experienced traders. Most traders go broke trying to bottomfish/fade tops and outguess the market. Simple breakout trades early in the direction of a major move are often better.

Fade Play: Bottom fishing, trying to catch a bottom reversal. Example, see this HGSI bottom bounce where we posted a Buy Long alert 10.75+ on Oct 17th, 2002 in the live room. As with fading tops, bottom bounce fishing is done only in very select circumstances, as in this high-volume wide range reversal play. These should be less than 10% of all trade attempts, even for experienced traders. Most traders go broke trying to bottomfish/fade tops and outguess the market. Simple breakout trades early in the direction of a major move are often better.