This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com
I started watching Oscar Carboni’s YouTube videos off and on in February, but it wasn’t until I figured out how to use his rec’s that I started to regularly watch his videos. One thing that stood out for me initially was seeing Oscar wear his floor trading jacket each time he produced his videos. When I initially saw his videos for the first time, I thought, man this guy must have a very hectic schedule, trading in the futures pits all day, and then rushing off to do this video right afterwards! And then I found out that he was actually laid off from NYMEX as a result of the exchange going electronic, and was wearing his trading jacket just for the purposes of the video. However, once that New York Post article went public, his videos really started taking off in popularity.
Oscar has been through the crash of ‘87, Operation Desert Storm, the great bull run of the late 90’s and the first market session after 9/11. Suffice it to say that he probably knows something about trading futures. Recently, he’s been asked to be one of the speakers at the Money Show in Las Vegas, mostly likely a direct result of all the great work he’s done in the videos.
The OMNI is a KISS - based tool to assist futures traders with their own technical analysis (Oscar calls it your own “homework”).
The OMNI basically provides a trading scenario to the user. How do I use the OMNI? Well, I take a look at the buy/sell levels suggested the OMNI, and together with current levels of various contracts (eg. NQ, ES), I extrapolate that to determine what will be the potential scenario for the day’s trading session. For example, if the OMNI says buy ESM7 @1438, and ESM7 is currently @1445, then that means the likely scenario for the day is a pullback to some sort of a support level, and then a move back up.
But it also goes beyond that. The futures indices generally trade in synch with the market indices. So, if the thesis is an initial pullback to support levels, and then a move back up, I would be looking for something similar in individual stocks, especially ones that are components of indices, like AAPL, RIMM, GOOG, etc.
Prior to following the OMNI, I had no idea what the futures would be doing for each session, ie. no overall thesis in mind, and nothing to test against the market. But now, thanks to the OMNI, I have a thesis in mind going into each day’s trading session, and that goes a long way to assist me in finding the high probability trading scenarios (like the recent trade I made in ZG).
The OMNI is not 100% accurate (nothing ever is). What I’ve recently learned is that the buy/sell levels suggested by the OMNI should not be treated as precise levels, but more of general AREAS of support and resistance of which the trader should be mindful. Of course, sometimes the OMNI makes the wrong call. However, when it is wrong, I haven’t lost any money, and when it is right, I’ve made money. And, being able to profit from OMNI’s rec’s is a compelling reason for me to like it and to continue to use it. I think it’s a great tool to have when trading not just futures, but also when wanting to trade the indices (or even just to stay informed of the direction of the indices), like SPY, QID, IWM, etc. Hats off to Oscar Carboni, the man behind the OMNI who shows that life clearly does not end after you get laid off !!
This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:42 am
Phileo, you have just told ppl the “secret” of futures trading. And are we going to see another round of futures trading hype in blogsphere again? ;)
Maybe , the most important thing is to understand the rough idea (we will never know the secret, I guess) of how does Oscar derive his OMNI levels, that would be very helpful in our trading.
Good review.
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:53 am
@TraderGav: Thanks, LOL! If trading futures were only that easy….
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:32 am
gav: quit trying to hog all the futures profits for yourself…let the rest of us in on the action
phileo: that’s interesting…i will have to check that out
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:04 am
so, the details of OMNI are a secret, then?
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:59 am
The guy studied under John Murphy, so if I had to guess, it would be some (secret) combination of support/resistance levels and some other technical indicators.
March 22nd, 2007 at 5:40 pm
John: LOL. If only I can ‘hog’ the profit. I am still finding my edge pathetically.
Richard: You are right. It is a secret now. But I am with Phileo. After reading/watching Oscar’s stuffs, he focuses a lot in support/resistance concept.
Time to pick up my old John Murphy’s book again.
March 23rd, 2007 at 4:49 pm
I watched a couple of his friday week-in-review videos today, while the markets were chopping. They are pretty good. I’m not sure he’s saying all that much, but he’s enthusiastic and entertaining, anyway. Use a stop… yeah, I get it already! The scaling trades on grains are interesting.
March 28th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
I love it Phileo….
you are right on!!!!
March 28th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Hey Obi Won,
You’ve found me out!
I’m still a newbie when it comes to futures trading, but I’m learning lots from the OMNI….
March 29th, 2007 at 8:48 am
He mentioned you in his video for today’s trading day! I wanna see you on a co-star role. His trades are interesting….and awesome. I am short SPY on his recommendation, after doing my homework of course. Instead of trading the SP500 future, I trade SPY and subtract the fair value premium.
March 29th, 2007 at 8:51 am
I forgot one thing….STOPS ARE IN, EMOTIONS ARE OUT!!
March 29th, 2007 at 9:34 am
@Zoomie: I don’t wanna be a co-star, it would be embarrassing. I’m scalping for ticks and the OMNI hits for POINTS.
March 29th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Greetings!
Oscar is giving such great info, and for free, that I have a hard time trading it at times. I do have quite a problem with emotions in my trading. This mornings trade was a great example…I had two SP Emini contracts but dumped one at a loss when the market climbed all but 2.5 pts toward the stop. Then I held on the remaining one too long, awaiting a flash update from Oscar about holding overnight. I generally find that taking profits at 8 and 10 pts captures the lions share of available profits on even the big movers. Problem with updates is that you can’t possible watch the tiny scrolling message every minute of the trading day, and the emails take a few minutes to arrive and, like today, you’ve lost 3 pts of profit by the time you get it and react.
I’ve asked Oscar to consider using Yahoo Messenger for the updates, believing they would be instant no matter where in the world a trader is, and could even contain the omni emails I believe. Please let Oscar know it if you agree that Yahoo Messenger could be a valuable resource.
I am working at trusting the reccs. but without knowing the rationale it’s hard to trust completely. Still, his understanding of likely momentum before the day begins is cool. I think from now on I’ll take half a position in the overnight market, and wait until the market opens to take the second position…when I’ve done this i’ve frequenstly gotten a better entry with a small stop. I wish Oscar would offer a fee-based educational seminar teaching teh Omni or whatever!
Ciao!
April 4th, 2007 at 1:45 am
Glenn, I use his entries but try to manage the trade on my own for an exit. I also come up with my own S/R levels and general market direction call before he does and see if they match. I think following along with him, even if I don’t trade his recs, will help. It is way different than I am used to trading as well. I am going to follow (and trade his recs if they jibe with my analysis) as long as I am profitable. Which I am so far….. knock on wood. I was going to wait a couple of years to get back into futures, but I think I would be remiss to pass up this opportunity.
December 1st, 2007 at 11:31 am
My first look at Oscar was a turn off. The jacket gave me the impression here was someone else trying to look like a guru in order to sell me something.
I later went back for a second look and am now following more closely. I find merit in his offerings.