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I personally trade off of 3M and 5M charts with various matrix indicators plugged into 2m, 3m, 4m, 5m, 6m, 8m, 10m and 13m charts. But I think TFs are totally contingent on the methods you are using and how tight you want to trade. I momentum trade when I can (trending markets) and scalp when...

50, dropped out of college to become a hippie and an artist. Have worked as Off-Off-Broadway playwright in New York City and as a nationally broadcast classical music radio announcer. Not a newbie however ----- I've been trading futures since the late 1980's, long-term S&P and Nikkei trades...

Good question, RTharp. I don't think my tone is weak, in fact, I just laugh it off. I don't really care very much about how others react beyond finding it curious and interesting. Everyone is so eager to tell me about people they know who got slaughtered (presumably novices who jumped in at...

Genebort ---- Definitely follow NQ (e-mini futures: NQ01U or NQ U1 depending on your data provider), it leads COMPQ by a few seconds to a minute or so with great accuracy. Virutally any move of significance is clearly telegraphed by the futures.

Whenever someone asks me what I do for a living, and I say I daytrade stock index futures, their first response is always, "My God, isn't that incredibly dangerous?" And then they go on to tell me about how a friend of theirs lost a ton of money daytrading (I've heard amounts up to a million)...

I agree with both of you. I trade ES exclusively and generally ignore the Dow but pay very close attention to NQ. NQ often leads ES by a tick or two, and the spread between NQ and ES is generally a very good leading indicator of ES direction. Especially helpful in narrow trading ranges ---...

To tie two threads together: Hitman, you are very right about the futures, they do lead everything and cannot be traded at all like most stocks, because you can't (generally) take your cues from the same other accompanying factors. But there is an answer and in my opinion just one answer: you...

That's right. During regular trading hours, probably 90+% of the time, spread is one tick (.25). Briefly goes to two ticks and occasionally three ticks now and then, especially if reacting to news. When two tick spread does occur, it generally comes right back down to just one tick after a...

I use IB primarily (can't beat those commissions!) too but have Lind-Waldock as backup because: 1) can always get through immediately by phone ---- big staff, 2) can trade any futures contract easily and quickly, with good fills on pit orders and 3) also use their streaming quotes (very good...

I trade the e-minis exclusively, and am probably aware of most of the Web sites devoted to them, but in my opinion, very few are worth recommending. The vast majority simply offer their own trade recommendations for a big fee, which I neither need nor would possibly want. That said however...

It's generally not difficult to know when buy programs kick in ---- both e-minis (ES and NQ) start to show wild jump ticks upward, leaping across several levels on a single flash. More useful would be to know in advance when they are going to hit ---- I've never tried it and they charge a very...

I think TradingMarkets is a terrific site ----- Goran and Haggerty, Landry too as well as Carolyn Boroden and Carolyn Lueck are outstanding analysts and, quite clearly, phenomenal daytraders. I will definitely be attending this October in Vegas ----- it's a stellar cast who've promised to give...

I don't think you're missing anything either. E-Minis are probably the best trading instruments currently in existence, and you only have to watch one or two of them, giving you the ability to become intimately familiar with their movements and gyrations, as compared to having to keep track of...

For those new to e-mini trading, assuming you're a strict daytrader and never hold overnight, your chances of getting locked into a limit down position are very remote. That would only occur on one of three eventualities: 1) a total catastrophe in the world ----- WW3 breaks out, someone...

There's a fairly complex series of time-based formulas that progressively change the limit-down levels on NQ and ES, updated on a quarterly basis. Exact particulars are available from the CME at http://www.cme.com -----click on *equity index price limits* and then click on *trading rules...

E-Minis are superb trading instruments in many, many ways ----- but there is one major catch. You must be able to ruthlessly, automatically, efficiently cut your losses without a second thought. Leverage simply means that positions can move very quickly and very far either against you or for...

Try http://www.ivolatility.com

Stock Index Futures: http://www.tradingmarkets.com http://www.teachtrade.com http://www.marketmavens.com

Personally, I found Farley's book superb and very useful as providing a comprehensive overview of chart interpretation. I also feel that there's a false dichotomy in traderkay's post ---- EITHER you master just one strategy OR you master none. The markets are too complex, nuanced and subtle to...

TraderMike asks how we've changed strategies since the onset of the bear market. For me, not one bit! I trade ES exclusively, all I need is sufficient volatility one way or the other to make money. Perhaps 2-3 days a month the S&P is too mired in an extended, narrow trading range to make any...