($3,500/$500 per micro = 7 contracts.) So you mean $3500/$50 per micro = 7 contracts? That's better, I think.
$2,000 to $200,000 in 2020 at 2.00% per day.
- Thread starter sstheo
- Start date
($3,500/$500 per micro = 7 contracts.) So you mean $3500/$50 per micro = 7 contracts? That's better, I think.
Anyway you want to write it I guess. From day one, I allocated $500 per micro. I said I would start out being able to trade just 4 micros with my initial $2000 balance, but then add one micro for each additional $500 that I added to the balance. Now when I get to $3,500 (hopefully next week), I will be able to trade 7 micros at the same time.
Since I only trade the micro indices MES, MNQ, MYM, and M2k, this means that I can trade according to these combinations:
- 7 micros on one trade
- 6 on one chart and 1 on another chart
- 5, 2
- 5, 1, 1
- 4, 3
- 4, 2, 1
- 4, 1, 1, 1
- 3, 3, 1
- 3, 2, 2
- 3, 2, 1, 1
- 2, 2, 2, 1
In any event, I feel that having four open trades at once is spreading myself a bit thin, so I am more likely to do just 2 or 3 at a time on one or two charts.
Great observations. Case in point: Last 20 min of Friday. HUGE pop on a mostly down day. If we do actually get some short days, I won't be afraid to try longs if the setups look good.
One of the most interesting things I heard in the last year (and I don't remember where), was that a study was done and many traders were asked to self-identify as a bull or bear. Once that was done, the researchers worked hard to figure out WHY they chose what they chose.
Outcome-- Out of all the many variables discussed, the one with the most statistical support was this: The overall market condition the first few months that the subject started to trade: bullish or bearish. WOW. Of course this make sense. The neuro-plasticity of the human brain is amazing, so things can probably be changed with lots of time and hard work, but those first few trading days and weeks with the heightened emotion and new task learning, probably lay out the main trading processing pathways!
The market was going down when I first learned to trade futures. And my first mentor often said "I can see shorts better than longs." And while he could trade both sides, the conversation was dominated by talk of shorts during that time. And it didn't change much even later when the market became bullish. I was hesitant to go long from the very beginning.
So taking longs is a challenge, but I am doing much better overall. Ironically, I have started to look for longs near the lows on big down days and often MISS short trades I would (might) have taken previously.
It seems like so many day traders have a short bias - I wonder why?
I had a very strong short bias too when I first started out, but it's hard to argue with facts, i.e., no actual valid reason to have a short bias in general. If anything, it's better to have a long bias and over the last years there's certainly been as many violent up moves as there have been down moves. The best is a neutral mindset and simply perceive price going either up or down and acting equally on both.
Anyway, nice work @sstheo. You're doing great! : )
I had a very strong short bias too when I first started out, but it's hard to argue with facts, i.e., no actual valid reason to have a short bias in general. If anything, it's better to have a long bias and over the last years there's certainly been as many violent up moves as there have been down moves. The best is a neutral mindset and simply perceive price going either up or down and acting equally on both.
Anyway, nice work @sstheo. You're doing great! : )
Thanks for the insight @Laissez Faire.
I was seriously thinking the other day "How would my life be different if I had been 'trained' as a bull instead?" I think the answer is clear. I wouldn't be here writing about Micros!!! LOL. In fact, I might not be here on ET at all! I'd have $500k in a trading account and be a much happier person.
But alas, I was 'born' in a bearish environment, and this is my challenge to bear (no pun intended).
So for a couple days in the last two weeks, I tried to just flip my thinking. "I am a buyer of all the big dips." But when I tried going long, not only did my brain scream at me "we are overbought on 6 of 7 metrics!!!" but the market aggressively blasted through my stops below. How ironic that the very day I tried this experiment, the bears finally decided to come to the party...
Then I remembered that "down markets move about 5x to 7x faster than up markets" and that "bottoms tend to have big spiked tails" (whereas tops tend to be well rounded) and I decided I needed to be much more careful. I haven't spent as much time studying "safe" long entries and stops as I have shorts. I will do this.
So the "neutral mindset" (as you say) is clearly the appropriate psychological approach to the markets. Our best entries are always paramount (and we all choose these differently, up or down), and our elective stop placement is also so vital. It is these stops that will keep us in the game.
In the real estate business "Equal Opportunity Housing" is a federally mandated big deal. I say let's all be "Equal Opportunity Traders."
Thanks for the post. "At price X, I will be a buyer. At price Y I will be a seller. Unless one or the other is hit, I will do nothing." This is certainly the way to do it: thinking about both the bulls and bears in tandem, keeping both orientations fresh in my mind.
But seriously, I really need to force myself to consider the bullish case. The market has RISEN from about 1,880 to about 3,500 in 4 years. The market has risen about 85% in 4 years!!!!!
It seems that wars and pandemics and political turbulence are a simple world-wide fact of life. But as long as the US dollar is the word's reserve currency and the Fed can print money then (with decent earnings) US stocks will be a safe haven and the market will continue UP and I should try harder to go along for the ride.
When you hit the 5k mark will you switch to a full? If yes how would you deal with an initial loss of a full stop of 200? Would you then drop back to 9 micros?
With that question in mind do you think you'll build a cushion over the 5 k mark before going to a full and if yes how much?
With that question in mind do you think you'll build a cushion over the 5 k mark before going to a full and if yes how much?
why so difficult to show a blotter? Certainly it should be easier than posting a spreadsheet.
Hi sstheo ,
i have been reading your journal and i think you're doing great. don't listen to all the bashers . scaling up when you're trading well is the only way to go.
psychology is so underrated. it is key in good performance.
we all battle our own demons and even the best traders and hedge fund moguls have a bad day after fighting with their wife the previous night.
i wouldn't take trading advice from anyone. it seems you already figured out what works FOR YOU and that's really all you need.
a couple of overarching ideas to think about that might help you:
1- breathing and meditation exercises help tremendously with focus and fighting the adrenaline monster that creeps up sometimes during the day
2-scaling plan : if i read correctly you started with 4 micros and you plan on moving up in micros to 10 and then switch to 1 mini.
i would stay in micros til you reach 20 or even 30 micros and then switch to 2 or 3 minis respectively. reason is that moving from 4 to 5 to 6...micros is a small percentage,
but moving from 1 to 2 minis is 100% increase and it has an effect of both time (takes a lot longer) and psychology (swings are larger money wise)
even though you are getting raped on commissions somewhat you're better off increasing size every 5 days or so with micros and once you have enough margin for 2-3 minis you can switch and keep increasing size just as often. sometimes also staying at a level for a bit is ok too because the money gets significant around the 10-15-20 minis and beyond that you might just want to stop there and adjust to the swings for a while(we are not robots after all)
best of luck to you and keep it up, you can do it.
i have been reading your journal and i think you're doing great. don't listen to all the bashers . scaling up when you're trading well is the only way to go.
psychology is so underrated. it is key in good performance.
we all battle our own demons and even the best traders and hedge fund moguls have a bad day after fighting with their wife the previous night.
i wouldn't take trading advice from anyone. it seems you already figured out what works FOR YOU and that's really all you need.
a couple of overarching ideas to think about that might help you:
1- breathing and meditation exercises help tremendously with focus and fighting the adrenaline monster that creeps up sometimes during the day
2-scaling plan : if i read correctly you started with 4 micros and you plan on moving up in micros to 10 and then switch to 1 mini.
i would stay in micros til you reach 20 or even 30 micros and then switch to 2 or 3 minis respectively. reason is that moving from 4 to 5 to 6...micros is a small percentage,
but moving from 1 to 2 minis is 100% increase and it has an effect of both time (takes a lot longer) and psychology (swings are larger money wise)
even though you are getting raped on commissions somewhat you're better off increasing size every 5 days or so with micros and once you have enough margin for 2-3 minis you can switch and keep increasing size just as often. sometimes also staying at a level for a bit is ok too because the money gets significant around the 10-15-20 minis and beyond that you might just want to stop there and adjust to the swings for a while(we are not robots after all)
best of luck to you and keep it up, you can do it.