Beautiful Scalper

[BeautifulStranger]

Made 4 points on a MNQ reversion to mean trade. I was very confident on this trade, but allowed myself to become distracted, costing me probably 16 points of additional profit. A key aspect to the trade is elapsed time from entry versus current trading conditions.

Made 5.5 points on MES on a short term reversal play. This trade had the entry criteria of a reversion to mean trade, but with a larger target. That target was a support / resistance area rather than a wide bar retracement. No scalping losses for today and am done trading for the week.

Feeling real good about my scalping trades. A trading size increase is in order and I will now do multiple micros per order for next week.

I will post my trades with a trading performance report after this trading month ends.

 

[BeautifulStranger]

Lost $41 on a couple of directional scalps on JPM. JPM bounced off what seemed like support twice, where I entered, only to see support breached a few minutes later. I am fortunate to not have lost more. I did take the trades during lunchtime in NY, though, something best avoided on most days in my experience. However, I have been working lots of hours and try squeezing in a few trades on breaks or after hours.

 

[BeautifulStranger]

Have tomorrow, Monday, off. Will be scalping MES, MNQ, JPM, AAPL, DIS, CAT, and FB. A lot to start, but I’ll will have it no other way!

Other than a 2 hour lunch, planning to trade all day and some micros after hours. It will be glorious! Or if not, I’ll feed them no more than $500.

I will be keeping track of the performance of various setups and will post a list of trades and trade notes here. For fun, I’ll post a few live MES trades on “The most popular thread on the interwebs”, ES Journal 2019/2020.

 

[BeautifulStranger]

I can make money shorting a rising market but lose money buying a rising market? 5 separate long trades after the low in MES and have an average loss of .85 points. Getting wiggled out before MES move to upside. Will increase stops to 3.00 points instead trying to cut things so close.

 

[EsKiller]

Don't scalp the MES. Commissions are too high relative to tick value. Very very difficult to make money. Trade a higher time frame, place stops 10-20 points out on MES and go for higher profit targets.

if you are going to scalp, its gotta be ES due to commission structure. If you dont have the account for ES, don't scalp it.

 

[BeautifulStranger]

Don't scalp the MES. Commissions are too high relative to tick value. Very very difficult to make money. Trade a higher time frame, place stops 10-20 points out on MES and go for higher profit targets.

if you are going to scalp, its gotta be ES due to commission structure. If you dont have the account for ES, don't scalp it.

Good point on high relative commissions on MES. My more immediate concern is trading better. I feel I’ve left 30+ points on the table this evening. If I were thinking straight, I would have at least hedged -.10 out of -.15 delta on an ES directional put fly I have on.

Each iteration, I will improve. Just need to get some more iterations in!

Here is the horror:

I had S/R, the open, and the HOD as profit taking targets, but ended up micromanaging too much. My last trade I got in again after getting stopped out, only to see MES reverse again. It turned out to be a double bottom before a big move. I’ll work it out.

Thank you for your input.

 

[EsKiller]

Good point on high relative commissions on MES. My more immediate concern is trading better. I feel I’ve left 30+ points on the table this evening. If I were thinking straight, I would have at least hedged -.10 out of -.15 delta on an ES directional put fly I have on.

Each iteration, I will improve. Just need to get some more iterations in!

Here is the horror:

View attachment 226194

I had S/R, the open, and the HOD as profit taking targets, but ended up micromanaging too much. My last trade I got in again after getting stopped out, only to see MES reverse again. It turned out to be a double bottom before a big move. I’ll work it out.

Thank you for your input.

Are you using time based or tick charts ? I use time based. If time based, what length of time per bar ?

 

[BeautifulStranger]

Are you using time based or tick charts ? I use time based. If time based, what length of time per bar ?

Using 1 minute bars and IB book trader. At issue seems to be the difference in my sense of time when I’m in a trade versus watching the market. I have extremely well defined setups, stops, and targets, but my execution needs improvement.

On the last run up, I bought at 2859.25 and sold at 2863.00. Although I did not hold to the HOD, a normal target, buying a (Much) higher high and selling even higher is an developmental improvement for me as a trader. I had a minor signal to short at 2862, but didn’t take it because I am feeling a little defensive from earlier performance. I believe frequent trading, as setups allow, will help me improve my sense of timing and emotional fortitude whether I’m in a trade or not. As confidence develops, increasing size will be easier

 

[EsKiller]

Using 1 minute bars and IB book trader. At issue seems to be the difference in my sense of time when I’m in a trade versus watching the market. I have extremely well defined setups, stops, and targets, but my execution needs improvement.

On the last run up, I bought at 2859.25 and sold at 2863.00. Although I did not hold to the HOD, a normal target, buying a (Much) higher high and selling even higher is an developmental improvement for me as a trader. I had a minor signal to short at 2862, but didn’t take it because I am feeling a little defensive from earlier performance. I believe frequent trading, as setups allow, will help me improve my sense of timing and emotional fortitude whether I’m in a trade or not. As confidence develops, increasing size will be easier

You're seriously scalping MES on a 1 min chart AH ? LOL. You are wasting your time.

ES went straight up 30 handles from pullback to when u finished your last trade via that screenshot, yet u fought it all the way up and lost money ? You dont see a problem with this ? Not trying to be an a$$hole, just hope u dont continue wasting your time with this method.

Stop scalping for 1-2 points until market volatility collapses. Thats when scalping is useful. And only scalp on a 1 min the opening bell for an hour or two. Thats when there's the most liquidity and the patterns tend to hold up better.

Now, with these swings, the money is made in holding. You cant be a one trick pony if you're trading the indexes. They present lots of opportunity in varying ways.

 

[BeautifulStranger]

Lost about $60 in designated daytrades. My overall loss was $600, including closing out the rest of options spreads at a loss including one initiated today. Now flat. My account equity is now $29,900.

Adjustments for tonight will be to focus on fewer, higher quality setups using wider stops. I will look to scale into and out of the positions I do take. Working t

Although disappointed in my performance, I traded in direction of the trend except one MES scalp where I lost 1 1/2 points on a timed stop. I did not take the gap down reversal play on CAT, ignoring this solid setup. Favorable price, favorable environment, and technical confirmation should have yielded a, or several, standout trades. I need to focus better and process information quicker.

I know what I need to do, it is a matter of execution at this point.