ES Journal Archive (2006 - 2008)

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Quote from Buy1Sell2:

I never concern myself with what the unrealized gains are. I only have interest in what the potential losses could be. I never press the refresh button to see what my account liquidation total is. I only want to know what my loss could be. Therefore, I stay in trades looking for the homeruns. I prefer a larger move than 250. If I don't get it, then I still have knocked off a decent chunk. When the daily chart tells me to get out , then I will. Not before, unless stopped out.:)
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You keep talking about a homerun--could you please explain what a homerun is in terms of your trading? If it's not 200-250 points what is it? 500, 1000 points--how many times have you hit the homerun and when did you do it?
 
Quote from Buy1Sell2:

I do not ever get out unless the charts that I am using say I should. Right now, they say that I should stay short and allow myself to get stopped out. I am on much different timeframes than many others. As far as the last 3 years, my biggest ES gain was 248 points. Over the last 8 years though, I did have an ES gain of 518 points one time. This included rolling my short into new months and incurring one new commission each time :)
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But how much TIME was involved?

Consider this scenario:

Trader A gains 100 points.
Trader B gains 100 points.

Trader A was "in the market" twice as long than Trader B.

Guess who the better trader was?

Trader B, of course, because time = exposure = risk.
 
The more trades made, the more correct decisions have to be made. Yes, the trader using higher leverage and aiming for smaller targets will make the same and risk the same per trade. However, he is much more often wrong than the longer term trader. This is one of the reasons that the shorter term the trader is, the more the deck is stacked against him. Other reasons would include, but not be limited to, commissions and slippage. :)
 
Quote from smilingsynic:

But how much TIME was involved?

Consider this scenario:

Trader A gains 100 points.
Trader B gains 100 points.

Trader A was "in the market" twice as long than Trader B.

Guess who the better trader was?

Trader B, of course, because time = exposure = risk.
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Trader A was able to focus on multiple markets and have gains that Trader B was not able to. Trader A typically made more correct decisions than Trader B. One thing to remember, most short term traders lose money. Most position traders lose money. The chances are much better for the position trader however and that's where I want to be. Some people will defy the odds and make money daytrading and my hat's off to them. :)
 
To each his own, if at the end of the year both traders have done well, who cares. Some find being in and out stressful, some have the ability to look at the future and say in 3 months we will be there but have no idea where we will be in a day. Its about finding what works and sticking with it.
 
Quote from Buy1Sell2:

Trader A was able to focus on multiple markets and have gains that Trader B was not able to.
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Not necessarily.

One does not have to be either a frenetic daytrader/scalper who stares all day at time and sales, or a long-term trend follower type like John Henry or Bill Dunn.
 
Quote from Buy1Sell2:

I do not ever get out unless the charts that I am using say I should. Right now, they say that I should stay short and allow myself to get stopped out. I am on much different timeframes than many others. As far as the last 3 years, my biggest ES gain was 248 points. Over the last 8 years though, I did have an ES gain of 518 points one time. This included rolling my short into new months and incurring one new commission each time :)
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I usually hold longer term ES positions for 30-40 points and all my trading friends think I'm nuts to hold for days rather than minutes. I admire B1S2's long term approach, I wish I could hold thru more of the ups and downs. When all other traders are going for smaller and smaller holding times and their patience is non-existent, I admire his ability to take a position and let it do its thing.

I imagine a lot of the criticism comes from people who are mentally incapable of holding a position for more than a few hours. Why is it that all new traders I meet always want to trade on the short end of the time frame? I'd attribute it more to impatience and the immediate gratification bias than to a solid trading strategy.

Of course, none of this applies to solid experienced ST traders. At that point, your approach just comes down to your personality.
 
Quote from Buy1Sell2:

Trader A was able to focus on multiple markets and have gains that Trader B was not able to. Trader A typically made more correct decisions than Trader B. One thing to remember, most short term traders lose money. Most position traders lose money. The chances are much better for the position trader however and that's where I want to be. Some people will defy the odds and make money daytrading and my hat's off to them. :)
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Multiple markets ? Sounds like being glued to the computer to me. How is that freedom ? How about get in, get out, and go enjoy the day not having to worry about limit moves in all of these multiple markets that you are in.
 
Quote from Buy1Sell2:

The more trades made, the more correct decisions have to be made. Yes, the trader using higher leverage and aiming for smaller targets will make the same and risk the same per trade. However, he is much more often wrong than the longer term trader. This is one of the reasons that the shorter term the trader is, the more the deck is stacked against him. Other reasons would include, but not be limited to, commissions and slippage. :)
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I don't think so. In the superbowl if Manning had thrown 1 or 2 passes versus 19 for 30 the Giants would have lost. If you limit yourself to just a few trades you've got to have an extremely high percentage rate of wins--say 90-100%.
 
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