ES/NQ Trading - looking for solutions

[vanzandt]

....I may as well go back to programming....which I don't want to do.
I am a hybrid trader, part scalper (1-2 points) and part day swing trader trying to pick up some trends for 4-10 points.

Naa... don't go back. I've read enough of your posts here over the years to know you can do it. Just use 2 ES though. Thats more than enough to get $500/day with a few quick scalps if your indicators are working. As many here have mentioned, maybe step back a bit and widen out your stops. 3 or 4 point stops just don't work all that well unless your indicators are set up to identify a strong short term directional trend.

Hey and if by swing trader you mean you are holding overnight... man.... holding 4 ES overnight.... .... that could be suicide for an account below $100K. Don't do that. You know that though I'm sure.

 

[digitalnomad]

Omigosh, I'd love to do that...but with the 3 indicators, this is a VISUAL system. That's very important to understand. Ii would be quite complex to establish a backtesting methodology for this.

Have you forward tested it? Your responses sound scatter-brained. I’m getting the impression you’re lacking a solid framework to implement.

 

[Carlw]

Have you forward tested it? Your responses sound scatter-brained. I’m getting the impression you’re lacking a solid framework to implement.

take it for what it's worth I've been doing this for a little while and it's kept a roof over my head. a boat in the yard and the wife happy so I guess I'm doing something right it's impossible to forward test anything without tick data. With that said it's survive the test of time and that in a trader's life is everything

 

[TP_Dutchie]

Good god, you're riddled with emotion .... this is your only problem.

I've got a trend indicator, a momentum indicator, and a price volume indicator which is my crown jewel.
All of these are custom coded...by me. They're not the typical crap....RSI, MACD....those are all bullshit....and don't work.

Well you've been disqualified from connecting with someone on an intellectual level since you've just admitted that you've got a trend indicator, a momentum indicator, and a price volume indicator ... all of which are essentially the same exact thing as an RSI and a MACD LOL, and these indicators surely do help a trend analyzer, if you know how to use them properly.

I have so many problems with your logic. It's 100% emotional, and non objective. You can see it in your initial post. But I digress, I've got some suggestions.

First things first: If you're trading plan was objective, why does your entry matter? Do you not know how to average your break even to mitigate huge amounts of risk? Especially if you are trading up to 3 contracts in the NQ contract (this is the only contract I trade, and its perfect for this).

You also said "I constantly get out too early...its killing me". This is proof that your trading plan has no objective profit target. If you are truly trading the trend, your first profit target should always be the previous swing high or swing low (depending on which direction you a trading in). Don't worry about staying in profitable trades longer or getting out of trades "too early" this is all emotion. You can kill it just by using an objective profit target/ stop loss. When you follow objective points for stops and targets, you don't have to "worry about getting out too early". It will remove the emotion man, I think it would help you.

Finally, you're flattening your trades when they don't go right. This is terrible because what happens with most traders (99.9% of them) will get in a trade FAR TOO EARLY, leaving risk potential high, and profit potential low, then when they get emotional about it and close the trade for a much higher loss than they would have made if they had just averaged their break even price closer to an objective stop loss (previous swing high or swing low - again depending on the direction you are trend is moving in).

Bottom line: Fully objective trend trading is like the absolute way. Drop your emotions or lose all of your money.

 

[Overnight]

I have to disagree. Micro futures at $5/point will be more expensive per notional $ to trade. He was trading 4 ES futures and now you want him to drop to less 2.5% of that. The Micro futures will be good investors with smaller accounts but horrible for day traders.

Sir, we're talking about someone here in this thread who's system requires him to trade 3-4 contracts. The micros will be a good way for him to try his system, but not lose his shirt in the process.

As for liquidity? He should have no worry.

If anyone here heeded my advice over the past few years and tried to ply their new trade by trading MGC to learn, they would know how micros with good liquidity works. And it does. It works! Ug!

 

[Carlw]

I thought you were referring to the e s breakout issue that I had spoke of it will be interesting to see how the micro contracts turn out I just have a real weird feeling that you'll get some market-maker in there that'll blow out these things in a huge way

 

[Overnight]

...will be interesting to see how the micro contracts turn out I just have a real weird feeling that you'll get some market-maker in there that'll blow out these things in a huge way

NO! That's not going to happen, lol! It cannot! Otherwise you'd have micros driving the minis, which drive the main index! It does not happen! Ack! Why is everyone so close-minded?

 

[Carlw]

The full size s&p is the driver for the es so in that same token the market makers come in and run the stops up and down on the mini s&p so why would they not do the same on the micro

 

[Carlw]

it will be interesting to see what around turn from your broker is going to cost when you're looking at $5 a point on the micro es and approximately 4.75 for a round turn right now with my broker anyway

 

[Overnight]

it will be interesting to see what around turn from your broker is going to cost when you're looking at $5 a point on the micro es and approximately 4.75 for a round turn right now with my broker anyway

*sighs* This was gone over in another thread like a month ago. Search for it.