FastTrader Futures-Trading Journal
- Thread starter EMini-Player
- Start date
- Status
Well, it's definitely different in different instruments ... Such as ES, which is heavily arbed, so you can't really trust 1-2T movements to any meaning anyway...
Mind you though, my standard "emergency" stop bracket on DAX is 4T, and most of the time I won't let it get that far. Sure, 1T is just variance... It depends on the context. It's less about whether it's a tic up or down. It's more about why that tick went up or down... Was there a print on a tape? Which tape? What's the cumulative volumes?
You can get to a point where you have so much of a "picture" that 1-2T can indeed tell you whether to get out or not, depending on what depths and tapes say (also/particularly on correlating markets)
As for "perfect" entries; Well, I basically have 2 types of scalps:
1) The Limit; Always a limit order at a very good "discount", i.e. the maximum expected excursion. If it goes a couple of ticks against that, chances are I know what's wrong or right. Don't forget, there's more factors - like guessing where the stops are. Once the stops are being swept, you're either out or you're dead. After a while, you get to know where the stops sit (how far away people put them in your particular market)
2) The Chase; This one I will hit the bid/ask on a fast tape-breakout, when there's clearly a move to come. In this one - again - I will get out as soon as the momentum even remotely stalls. At least on partials.
So, with most I do, my "stops" are absolutely minimal. Knowing when you're wrong sooner than everybody else is the key to success here. Again, it's the foot in the door thing. Mind you though, I usually trade partials. I'll have a hair-trigger-finger with the first half or third, but be a bit more patient with the second half... Depends. I definitely always try to get larger moves besides the scalps.
- Status