Is trading /ym & /es right for me? Noob

F

Froglet

Hello,

I am wondering if I should venture into trading e-minis, simply because I can do this after hours and trade it when I'm not working.

A little background:

I am a fairly passive investor,trader and work a typical 40 hour work week, but I wanted to start trading for side money. I have tried to day trade, but day trading w/ one of those Scott-Trade platforms did nothing but feed my broker through comissions. Since then, I have ventured and looked at diff't platforms/brokers and instruments. This has lead me to the following:

A) Change brokers w/ lower comission that caters towards active traders. This way, I can spread out risk/hedge w/ diff't positions w/o overpaying comission.

B) Try to trade e-minis after hours.

My biggest downfall for me has to due w/ the fact that I am not watching my screens to capture the moves and act, simply put, I cannot trade fully while I work, but I can set my positions here and there. This implies, I am more of a swing trader ?! A scattered, low risk overnight strategy might be better?

What do you folks think? I eventually want to trade futures, but it will take me a while to learn it.

Either way, I hope to get some guidance and starting points. If switching stock brokers and finding something reliable, please suggest something.

I dislike TOS and IB, simply because I am too much of a simple minded person. I have narrowed it down to speedtrader / light speed, but leaning on speedtrader.

Thanks
 
Trading futures on a 1 hour/4hour or daily is hard. You've got to have a big account, over 100k to trade futures on those time frames if you're not trading 1min/5min, or 300 tick.

the E-mini indexes may not have much volume after hours. Currency futures and forex has more movement usually when two currency sessions overlap or at openings of a session.

I have TOS , but I've given up trying to trade 1min/5min futures/forex on it. Slippage on spread, and delays is just unacceptable since TD Ameritrade took it over. TOS only good for monthly/weekly option plays or stock positioning. I'm trying PFGBest.com with the Genesis TradeNavigator trial. TradeNavigator has history backplay(you can trade it in game mode) and simulation.
 
Quote from Froglet:

I wanted to start trading for side money.
More...

This is the deal killer right here. Not possible. This is like saying since I have Sundays free, I thought I would pick up some extra cash playing special teams for the Chicago Bears...you know, on the side from my full time job. Do you have any idea what the success rate in this business is?
 
Quote from Maverick74:

This is the deal killer right here. Not possible. This is like saying since I have Sundays free, I thought I would pick up some extra cash playing special teams for the Chicago Bears...you know, on the side from my full time job. Do you have any idea what the success rate in this business is?
More...

I only bring this up because my IRA w/ less management has actually outperformed my regular account. After analyzing this, I've discovered that a bulk of it was gone towards 'commission'.

Trying to day trade w/ slower platforms like scott-trade is not working for me. Not only that, some execution of shorts are just too slow !

EX:
Broker A: $1,000 of XYZ will run me $20 (TD AMERITRADE) round trip.
Broker B: $500 of XYZ, $300 ABC, $200 JKL (as hedge) w/ $6 total for all 3 trades round trip

You see, my strategy is diff't, and more cost effective IMHO. Granted it's all about moving in the right direction. My point being, trying to day trade w/ the incorrect platform, and no screen time will kill you.

I could use some tips on platform. I don't really like IB simply because it has a bit more functions than I find necessary.

Thanks.
 
Sounds like a lot of confusion.

Whatever style you choose, you should be doing it on paper for now.

Day trading is not a part time gig.
 
I say go for it.


Some of my best entries come during afterhours


Start on sim and keep at it til you find a strategy/edge that meshes with your personality.
 
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