Quote from charto911:
I have finally made the transition to full time day trader as I was just trading until 11:30. Now that I am trading all day and my style is semi scalping day trader where I look to take out 14-28 cents on stocks like LVS and BP.
So what I wanted to know is should I be taking a step back during lunch time so I dont get chopped up and if so what time to what. Do the big prop traders take off for lunch or do they sit all day?
Michael Parness, who wrote a book called "Power Trading, Power Living", addresses this very subject, and here is the quote:
"Even though there are times when a trend continues right on through lunch and beyond, to me, it's just not worth taking the risk. I've experienced too many instances where gains slowly wither away while the market drifts aimlessly up and down through lunch." (Parness, page 27).
I agree with the above quote. I used to intraday scalp all day, looking for small gains during lunch, however the risk/reward doesn't justify that action, unless you're in a super trending day.
Stick to the better timeframes when there is greater volume and momentum (first few and last hour). And you'll be all set.
By the way, it's a great book, definitely worth reading if you're an active trader. Best of luck.
