Quote from boro45:
As a YM trader, I wanted to add my two cents here.
I started out trading the ER2 and loved its effective range everyday. But after a couple of months, I switched over to the YM for a couple of reasons.
One, after backtesting my setup, I came to the decision that the YM gave me clearer signals without as much noise and the volume was somewhat better.
Two, this was around the time that the Russell seemed to be making new highs everyday and was the subject of a lot of new articles in SFO and the like. I felt like it was getting too much attention from the wrong people and it just didn't appeal to me as much. Kind of felt like it was the new tech stock during the 90s.
Lastly, the YM has the smallest tick value of the index futures at $5 per tick. In the ES, a lot of folks set 2 point stops and with good reason. On a dollar per contract basis, that translates into a 20 point stop on the YM. IMHO, that is a big stop for the YM and you'll be able to trade effectively with something much smaller.
So when you're wrong, you're not losing as much and you can still catch good trends to make some money. With a smaller value per tick, you can afford to have a longer learning curve.
And while I can only point to the order book as my data, I think that more of the big boys play in the ES versus the YM. And I'd rather swim in shallower water. At least for now.