S/R Emini Journal
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when i started in es trading 5 1/2 yrs ago....the 2 pts worked then as it does now..s/r worked then also.
A couple of thoughts
(1) Stops: Your stop level should take into account your average drawdown per trade. In turn, you may want to have a technical stop and a risk management stop. Risk management stop is higher and you cannot place a stop beyond this level. This should be no more than 5% of net equity. As soon as the trade is executed you should enter a hard stop loss. Anything can happen. I remember a few years ago seeing an 'air ball' hit the ES when a rumour came out there was a terrorist attack on Washington (this was after 9-11). It was just a gas leak in the end I think. Anyway, I have never seen a market drop so quickly or recover so quickly. Scary to be on the wrongside of that.
(2) Scaling out of positions: Very popular amongst traders as the perception is it reduces risk. However, mathematically speaking it will reduce profits over time. I scale out ONLY when I perceive the trade has more risk. And I make this judgement call by observing how the market reacts to my trade once it has been executed. If it is a volatile day and the trade works immediately I'll hold all of my contracts and exit all of them at once. This is a judgement call on my behalf, which I sometimes get wrong but overall has worked quite well. In trading you always want to be as flexible as possible, I think.
Gary, considering you have only been trading ES a short time, your performance has been amazing. It has taken many of us many more years of pain.
when it is just you sitting there and the finger pulls the trigger, all the talk on forums won't help you if you have not done your homework....and prepared yourself to manage the trade...from beginning to end.......entry to exit.......emini daytrading has disappointed many traders....me included...especially me....but disappointments build and test character...and tenacity...tests the will to succeed.....only we know what we can withstand...i will back off now and wait for market to wiggle until in the morning.....when the bars get big BIG and scale picks up as volume builds or explodes at market open if not before.....then about 9 usually it settles in for the day going up and down and sideways........where else can it go?
I mostly use 2 points stops. Only exception is if I am early, I may adjust it to 2.25 or 2.5.
Quote from LondonUSTrader:
Gary, considering you have only been trading ES a short time, your performance has been amazing. It has taken many of us many more years of pain.
LT,
Thank you but I have been trading for a long time. Before I started trading the ES I watched it for a couple of months and in January I went to California to work with a mentor of mine. Eddie Toppell (The Samurai Trader). I had known him for years back when he was a market maker for IBM. We talked and he looked at the system I was wanting to use and said that if I kept my trading the same but identify a target I would do well. He died a couple of weeks later from a heart condition so that left me to learn alone. I did the Traders International course. Not to learn how to trade but to learn the emini market. I saw that they were using the 2 point target and S/L thing so I stuck with that. It didn't take me long to realize that when they were buying I was wanting to sell but since they supposedly knew how to trade I would buy with them. I would lose because of my S/L and they seemed to win more because they would stretch into a losing trade. I decided to go back to what I knew about trading and developed the method I am using today. The only reason it didn't take long for me was this. I decided this was the way I would trade the emini (Just like I traded the Q's for years) I decided to trade this way for a month and see if I was profitable. If I was not I would have changed. I made money this way so I never have changed anything about the way I trade. I don't think the emini market is any harder than trading IBM or the Q's. The IBM market makers are the best hands down so to take money from them you had to be good. The Q's trade 200 million shares a day so they are highly liquid and competative as well.
Moral of the story: Stick to what you know and trade it mechanically just like a casino.
Sorry for the longwinded post but I didn't want you to think I just woke up and decided I would be an Emini guru or anything like that.
the only bad emini market is sometimes overnight and when market is closed.........otherwise it is excellent trading.....fomc stuff and all....all days are tradable for at least 6 hrs min....each day..........tq {porgie's brother}
4re, I missed saying thank you for the pm invite into your thread... it is a very pleasant, extended conversation y'all are building upon, a most refreshing change from some others we might find.
As for your +2pt targets, whatever is working, keep it up! Please don't change one thing!!! I meant no disrespect on that aspect at all. I am 100% all for whatever puts real money in the bank, consistently.
I was eluding to legions of emini traders who begin as +2pt per session traders, then gradually evolve into two-tick scalpers on the fast path to going broke. Somewhere along the line, too many aspiring ES traders fall prey to the 50-tick / 1min chart scalping approach. That is usually a desperate attempt to scratch & claw out any kind of profitable performance, when in fact they are going the wrong way.
15min/5min charts are slow & easy... the former gives a great measure of pending market direction, the latter is plenty fast enough for catching intraday entry setups. I myself use a 3min chart for triggers, but 5min would be just fine for me as well.
**
Main concern... when traders are learning / struggling to succeed in emini (or any symbol) trading, speeding up the process only makes things worse. Slooowww it down, stretch it out. See the forest, and then observe the trees. If all emini traders became adept at trading fewer turns for larger profits intraday, they would survive & thrive long enough to hone their skills razor sharp.
Keeping the profit - loss ratio at 2/1 or greater in favor is important. A 50% to 60% win ratio is plenty enough to get rich over the course of time, and even a 40% - 45% ratio will work when the profit - loss balance is correct.
4re, keep up the excellent work! I'd be very happy to see you manage my funds in the future when you're ready, giving me ample time to slog around in the woods & swamps where I'd much rather be any day :>)
Look for a large-range, outsized session or two this week ahead. This has potential to be a wonderful week for emini trades!
Trade To Win
Austin
As for your +2pt targets, whatever is working, keep it up! Please don't change one thing!!! I meant no disrespect on that aspect at all. I am 100% all for whatever puts real money in the bank, consistently.
I was eluding to legions of emini traders who begin as +2pt per session traders, then gradually evolve into two-tick scalpers on the fast path to going broke. Somewhere along the line, too many aspiring ES traders fall prey to the 50-tick / 1min chart scalping approach. That is usually a desperate attempt to scratch & claw out any kind of profitable performance, when in fact they are going the wrong way.
15min/5min charts are slow & easy... the former gives a great measure of pending market direction, the latter is plenty fast enough for catching intraday entry setups. I myself use a 3min chart for triggers, but 5min would be just fine for me as well.
**
Main concern... when traders are learning / struggling to succeed in emini (or any symbol) trading, speeding up the process only makes things worse. Slooowww it down, stretch it out. See the forest, and then observe the trees. If all emini traders became adept at trading fewer turns for larger profits intraday, they would survive & thrive long enough to hone their skills razor sharp.
Keeping the profit - loss ratio at 2/1 or greater in favor is important. A 50% to 60% win ratio is plenty enough to get rich over the course of time, and even a 40% - 45% ratio will work when the profit - loss balance is correct.
4re, keep up the excellent work! I'd be very happy to see you manage my funds in the future when you're ready, giving me ample time to slog around in the woods & swamps where I'd much rather be any day :>)
Look for a large-range, outsized session or two this week ahead. This has potential to be a wonderful week for emini trades!
Trade To Win
Austin
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