Quote from whitster:
"Interesting whitster, I traded YM for 1 year and then switched over to ES and love it. Ym is to choppy to me with the 1 point increments."
but 10 YM points equals 1 ES point, so a 1 point move is LESS than 1 ES tick (which is a 1/4 point), so i don't understand how that equates to choppiness? the thing about stops, limits and slippage is key for me. if i am setting a 10 pt stop on the DOW, that stop is 1 pt away on ES. the YM can move through 9 levels and not reach my stop. but there is no "space" in ES since it moves only 4 increments for dow's 10. this is simply a more cost effective contract to trade in that respect. the wider the spread, the less cost effective. that's a rule that holds true in all markets.
imo, YM moves much more smoothly, predictably, and based on all the statistical backtesting - it simply works better for my setups. of course, that's an opinion thang, but in my opinion it is much smoother. i have seen several knowledgeable traders comment on the choppiness on the ES having to do with all the frenetic arcade traders scalping for 1/4 to 1/2 points with decent size, which tends to chop it up.
"So you are more of a YM scalper ? How many trades do you avg a day ? How many points do you avg daily ?"
well, my bread and butter is YM scalps. i do also do position trades in futures (and futures option) in YM, ES, NQ, etc. and in cases of position trades, i will often prefer the NQ or ES depending on what my system is telling me. i will go for much larger moves in these trades than my scalps, obviously.
but as for SCALPS, imo, the YM is the best scalping instrument available. for ME, it simply works much better. also, since the ES generally LEADS the YM, it gives me a heads up. the reverse would be true for trading ES, since the YM rarely leads it.
i make about 30-35 pts on average on the YM a day for the scalp trades. as for how many trades a day, it depends on what the YM gives me. it might be as low as 2, or as high as 8. even in the case of the 2 trades, those might last only 15 minutes, and the entire rest of the day i am waiting and watching. it is totally dependent on what the market offers in relation to my setups.
since i will only trade YM scalps that meet very specific criteria, it is up to the YM whether or not it offers me the proper setup criteria to trade. varies widely. what i like about my setups is that they have about 80% profitable trades, and my drawdown is never more than 10-12 pts (that is my largest stop ever on ym), and if i lose on 2 trades in a row (which is exceedingly rare) i have to switch down to 1 car. if i lose that trade, i am done for day.
so, i suffer very little drawdown with my scalps, which is what i want since i use them as an income stream, and i prefer consistency to the 'big $$ potential' with the corresponding risk.
i'm rambling here, but i will just add this. i have found that, for me, if i don't have exceptionally specifically designed setups and don't follow the rules, i can get my head ripped off in futures scalping. so, i am exceptionally rule based, even though these setups are not purely automated, since there are some subjective factors
otoh, i have found with daytrading stocks, that i can be far more fluid and less strict on rules and still do well. stocks are very different animals than futures ime.
