Quote from skim:
Market in, market out, mental stops.
I know this is the only way to guarantee you are 100% in for the entire amount, but I hate giving up that spread every time. I use a strategy that ladders in my trade over the course of a couple minutes.
For example, if I want to buy 30 contracts, and the price is
950.0 - 950.25, I would bid for 3 contracts at 950.0, and 3 again at 949.75, and 3 again at 949.5, etc. Then I would wait for someone to take out those bids.
Of course the danger is it runs the other way, but the instant a tick moves against me, I immediately place a bid for 3 contracts at the new bid level. What always seems to happen is that I get taken out 3 contracts at a time as the price bouces back and forth. And I adjust accordingly, placing more bids at the new bid levels, cancelling bids if it ran too far against me, etc.
Eventually, I have all 30 contracts that I wanted. And I have the satisfaction of knowing that I didn't have to pay the spread. Some trades you end up paying a little more than you would have if you just bought the market, but sometimes you end up paying less, and it seems to even out in the end.
This entry/exit system seems to work well for my trading style, wher I am holding a trade anywhere from 20 minutes to a couple days. But I don't think it would work for someone who only holds a trade for a minute of two. You would need much faster entries and exits.
I am curious - does anyone else enter trades like I do?
(i.e. entering and exiting trades a little bit at a time, constantly making small offers at the bid price, until you have all the contracts you wanted)