YM trading: how common is this?

wally_ · Mar 17, 2003

I placed my first YM trade today. It was a buy stop order that was filled with a 4 pt slippage. The market was moving fast at the time the order was filled, but still is it that not too much of a slippage? Is it normal for YM?

Well, the good news is I managed to pocket $180 with one experimental contract, but decided to stay on the sidelines until I find out more about the slippage in YM.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

TIA,
Wally

Foz · Mar 17, 2003

4 Dow points equals 0.049% of the current Dow value of 8142. If you were trading the ES, that would equate to slippage of 0.42 points. That's more than 1 but less than 2 ticks. Given the YM has about 1% the daily volume of the ES, I'd say you did alright.

nasdaqmadness · Mar 17, 2003

I have traded the YM for a while now and it has a tendancy to move in small waves alot.. 4 points up .. 3 points back. When I am ready to make an entry I try to buy the bid near the bottom of the back wave with a limit. Never use a market order unless you are trying to jump ship. If you miss an entry you will almost always have a second chance if you are patient. Liquidity is getting a little bit better every month. It still has its slow times when current ask might have only 1 contract available. I usually hold no more than 3 contracts at one time. I like the YM because it has some great trends if you can catch them. If you are trying to enter on a stop and want to make sure you get in you have to take what you get. Look at today. 360 point move off the bottom. A few points wont make much difference. Happy trading

Miki · Mar 18, 2003

As he said!

wally_ · Mar 18, 2003

Quote from nasdaqmadness:

Look at today. 360 point move off the bottom. A few points wont make much difference. Happy trading

Today (yesterday) was not a usual day, 360 pts of range does not happen that often or correct me if I am wrong. The B/A spread is quite often 3 pts today. For ES you virtually get no slippage on stop orders and the B/A spread is usually 1 tick, that's why I did not know what to think about 4 pts in YM. In some other thread on YM that I started a few weeks ago someone said that the slippage was small, someone else said that it was not, but what does it really mean? Can someone who trades this contract give me some stats?

Thanks for all the input so far.

Wally

ADX_trader · Mar 18, 2003

Quote from nasdaqmadness:

I like the YM because it has some great trends if you can catch them.

I have the same feeling YM has great trends that somewhat easier to catch than NQ or ES. I cannot think the reasons but it seems to be true. If the liquidity of YM was on par with NQ or ES then I would forget the later two.

It seems stop order is a must for trading YM, doesn't it?

spreadem · Mar 19, 2003

quote from Foz :

4 Dow points equals 0.049% of the current Dow value of 8142. If you were trading the ES, that would equate to slippage of 0.42 points. That's more than 1 but less than 2 ticks. Given the YM has about 1% the daily volume of the ES, I'd say you did alright.

Exactly, there are many times in ES where slippage is 2 ticks, which is $25 per contract. IMO the dow trends better than ES which makes charting analysis clearer.

wally_ · Mar 19, 2003

Quote from spreadem:

Exactly, there are many times in ES where slippage is 2 ticks, which is $25 per contract.

I haven't noticed that in stop orders which are the orders I'm most interested in.

Pabst · Mar 19, 2003

YM is less liquid than ES, Period. A stop becomes a market order when elected. The chances of there not being a "nearby" resting order in YM is much more likely than in ES.

ElectricSavant · Mar 19, 2003

I tend to agree with Pabst's statement. I have traded the ES for 2 years. I have also traded the big SP too. Now in the Big contracts their can be slippage due to the nature of the open outcry...but NEVER in the SP e-mini.

Michael B.