Because I am not interested in a TST funded account trading 1 - 2 CL contracts... there is no point in that for me. Nor am I interested in trading 20, 40 or 50 CL contracts in block fashion consistently over time. Yes it makes vertical moves some days. Yes those moves are predictable to forecast. No they cannot always be caught for entered fills due to the outright explosive surge nature of that symbol. No you cannot avoid partial fills and missed fills because of the explosive nature. So yes, CL is still superior for dink-dunking around with a couple - few contracts. No I am not interested in "winning" a combine for the sheer sake of it. I am not here to say, "look I qualified with 2 CL contracts... now what?" Likewise, I am not at all interested in block-trading CL contracts. Not to look past the immediate task at hand, but if/when I qualify a funded account my end-goal over time is to be amongst the biggest if not the biggest traded account. The fine print says contract size negotiable via profitable performance objectives. I assume that means over the course of months or years, we could be talking 50 - 100 contracts traded. For me that means ES and definitely not CL. So therefore, CL trading in this particular program is not part of my personal end goals in mind
1) In his 3:42pm post from yesterday, the third posting in this thread, he believes he has a better chance of becoming a 50-lot and larger trader with the ES than with CL. There is some "merit" to that goal/hope/expectation but he has to do what's necessary to pass the Combine, NOW, instead of having inappropriate goals for the long-term that quash the short-term. 2) The ES is likely to be "worse" in August when the Europeans go on vacation. :eek:
Austin, why don't you ask Michael out of ALL the funded TST guys, how many are trading ES. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts less then 5% are. And the reason is because it's pure fantasy to think you are going to become a big ES baller. Many here on ET have that dream and a dream is what it is. It is arguably THE most efficient market EVER. But you know, if I'm wrong and you do it, I'll be the first one on here to congratulate you. Hell, I'll have a statue of yourself put up in whatever town you call home right now. I'll give you props for sure. As for now, I'll take the other side of your combine. How did you end up today?
For as many years as I can recall... prior to 2013... the rare times you would see two consecutive gap-open moves in the same direction, it was high odds one or both gaps would be filled intraday. But thru the first half of 2013, that historical gap-rule statistic has been ruled null and void. Now it is more common for two or even three gap-up sessions to remain open while price chops sideways in consolidation of the overnight lift. So went today. Price sold off early, found support at yesterday session highs, chopped upwards midday and went nowhere for hours hence.
16 contracts turned (all short) for -825 & -80 trade costs / -905 total. I had two breakout short trades go +2pts in favor and come back out for -1pt each. The rest of that tally was 1 - 2 contract probes short at pullbacks, trying to catch a downswing with some size but no adds were possible. All the partials at pullbacks did was chop stops. Stocks were dead in front of taper-talk tomorrow. I'll be passive ahead of Bernanke speak and FOMC minutes, more apt to bump up size past all that into the close. Contest speaking, there is 793 left to work with before max drawdown is hit. So that's obviously a factor to work around. Not much more to say than first two days here have been two gap-up and flat sessions with no opportunity to speak of. The current two-day draw is one normal, pedestrian +5pt profit trade on a 5-lot. Nothing more than that. If price makes any kind of directional moves tomorrow and/or next day, we should be fine. Two or three more dead-range chop days would not be fine. We'll see what the markets have in store for themselves, and that's what there is to navigate thru
it takes me time to type... and I've been outside all day since I ceased trading at 2pm until dinnertime now. Back outside until dark, gotta enjoy summertime to the fullest while it's here
My criticisms aside, kudos to you for putting your numbers on display. I think your combine will hopefully send a message to all those lurkers out there that think they are going to make a living scalping ES. And that's not a knock against you, for the record you have been at this for over a decade, so if you are struggling to even stay above water, that should send a proper message or at least warning signal to all who think they can do it.
I do know the TST index futures chat room has nowhere near has many logged on as the energy room does. Having been watching the traders getting funded for months now I can only recall maybe one or two that traded ES and I think they traded other markets as well.