Great question. I started with 4 micros, and have added 1 micro now. I am close to $3000 now and will soon be trading with 6 micros. In my table, I list the micros as .4 and .5, in order to be consistent.
With regards to the VIX, I remember watching it for months in a little chart off to the bottom right in my collage of charts. I just had it there to glance over so to see if I could pick up on any patterns. It just seemed like it was highly correlated with the indexes. So when VIX went up, price went down. But there was no predictive value really since they just moved inversely together. Below is a chart that summarizes this. Black is the VIX, and color bars is NQ, but the price is the inverse so that they move in the same direction which makes it easier to compare. Sure you could have price make a lower low, but not the index, but this flips back and forth so it isn't all that useful. So my conclusion was to not bother with it.
Thank you for the response. 1. So to be clear, you will achieve your 2% goal by increasing contract size as your account grows? Thanks
Hello sstheo, Considering you always honor a $20 stop/risk per contract and per trade, during times when you market volatileis high, do you use limit order to enter on a pull back or retrace to honor your $20 risk? Or do you just enter with market order and $20 stop regardless of market volatile or price action size moves? In other words, when I trade, and I see signal to trade, I would like to enter with market order but I can't because my stop loss placement exceeds my risk limit. Therefore, I am force to enter a limit order at a price that fits my risk or stop loss distance and hope for a retrace.
YES. And thanks for the vote of confidence. Unfortunately, I would love to say I "will" reach my 2% goal, or $200,000. But alas, it is but a goal. In fact, it is the biggest one I have set so far. If I reach it, I may just decide to retire and trade full time. Nevertheless, I am very close to $3000 now and I started at $2000 just 3 weeks ago. That is 50% growth in 3 weeks. When I extrapolate that out, I get over $1M by December. But we all know things happen. Can I maintain my discipline finally, after 13 years of hit-and-miss trading? I am trying. Stay tuned.
Thanks for the response. I think you are doing a wonderful job on your trading. And most importantly you have a Plan. Which is something I am working on, by restarting and starting small, limited my trades, and hitting the singles. I like how you are starting with a small account and gives the small trading account traders so hope with objective goals.
I use limit orders for entries about 2/3 of the time, regardless of volatility. Indeed, I do my best to not chase trades, but enter on pullbacks in a trend. In range conditions especially I enter with limit orders because I am going for just 4 to 5 ticks. For exits, I would say the ratio is reversed, because I want that profit! Recently things have been really crazy as you know, and it is so easy for a 5 to 10 tick profit vaporize before your eyes in 2 to 3 seconds! Limit orders on exits have been working very poorly in the last couple weeks. With all the volatility, I have considered expanding my stops to be a certain % of the 10 day ATR. If I change, I will post it. If things are not working for you as-is, then certainly make adjustments. The market is an ever-changing challenge (think of the robot in the original Incredibles animated movie that adapted to every new threat). Fortunately, we can adapt and come out on top. Success to you.
Do I have a written plan and rules? 90% yes. I have posted much here and in my former journal on ET, but it will be good for me to consolidate the rules and post here in this journal. For ME, these are the main two: (1) Despite your idiotic unfounded biases, always trade what you see. Go with the visible trend until it ends. (2) Base hits win the ballgame. Don't try to be Babe Ruth, the home-run king. Don't swing for the fences, but take several small high-probability trades (and ignore the commissions). The profits will add up very quickly.