I started trading ES in 2006 but switched to TF in 2010. I trade it pretty much as my main emini via mostly an automated system and sometimes w/disrecionary manual trades. For my trading style, it behaves well and trends much more nicely (imho) than the ES. Only major downside is sometimes it can move too quickly, and slippage will hit me on an exit. To me the TF price action doesn't have the same "mechanical percision" and apparent "gaming" characteristics that the ES does, at least in my view. IMHO, the TF isn't gamed by Skynet anywhere as much as the ES is. Hope it stays that way, too.
Daily range vs spread/comish is good in TF relative to other emini's Meaning it has good bang for buck.
The TF often moves point for point with the ES in the first hour and the last hour. Also when it is really moving it can be more resilient than the ES during these intervals because it trades on a different exchange so there is less arb noise. However, between 1000 CT and 1400 CT it can move much less than point for point with the ES, and often can get stuck while the ES is moving along. So in my experience the TF is very effective for momentum setups in the first and last hour but not much better than ES during the middle of the day.
It's my backup choice due to time zone difference problem that prevents me from trading my favorite trading instruments (e.g. Hang Seng HSI futures). I like Emini TF futures because of its excellent volatility. I also trade Crude Oil CL futures, Gold GC futures and sometimes EuroFX 6E futures...all because they too have excellent volatility. If one doesn't have good volatility for an hour, one of the others will. My point, I'm not married to trading only the Emini TF futures.
Got it. My personal choice is currently NQ (and occasionally 6E as well), because it offers great combo of liquidity and decent volatility also. Ranges in ticks seem to be much the same as TF. CL for some reason looks choppier for me and also is pretty thin, starts to slip very soon. Same for FDAX - great toy, but small size market.
Think my problem with lower liquidity instruments is that I usually enter @ MKT or STP orders. If I managed to learn how to catch micro-pullbacks and enter on limits, slippage would be an issue on worst-case stop-outs only and would play the smaller role in overall profitability.