Maybe cuz the minimum tick in ES is 0.25, which divided by 10 comes to 2.5 cents on the SPY, which makes the spread in futures higher than in the etf. Also with ES you have less strict margin requirements and can go as high as 1:10 leverage or above and can easily blow up and lose everything, while with the SPY you cannot go above 1:4 leverage if you are daytrading and 1:2 if you are position trading and you cannot lose moneyt as fast as with futures and also trading stocks helps you use a better money management. To me a 5 min chart of SPY looks better than a 5 min chart of ES..The Es chart always looks a little "edgy" on the candles ) Just my simple opinion though..
Steve, I trade the q's exclusively here for the last 3-4 years. Started out with 1000 share/trade, now doing 5000/ trade. No margin being used. I usually look for one trade a day, I dont scalp as commissions will eat you up. Occassionally I do hold overnight. The reasons Ilike the q's very liquid, shortable on a downtick, dont have to worry about some broker or analyst upgrading or downgrading it like I do with an indivdual stock, very tight spread... at times on island less than a penny spread. I do about 10-20 trades per month. The hardest thing for me when i started was to not overtrade, because like I said commissions will eat you alive.
So would you say that you are happy with your trading in the QQQQ's? What's an avg holding period intraday and what do you look to make on an avg trade in terms of pennies?
If you don't mind me asking what style of trader are you? Pattern Trader, Indicators, Support and Resistance trader? Thanks
Steve; No; but theyre in the top 7 markets i watch/ocasionaly swing trade. Real estate still has some tax advantages; less ''price shocks'' than CME/EurexUS products, more false quotes on SPY,QQQQ than CME & EuexUS products. Wisdom is profitable to direct.
Steve, yes I am happy with the q's. Less stress anyway lol. I have held positions for different amounts of time. 1/2 hour, couple hours sometimes all day. In the morning I like to see the market open up or down big. For instance if the market at the open is down a good bit at around 10 am or so Im looking to go long, and vice versa if market open is real strong Im looking to short. Also, for me another time of the day when I am looking for a trade is at 2:30 est when oil trading closes, and between about 2:50 and 3:10 est also. As far as how much I look for in pennies, if I dont think I can make a bare minimum of 10 cents (5000 shares) I wont take the trade. Like I said before overtrading imo will kill you and only make you broker or prop house rich. Are you trading the q's or spy's exclusively or going to? If you would like to share ideas or thoughts email me.... tradinstox at yahoo.com.
Whats your edge trading the SPY? none. You have to be able to call the market moves. If you could do that you could/should trade futures, its much cheaper on a per share ($$) basis. I had an edge for a while trading a certain ETF but , alas, game over.
i traded spy for a while when i first started and it is ok to scalp, but when the market rips in the opposite direction it is very difficult to be filled...
Dividend, Who is your broker, and how are you routing your orders? Order routing matters a lot. We can all benefit by exchanging information on how to achieve best routing of orders.