I haven't trade LE for years as its day range was rather bad. it widened significantly in Mar / Apr 20 to around 7 points. lately its day range is around 3 points.
Are you sure you're not spreading yourself too thin? That's a lot of instruments to trade in one single trading day.
Any instrument with a ADR of 100+ ticks is more than good enough for me. We’ll see how long the volatility lasts in LE. Less than 80 ticks and I’ll probably look elsewhere.
Yes, I’m definitely exceeding reasonable limits. 12 different setups, potentially 3 different time frames, 10 futures contracts, 14 equities, overnight option strategies again in the future, trading 3 sessions, sometimes all in a row, a job that’s considered full time although I have flexibility with hours, spending time with a ex-girl friend, and actively engaging in my astrophotography hobby is a bit much, and it shows. I like to test limits and see how far things can be taken. There is automation as well. For trading, the most obvious adjustment is to pare something down. The core of my trading plan will involve actively managing my overnight option position’s risk through scalping strategies. This involves multiple time frames and multiple instruments. However, I only need one strategy, not 12. Therefore, I’ll choose the best one. Although I will be particularly busy next week, The only trades I’ll be taking are those I consider to be “Prime setups”. I may incorporate some scaling, as scaling lends itself well to the more extended moves associated with my prime setups. So my trades will be scalps and day trades next week, as time allows.
Lost $103 on three trades, all last night. Got out too quickly on R2K and realized my trades on CAD had a major negative expectancy soon after I exited these trades. I would not have had a specific, compelling reason to override going against those long odds. Nothing like paying to learn one’s lessons and then forgetting them. To address this issue, before I trade each day, I will read over my general trading plan with the same intensity as I would explaining it to someone the first time. I am debating on how long my time stops should be on my scalps. I’m thinking three or four minutes. For now, I’ll go with three minutes during RTH. TBD for other sessions. If stopped, other opportunities in that or another instrument should present itself shortly. A statistical analysis of my trades are in order here. I’ll try to whine less about missed moves!
why don't you try to scalp on one instrument first? seems like many of these instruments have different price action...what works for one might not work for others. for equities, mean reversion works, especially now. Trend following is pretty difficult but you can make it work with a complex system. for bonds and commodities, mean reversion doesn't work well. trend following is easier...
Crazy day. Between work and squeezing in a few trades on a big trend day, I managed to squeeze out a profit. I started Sunday night attempting to scalp in the direction of the trend and ended up counter trend scalping during RTH. Early during RTH, I tried to buy CAT, but tried to make the spread. I’m the kind of guy who could be lost in a searing desert and stubbornly try to get a discount on a glass of water. Idiot. When one side has the power, pay the spread on at least a portion of the intended trade to guarantee a fill. T1 - Bought AUD on risk environment and positive price action. Exited because of unfavorable order flow. I must remember if I’m trading order flow, the underlying thesis of the trade does not necessarily change. I should look at it as an opportunity to gain price improvement. This was a theme for my trading throughout the Sunday night session causing me to leave a tremendous amount of money on the table and facing almost no heat. T2 - Long HG on risk environment. T3 - Tried again on AUD. An appropriate chart adjustment on the previously narrow ranged currencies would be to lengthen the time period of my bars such that each bar represents on average between 10 and 20 ticks. T4 - M2K, a buy! Got out in the nick of time: Could have made 10 points otherwise. T5 - MGC. Alternative monetary assets in play with a “Bend over” Fed. Saw the tree, but forgot about the forest. Would have been nice to participate in the $10.00 run soon after. T6 - I earned that tick. About that 10 point rally less than 20 minutes after I got out.. T7 - SI was a prime setup. Silver had been outperforming gold up to about half an hour prior to my entry. The risk environment, as I perceived it, favored silver outperforming gold as well. However, when I bought SI, gold took the lead be hitting successive highs while SI was non responsive. I decided to exit at that point, missing out on a 15 cent run. I’m not disappointed I got out when I did. I am disappointed in myself for not getting back in when the order flow became favorable again. T8 - Third times the charm - Three ticks! Oops, only two ticks. Damn, I coulda been a contenda... T9 - NFLX was notably weak after the open. However, I realized I chased my entry a few seconds after receiving a fill. Since momentum was in my favor, I tried, and was successful in making the wide spread. NFLX ran 3 points down soon after. T10 - AUD again. Went to the “Well” one too many times. Consistent with the theme mentioned earlier, I dodged a tree and missed a forest. A 20 pip or so forest. T11 - JPM. After missing my CAT buy, I went into reversion to mean mode. That’ll show ‘em. The market had better start following my trades soon or someone is going to go broke! This was a time of day rules violation for my reversion to mean setup. This trade was also contrary to the sector environment. Where I shorted would have been a reasonable long entry. At least I didn’t get stubborn. T12 - TSLA. This a was a reasonably solid short on weak relative strength. I put up with a little heat early on and exited the expansion bar. TSLA continued a somewhat choppy downtrend for a while, but I basically got what I came for except that I needed to wait for the bar to close for a better realized reward to risk. T13, T14, T16, T17 - MAR. Although I try to avoid fighting the strongest stock on my watchlist, I was in a fighting mood. All MAR scalps were reversion to mean trades. Took some heat on the last trade I believe, because my platform hanged, requiring a reboot. T15 - MNQ. Bad platform! Bad, Bad, platform! This is why I should not trade reversion to mean trades. They are like alcohol to an alcoholic. They set me off. Even worse, I entered the trade terribly. What was wrong with taking my taking a $10.00 loss and moving on? I have made a couple of more adjustments to my trading plan in order to take much better advantage of the price moves offered by the market.
I consider my job description as following and trading many instruments. All while trying to perform my day job. At least for now. I’d prefer to focus exclusively on trading, but I currently desire a guaranteed amount of money coming in. Scalping and day trading will be an important component of my hedging strategy for my overnight option spread trading. Time is usually my friend in these types of options trades, but why not protect against short term adverse moves? If I can consistently scalp and day trade profitably, it will add alpha and reduce my portfolio’s exposure to risk. This biggest challenge for me, as I see it, is to effectively integrate different time frames. As far as my trading performance is concerned, it is inevitable I outperform. Greatly out perform relative to the market. I will do what I need to do and adjust where I need to adjust. I guarantee it.
Some advice. Don't day-trade in vol. Structure positions in expirations at 2x your average hold. That was the critical change to my vol-trading which took me from $2MM to $10MM. Well that, and shorting Sep/Oct 2018 and Feb 2020. 18/20 profitable months as a result. You need to up your risk a bit. Carry +/- 1% theta minimum (of net liq).
You've got $30K. You're short $300 theta (long gamma) and you trade neutral on the day ($0.00 theta), that's your TP trigger. You're long $300 theta and your MTM goes to $0.00 theta... that's your SL.