[QUOTE="Laissez Faire, Bottom line - ... I'm sure there are much easier ways to make $$$ than day trading ES. It certainly aint easy and I've taken forever to get to where I'm at the moment.[/QUOTE] I agree with this also. It is where I am at and have put in the time. Now working on stabilizing before scaling. But I can list some things that are WORSE than trading ES. 1) A weed farm. Try to hire from that pool of talent! Breaks include mandatory "high time". 2) An oyster farm. Too many regulations from 7 agencies and Tribal interests. Plus you are basically dragging 80 pound bags of rocks through the mud. Somehow averaging hundreds of dollars a day per contract, while sipping tea and no employees is so much easier.
For a so called efficient market it sure moves a lot even in summer! Tuesday: - 40,50 point drop followed by a 32,25 rise. Today: - 29,75 point drop followed by a 29,25 point rise so far. Who's fighting with HFT over ticks?
I think if one is smaller trader, Nasdaq the way to go, it is more forgiving if mistake happens to get out at breakeven. As skills develop, can always check out ES, but most don't realize ES is often used to hedge stocks, so charting is tougher.
I'm probably late to the party, but 70% of my trading is on ES. I mostly scalp and Position trade it & been doing so for many years. Why the ES? It's behavior , liquidity & as many mentioned, you can hit bids in & out with some fairly decent size without much trouble. Overall, it's a well rounded product if you know what you're doing. I've been doing this for many years, haven't had a loosing month in the past 5 years, so i think it's feasible, at least in my experience. it's just a question of figuring out the bigger picture context, because when you say "Sometimes ES is not moving" maybe what you're referring is that the market is in a range, and if that's the case, it's up to you to adapt how you'll attack it. Momentum/reversal strategies may not be suitable in that case, but that doesn't mean the market is inefficient... Someone mentioned it's "Not good for retail traders"... Look, people are just so impatient and quick to make judgements in things they don't fully comprehend based on limited experiences, which in my opinion, leads to failure. Not only in trading, but in any endeavor. If you listen to half the people in Forums like this one, it seems like everyone just loose money & we are all miserable at life.. Which is not True. There are many who successful people out there and even in here that decide to share their experiences, just have to willing to understand Someone else mentioned Retail brokers promoting, etc. There is some truth to it. As an entrepreneur, these are important factors that influences success, sure, but don't get too tangled on things like that. Who gives a shit if someone with ulterior motive "Promotes" a tradable instrument? If you know your shit and did your homeworks, why should it matter to you?? I don't know your experience or skill level, but IMO, i think one should spend most of their time refining their daily systems/Routines/edges. "What i'm i good at, What i'm i not good/comfortable at" Figure that out, build a daily routine around that observation, etc. Sounds cliche, but this is probably 80% of the work. I made 13k last friday position trading & scalping at ATH. Racked up a bit of commissions. But I'm not going to sit there and complain about the "Cost of my business" or "Slippage" or whatever bullshit people tell themselves... I'm up 10k+, pat myself on the back, do my daily review and prepare for the next day, etc. I keep 50k balance (sometime less) at all time & utilize the 500$ intraday leverage to make gains. I plan on getting bigger in the future, 1 lot at a time, slowly and steadily, but this is my current psychological level. You might be saying "10K pnl on 50k account, so you made 20 percent!!?" Listen, I trade to make money, point blank period. My only concern is managing my risk. Whether i have a 1000% day or a 10% day, i only care about the risk i have on. End of story. I'm Not here to brag, just displaying that these are possible feats to repeat on a daily basis & there are many people out there who crush it on a daily basis, whether ES, CL, ZB, whatever.. Trading doesn't have to be this torturous process one must endure. Find what you're good at, double down on it and focus on your Routines. Just my 2 cents anyways. Felt in a good mood, thought i'd share.