it's at the end of this hour that I am going to reverse, sorry for the confusion but it's my MT4 platform's fault
You are on ET since 2002, that's 20 years ago. And you are now trying to get discipline??? In which year did you start to trade?
Think I am going back to options. With the ES the MM's run your stops left & right non-stop. What happens 8/10 times it stops you out than squeezes in the direction you were positioned. Yeah, I can trade the MES which is 1/10 of the ES and throw wider stops but the commissions don't make it ideal.
Personally, I wouldn't so easily dismiss what he said in that quote. I know several persons of interest who've said similar things or suggested other instruments than ES for (day) trading. Another guy I've spoken to personally never was able to make ES work for him, but is making a fortune trading fixed income futures with size. Keep in mind that he never said it's not possible to succeed (day) trading ES. He simply suggested there may be other more low hanging fruits.
A substantial amount of volume in ES futures comes from HFT firms essentially making markets. So, surely there are market makers on the ES futures?
Gotcha, but HFT and market makers are not the same type of beast. Market markers have quoting obligations. Not HFT.
Fixed income, and I would add currency futures too, are "easier" to trade than the ES, in my experience. The biggest problem with the ES, especially now, is likely that it can now back and fill 10 to 15 points rather than the 6 to 8 ticks we used to see pre-covid. And I wouldn't deny that there may be various factors that would generate tradable edges but not easily or readily discernible in a price chart. I think too many retail traders read Flash Boys and think that the market is rigged and they need to find some secret sauce, some "small crack of inefficiency" that they can exploit. Looking at his post, it is possible that he simply didn't write it clearly enough for me to understand his full meaning. But his "It always amazes me" and then the "would be traders do not understand" and the "small cracks of inefficiency," and especially that last phrase. Whenever I read anyone saying anything like that I get tingling behind my upper bullshit detector. So, if he'd care to present us with an example of such a "small crack of inefficiency" I'm all ears. But it won't be coming. And such people have a built in "No way am I going to give away my edge" response.
That's not a problem. That's an advantage. 10 to 15 points potential profit instead of 6 to 8 ticks. Watch the move today.