Trading at this frequency and with one-minute data is not a viable strategy - especially given your slippage. Your broker likes it, though. Shitcan the one minute bars and the micro-architecture if you want to have a chance.
With such a small account, you need to be willing to take big swings and you need leverage to return anything significant. This is why I trade at NADEX (they don't pay me for this but they should). The smallest spreads are worth $10 per point, thats $40 for 4 points and they use spreads which means limited risk/reward. Commish and vig is high but it is possible to profit. $1 per side commission (with $7 max). Let's say you take 3 contracts = $30 per point leverage x 4 point = $120. But what is really nice -- you can have far more leverage then with futures with LESS risk and you don't need to use stops (most of the time). I've had 1k in my account. At peak I return $1400 with only 1k in the account. I've currently return around $400 or 40% on the capital. Today at max size I had on $40 per point. I took it off quickly but my max risk was probably only $400-$500. This is much better then the futures. The futures are the most efficient market to trade for those who have the capital. With about $500-$600 at risk, I can control 60k of S&P and get in and out for $7 per turn. But the real point is not that but that I can size the risk to my account. I can trade a system that would require 7k with the ES E-mini with only 3k by using 3 contracts. The reason I mention it so much though is because it is one of the only viable options (I've found) for those with less then 5k to 15k risk capital for the futures. You can practice scaling in/out at reasonable risk. I look for a long time for anyway for me to trade without 15k. I couldn't find any other way that I could get the leverage, not be subject PDT rule, and at a price point. Of course, you have to approach this like a professional. Watch the premiums closely, watch your risk, know your tolerance, be discipline... etc You have to watch the total dollar risk, time risk, and premium risk. You have to correctly make assessments on total dollar risk to likely realized risk. You need to be willing to risk 5% to 20% of your account on a single trade. I like to use 12 losers in a row as an estimate, you can risk about $300 per trade. I'm just saying if you want to return anything significant.. Not encouraging this path because most lose.
NADEX is based in chicago I see. How can the gov't allow it when smarkets, betfair, etc are deemed gambling? Its a glorified buketshop
Thank you for the comments. Sorry for the delayed reply, I've been working a lot. Bone, I agree. I'm working on getting away from shorter time-frames but it is going to take some time for me. I read a bit about NADEX... looks interesting but I'm gonna have to pass as I want to keep things simple.
Short 20 SPY @ 132.76 Prepared to short 20 more on Monday. Daily chart on left, 5 min on right. Uploaded with ImageShack.us US debt problems are going to kill the market this summer.
I insist that my clients meticulously document every trade regardless of their performance. We have spreadsheets for trade performance metrics, and I have been pounding on them to keep a journal as well.