That doesn't make sense...$490 is your GROSS profit. $305 is your net profit after commissions and exchange fees (excluding data feed cost) Are you aware that based on the above figures, your commissions and fees were almost 40% of your Gross PnL ? Time to consider renting a seat on the CME.....
I use limit orders. Never market orders. Sometimes I bid up or ask down one tick, Cause if your limit at best bid / ask ain't filled ... It may be a sign that the market is willing to Jump. Usually I place my limits a bit away from the last price, So fake orders melt down then I get a better ticket for entry. Well ... A 5ticks net is about 8% Cost/Return. For 5$ RT. If you include the spread (-2ticks) ... It's 10% heat. The main problem IMHO is the asymmetry ... 1tick gain is 7.5$ & 1tick loss is 17.5$. That's certainly a sucker game ! For 5ticks net it's 15% diff. So you need a 4% edge, Just to BE. P(G)=0.54.
I use to scalp Nasdaq before automation, it is like Crude Oil on steroids, you can make money on 5 ticks cause of making noise profits on pivot breakouts, I always had slippage and still do on stops, it is way too fast for me to use the Dome of getting hints for much of continuation, unlike the ES is bit slower and occasionally get 2-3 ticks more using volume on the Dome. Targets that I use is 5 points plus, at 5 points dump 60% and trail lows. But like the ES, I prefer to be buying as price dropping in uptrend, pattern signals and risk $150 and seldom get stopped out as it is a castrophic stop, I like putting stops way beyond what "normal" traders use.
Good stuff and wide stops are the key to your success. However, how did you arrive at the 60% ? Why not 40%, 50%, etc. ?
Oh, have that magic eight ball, you know, you rub it and on bottom it says "yes or no". Actually, the percentages do change depending where price is in the swing, like ES has 7-10 points I can expect reversal and Nasdaq has Swing ave as well. So if price is past 50% of Swing Ave it is 60% and if system bought above triple bottom then it is 35%, but I know many traders couldn't see getting out of 35%, I spoke of 60% as being safer to take profit. Most younger traders could never see getting out of anything with just five points, I am not a homerun scalper, just lots of singles in scalping and leave the Homeruns for Long Term trading.
would you pls explain where you took a trade, and where you got out? i cant figure this out handle is taking on syswizard..2 pros airing there dirty laundry? you'd think two pro's be on smae side once in a while? 2 sides to every coin but only one side wins
How long do you have to sit there behind your screen? Man I get lost looking at all those screens, LOL get a headache. I scalp 15 pre-market and then first hour in ES, more than enough. Good luck