Funster, have you spent any time in a futures trading chat? There are several places you can go, some good, some not so good. What timeframes are you trading, scalping or position? Maybe the methods you're using don't fit your personality or temperament. Sounds like a good deep breath is in order before you continue as others have said. Without a doubt, at times, trading is one of the most frustrating things man has ever devised.
For those who have problems with trading the e-mini... I give you all a little hint. Eurex The rest you have to find out yourself ;o) And let me know what you find out.... alain (switzerland)
dozu888 I was position trading commodities successfullly for a while, but half the markets are still not fully operational after sep 11th, in any case I got a little nervous about holding those positions for weeks at a time. Although nothing bad actually ever happened. Also trading the emini is a full time thing - murphy's law dictates that you quickly look at another screen to buy a commodity and you miss that perfect entry you have been waiting for. Kicking Thanks for your tips. However it does seem to be easier to trade the last hour than the first to me - the market has settled normally into some kind of pattern for the day. In fact it is often the last hour that substanically reduces my losses for the day. Ironcially (and I should know this after years of going at it) I often get too frustrated and tired and leave the last hour on the table (after all, it is 8-9pm my time). Also being long has the same fading problem as short. And it is no good looking at the major trend. There were fantastic shorts at least every week even during the bull market. Granted you had to exit quick. Macal "What did you do before when you were making these mistakes?" Write it all down on charts for educational purposes. However when you have two drawers stuffed full of charts that start to show the same thing after a while it is pointless writing it all down any more. I would still recommend this though for a newbie. easyrider "I also know that when you are trading angry you will self destruct". With respect, thats what I said to myself years ago. But then you get to know yourself better. For instance I like to get extremely angry about something then I reach a state of calm in which I have "woken myself up" and am very focused. This has served me very well in real business (as well as on the golf course!). The way this helps me in trading is that tomorrow I will be able to start again on a flat basis with good patience and no emotion either way - it has already been vented today. I would have left this scene long ago if I could not do this! Also now it is only when I get 5 or more losers in a row in a day that I get angry now. I had less rejection than this when I was cold-calling to sell home improvements years ago and that was a "nasty snake oil" business most people couldn't handle!!! Brandonf + zentrader The only patterns I am interested in are pattern failures. Relationships? I've had a few! Seriously, although I tried recently really scalping like a local for a bit (fills too slow, even on eminis + broadband + IB, to make money), I have become quite fussy with my trades. I look at ES/NQ, the Premium over cash, the TICK, TIKI, etc, VIX blah de blah de blah. I've got CNBC and WebFN blaring in the background. Over time though, and backtesting as well, none of these things really provide any edge. Probably because everyone is looking at them. limit I think I probably need to at least meet someone who is consistently making money on the eminis. Tried a chatroom a few years back, but all that typing - don't you miss moves? alain I started trading the FTSE 100, Dax and Bund in 1998. Besides the expensive access to these markets with the FTSE and DAX you have to treat them like a stock and watch the eminis anyway. The Bund just moves with the TBond. You guys in the States control the world! The only major European indicies that were not like sheep were the SMI and the CAC, at least for a while anyway. wwatson1 I am just about to. But I hate to give up. Especially when the eminis represent the height of volatile, liquid, pure play, eletronic trading. You could argue that ultimately all markets will end up like them one day. So if you can't do that, probably best in the long run to find a different vocation. So I guess my stand up question remains. Are there any consistently successful emini traders among us? If I loosen that definition to mean making a minimum of $1000 per contract per week? Or has the clever money moved onto pastures new? Perhaps the 25K stock daytraders limit in the most active stock trading country in the world has really hurt general index momentum more than we care to say? Ponzi would turn in his grave!
I am not a trainer and I have no time to devote to training someone . I day-trade (short term swings 5-10 pts) and I also do position trading in SP::... heck I am still short from 1160 added numerous time including today 1093.75 and waiting for 75 to be broken. You must be doing something really wrong! Let us know your style..perhaps we can help..
I think your expectations may be a little high, $1000 per contract per week is not within the realms of possibility. That means that you are catching at least 20% of the daily high low range (4 points out of approx 20 points) every day. No one is that good.
Zentrader - I am shocked. On training websites and via commercial trainers I have asked prospective questions of recently "you should be shooting for $1,000 a day{/ct}" and "$1,000 a week is an achievable minimum". Snake oil, huh? PKJR - how is your long term average for daytrading only. You must pick up easily three of those 5-10 point rallies a week. Anyone else?