ES is the Place to Be

Some would argue that the solution is to stay alive just long enough for that big win. Of course, I guess this argument depends on a person having the good sense to walk away after that big win.

 

it's not that simple, last I checked, the only system that has no risk of ruin is Martingale, and that only works if you are trading a market with no limit to liquidity with an infinite amount of money

otherwise, you are correct, that's why they didn't paint portraits of the guys who are still holding tulips

but when so many say it is no longer tradeable (at least like it was when it was easy) it makes me think there is a new opportunity that someone with a fresh look can uncover.

my only idea is to get long and hope it goes up

 

Greetings All,

I know it sounds a bit trite and pedantic, and I don’t want to in any way diminish the very real angst of the OP. But like “Brownsfan”, I believe it’s just a matter of your perspective and your attitude.

It reminds me of the tale of the Two Shoe Salesmen. Both salesmen had just been reassigned to a remote jungle village:

The first salesman exclaims!
“My God, they’ve assigned me to a place where the people don’t have shoes”. He then proceeds to cuss, rant, and rave about how the system is out to get him, how unfair this assignment is, and about how much of an ass his boss is. He then resigns and quits in disgust.

The second salesman also exclaims!
“My God, they’ve assigned me to a place where the people don’t have shoes”. He then proceeds to rant and rave about how lucky he is to have this wonderful opportunity, how great the system is, and about how much of a great guy his boss is. He then gets busy selling and ordering inventory.

Again, I believe its not so much a question of what happens to us in the market, and in life in general, but a question of our reaction(s) to the circumstance.

One might just take a look at the thread started by “Bombardier” on this Forum. Here you will see how one person is having the time of his life trading the ES. However, years earlier, in his initial depressing and unprofitable adventure with the ES, his sentiments regarding the contract were very much like those I’ve read on this thread. However, his reaction/decision was to change his perspective and attitude, and then, good things started to happen in his trading.

It took some time, but in my life, I have come to deeply understand what James Allen said many years ago:

“Circumstance does not make the man, it reveals him to himself”.

KDASFTG

 

I agree, but I haven't really had any angst since I quit trading ES. All I was saying is, that when so many say it is hard, that must mean that it is again easy, if you know what you are doing.

 

some of the best times trading ES was after the dot com bubble burst. All you ever heard was traders complaining that you couldn't buy an IPO on the open and make a fortune on the close anymore. And those little of us just kept plugging away scalping ES day after day. It was very easy.

The kind of opportunities we looked for are no longer available, so many say it's no good any more.

But we made a lot of money when everybody else was saying the old opportunities they had were no longer available.

So like I say, when so many say the old opportunities are no longer available (myself included) that makes me think a new opportunity is available for an astute trader.

And you don't have to be very smart to be astute.

 

it's sort of like the guy who walks through a run down neighborhood full of foreclosed homes and vacant lots and closed businesses, and see's an opportunity

 

Whew.

 

I trade the ES and I make money out of it. The only thing that is nasty IMHO about the ES that my scalps can take a LONG TIME.

I mean like really a long time, like hours. Other less liquid markets have the same trades but because they are more thin the trades goes faster.

Remember: The more liquid a market the less volatile.

The higher the volume, the lower the volatility.

That's the reason that it looked that the ES was easier to trade in the old days, it was just more volatile due to lower volume.

Trading futures 101. You should think people know all that stuff right?

 

I get my buy/sell signals from my set ups. I want to take all trades but somehow this does not work and which signals to take and which ones to ignore - I cant get this right. Do you take all signals?

 

This pretty much sums me up. Scalps can take a while, but very nice liquidity and a great trading vehicle.