Have to be up all night to trade the HSI....and pay extra for the data feed subscription. Ughh....and ughh. NQ is more volatile that ES for sure.....but I haven't measured the difference from an absolute standpoint. I do know that NQ requires wider stops than ES for sure. I still call it "the beast" for it's wild movements at times. Some say NQ is easier to trade than ES. I disagree.
This is a HUGE step in the right direction for you. Every really good trader I've ever met kept some sort of journal mechanism in order to check his worst impulses and mitigate mistakes. I would suggest that you add "bored" as a problem if you're day trading as you are. It is quite easy to sit there, staring at the screens, and enter a trade out of sheer boredom. And they almost always never work out. Also, don't be afraid to log out and not trade in the US afternoon hours (barring a planned economic metric release). I did that for years after analyzing my own trade faults during my prop trading career.
Yep, it's a lot of work, but it's made a difference,. But habits are hard to break. I am still trading the against the trend 20% of the time....and still cutting my profits short a whopping 25% of the time. I am putting in "perfect trades" about 20% of the time....gotta improve on that. I never seem to have that problem....I am always alert and rarely feel compelled to trade unless there is a signal or set-up to do so. Hmm... you may be right on this....as I have a poor afternoon record for sure....due to choppy and trendless conditions. However, I have made some great trades after 3:30 pm into the close....that's when the market is rockin. I really, really appreciate the feedback Bone.
Well, you can always get in an afternoon workout or find some other worthwhile (or not so worthwhile) endeavor to steel away the time until 3:15 pm.
E-mini S&P 500 Index Futures update-looks like $0.20/future for CME clearing. HArd to read these things.
Considering "Rule 1", how could you possibly be shorting? The urge to fade moves is a killer for newbies. You're taking 30-40 trades a day? Seriously man, are you just fucking around with us or are you for real? You should be taking one or two trades day at most, and plenty of days no trades. You need to ask yourself a serious question, ie why are you doing this? If it's to stroke your ego or fill in time during the day or add some excitement to your life, ok, I get it. if it is to actually make money, you need to rethink a lot of things.
WTF are you talking about ? Look at this past afternoon....straight down till near the close. Listen up - I'm a scalper and short term swing trader. That volume is not uncommon....ask the prop shops. Plus, I'm all-in at $2.03 R/T per contract with Interactive Brokers. Like what ? This is the greatest business in the world if you are winning. Right now, I am not consistently profitable which is why I am looking for solutions.
Yeah, right....more profits for the CME...as if they aren't already rich enough. So equivalently, it's $2.00 for 10 micros vs. $1.18 tier 1 single Emini.
Explaining or defending intraday trading is a futile exercise here in ET. The style and methods do not fit their trading ideology. They don't get it! They just won't. Carry On!
Here is the trading analysis so far for April. Wow, I have a lot of work to do....look at the problem areas...and there are several. Getting out early is absolutely KILLING ME....and well as selling into support. That happened a lot today.