Just recounted and it actually was 8. If I had lost a grand today I would still be just as helpful. You get what you give in this world, remember that.
Volente, Please continue with the YM comments. Forums seem to disparage that market because it is considered the cheapie by most, but it is a golden opportunity with very low risk....I use 5 to 10 point stops..or greater....$50 loss won't make me puke...ES/NQ have both given this poor trader many, many stomach aches.....and bad sleep... I was trying to emhasize the importance of caution, particularly for a novice....when I said don't trade more than 1 contract.....I agree totally with you that more contracts is smart once u are rolling and fewer points/more contracts works better than the opposite..when I began this journey with a neighbor I told him that 3 positive ES points per day times 2 contracts was goal....IT IS FAR EASIER TO UP CONTRACTS THAN TO INCREASE POINTS CAPTURED...THE ONLY REAL TRICK IS THE STOP LOSS DEAL..A TRICKY DEAL UNTIL U DECIDE TO GIVE THE TRADE PROPER ROOM TO WORK.... stop loss settings that should allow risk/reward to be 1 to 2 or better for my style of trading..when trade moves 10 pts I move to breakeven....multiple contracts are difficult for me as my account is underfunded after making many mistakes as system developing has been too long with too many mistakes...I have just completed a long journey and currently have 2 final systems that work realtime about 9 of 10 times for profitable trades...just this week finalized it..I use them both simultaneously and they are totally different systems...set up as side by side charts............ .it didn't happen overnight ...YM GIVES MANY 15 TO 30 POINT OPPORTUNITIES WITH ROOM FOR ENTRY AND EXIT @ EACH END OF RUN.......... .5 point targets on the YM are too low for my expectations, although making money is always great. Ym is better than ES/NQ for me and my system which is reversal/channel trading simply goes with the short term trend or the longer term trend, depending on divergence readings and channel direction signals. Channel changing is recognizable if patience allows turn to lock in....permanent ....in other words, turn signals will be seen on historic chart a million years from now if earth is still here..sometimes u c the beautiful pattern u love and then u don't see it...it disappears and makes your money disappear also..........learning to identify real turns at the ends is the hard part, especially for those who use the 5 min charts or smaller...ONCE U CONSISTENTLY CAPTURE POINTS, INCREASING CONTRACTS IS THE ONLY SENSIBLE APPROACH TO TAKE...SOME TRADES ARE CLEARLY RIDEABLE, AND SYSTEM WILL BE GOOD ENOUGH TO SHOW ENTRY AND EXIT CLEARLY AND EARLY SO BAILING OUT @ SET POINT TARGETS WILL BE TOO CONSERVATIVE.... ..just my ignorant thoughts on a weekend that bores me because the market stopped...