Grinding it out, day after day

Hi Lescor,
On average, how many positions are you in on a day?

 

Not all at once but I might trade two or three dozen different symbols in a day. I also may be holding anywhere from a handful to dozens of swing trade positions.

 

What's up Lescor,

I've been trading futures and equity options professionally for 3 years now. And adapting to changing market conditions is something that's constantly on my mind. Don't adapt and you're a dinosaur.

ET is probably one of the least likely places I thought I'd find inspiration. Developed some hypotheses and they look promising in the early stages of testing. Just wanted to say thanks for the great blog.

 

hi lescor,

if you were only able to trade one symbol or lets say just the market. ie ym, es, dia, spy, would you still make enough money?, Is it the high frequency aspect of your trading that is making you successful?

regards,

 

I think I could make money trading only one instrument. Enough? I don't know, but it sure wouldn't be for a while if I could. Then I'd be a one-trick pony, the exact opposite of what I've worked towards my whole career.

 

Week ending September 17th

+$8,500. Daily pl was -2, -4.5, +3, +11, +1 Traded 335,000 shares. Don't know why Thursday was so good, just had a couple good moves on some sizable positions.

Everything else for the week was blah. Still waiting for someone to turn the market back on after summer.

 

Lescor,

How would you advise traders to approach profit taking? What have you seen successful traders focus on mostly? Taking profits at pre-determined targets? Using trailing stops or some variation to catch bigger moves? A mix of the two? Or adding on to profitable trades and then exiting via one method or another?

I know each trader should try to determine the best approach for their own strategy, but I’m wondering whether you’ve seen some commonalities amongst those who have done well.

Thanks.

J.Scott

 

Lescor,




How much % do you return on average each day ?

 

I exit most of my trades by scaling out. I gradually sell more as the position moves in my favour. If the positions are small, I will usually exit all of it at a pre-determined level, or a pre-determined time. I think most of the good traders I know scale out of their positions. Sometimes this is a function of the size they trade though. Really, any method can work equally well, you just have to build it into your strategy.

 

I honestly have no idea. But % return is generally irrelevant with prop trading due to the available leverage.