The only problem with "short term inefficiencies" is the fact that the "market can remain irrational longer than anyone can remain solvent" (John Keynes). Fundamentally, when do you know to cut the losses short vs. wait on the reversal...????
Those inefficiencies are really short term and the exit might be something simple like with OPG strategies - market in 5-10-15 minutes. (I am not actually doing this, it is pure speculation from my side). Problem that you are talking about might arise with panic fading, hence the infamous SWM case that took lots of money from many of ET's RTM guys, including Lescor... In any case I suggest we leave the thread to Lescor...
I suspect that what many do not appreciate is that lescor has been trading the market almost everyday for a decade. If you gave him large random positions he could probably trade his way out of them profitably as often as he does with his current systems. He understands what is going on. Because of the way his positions are reacting he knows what type of day he is trading. he probably has big volatility if all his positions end up on one side. If you give a guy with that experience and comfort level even a little bit of edge on his entry he is going to make money. If you give him leverage he will make even more. You can ask him - but I bet his edge is experience. You could give the same opening orders to a room full of guys and most would lose their ass in a very short time. Good edges only last a short time. Finding new edges -- ones to match your experience level and your nut is why lescor is trading full time. (and I no longer am - when my edge faded away I could no longer make enough to cover my nut. (based on size of my trading account.) That is the real key to longevity.
on the money like asking a MMA champion, dood, how you throw that punch and hit that guy so fast? then 20 people come out asking Hey your kicks hard show me how you kick, application of a kick to another's persons jaw would be a different story considering no idiot would be standing there letting you kick him in the face. experience is everything, technique is #2ndary
Lescor, Thanks for this thread and sharing your experience! You mention you trade multiple strategies in different time frames. When you say time frames, do you mean charts (daily, 60min, 15min, etc.) or different time of day? For example, strategy A generates signals based on 60min charts and strategy B on 15min charts. Or, do you trade strat A during 9:30 - 12:00 and strat B during 12:00 - 4:00? Out of your 7 strategies, how many are RTM? Also, I can see that you're trading on the Sterling platform. I've used this system for about 18 mos, and it was by far the worst system I've traded on. Do you have any problems with it, or do you think it depends on the firm you're trading through? I did not trade with Echo at that time. Thanks again!
By time frame I mean how long I expect to be in the trade. Some are quick scalps, some are an hour, some all day and some might be days or weeks. I look at charts as daily and intraday, I don't really care if the bars are 1, 2 or 5 minute. Sterling is ok. It's not the best platform I've used but I am used to it now and it gets the job done. Hasn't really given me any major grief.
Really dull week, pretty dead after the open every day. I was out of the office after the first 60 to 90 minutes each day, just popping in now and then to see if anything was going on. +10,400 on 356,000 shrs. Daily pl was +5, +4, +3, -2, +1. Two errors this week for $2,000 each time. Accidentally held some positions over the weekend, thought I had sent closing orders and I hadn't. I had longs and shorts and every one of them was closed out as a loser Monday morning. Then Thursday I went to penny an offer pre-market and accidentally hit the bid, shorting the stock $2 below where it was going to open. I haven't had to call to request a trade bust in so long I even forgot to do it until it was too late- by three minutes! At least the other side agreed to a price adjustment or it would have been twice as bad. Otherwise very uneventful trading, nothing really stands out.
Holy guacamole! You can request a trade bust? And might even get it? This is like the "morning after" pill for traders!