Well, I either picked the best or the worst time to start trading index futures. I did my first YM trade on the big bust day and have been punching and sparring since.
never mind oil above 62, hey I think the fed said they were comfortable with inflation due to the decline in energy, hum what will they say next? inflation now a problem due to the recent rise in commodities and energy. Heck know that Bernake is a big puss.
<i>"Hey Austin P... you still mocking Michael Steinhardts call for a correction last week and calling him an idiot like u did ??"</i> <b>aspen</b>, my sincere apology for missing the sarcasm relayed in that post. I absolutely agreed with him 100%... that was totally sarcastic humor on my part. Sorry it didn't project that way to you. If we'd been visiting in person, you'd have seen me smiling. <b>mymini</b>, try looking at your very same chart tools for the YM using a 500-tick chart. Let me know if that doesn't break up some surge candles and smooth out a bit of wildness here.
It's really interesting to see these comments. It is telling that there are so many different ways to trade. When I look at futures, I'm more of a swing trader and when I saw today's open, I was looking to buy. The position went against me a little bit initially but as someone said (Spectra?) recently on this site, you have to trust your setups and indicators -- let them disprove you. And sure enough, that was the right trade. But that was the only trade I'll see today -- many of you have a bunch of other setups that I'll never recognize.
Volatility does not always mean profits. I myself do not enjoy this type of market behavior because I cannot read it. I have no problems waiting this out until the markets are a bit easier to read.
have the same feeling as the OP. that said... yeah, the above mindset also helped me today/yesterday (knocking on wood...). i went long 1395 puts on the ES yesterday @ 12.50 and, unlike usual, held overnight- stuck to my conviction. the reduced size made it an easy decision. this morning, instead of getting cute, i got out immediately, expecting a whipsaw- out @ 28 hitting the bid (thankfully got an immediate fill thru IB- unlike yesterday). unfortunately, i didn't have my call buy q'd up, so i missed the bounce. the reduced size meant no home run; but it was a rbi single (yep, i'm ready for baseball season!). one thing the past 3 days has taught me- i need a new trading platform in terms of tick charts that are actually keeping up with real time. that, and i need AT LEAST 2 more monitors- no time to click between windows in these market conditions. especially when i haven't been able to trust the data on my screen, so i have 2 other brokerage accounts open simply to confirm that the quote i'm basing my trade on is legit...