This is the end of the experiment. I have drawn my conclusions. From now on I will daytrade Forex only. ES/NQ/ZF/ZN/YG/QM will continue to be traded on the weekly timeframe but no more daytrading of these contracts. During this experiment, I 1. lost ~$900 on 1 ES 2. made ~$100 on 1 ZF 3. made ~$100 on 1 YG 4. missed QM entirely So far I'll say I am 3 of 4 for bias (ES down, ZF up, YG up, QM down). Some predicted I'd blow up my account; well, these people have to be disappointed. Since the beginning of this experiment on 8/15/03, my accounts gained a little over 10% because I held other positions based on my bias. I will continue to post my ES/NQ/ZF/ZN/YG/QM trades on this thread, but there will be long time between trades. And finally, "no fear, no greed, lots of patience". I believe this is essential if one wants to make money from trading.
Just curious. How the Hell do you think you can trade FOREX better than ES or NQ??? The FOREX is a $$$TRILLION per day market with AMAZING! overnight and intra-day volatility. You could blow out your account in a day. Some firms offer you 200:1 leverage!!!!!!!! How in the hell are you going to be able to resist that temptation to over leverage / overtrade yourself? How can are you going to handle overnight risk? That would leave you back to "daytrading" again????? Please dont take offense. Im not doupting your skillz. You may be able to pull it off but DUDE!! please think about this one....PLEASE! p.s. Just concerned. thats all. I know its none of my business. I just wish you would give it some more thought.
How can I trade FOREX better than ES/NQ? By trading smaller. I have said numerous times I do not like leverage. Under-trade is my motto. I am trading a mini account for crying out loud. The FOREX is a $$$TRILLION per day market? Yes, and? I donât see how the size of the whole FOREX market has anything to do with my trading size. If you really like to give suggestions, please make sure you understand the situation before you open your mouth too soon. Am I asking too much? Go read the thread âForex Forexâ. Question my skills, not my discipline, if you must question something. Because my skills may need improvement, my discipline is fine.
DUDE! GET A GRIP!! No need to get all hostile and take offense. I just wanted to point Furthermore, you say that you don't like leverage or "Over-leverage" then why trade at all? It seems to me that you would do better as a longer term investor - a "Buy & Hold" kinda guy. And YES. I have read your other journals and it would appear that you are doing alot of work for a very microscopic profit. WHAT A WASTE!!! of time and of effort. DUDE! What are you trying to prove? If you gain 86 pips and only make $5.00!!!! Damn you couldve had a V-8!!! DayTrading FOREX is not only counter productive but also a waste of time because FOREX is primarily a MAJOR long term TRENDING type vehicle. good luck and good trades.
I am not trying to prove; I am trying to improve. A mistake on 10k USD/JPY costs less than a mistake on 1 ES. That's the reason I am trading Forex. You know from my journals I have been mostly a "buy an hold" kind of guy. My core positions are still in "buy and hold" mode. Do I expect to make a lot of money from trading this mini account? Of course not. I am hoping I can learn to trade with the trend better from it. So far I am not doing a good job. I know that. Please question my skills, not my objective or discipline. I know better about WHAT I want to do than you do. You may know better about HOW I can achieve my objective. If so, share your insights on the "how", not the "what".
Point well taken. The only suggestion I have is since you are a "Buy & Hold" kinda guy why not use the leverage to maximize your total return. You can still utilize your current risk parameters without having to adjust them. just set your profit targets just as you have but use the leverage so freely given to your advantage. Example say you only want to risk $50.00 on a trade. Just set your stoploss to $50.00 but double up on the leverage and ride the market out a little further with a trailing stop!! gotta go. the ES is looking ripe for a short.
This is the kind of comment that will be appreciated. Now, I think there is a problem in your suggested approach. Say I am trading USD/JPY with a spread of 5 pips. And I want to risk $50 on one trade. If I buy 10k, I am down $5 immediate after the buy due to the spread. Now if I increase my leverage to trade 100k, I will be stopped right away because I am down $50 after the buy. The point is, higher leverage with the same risk amount leads to more frequent stop-outs. I am not convinced yet that this is the way to go.