Assuming a trader had real time charting capability with a Hi-speed modem, what is a good trading strategy for the S&P or Nasdaq index futures? If I used 1 or 5 minute chart with 4 and 8 ema,( possibly bollinger band) and slow stochastics and possibley a williams%r. would that be enough to react to movements and buy and sell the intraday trend for positive profit? Thanks light,
This is a subject that traders in the UK would appreciate a US slant on. Lets hope the discussion is constructive and instructive. And thanks in advance to contributors. Toby UK
Hi lightfoot500, Regardless what you use...if you have not personally tested a particular strategy...either test it via a realtime simulator or via a scaled down risk capital (real money) until you are successful at using that particular strategy. Since you used the words IF and question marks...I'm assuming you have not tested the above strategies w/ indicators you just mentioned. I like a little lag in my eMA's...the reason why I use 10eMA, 21eMA, 50eMA and 200eMA because they often represent good intraday support/resistance levels. Thus, I'm not a scalper and I know some scalpers that use smaller eMA's like the ones you just suggested. Other important Pivot Points should not be ignored. Such as the previous day High, Low, Close, Midpoint or actual Pivot Point (H+L+C/3). I also use volume and Japanese Candlesticks to help tip me off something is about to happen in the futures. In addition, you may want to study the S&P 500 Cash Index as a possible indicator for the futures. I do know some successful traders that does use it. Once again...more important than what anybody will tell you...test the strategies yourself to provide the best possible answers. Also, learn their weaknesses and strengths (when to use them and when not to use them). Nihaba Ashi
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3866&perpage=6&pagenumber=1 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4636&perpage=6&pagenumber=1
If you must trade E-mini's, let me make the following suggestions: 1. Keep a Fair Value Premium/Discount window next to the tick chart. 2. Formulate your indicator basket with a correlation index in such a way that that it will show a "leading" indication based on bid/offer movement, not just last sale. 3. Keep montage or order entry "loaded" at pivot point (use cover + add = reversal number of units ) to either cover or reverse direction. 4. Put up a single standard deviation point for your basket (index) based on intraday historical and implied. This will put you into a basic framework with the traders who are doing well at this point in time, but even with this criteria, they are still hard to trade effectively. Good Luck!!
A good strategy is one that works for YOU. Only YOU can determine that. The rest is just...conversation.
I grew up on these. I hate most moving averages and oscillators so each to his own, like candle said. But you have to understand why and when Pivot points should be listened to, you don't take them for granted everyday.
If you are a scalper or want to try to become a scalper in the E-minis, look no further than the X_Trader(Trading Technologies) www.advancedfutures.com