I suspect a large part of the difference may have to do with whether one trades price or indicators. The NQ doesn't wait around. One has to make a decision and act on it. There's no time to wait for crossovers of some sort. Then of course there's volume . . .
Ditto. To be a really good trader you need to (1) have clearly defined what you should do and why... that's where K.I.S.S. comes in, (2) be paying close attention so that you see what you're supposed to and "on time" (easy to mess this one up), and (3) be able to size-up the situation and pull the trigger within 1 minute... even better, within 15 seconds!* Every INCH of deviation from this "formula" hurts performance! Yeah, as if that mattered... *"15 seconds"... really? If you have the "trade concept in your mind", 15 seconds is plenty of time!
Nothing has changed in the markets except for the logistics of trading ie computer order entry etc.---The same chart reading skills that were used when the ES and indeed the Big SP were started are applicable now.
ROFLMAO! Trading "a la grady" is certainly a way to scalp but it is surely not for everyone. You have gotta to have a quick eye...quick instincts..quick wits...quick decision making skill...total concentration...detachment from wins and losses...count profit or loss at the end of day...i am sure brokers REALLY like such a trader.....
A lot of what OP said that "Grady said".. sounds like BS to me. The notion of trying to scalp the stock indices for "2-4 tics" is ridiculous.... waaayyy too much noise for that.
It can be done but not everyone is suited for it. It takes a different set of skills. You look at no charts..no indicators..just a Dom with eyeball eyelids pinned back with bobby pins or toothpick so to speaks....lol Years ago i used scalp the spread back when quotes where in fractions 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2. etc. Over and over hours per day. No Dom just looking at level2. Then they went to decimals. That destroyed the game. I could wish for those days again. It was lucrative ..it was fun..mm's and specialists hated traders that could play the game. Back then the spread was their bread and butter. Nowdays, IMO what grady does is just a kind of manual HFT trading. Google ...Paul Rotter ...he made millions....used to do this sort of scalping howbeit with a bit different methodology.
I recall Rotter's name. I don't know, but perhaps Rotter was a "front-runner" ala SAC Capital. (??) If that's the case, can't logically compare him to anything. But just because "one guy" made it big with that/any kind of thing doesn't mean it's the "norm" and that ET traders should be able to accomplish the same. "Anything" for lots/the majority of people to be successful at... needs to be simple and easy. Trading is NOT that at all. (If it were, all traders would be rich... and we all know the status of that!)
It depends on the person. People with good physical tactility do this easily with practice it seems to me. I know a small few traders like myself who knock off 3-10 contract scalps all day for 1-5 ticks. We will take more if we can get it. Dom or chart does not matter in my experience, it is the bounce of price on the right one tunes into along with obvious levels to the left. Personalities vary wildly however being drawn to dangerous sports, climbing, racing and whatnot is 100% in the small sample I know. There is a subconscious skillset built from such, you always have a way to step back from the heat in mind (or you would be dead already). The snag is there are low(ish) revenue ceilings with scalping? You should make money every day, only a few losing days a year (sick days) however averaging much past 8-9k a day is damned difficult (tough on the heart) and 3-5 is common as I understand from discussions with my friends. Then once you are doing well for a couple of years, you have more capital than you can deploy efficiently scalping so swing trading becomes necessary to push through the scalping ceiling. That might seem like good remuneration, who is complaining right? but compared to a CEO job these days? decent but not not spectacular for the effort and few if any cocktail parties. It is a lonely job. Being in the market in swings over weekends / holidays etc. is stressful to the subconscious for me anyway, I rarely relax properly. And you have to be the kind of sharp person who could be a CEO or director anyway to scalp like this as a solo retail trader. It is only one way of many to make money for the quick. Two cents anyway. I love scalping though. I run back to momma whenever I feel lost. Once you are past building capital, its like dealing a game of patience or a 'meditation' as Sting said