============= IncreaseNow; Probably is the most exciting; and that other elite trader mentioned pork bellies also Dont see any emini spread as painful though. Something else good you could say about that contract; it provides good contrast with the other contracts, like ES. Some professional traders prefer it, so help yourself.
And while i thought that pork belly comment was funny in a professional way; certainly didnt take it as advice to trade pork
Friday's range in NQ was 71 ticks. Friday's range in ER2 was 97 ticks. Each ER tick is $10. Each NQ tick is $5. I don't see where NQ has the same bang as ER2...
I haven't read the thread but ER2 is really hard to trade. I've run automated systems for the last 3 years, and I think ER2 has taken a bit of my money at the time. I'm still running systems on it, but it's the only future that kept my money( I have been profitable on BP, YM, EMD, QM and TY )
Much of the volatility these last few days has come from the sub prime mortgage's. Financial institutions are included on the SP500 and Russ2000 indexes... not on the NQ100 [technology]... try taking a larger sample...
I use 2 different methods to remove the noise in ER2, a) Following CBOE:RUT b) Looking line chart (close prices) I look ER2 bar/candle charts only to find out the size of my initial stops (different in different setups).
<i>"20 day ave range, per contract: NQ = $640 ER2 = $1500 $1500 > $640"</i> The part about distance covered intraday is absolutely true. Then there is the other side. What size adverse distance must be managed as $$ risked? NQ is tradable with $50 initial stops if the entries are very precise, $100 stops if entries are anywhere near optimum. A $100 initial stop in the ER will be ticked out many times on errant spikes in recent volatility, and a $50 ER stop has no chance to profit over time. The only exception to that would be highly, highly skilled = experienced scalpers / traders who can read the tape effectively. Knowing when to trade the ER coming out of consolidation or pauses before the next directional surge are making money. I've been told by broker friends and have heard from many individuals that the ER has eaten traders alive since 2/27 explosion in volatility. One thing I've noticed is a drop in open interest. The offers on bid/ask are 50% to 75% of what they were a month ago, even as daily volume increased. Also, many traders entering limit orders for 4 - 5 contracts are getting persistent partial fills. Traders using pure market orders can slip several ticks during fast market conditions. Too many traders chasing too few available ER contracts at the offer many times right now. * I'm back to trading the ES solely myself... very good intraday range now that <b>normal market action</b> has returned. The abnormally low VIX range is dead & gone for now, perhaps for years ahead. 14pt ~ 20pt intraday ranges in ES should prevail for some time to come, with bigger days thrown in along the way. Very tradable and much smoother than ER right now. There is no ideal emini for everyone. All have their strengths, limitations and individual quirks. The ER is appealing due to its wild, ranging nature. That is a double-edged leverage sword. Gives the biggest bang for your buck... whether that bang results in profits blowing in or out accordingly. potential reward / potential risk per trade is the complete ratio to measure.
I have been noticing the change in the the er2 for the past few weeks or so as well. Especially on the partial fills and spikes. These broad ranges can be tough. Its been awhile since I have seen 5 point swings in both directions without even a 5 tick retracement. For some reason most of my automated systems have been benefiting from it though. I do agree though, the ES is starting to look like a decent trading vehicle again... at least for now.
My guess is that some of the black-box volatility killers got really hurt with the increase in volatility and have been switched off until the markets cool down enough for them to win again.