I've become profitable over the last two months and have been trying to improve what I do. My primary dilemma now is--when I scalp (~2pts/trade), I miss the big intraday swings. And when I try to catch intraday swings, I end up with a string of small losses that are usually offset by a big win. In the former, I see trades just keep going after I exit (like yesterday), and in the latter, I see trades 2-3 points in the money come back and go negative. So I keep bouncing between the two styles. In both scenarios, I often end up profitable but the result is mediocre. I'm averaging 8-10 ES points a day in an environment offering 40+ point ranges. My question is--are there people here who know when to switch between the two modes so that you're scalping 1-2 points per trade except when you override and hold for something more? My eventual goal is to bank an average of 1/2 daily ATR per session.
You are either a scalper or an intraday swing trader, can't be both or your trading will suffer. Only thing I can think of is to use multiple contracts, say two, then treat the first as a scalp and the last one as an intraday swing and just take what the market is offering. TV
Not true. Successfull traders can make money in any time frame. To the OP, I would open 2 accounts to accomplish what you are looking to do. It is possible (and sometimes quite profitable) to be both long and short the same instrument in different timeframes. And it also sometimes provides a nice hedge against silly market movement.
No reason you can't do both. I scalp, intra-day position trade, multi-day swing trade and even take some multi-month position trades. You just need to be organized and disciplined. Mind you I trade stocks, not a single futures contract. It might be a little tougher if you only trade one instrument, unless you have multiple accounts.
IMHO I can't see you doing both. ant why try? Master onbe style and become great at it. It's greedy to try and master several methods. (which will only lead to frustration) Any how maybe I am wrong but chill out and stick with what you enjoy.
Trades within trades and trades around the core of a primary trade is how I make my living......this is the way to go imo if it fits your psychology. I trade with dynamic positions that contract and refill positions many times over during both intraday and multiday trades (according to the price action that takes place).
It's easy to do. Partial profits and trail the remainder to catch the bigger run if it happens. I do it all the time.
When I was on the floor, most people had a position, and would "trade around" it. Meaning, they might have a bias to one side or the other for the day, but would counter-trend trade, scalp, make markets, and trade various types of spreads as well. this would depend on the order flow and what someone liked to do best. We'd turn in our cards every half hour and get an accounting of our net positions each time. It takes some practice to get used to as you need to keep several timeframe perspectives in mind during the day, but can be done.
Yeah, it's only one instrument on one account for now. It's frustrating because I know how to identify the beginning of a trend, so I'll get in and decide to hold. But then the trend turns out to have low volume and chops around, so I'll get out 15 mins later with maybe a 1 point profit, thinking I could've scalped 6 points during that time. Of course, immediately after I begin scalping, volume comes in and THIS time the trade continues 12 points further after I exit. There has to be a way to adapt dynamically; maybe more skill in reading charts and price action is required.