The e-minis tracks the S&P500 so it does track equities. Over the long run the ES is NOT more range bound than single stocks. In fact, it has one of the stongest trends! However, short squeezes are more common on small caps stocks with small floats.
ok. but that's only 1 issue. maybe the YM, TF, NQ, EMD, et al are different ? i could be wrong. i hope you're correct. it would make my task much simpler. anyway, if futures (e-minis in particular) have such strong trends, why are they so difficult to trade (for me anyway). after all, the trend is your friend, nes pas ?
Ah, we could be talking about different time frames. Intra-day the ES is one of the hardest to trade--the competition is enormous and you need a very sharp edge to trade it. However, if you plan on holding for weeks or months, ES or SPY is perfect and much less risky than single stocks for trend following.
cool. your insight is appreciated. yea, i've been trying to trade intra-day the YM with little success. i assume the ES is similar.
After less than a year 2500 posts. Talk about wasted time. What you have said applies to any kind of business. So I don't undestand the point. Why your handle is Trader....... if you don't trade by the way?
<i>"Why your handle is Trader....... if you don't trade by the way?"</i> Because he tired of the alias "rcanfiel" after failing to sell a system inside ET here as a non-sponser spammer for $250,000.00 The irony of life never ceases to amaze you. But I digress. If pondering emini trades without any familiarity to speak of, I'd suggest starting with NQ and go from there. They all have their moments with irrational spurts and chop. Over time, the NQ is most trendy and deliberate. Especially now, it has least exposure to financials which keeps the big-cap indexes churning to pieces. Over time, the ES is least trendy and most choppy (YM to a similar extent ) due to black box programs, arbs, cross-spreads and hedges from a dozen different paired sources and professional scalper-faders working for <$5 per contracts turned average profit. There is no ideal, superior or perfect emini contract. They are just like children from the same family... related but very unique personalities. NQ would be described as the plain, quiet, sensible child. ES would be the indecisive, impulsive, irrational one. YM would be the littler sibling to that. TF would be the hottie sister with a wild streak... barely resembles the others. Related, but unique. imo the traders with greatest percentage of success that I'm aware of are those who focus on NQ. Lowest percentage of success are the ES traders. It is definitely the toughest emini of all.
Quote from Cesko: After less than a year 2500 posts. Talk about wasted time. And you spend each moment of each day doing only superior and wise things? What you have said applies to any kind of business. Hardly. Making a really decent living longterm via trading is probably way < 1%. If you don't grasp this, you must not be a trader yourself. Having a decent education and getting a job blows away almost every would-be trader. Owning your own business is probably 20-50% successful, ignoring the economy the last few months. Trading is a rotten way to plan for a career for almost everyone. So I don't understand the point. That would seem to be your biggest problem Why your handle is Trader....... if you don't trade by the way? Now you are psychic and somehow know what others do or don't do? Put it this way, I trade during the day and do not have a job. I am not sure how you spend your time other than making wild guesses.
I don't believe the number of posts mean one way or the other. AustinP is a seasoned vet and has a good number of posts, TraderZones has more in number in less months. But as experience grows, the most tiresome part of trading is the waiting. When one is a young trader, every jiggle of the chart they are thinking what the market is doing, but put on a couple decades, you become numb, price not in my area of doing something is called Boredom. Now most of the time, I am trading more than a couple markets, so I keep busy just watching for my signals, but I do email, read this forum or play solitare to kill the time. And by far the ES is the toughest of all the Emini's. Those who have only been trading it since last March might think not so, but before that time, check out daily ranges, much tighter than now. I get a kick out of all the posts when it is a 16 point day, "it didn't trend" or "it chopped for hours", I just adapt, sell highs/buy lows.