Im seriously considering trading eurex's fixed income markets. I have been watching them lately and they are quite different than other futures. I find that you can pick up some nice scalps (2-4 ticks) by watching shorter term tick charts and looking at volume to enter the trades. Although I think most of you probably are watching the orderbook religiously (right?) I have yet to gain full grasp of using the orderbook to make consistant profits. I am thinking about trying the bobl or the schatz out first before moving on to the bund (might as well only lose around $7 a tick instead of $15 on the bund). Anyway I have probably rattled on too long. Does anybody have any words of wisdom as I try my luck against one of the toughest markets out there? I would like to hear some veteran bund, bobl or schatz trader's opinion before I go out and try this just to make sure that im not wasting my time trying to figure this thing out. Thanks YT
TA is all fine and well... a necessary tool to help gain you an edge... but once you put on trades and have actual dollars on the line, it's a different ball game. My advice... don't ignore your psychological make up and beliefs about trading and how it's going to impact your trading. It's going to determine 95% of your success. Learn what makes you tick as a trader. Do you predefine risk? How disciplined are you and can you stick to your rules? If you can't... you will fail... no matter how good your TA is.
Try scalping the bund off the zn from about 7:40 CST to about 10:30. Doesn't work to well beyond those times.
BondTrader50 Thanks a lot for the advice but sadly my hours don't allow me to trade past 7:30. I currently am trading currency futures between 3am-7:30am. I think these hours would probably work well with the bobl and schaz too. I have traded the bund before but not with a scalping method so I think I better stick the the smaller tick contracts just in case. I started trading the bobl today at 3am and just finished up. I found it very fun/challenging to trade. I made 10 trades and 8 of them were good for 3 ticks each. The other 2 I took a loss on for 4 ticks a piece. My commisions are not the best at $4 round trip but in the end I ended up netting a little under $80 on the morning. Could anybody please explain how to trade the bobl off of the orderbook? This seems to be my biggest problem. Right now about the only thing im using the orderbook for is to place my trades YT
lol thanks but I really would like to hear some words of wisdom about the trading the eurex products.
Watch out for one tick new highs or lows on the bund just outside of the 2-3am eastern extremes. This can be a trap if you are trading breakouts, which is often a good strategy on the bund. Maybe look at trading spreads like bund/bobl off the start to get a feel for it. What is your strategy that you are looking to trade?
It doesn't matter how you do it as long as you can make money doing it. Whether you use TA or the orderbook can vary from trader to trader. You just need to study the action, develop a plan based on how you interpret the movement and go for the trade. It sounds as though you have a good feel for how this instrument moves so give it a try. If you can trade on a simulator for as long as possible. I spent two months trading sim and it was the best thing I could have done. "Does anybody have any words of wisdom as I try my luck against one of the toughest markets out there?" ---->>> Try not to view the market like that. You may be a newbie in a Lion's Den but all the Lions had to start somewhere. Trading is like any other business, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. Just don't enter the market until you feel you have a solid edge and the right frame of mind to support that edge. Question for you.....do you know how to think as a trader? If you can't answer this or you're unsure then the answer is no. That being the case read, "Trading in the Zone," by Mark Douglas.
zf trader Thanks for the advice. I am not trading breakouts although I will keep that bit of advice in mind to maybe fade the move. What i am trading is just a simple scalping method trying to get 3-4 ticks while risking 3-4 ticks. Its basically just looking for a continuation of the current trend and then getting in the trade during the retracement of the wave. Im using a 5 tick and a 34 tick chart on the boble. The thing is that I always hear the bund, bobl, and schatz traders talking about watching the DOM. Is this an important tool anymore? With all the spoofing going on and automated programs? I have heard when trading interest rates you must know a bunch about all the intra day ticks that are going on. I have never traded the bund/bobl spread before. Any advice on that? Thanks