i trade the nq for a living, if you just started trading it the past 2 weeks i can tell you that it has been more difficult for me than normal also. That is one bad thing about the nq, the summer months especially around holidays it gets very tight and choppy (even more than normal i should say) I find the best way to play nq is to use very good risk/reward like 5-1. Either that or just play +2 or -2 which you can make money doing but i prefer the good risk/reward strategy personally. I try to get into a position each morning and let it play out for a nice target or small stop and call it a day. But anyway, i just wanted to encourage you that if the past 2 weeks were your testing ground for the nq you are not alone, it was a very difficult time to trade it imho. I believe i'm pretty good at trading the nq by now and its given me a run for my money lately.....if i would have just started with the nq i would be frustrated with it right about now also Good luck with the options and your future pursuits pierson
NQ is not that bad for trading at all. 3-6 pts are possible. I don't know how you trade it but if you tried pullbacks perhaps it would not be that bad...
first off...I`M NOT WORTHY..(BOWING) Thanks for the good words. That kind of RR might be a better route for daytrading this beast. I was using a 2-1 10/5 points and just cant seem to nail it. I use a similar approach in that I trade the open with a bias..place stop/limit bracket and walk away. I want to give it another go but will probably waint until the fall now. Good luck and good trading Chris.
Electron, If your are looking for 3-6 points what kind of stops and risk reward to use for NQ? Maybe my problem lies in looking for larger moves. I was hoping to capture 10 points for a 5 point stop but got stopped out almost every time. Yesterday I went short after the mkts opened at 1458 with a 48 limit 63 stop and got stopped at the top of the move up after being green for a good while..then NQ proceeds to sell off into the close! Luckily for me I recognized the poor stop placement and sold them back at 1458.5 to make my money back Thanks
The initial stop-loss is 4 pts, the target is also 4 pts, that is the ratio is 1:1, just as in many scalping setups, but the stop-loss gets triggered rarely. If you enter properly, the market does not move against you more than 2-3 pts, 4 pts is just in case. Even today you could have gotten at least one good trade for 4 pts. Many people are so concerned about stops that they forget that if the stop is too tight they will never reach the target.