There are days which are very easy to earn money, and there are days which are very hard to trade. It is very easy to earn $$$ when the market is trendy & when the market is moving in a nice orderly manner. It is difficult to earn $$$ when the market is moving in a messy choppy manner. Be able to make the distinction is the key to success. Algo bots wouldn't cause misery to us unless we are also algo bots. All the best to your future endeavor.
Yes, like today, I ran 50% wins and did 1/2 goal. Was underwater twice "just" bad. Actually day before too. Each system has different "responses" to the market action.
I trade both stocks & futures when volatility is above avg, there are pros & cons to each. In general stocks are more forgiving, less shakeouts, more directional, more opportunities to trade the big winners or losers, & can have a far better reward-to-risk. The big boys/girls with good track records typically trade futures from price levels using a wider stop, wider profit target, & a lower trading frequency. This video I stumbled into - an 18 year pro equity trader illustrates the difference between scalping futures vs equities (the most liquid stocks). I could not agree more. When the indexes are not so volatile there will always be stocks making large directional moves. I encourage those thinking about trading equities to go for it. I have heard of many that lost a lot in futures that turned things around in the equities market. Start @ 5:45
The hosts need to drink less caffeine, and bring more salient points about the comparisons between futs and stocks. I did like the one guy who mentioned that you need to allow futures trades to breathe. But the same thing applies for stocks. But they start off with going on about how wonderful the MES is for retail traders. Where were these guys before the micros came out on May 5th, 2019? Were they actually trading?
Thanks to all for your feedback and the video. The guy on the trader.TV is absolutely right, it also resonates with Al Brook(AB) who constantly says do not scalp ES (he never touches NQ). I really do not mind hearing opposing views but my mind is made up! I no longer have price data so bye-bye ES. I am still a subscriber to AB's trading room but I will drop him in December. What I have learned on Price Action Trading can be used in Stocks/ETFs. (I do not trade Forex).
To beat the bots and HFT’s via “manual” HFT trading (ROFLMAO), IMOO (in my opinion ONLY) a trader who is scalping 1 to 8 points in ES, up to 12 pt or so on more volatile days, has to be psychologically prepared to break, at minimum, at least three cardinal rules, namely: 1) the first rule to break: never average down aka only losers average down. A scalper of say ES must learn to average down, or scale in, whatever his heart desires to call it. Without it the bots and HFT’ers will eat his cake, his hat, his shirt but leave him his pennies. By “learn to average down” I mean knowing which context to do it in (the larger and more immediate contexts), and “how” (size and frequency..i.e. adding on targets). He may make a profit on all his average down contracts or he may make money on all but the initial entry. Or he may lose on his first two entries but still end up with a profitable averaged down trade. The important thing for a scalper is to “make money” and have a high win rate. He only has the session to end profitable. 2) The second rule to break: Cut your losers and let your profits run. A scalper of the ES needs to learn to “grab” his profits as the market gives them to him. Be johnny on the spot. Forget dreams of a big run. Yes, at time they (big runs) will happen, but more often than not a trader will have a scalping profit...get greedy for more...hold on, or even scale up adding to his profitable position, only to find that minutes or seconds later “Shazam” it has dissipated before his eyes, the trade has soured, and when it gets like buttermilk he can’t stand the pain anymore, so he makes some jalapeño cornbread (his SL) and eats it, crying, as it burns going down. If a big run does occur a nimble scalper can always get back in, usually compounding profits at the same time (by getting back in at a better price than his previous exit...i.e. in a bull run at a LOWER price than his previous scalp exit before the run continues.) A scalper just has to train himself to do so and execute. 3) the third rule to break: be concerned with INITIAL R:R calculations. Instead, use appropriate PA SL’s (according to present PA being drawn on the chart taking into account the present volatility) not set dollar amount for SL’s. Instead of being concerned about initial R:R be more concerned with actual R:R (how far the market went against you before it gives you a scalpers profit.) and actual PT’s. Often times you will be able to exit with a profit on a 3 or 4 or even 10 to one on actual risk. Just take it! Don’t worry about what happens afterwards. As said in #2 above you can always get back in. In addition, remember that context..context..context (larger and immediate) is much more important than any single setup used for entries and exits. A scalper should use the traders equation to vet probabilities of a trade rendering a profit as opposed to a loss. Mentally do the equation or actually tabulate it by writing it down. Don‘t take a trade if he can’t see a positive traders equation. He will find that some of the best looking setups fail because of poor context and some of the worst looking setups succeed because of good context. Probabilities calculations must be correlated with contexts. Finally, if a trade moves against the trader he must have pinpointed, in his mind, a point where he will accept that his premise is wrong....i.e. a “give up point” if you will. And he must have a plan in place on how he will recuperate his losses, as quickly as possible. For me, that is usually doubling up or tripling up on a setup in the new direction. A scalper has to make back his losses quickly as he is flat at the end of the session, therefore he is constrained by time to get back into profit before the session ends. This is especially true on averaged down positions. He must exit them immediately if his “give up” point is reached. My journal explains this stuff in a bit more detail. https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...-trading-the-es-nq-ym-mes-mnq-and-mym.336259/
Volpri is correct. It takes a lot of experience to break rules for the right reasons. People often want to jump to Master levels by mimicking the masters. Just skipping the basics, intermediate and advanced steps is so unwise for many reasons. Then they don't have the right reasons, in real time. Personally I think the bots are DESIGNED to crush trades using those rules. Work with the bots, not against them.