S/R Emini Journal

Great thread ! One "stupid" question: what is the advantage of trading the emini compared to options on SPY for example?

 

His Trading For A Living book he gives a very good biographical history of his life. Very interesting how he defected from the USSR. Anyway it is a very good read. Got your points yet?

 

I wasn't referring to levels so much as the entire zone. But, yes, that's a pretty wide stop.

 

Boy I wish I could learn to trade like this guy.

Just kidding.

Entered at 1268.75 (previous last close high on the 15min) stop currently at breakeven +1 tick (activated when profit hits 1.25-1.5 pts ES (my discretion based on price action) - 2.0 pts or bust baby 2.0pts or bust!)

... and that would be bust

P.S. So long as the market holds the 68-67 line i'm still a bull

P.P.S. right, because this is just the first test of resistance

 

I think everyone on here will probably have a different idea on this. One thing on options you have sooo many choices. Close in in the money, far out, out of the money. If you are not careful you lose money in time decay. The list goes on and on. I am not saying options are bad just not the way I want to trade. I used to trade the QQQQ options and did very well with it.

With emini you know right then and there when you buy the contract what you get. P/L always stays the same. I also believe there are some tax benifits with the emini. This is my first year trading them so I don't what the benefits are yet. I want to make a lot of money and find out though.

4re

 

For me it's like this.

E-Mini's are like checkers. (you can have a few set rules, be VERY VERY disciplined about your trading, and do very well for yourself)

Options are like speed chess. (you have to know and familiarize yourself with a very complex set of scenarios, place strategic bets accordingly and always be aware of the clock)

And it's all the same money $1,00 profit is $1,00 profit regardless of what you do.

Now ask yourself, which one would you rather becme good at?

 

You get em tiger. It might take a liitle bit due to lunch time coming up but still looks safe.

BTW, It must be nice to work for somebody else and get 2 hour lunches. Those guys don't have it too bad do they. Except for maybe the high blood pressure, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome and heart problems. Other than that they got it made.

4re

 

Oh wait, Oh No, I just gave away my "Edge"

BTW 4re, I hope you didn't mind me "ripping" on all the guys running their threads talking about how they can't give out their super-secret special sauce formula trading system for fear of the quants at Goldman, Merrill and BofA arbing them ...


:eek:

 

Well you should have your money now, don't you?

I know what you are talking about giving the super secret edge away. I just don't buy into it. To me if I can figure something out then I imagine plenty of other people have figured out the same thing. It really doesn't change your odds one way or the other. Either you are good enough to win or you aren't. That is my super duper new secret idea.

 

Thank you for your answers about options/Eminis. I don't think time decay is an issue though with options for your kind of trading.
I have enjoyed this thread very much, thank you 4re. A couple comments/questions:

- I think your risk/reward could be greatly improved, and thus your expectancy. You obviously have an amazing winning rate but I don't think it is optimal to have your profits at the same level as your risk (2 points). Why don't you use a trailing stop once you are profitable so you can still ride the trends? For example after you have reached 2 points in profit you could set your stop to previous low using 3 min candles. Or take 1/2 off and let the rest ride with this trailing stop. Just seems like you are leaving a lot of money on the table and not taking really advantage of the "let profits run, cut losses short" rule.
- Your winning rate has been amazing lately because the market has been extremely volatile. There has not been many "false breakouts" but mainly big intraday trending days. I wonder how the system does in a churning market, where S/R are constantly challenged and price then goes back to the trading range. I think you've been trading it for a long time now, so would love to hear if your results have been that good before. Of course, improving your risk/reward would take care of bad periods.
- I have been trading options for more than 10 years and would like to start trading futures as well. How much do you pay per contract on the S&P? What is the leverage? How much money is 2 points/contract?

Thank you