Hey now That is unfair! I responded to what you posted, which was the first line. Now you edited and added all those other bits after my response! *grumble*
"...but from an UNLABELED chart, I couldn't tell you if it's one instrument vs another. the patterns all look the same..." It is an interesting idea. For some reason I do not think it will ever work. It would be cool if you could make it happen.
I need to hit the hay, but... "You think there will be a limit up/down situation in NQ in the after hours session? Maybe. But the chances are low." Negative. The equity futures are far and away from livestock futures when it comes to that. The CME didn't have a limit halt on equities during the darkest days of early Feb 2018, and that was a heathen time. Equities have breathing room, ags not so much.
You just proved my point. So, why are you so against me playing just 1 lots on NQ in afterhour session when there's almost NO CHANCE of a limit up/down situation?
That's a good point. Ironically, I work better in the AH because it's slower than RTH. My main beef with NQ in RTH is that it's too fast for me at times. But I'm getting more used to its speed than before. But it still feels fast. Too many bots running around...
What disappointed me the most about this trade is that I VIOLATED one of my rules. This is why I'm in this sh*t situation in the first place. It's the call of the countertrend. When I countertrend in the past I lost big. But lately, I go with the trend most of the time. Now things are more under control even when I do I go countertrend, because I found one highly reliable pattern. There's only 1 COUNTERTREND setup/edge that I know of that works like 90% of the time. If I just stick with that only setup when I feel the urge to countertrend then I would have been fine. Obviously, today's HE short is not one of those high edge setup. So, I'll take whatever tomorrow may bring and get out at whatever price.
Be aware that many of the hedgers no longer trade hogs, cattle, cocoa, coffee, oats, rice, and natural gas, and to a lesser degree grains. These are broken markets dominated by HFTs battling each other & cannibalizing any real trading activity. The liquidity n the book may look good but can vanish in a flash and prices can rocket way past your resting order(s). The hedgers had been trying to get the CME to take some action many years ago in reeling in the HFTs, they never did. These days many of the hedgers left the futures markets & are making their own privately negotiated contracts for hedging. I found this in one of my old folders - I know a few old timers that would agree with this., this has been my experience as well. http://pointsandfigures.com/2010/12/13/lean-hogs-jump-computerized-trading-ruining-marketplace/