Actually, Brendan pretty much says it right. Some say that a "swing trade" is just a "day trade" gone bad, LOL. If they made enough on the daytrade, they would close...if they are losing, they convert it to a swing trade. I'm not that cynical...taking home winning positions, and holding for a "reason" - either fundamentally or technically, is sound trading IMO. In my Firm, we all "day" trade, but more importantly, we are "traders" - engaging in whatever term you might want to place on, to make a profit. Don't get too caught up in the terminology, learn to trade, you'll use various time frames. All the best, Don
Doesn't have to be. Like the other guy said, risk no more than 2-3% of your capital on any one trade. I buy all at once, but I scale out over time, and move the rest to b.e It's different for everyone but s/r are good targets to aim for. I've never traded es, but stocks and fx provide more and better swing trading opportunities imo. ES is not for new traders. You dont have to worry about slippage. When swing trading who cares about .05 cents, unless your trading pennys. Kon
I am a bit confused about price action in different time frame. To my understanding, the smaller the time frame, the easier it is for the locals to move price. In a larger the time frame, there will be fewer locals that have that ability. Price move may be more genuine, and may reflect the actions of the papers. Would appreciated if someone could help understand why trading a smaller time frame is the same as trading a larger time frame. Thanks! PA
Failure is failure. Its not going to be different for you to do so-called swing trading instead. You can read often at ET the comment that there are different styles of trading; usually this means that the poster is expressing such view to justify whatever it is that he does when/if trading. Broadly this isn't so. A market each day offers a maximum number of points. Either you are taking a significant portion of that or you are not. Either you are more effective or you are less effective. Either you are a winner or you are not. And here is the crux. Methodology is the key. You must have a reliable daytrading methodology. It must be tested and checked before you use it regularly. It should be an entry and exit system; and as you exit you usually re-enter. It is a reversals system. You play the gyrations from open to close. You are buying the upmoves and selling the downmoves, sequentually. And you best facilitate that using a volatile and liquid market (ie NG). What is not realised is just how marginal trading is to make money. If you are not in the market you are not making any money. If or whenever you are in the market the systems of amateurs are not efficient enough. So overwhelmingly you cannot become a winner who will make yourself rich. Trading can only reward you when you go where the money is. For the individual trader the money is in the gyrations.
Again trading is trading. I happen to trade momentum. My partner Erik Kolodny has proven to the most consistent trader I have ever met. I know I will get the nay sayers on here. He has not had a down month in 14 years. I have been writing him checks for 4 of them. Thus, we built a company around his discipline. We call it The Epiphany Method, even though it is not 100% original. We buy the absolute highs, short the absolute lows, and trade stocks through UNCHANGED. I call Erik "The Modern Stock Operator" because his style is a derivation of Jesse Livermore's, without claiming to be such a monster. Yes, you can have more manipulation on the shorter time periods. However, that is just noise. The charts look the same from 20,000 feet. Most often when stocks trade at their highs, they trade higher. We insist on stagnation / consolidation in order to enter a trade, to protect us from losses. When you talk about locals, I am assuming that you are talking credit markets and / or commodities. I know very little about those markets. However, I believe that supply and demand applies to all markets. I hope that helps you. Brendan P. Byrne
I am momentum trader as well. < I am gradually transitioning from intraday to swing/position trading. The big appeal to me is sizing up, I am looking 5-7 years into the future, i wont be scalping for .60cents,, hopefully taking some large positions and sizing up even more. Also, true, i think starting out as a daytrader will help you, you see so many more setups. One thing i am finding out about swing trading is there is much, much patience needed between setups. Eddie
It's not the same. There are different players at the larger time frames who buy/sell for different reasons. Their targets and stops are also wider so they are not as worried about daily flucuations. Markets on weekly, and especially monthly are influenced by fundamental factors. Not because of "Locals" or day traders.
Im a fulltime ES and FX futures day trader and I will tell you that it first depends on what you're trading. ES has its own personality and so does FX. Each one has its own sweet spot in terms of what time frame is more comfortable for you and how good you can analyze its behavior. I know consistently profitable FX traders that make precision in and out trades on 5 min time frame(with 1 min for entries and exits while still being aware of intraday day pivots, fibs, etc. Then there are other traders (like me for example) that arent comfortable doing so many trades(its nerve racking for me), and prefer to concentrate on 1-4 hr time frames with fibs and trend lines(using smaller time frames like 15-30 min for entries and exits). The point is this: how much time do you want to dedicate to trading per day? 1-3 hrs or full day(5-7 hrs). Personally, I feel that either you're trading strategies that you use are not working or maybe you're trading with too much emotion, or stops are too close. Or it could be a combination of them all. Do you have by chance, copies of your trades on a chart so that I can analyze them; and I'll give you an honest, objective opinion of where you need to improve.... Let me know. If you have Yahoo messenger, we can chat and discuss your trades one evening. My Yahoo handle is: sobetrader99 P.S. The only time I trade on 5-15 min time frames is when one of the currency pairs is ranging towards the end of a busy session. Easy $$$