This is my first post in ET. I have been reading posts for a while though. I have been trading stacks for some time, nothing spectacular. I am thinking to switch to EMinis and I would appreciate any guidance that I would get. I plan to daytrade, discretionary trading, being very careful with my entries and keeping 2 to 4 point stops. I will start with a $5000 account trading one contract. I would double my size if and when I double my account. My initial goal is 3 to 5 points a day(Time will show if that is realistic). When I reach $10000 and trade 2 contracts I will be ready to go back to 1 if my equity drops below $10000. I plan to take low risk /reward trades using trendlines, support resistance areas, 20ema, bollinger bands and stochastics. I studied technical analysis for years but I have been many times in trouble trading stocks, mainly because of poor management and emotions..... Hopefully concentrating only in one trading vehicle, keeping stops and realistic targets will work better I would appreciate any suggestions and guidelines any serious fellow can volunteer. happiness to all of you, Hamb
The trading discipline does not depend on what instrument you trade. If you think that switching to one instrument only will help, then you are wrong.
"I studied technical analysis for years but I have been many times in trouble trading stocks, mainly because of poor management and emotions." imho if you have poor management and emotion problems the last thing you want to trade is a leveraged instrument like futures. futures are not kind to people with poor money management skills.
Electron, I realize that, you are absolutely wright. I just wanted to pressed my weakness in my past trading. Happiness to all of you, Hamb
I wholeheartedly agree with both above posts. I know from my own experience that this kind of problem (lack of discipline due to emotion) is very much aggravated if you focus on only one instrument. As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to suggest that you trade several different stocks concurrently so that you don't have the time to get too emotionally involved with any single trade.
keeping stops and realistic targets will work better wouldn't that help me? Happiness to all of you Hamb
Hi Hamb-ltrd: If youâre starting out with $5k in E-miniâs trading 1 lot with 2 to 4 point stops, treat your equity strictly as tuition money and be prepared to have it spent learning as much out of it as you can. Better if you just simulate trade with an on-line platform on $50k play money trading 1-lot and see how you fare. Consider correcting the trouble spots youâve experienced when trading stocks first. Otherwise, they will surely come back and bite you EVEN HARDER in the E-mini world. Kermit
I'm not sure about "realistic targets", but I'm afraid keeping stops is not all that easy. It's not like you just flip a switch and become a profitable trader. The most difficult aspect, especially with 2 to 4 point stops, is how to find the right level for your stop and how to execute it properly. If you put in a hard stop, you must be that much better guessing the exact optimal trigger price for it.
As a lurker, I feel that you post is fairly neat. Lots of good choices. Not being stuck and unable to accept guidance is a good place to be. Were I you, I would read guidancefrom the viewpoint that the person offering it must exemplify his/her viewpoint. you are not going to edge trade so an edge trader can't offer you guidance it turns out. I am guessing some respondents to you here edge trade. Why they posted out of their league is not unusual from what i read. I like your plan: 1 contract. Stops that allow descretion. Descretion rather than an edge. Ways to measure a market. I would determine the defaults in accordance with the chart you designate for descretion. You can see no one commented who is edge oriented. The choices you made will keep you out a lot. So I like them. Goals. Your measures fit your goals quite cogently for three reasons: They keep you out most of the time; when you get in, you will see that the conditions only favor more market change than your goals; you stops will be protective and by excercising descretion, you can leave when you see that the entry wasn't being followed through as the combination of the indicators suggested. Anyone edge trading is unfamiliar with how staying in trades works for as long as you will be during the day. I particularly like your concept that focus will be a quality assurance for you. It seems to me you can tweek your indicator plan quite conveniently. You will be kept out at first, then as you allow yourself to profit from years of tuning experience that got you to this place, you will see how to include more of the market's activities in your descretionary plan. You have no mangement plan initially since you are beginning the way you are; I do not know why others overlooked this. You can get to management and risk minimization once you begin to deal with more and more opportunities that come from being more comprehensive vis a vis possible entries. You should expect two trades a day at his point; your exits will be quite painless as well.
Grob109 Thank you for your post. I placed a reply in the QQQ vs, NQ thread earlier today. I am also considering trading the NQs. I ahve traded the Qs quite successfully but am thinking of also trading the NQs because I rely on them quite heavily as an indicator when trading the Qs. I feel the extra leverage might be worth taking a shot at. I would appreciate any comments you might have on trading the NQs vs. the Qs.