If you think that the S&P futures chop around a lot and do not trend very well, I would suggest that you stay away from Gold, Silver, Coffee, Cocoa, Natural Gas, blah, blah, blah . . . In any event, for me trading the S&P is much more time "effective" since there is not nearly as much research to do when trading this product, technically. I mean, how many times have you been long a particular stock, but it did not move up when the overal "market" rallied. You had all of the moving averages lined-up, pivots, retracement levels, etc and it just didn't move. As a result, with stocks, you have to make certain that you are in the right sector otherwise you are wasting your time. With the S&P, you are IN the market! Do bonds trend better than the S&P? Yes, they do . . . and perhaps that is where you might wish to focus your energy on. All the Best!
Yes "We" did Vega When I started on the CBOE, the SPX was considered one of the smartest pits on the floor, and it had to be as you were constantly trading predominantly against institutional paper. That being said, I traded in that pit so now that I think about it, maybe it ain't the smartest group of guys:eek:
Now how difficult was it to get short the ES this morning and make a few "dollars" eh? We never got above the Daily Pivot at 1145.00 1138.30 = S2. Trade 'em!
I bet the guys looking for divergences went long 6 times till now . Oh, forget that last one, they probably skipped that, after 5 losers in a row.
Come on Waggie, I expected better than this. After the fact 'easy' trades do not get any respect whatsoever, no matter the analysis.
Do you really think that I was "recommending" a trade here on ET? Are you serious? Moreover, are you telling me that you don't use pivots to trade the ES? Come on now. I was simply stating how there are some "easy" set-ups that occur with the use of pivots. Macal, I'm not posting anything "after-the-fact" since I have no need to recommend trades to others on ET like so many of the James Stock "Jerk-Off's of the world. If I did post every single trade that I execute on a daily basis on ET I would have no time for trading. Let's be real here, shall we? Or is this just another version of a Yahoo Message Board . . . I thought you were better than that Macal. I really did.
No I did not think you were "recommending" a trade and yes I do use pivots in my trading. Your comment on this mornings action was 'after the fact' and therefor it was easy to see a short trade in retrospect. Your tone (to me) seemed condescending to those that didn't go short or who find it difficult trading the hard right edge of ES. As you are aware, trading is a bit more difficult than looking back and seeing what should have been done. This said, I have no doubt that you acted on your analysis and this is not an accusation that you didn't, just a comment on what I perceived as a condescending attitude.
I'm just trying to say that one has to have a "methodology" behind their trading . . . the old saying of plan your trade, and trade your plan is VERY true. However, one must have a methodology in order to do so and it seems like many "newbies" on here on ET. I also very much agree with the earlier comment that you should view the ES as a "stock" that trades over $100.00 per share. Enough said.
I've been "trading" the S&P twice a month for damn near 20 years and I've made over $280,000! And I didn't pay taxes on it either! Oh, did I tell you this is in my 401? I know, this ain't trading and it's chump change to all you big swingin...but it's something to think about, eh? How many have tried and failed miserably to trade the 500? Time, lots of time, + DCA = very high probablility of success. Cummon, have a little patience! Just a thot...