First you say that I don't understand the ES. Then you are telling me that I might succeed. Very interesting observation fearless! Would you mind explaining how did you come to the conclusion that I don't understand the ES?
Thanks for the suggestion Bbox! I am researching brokers with competitive commissions since my style would definitely benefit from lower transaction fees. I estimate that will do about 1500 contracts per month.
No fixed profit targets or stop losses. Different setups dictate different size stops. My stops are always mental. For example, if my setup suggests 1 point profit target on the ER2 my stop would be 3-5 ticks. If my profit target is only 3-5 ticks then my stop will be only 1-2 ticks. That said, I always have an "emergency" stop to protect me from things like datafeed/ISP issues. This stop is entered automatically with every order I place.
Well firstly IndexS, I do hope that you succeed, but that of course lies in your hands and you have chosen to enter an arena where so few prevail consistently. And consistence is indeed the name of the game. What have I picked up from your posts are ... ES - ER2 trading both... Given that ES can carry size (lots and lots of size) why confuse yourself with the ER2. Two different animals. "opportunties are scarce" .. the whole purpose of scalping or near scalping is to be consistently presented with opportunity. "day not going well" ... you do not understand yourself/ what you are endeavouring to do. "scale 1-5" ... there is no scale. Either you are consistently profitable or you are not. And finally your last post ... If you have no profit target then how can this be true... "If my profit target is only 3-5 ticks then my stop will be only 1-2 ticks." Incidentally you cannot trade ES on a one tic stop. regards f9
Please go back to my post #3 and read my comment I made about how the day went. If you are an experienced trader (as the amount of posts under your handle suggests) then you'll understand.
whats your goal here? do you want to do this professionally? If so, why not try to get backed by a shop? There are some around. I trade in a similar fashion, to be successful at what your trying to do you need: 1.) to be leasing a seat (dramatically lowering your fees...more than covers the lease when your big enough) 2.) a business class dsl line AT WORST 3.) a broker number ready for when your long 25 ES before the open, your line goes down, and MER and whoever else misses earnings. It'll happen, trust me. 4.) a reliable news wire so you can learn to scalp off economic data points. And again, so when the FED emergency cuts 75bps and suddenly your position is 3 handles in your face you'll know why. Trying to scalp futures successfully requires more than a thousand bucks and a laptop. Its tough to overcome a bad set up, even with a really good edge. Hell, even with a good edge, and a good set up, you need a little luck when your starting out to provide a cushion/ confidence. If your serious think about looking to get backed so you can see if your edge is legit in an environment where it has a fighting chance.
Good to see your replies, Indexscalper. Are you using charts, T&S reading, DOM reading or a combination thereof?
F9, the purpose of having a scale 1-5 is to rate myself regarding following my rules, not my consistency or profitability. As far as profit targets, I was answering the following question: I said that I don't use "fixed" profit targets or stops. I didn't say I didn't have profit targets. I have all kinds of setups and each one suggests different profit target/stop. The example given applies only to ER2. I wasn't suggesting using 1 tick stops on the ES.