You are trading with 120 million dollars and you come to a website almost exclusively populated by failures and wannabes. Furthermore, you ask about using a .50 stop and Bollinger bands to scalp, and expect to make 10% per month. Clearly no one is going to believe you, and if it is true that you have access to trade a large amount of customer funds and this is how you plan to do it, then you are clearly in violation of your fiduciary duty and should be reported to the appropriate regulatory agencies. If this thread is a joke I guess I am still waiting for the punchline.
120m= $120,000 I would never violate my fiduciary role, as that is a criminal offense. My Clients money is at a clearing firm, and if it started flowing out at a rapid pace, compliance would flag it. I wouldn't know how someone could do it, nor would I want to. If money was lost in the markets, and it was theirs... I think the HF manager who turned himself in was doing that. No thanks. I care about my clients, and my freedom. The above 120m ($120,000 is my own account)
OK, it is very common for people to use M for million instead of the MM, I had assumed you were making a joke. With $120k most traders would do 10 to 20 contracts. You can use the minimum daytrade margin to do much more, but overleverage is one of the sure ways to fail. Why do you want to scalp for ticks as apposed to daytrading for points?
I need to stop using the m for thousands, and mm for millions. Some use M for million, and MM for billions, so confusion can set in. That's just old habit for me. I'm basically looking for a point a day. If there's a strong run up or down, take advantage of that, but could use your opinions on entry/exit. Thanks!
My two cents....I would scale back immediatley to 10 - 20 contracts. If you continue to do well on a trade or two a day you can easily make that 10% month. Unless my math is way off, 10% would be $12000, or $600 a day for a 20 day month. If you can make 1.5 points on 15 contracts you'll have your 10% after commissions, data, and platform fees. And best of all you won't take a major hit on 100 contracts. You can easily get that stop creamed for more than .5 with slippage especially in pre market. Good luck, actually I hope more good studying and learning.
I am not a scalper, and I don't really understand why anyone would be, so I can't help you there. I would tell you that you are better off not trading, ever, because the odds are very well stacked against you. If you wish to persist then at least paper trade or trade very, very small until you are sure it works for you. My suggestion would be go read the thread in the Journal section: "AHG - Profitable Strategy for Struggling Traders" Another thing, saying that you are "looking for a point a day" paints you as the worst kind of noob. Making 10%/month on six figures can be done with the volatility we have, but it is like saying you can make a living at professional sports. It is possible, but we are few and far between.
I appreciate that! I noticed the P/L changes were significant with 100 contracts. I'll certainly scale back.
When you have witnessed hundreds of aspiring traders who managed to lose all their money, you learn how hard and completely unforgiving trading for a living is. Again, just look around this website. I don't think I would have to take off my shoes to count the truly successful traders. Take a few weeks to paper trade everyday while you read the thread I mentioned. Then come back and ask questions. Just my opinion.
the es is a market full of head fakes. .50 scalps aren't as easy . You have to get filled and if you want to avoid slippage your going to have to let them fill you on your side. that creates a problem if you are chasing a move. there are so many small hiccupps even in a trending move that your stop could be blown consistently. You may want to try as others have said 10 contracts. But as an ria I think you need to take a look at the futures options market. Es is very good a little bit of a spread. Bu t nothing to crazy. You may even want to sell out of the money calls to hedge your clients portfoio's . These things have some nasty time decay on them and are a good hedge. If I was managing a portfolio in a bear market I would be selling otm calls or buying puts on es. You are going to get tripped up on the scalping thing if you don't have a solid edge and expereince.