For some ES is the goto, for some it's price-action is not volatile enough. Some people prefer ag futures, or crude. Some pick specific equities or just do anything that passes their filter. Do you have a preferred instrument and what qualities make you prefer it? I mainly watch ES as I am still learning, but CL piques my interest, as it is simpler conceptually to ingest news of supply and demand, while ES is more abstract.
I prefer any instrument when back tested conforms to my parameters to show doable risk to reward. So long term I follow over 40 commodities and 50 stocks/ETFs and hedged. Option systems require volume, so use scanner, day trading over 40 markets. And nice part is all automated, parameters getting tighter as I age. One of my favorite markets is Eurodollar, moves very slow, can handle just about any size, much can be had spreading. Risk extremely low for me. For me it is all about risk.
Of course, the choices one makes are very system specific. What manual input do you have nowadays? Just optimizing?
Small cap value (VBR), Mid cap growth (MDY), emerging small cap (DGS), QQQ, Utilities, TLT. - Equities have statistically produced excess returns from Nov - Apr. - A blend of small cap value and emerging markets have historically produced highest excess returns above all equity universes ( Fama and French ). - Utilities have statistically produced excess returns above small cap and emerging from May - Oct when used in conjunction with risk management variable ( when market risk was "high" ). - Bonds have produced positive returns from May - Oct when risk was high and moving avg heuristic was "positive" ( negatively correlated price movement to equities ). Research : https://docs.google.com/presentatio...UnUV5fufBaZyc/edit#slide=id.g18713f5fdf_0_100 - Don't quit your day job - Don't use leverage - Open a Roth IRA - Sometimes money is made by sitting in cash - Don't be a hostage to the markets - let the markets, profitability of world economies work for you
I don't believe in optimizing as that doesn't work, I believe in back testing and try to capture the parameters that will give me 90% but only if I will lose excessive loses and over 3000 plus sample size. I didn't say that I never manually trade, when I design something new, I will trade it nearly each day to see if it worth back testing it. I can read charts decent, so method is either with trend or against it. If with trend, 90% of the time I am waiting for price to retrace and enter against trend direction as it is only way I can get risk low enough to make it worth while, whereas if against trend will be again getting as far from most recent extremes of price that is the trend. I don't like breakout with trend entries much as risk is higher and possible profit lower for me trading like the ES. Now markets like Crude Oil can tolerate breakouts trades a bit better, but for me, I prefer to wait for price to come to me for entry and this is for day trading. Longer term trading Commodities very very different that most people trade, all my positions whether original entries or adding on are generally against major trends and why I hedge as I am often early, so it will take many trades to find the last trade that will become something I hold for years, but it works for me. Stocks/ETFs are both to a degree of trading with trend and against/hedged, and often times are always in 50% of time, so many reversals if opposite signal comes in. It only markets where I will do breakout entries along with waiting for prices to retrace. Options systems, I take signals off stock systems for credit spreads. But generally I am working on risk management, finding ways where I can reduce risk which will increase profit, I like systems where I can risk low to make 2pt plus in ES which I have traded the longest. When you average down, concentration on risk is number one and keeping loss percentage.
ES spreads for me. I understand them and the risk/reward - for what I do - is optimal. It's quite boring as I don't crave the action as some do.
I trade futures (US, Eurex & Singapore), forex (mostly the majors), and equities listed on the the major indexes and sector ETFs. Why? To have the widest coverage of the market domestic/international as possible - for a swing trader that is how most of us do it these days.
Is here also anyone who trade binary options? Or you stand by the opinion that they are not a regular financial instrument?