Why lower TF /NQ chart is smoother than /ES?

Even though the daily volume of /ES is much bigger than /NQ, why 1 minute chart of /NQ is smoother than /ES? It doesn't make sense to me. For extreme scalpers, is /NQ better than /ES?

 

tick increment .10 vs .25 makes a huge difference in smoothness.

 

IOW, based on the above, tick increment has nothing to do with smoothness of the example...

ES trades in .25 pt increments.
NQ trades in .25 pt increments.

 

Last week was low volume range trade and not a good sample. Sometimes are better than others in either market. Pick which one you like and accept that or become proficient at trading multiple markets.

 

I have not (yet) done an in depth comparative study of the two, but ES looks just as 'smooth' to me.

 

Usually when the overall volatility is low or ranging...the Emini ES futures will be less smoother on small time frames like the 1min chart you're using.

You may not have been trading Emini ES long enough to see how it relates to NQ when volatility is high, volatility is low versus volatility that's ranging. Volatility impacts the smoothness of the price action more than volume.

Also, I always thought scalpers were DOM readers/traders...not chart readers/traders or at least they used the DOM/market depth with their chart analysis ???

wrbtrader

 

%% NOT sure i would call either one ''smooth'', not compared to stocks. NQ + QQQ has always tended to trend >> %, but even that may not be true every day ;it is today, 5X times >>>>>% .[NQ=5x % than ES ; NQ 0.68% compared to ES 0.12%] . As of am/pre lunch anyway

 

NQ tick size is much smaller as a percentage of the price.

Basic maths: 7500/0.25 allows three times the space of 2800/0.25

So NQ chart will be 3 times smoother than ES.

Now if ES had tick size of 0.1 instead of 0.25 then both charts would have similar smoothness.


Also volatility plays a part. ES is less volatile even if were priced about the same and had the same tick size. The NQ chart would have a wider range.

 

WTH are you talking about?

So based on your silliness, YM is 26000/1 ... so 3.5 times smoother NQ. LOL

According to you the nominal value of the index, and not the underlying components of the index create "smooth".

Its hot outside, I understand.

 

You didnt grasp the basic math i posted in my reply

NQ = 7500/0.25 = 30,000 ticks in total at the current price. So more smooth than YM which is 26,000. ES is only 11000 ticks to the current price level.