Browns fan I actually like the way the contract mostly moves the Es for me is harder to nick points on and yes I am only small (at the mo) so have little trouble with slippage. What other reasons apart from slippag do you favour the ES and NQ the ER2 is way to violent for me at the mo Cheers
Bogan, Here's my thoughts on the 4 main e-mini indexes: ES/NQ - provide ample liquidity and ample movements. With the ES at $12.50/tick, I much prefer that vs. $5/tick on the YM. I realize the NQ is also $5/tick, but I find the NQ has better volatility at times. ER2 - as you said, most moves are to the extreme - good or bad. When you are right, it's a great market to be in. When you are wrong, it can hurt. Liquidity also an issue here. In the end, I suppose it's what suits your trading style better; however when the time comes that you want to trade size, I think you'll find the YM inadequate. If the plan is to eventually trade larger size, I would at least watch and monitor the ES and you trade the YM and start paper trading on the ES. I assume most traders would like to be able to trade 20+ contracts at a clip and you will not be able to do that on the YM w/o slippage issues - both going into the trade and exiting.
Maybe you should add zero to your numbers I was watching for a while es and it seams to me that you could easily scalp that thing even with 200, 300, 500 + lot I didn't try that but it would be interesting to know what max number of contracts you could scalp ES before you are gonna get noticed.
I was talking about trading those size lots on the YM. Check the post. Try trading those size lots on the YM and you WILL get noticed with slippage.
Browns . Yeah I see what you mean about watching it and I agree about the slippage I ont think enough people understand what slippage can do to your P/L over one year Cheers
The answer why ES has the largest volume relative to the YM is because the SP500 is used as a legitimate hedge for the index funds based upon the SP500. There are very few index funds based on the Dow, thus less hedging from the players. Now if you are a daytrader you want to play against the most professionals you can because they are the ones that watch what? Right........they watch the basic setups and trade accordingly. Many new traders will cringe at that last statement because new folks first try to reinvent the wheel and or say the bots control the game. .. KISS works, stay in the game long enough and you will agree with me. The good news is that kiss works so well that you only need to watch price......NOTHING else. Now that last statement will also inflame some because again many do not understand how simple trading can be if they understand simple TA and what is behind the greed, fear and self preservation of the players in the game. A misunderstanding of the players in the game is what makes trading so difficult, not the price movements. Volume is not needed at all and the same goes for other indicators, nothing is needed except price alone "IF" one can understand what the players are looking for as price will do what it will do. Their is a huge myth out there that volume can lead price, it is just that.... a myth. If a trader can understand what formed the support/resistance, etc and other simple TA on the charts he/she should be able to know what said traders will do next as price leaves the chicken tracks on the chart....chicken tracks if understood correctly will put you in the other traders heads...so you will think like them and thus you can plan ahead. .. Think what the players are doing, think where they will be influenced by the basic human mind when price movements ping the players fear, greed and self preservation instincts. What makes traders react? Right, fear and greed and saving their own ass. Good luck...and remember this....To understand the other players enough to where you feel your intuitive mind is in sync with theirs is going to require a lot of screen time. Experience is where the mental aspect of trading works wonders, you will never hone the skills any other way. When i first got into trading futures after stocks i was surprised when i read about how long many big shooters said "IT takes a few years".....the truth be known,,,,they are right, the hard part of trading is not the mechanics ....it is the getting inside the heads of others to know what you are doing. Thats when you slice bacon daily. ..
EXACTLY. If you incur slippage on the way in AND/OR the way out, that is very costly. Basically, it makes your wins smaller and losses larger... all b/c you are trading market 1 when if trading market 2 you could avoid those issues.
This is a copy and paste and obviously not everyone will agree. But I thought it relevant. "3. Better Spreads than the E-mini S&P The mini-sized Dow has the same specifications as the popular E-mini S&P contract: * One point in the E-mini S&P = about ten points in the mini-sized Dow * One point in the E-mini S&P = $50; ten points in mini-sized Dow = $50 The key here is that a trader will get picked off on stop runs less frequently if he or she uses the CBOT mini-sized Dow over the E-mini S&P. Why is this? The E-mini S&P moves one point in four quarter-point increments. The mini-sized Dow will move an equivalent ten points in ten one-point increments, giving the trader six extra places to place a stop or target. This is a huge advantage over trading the E-mini S&P and will save a trader a lot of money over the course of a trading career. By trading the mini-sized Dow, the trader is essentially cutting the spread by 60 percent. That money goes straight into the traderâs pocket."
Personally I disagree with the above. I have traded both and find that my ES stops get taken out far less than YM stops. It is much harder to take out resistence and support in ES. It is true that you save a bit on the spread with YM but, imo, it does not overcome the advantage of the power of s/r in ES.
Excellent point Gary - you'll find on the ES that certain areas are heavily respected, whereas on the YM, ER2 you can easily blow thru the same levels. Depending on how you trade, that may be an important consideration.