Nope, I'm trading bond spreads 1/10 my usual size and making my usual amount. In 2008 when I was trading ED double flies I traded 1/30 my usual ticket, but was taking 5-10 ticks per trade. Had my best year ever.
I'm loving it, up over 1k today, gold bounced, trailing tight stops NUGT etc looking for bounce in DUST etc Haven't used L2 DOM since 2004, I use simple tape reading and 1min charts
You're telling him the opportunity is to make multiples, he's telling you there's a reason he isn't doing that and for him trading smaller and wider works. Obviously he doesn't see or isn't comfortable pushing it, it seems you're projecting onto him unless I missed a post or am misunderstanding.
Nope. Just saying, opportunity there for the kind of thing we all want... the "big score"... the conditions for which don't come around all that often.
When you have to cut ur ex a big check every month, rain or shine, it kinda lowers ur risk tolerance.
I completely understand that and can appreciate that, but not everyone is in a position to do that and/or some would argue they just don't have the balls. No real objections to that view point if that's how you see it either. Also, yes everyone wants to make a lot of money but going for "the big score" I don't think everyone is looking for that. That's not something you should be actively seeking if you're looking to be a consistent long term trader as your primary source of income. Now if you've already been successful for many years or you can afford to take that risk and everything is lining up, than I have no objections to that either. It's just not everyone fits in the same shoe.
I started this thread partly for grins. I have a friend in Chicago who normally trades 100-200 lots of ES... he sent me an email saying "he had his best week ever in points... 309... but he was only trading 5-lot." That's volatility for you.
What I do with this volatility: No market orders except for stops, larger stops, smaller sizes and huge potential profits. Liquidity is key and so far so good for small guys. It looks like I "scalp" for a minimum of 20 ES points now (80 ticks). Just amazing. I bought more TLT. I was caught on the wrong side the EC (EURUSD), few days ago. I am still a big fan of Crude Oil. And even when I see (huge) opportunities with the RTY, the lack of liquidity in this market scares me. So regarding the question, I have very mixed feelings: This kind of volatility is most of the time terrific for my trading activities. Unfortunately, I think this mass hysteria is incredibly dangerous for main-street.
309 points x 5 lots = 1545 points = 77250 USD 15 points x 100 lots = 1500 points = 75 00 USD So, if you have to scale down by a factor of 10-20 because of the higher volatility and need for larger stops, the end result in $$$ may not be that big in the end. Unless you have brass balls, scale down less and/or add to your winners by pyramiding a position.