ES just got stuck in the mud, volume very low at 1,300,000 contracts traded.... average has been approx 1,800,000 for last month.... I had 2 break even trades, one winner and one loser and finished with a 0... well at least I did not chase trades nor show a loss. This is one day where my "no trade first 30 minutes" backfired. We had a terrific short setup right at opening bell. OH,well... I have my rules and I am sticking to them. Last Friday was a +13 points, hitting 5 trades at my 3 point target and one stop out...that was the best day I have had in awhile.... How did everyone else do on ES today?
Went long at 2431. It went against me. I added another contract at 2427. It carried on going down. I added another one at 2423 which was fairly near the low. Covered them all on teh bounce back up at 2430 for some profit.
What kind of short setup did you see if I may ask? If it opened lower than it did I would have shorted 31.5-32 handle but since it opened right there it could have gone either way for me. I stepped in long at 28 and added 25.50, but that flush down caught me by surprise. I couldn't get myself to stop out as there were too many levels there I thought it would bounce. Almost got out at BE (missed by 2 ticks) a couple of times and then held through more heat. I pulled out my longs at 22 and I looked to add more at 18/19 and anything lower would be a death zone, but managed to get out at BE plus costs. Later I was looking to short into 31-32 area but it never got there on time (by 3pm latest). That was one of those scary days when it could have ended up for me badly with a huge loss, especially given the PA from the open. I got lucky. This time. The days like this one remind me that I need to reconsider my discretionary mean reversion trading with averaging down. But I'm too stubborn son of a gun.
Seems like you guys are getting 'tick fucked' and are too focused on the price action and being surprised by what happens on a given trading day. What happened today in the ES has happened a thousand times before with some variation, so no reason to be suprised. The range was actually marginally larger than some of the last 5 days, so that shouldn't be a surprise either. Most days in the ES are fairly normal and it's not unusual with a close pretty much near where we opened or a close near the prior day close. Also, most days don't have a huge sell-off or a huge rally.
Punisher.... my criteria would have put me short at 8:36AM CST at 2427.5 and easily hit my 3 point target...BUT I do not trade the first 20-30 minutes. Many experienced traders advise that. by the way... how the heck is ES still trading and has moved 2434.50...trading should be done till Sunday evening????