Quick poll - will the market do something the rest of today! (Mon, 5/7)

[brownsfan019 17]

Well, not much going on today thus far.

 

What do you think?

 

Note - I really don't care why you vote for what you did... This is just like watching paint dry and I thought we could do something to pass the time...

[TinGull 10]

I vote a big helluva lotta nuthin

[brownsfan019 17]

Well that was an uneventful day.

[Soultrader 12]

lol omg. Today sucked with the indexes and even with the bonds. Anyone feeling like the indexes are not the ideal place for day traders at the moment?

 

I had to scalp all morning for 7-10 ticks a trade.

[Guest cooter]

Another reason to look at the Ags instead. As I've said before, why fight for your points if you don't have to....

[notouch 10]

I've had a YM position for over a month now which has built up 1000 points and I've just been adding to it on pullbacks. I can't imagine trying to day trade the indices right now. It must be so frustrating to see it go up and up if you're just scalping a few points here and there. I also played GBP/USD on the short side and ZB on the days of the big economic releases. I'm loving trading more than ever right now - low stress, low risk, high reward. I'm never going back to scalping again.

[brownsfan019 17]

lol omg. Today sucked with the indexes and even with the bonds. Anyone feeling like the indexes are not the ideal place for day traders at the moment?

 

I had to scalp all morning for 7-10 ticks a trade.

 

James - today was just flat out terrible in my opinion. Hence the reason for the post.

 

Other than today, it hasn't been too bad for me. Obviously so much goes into what a trader considers good trading areas, but I'm willing to go with the flow.

[Soultrader 12]

The current market condition has really made me a scalper. I am liking the bond markets alot better at the moment compared to the indexes.

 

notouch: Great stuff there you got on the YM. I still remember the day you went long.

[notouch 10]

Thanks Soultrader. I'm glad I kept a record of that trade on this forum. One thing I love about this forum is that there's something here for all timeframes. I've benefitted most from the MP and VSA stuff because it suits my preference for the longer timeframes but there's plenty here for intraday traders and scalpers. I'm nervous with YM at these levels - right at the top of long term trend channels. No uptrend lasts forever and profits have to be taken eventually. It's just a question of the market finding the right value then range trading will be back.

 

Any plans to make a video on how you trade the bonds?

[Soultrader 12]

Sure, I can make one. I only use one strategy based on MP so far but works effectively. I find it important to analyze the bigger timeframes with the bonds even with intraday trading.

 

Never countertrend. If bonds open above value, go with the flow. If below, go with the flow.

[notouch 10]

That would be interesting. I usually trade straight off of the big economic numbers e.g. last Friday's NFP. There tends to be an initial spike but then it follows through for the rest of the day. Like you say, go with the flow.

[Soultrader 12]

What happened that day was interesting. Both the buyers and sellers stepped off the bid/ask. Usually the bid/ask is 1000+ cars thick. Approx 2 minutes before the numbers this thickness decreased to less than 20-30 cars at the bid/ask. The moment numbers came out, buyers just withdraw their bids dropping prices over approx 32 ticks. I am not sure how many lots traded at each price on the decline but i am assuming it wasnt alot until it hit below 111. After that it was a full on rally that continued on the rest of the day and the following. The bonds are currently trading above a key resistance at the moment and I am looking for longs today.

[bakrob99 11]

Hi Notouch ....

 

With that much cushion in your YM trade ... how many points of a stop loss have you carried for the past month... Have you been trailing it up or just watching the rise for any change in direction signal? or do you use a stop loss?

[notouch 10]

bakrob99 I don't use trailing stops because they tend to take you out at the worst levels I find. I'm looking for signs of a reveral like an exhaustion spike to start scaling out of my position. I haven't moved my stop so it's currently over 1000 points away.

[notouch 10]

Soultrader, that was definitely a very unusual thing to happen. There was a period this time last year when the bonds started moving 30 seconds before the NFP number. It happened about 3 times and led to a Department of Labor investigation. What happened last Friday was weird because the number was very obviously bullish for bonds but the spike was down. This guy Bonds says there's a rumour that a fund or firm inputted the wrong number into its system which sounds like a likely explanation to me. This is why I always listen to NewsStrike when trading currencies or bonds because bonds especially will always follow the fundamentals.