Day Trading the E-mini Futures

[sdoma 10]

JESUS this action is fucking ugly!

[TheNegotiator 13]

If it's likely to do one thing and it's not doing it, it'll usually do the opposite. I'm on the sidelines for now though until it gets a bit clearer what it is going to do.

[TheNegotiator 13]

Thinking about selling on a break then retest of this trend line. fairly tight stop needed though.

[TheNegotiator 13]

Not too comfortable but small short here. Not the ideal time of day so we'll see how this one goes.

[TheNegotiator 13]

Unfortunately the $ is showing signs of reversal. To me, the minis are too dependent on the $ at the moment so I scratched. Could be wrong but I don't want to get chopped either!

[TheNegotiator 13]

What is the betting that the ES will close this 30min candle between 1315.00-1315.75? Pretty high I reckon, but if it doesn't it could be a clue to what happens next.

[TheNegotiator 13]

My idea for the ES today:-

 

Don't get chopped!! Memorial Day Monday could see lots of book squaring before the weekend.

[TimRacette 11]

Along a specific setups, I prefer to limit myself to certain times of the day (mainly I stay away from the US evening time frames). Over the years I've discovered trading less lead to more efficiency and larger returns.

 

Rather than limit myself to a # of trades to take, if the market has NOT produced any setups in the morning I will usually close out early. On a day where lots of setups are occurring and hitting my targets I will continue to trade. This ensures I won't over trade on bad days, but also take advantage of profitable markets on good days. Just my two cents.

[tradeemini500 10]

Agreed. We only trade when our setups present themselves.

Edited June 21, 2011 by MadMarketScientist
url removed

[sdoma 10]

My my, does your website contain more such nuggets of knowledge?

[TimRacette 11]

My my, does your website contain more such nuggets of knowledge?

 

Thank you. Derived from years of experience and learning from some of the best traders in the business. Best of luck to you.

[sdoma 10]

Thank you. Derived from years of experience and learning from some of the best traders in the business. Best of luck to you.

 

Not you, I was talking about the emini500 guy. He made a one line throwaway post and pimped his site. I actually like your blog entries and contributions.

Edited June 20, 2011 by sdoma

[tradeemini500 10]

There wasn't much more for me to include. Tim pretty much summed it up in the post above mine.

 

We've also found there to be advantageous times of the day to trade. If a trade fits our criteria than we will take it regardless of TOD although most of our ES trading is done during the day session.

 

 

trademini500

[TheNegotiator 13]

12th July 2011.

 

Idea for the day:-

 

Don't get stuffed in what is basically a really balanced trade!!!

 

:crap:

[UrmaBlume 10]

My my, does your website contain more such nuggets of knowledge?

 

LOL - Well said - He does indeed take the trite and the obvious to a whole new level.

[iwshares 10]

12th July 2011.

 

Idea for the day:-

 

Don't get stuffed in what is basically a really balanced trade!!!

 

:crap:

 

A few weeks later, but I'm intrigued, what was the market doing when you posted that comment?

 

Also I've noticed you have a similar trading approach to what I'm moving towards which leads me to ask:

 

Edwards and McGee suggest a 3% change in a shares price (equity markets) following a breakout provides confirmation of a breakout, though for futures it seems like a move could be all but over if left that long. Have you, or others ever looked at this?

 

 

Thanks

[TheNegotiator 13]

Hi iwshares.

 

I can't remember exactly. I think when I posted that comment, the market was 'noisy' but the profile was very 'normal'. Means that it was moving quickly one way and back but actually was quite balanced. Later on there was a break higher followed by a reversal on failure.

 

I haven't heard of this 3% breakout idea but I believe your observation on the move maybe being over(at least the first push anyway) is pertinent. You'd probably be in most cases filling the orders of the guys who are suggesting you trade off that basis. I think the way to go is to do your research, make a judgement call as early as is reasonable, then watch for signs that the market is in some sort of agreement with you. i.e. manage the trade. The problem is for many who try to wait for 'confirmation' is that by the time they get it, price has changed so as to increase the risk in taking the trade.

[TheNegotiator 13]

I'd just like to put up a quick note here on trading US economic releases. Don't bother. If you take a look at the minis today from RTH open, the selling was sustained into the ISM figure. So to me, this is more than just responsive selling. Someone had the nod on what was a terrible figure. Happens frequently. If we go much lower here though, who knows, another 5/6 day in the making?

[TheNegotiator 13]

29.25 point IB in ES so far in just over 30 minutes of RTH. That's pretty crazy.

Edited August 1, 2011 by TheNegotiator

[sdoma 10]

Yeah, I was pretty stoked to see a 240 pt selloff in the dow in 35 minutes. I sold on the open and closed shortly before the news release with a good profit, and I was actually a buyer on reentry to the IB. We'd had such a huge selloff, so fast that unless it was a market crash it was unsustainable and chances of at least a partial retrace were high.

 

This was one of those days where I fired on all cylinders, and thank God.

 

Anyway, the retracement appears to be sputtering. Interesting, I was hoping we'd have a sharp move up to finish it.

[TheNegotiator 13]

I think it's quite telling to look at a TICK chart next to ES. Didn't seem to be as much consensus with the stocks early on so maybe the sell-off was futures driven. I actually took a 5 tick loss buying the Friday POC/close but I'm quite happy I took it off where I did! Well played on your trade mate! (Don't give it back!!)

 

The low in ES was pretty good so I suspect that it'll hold unless we start to look weak again. Then who knows! Test down to 1266 and beyond maybe...

 

Dollar index is vertical at this moment.

[sdoma 10]

 

The low in ES was pretty good so I suspect that it'll hold unless we start to look weak again. Then who knows! Test down to 1266 and beyond maybe...

 

We're on the same frequency. I bought a tick off the low and it turned out well. We'll see if we can retrace from here or if this is just a scalp, but scalps in this environment pay like normal day trades.

[TheNegotiator 13]

Right. Quick in, quick out and don't get married to any trade as it'll kill you! You can easily take say 4 x 2-3 pt 'scalps' but picking a 10 point winner... I'm just not sure it's necessary.

[sdoma 10]

Right. Quick in, quick out and don't get married to any trade as it'll kill you! You can easily take say 4 x 2-3 pt 'scalps' but picking a 10 point winner... I'm just not sure it's necessary.

 

No, but in this kind of a market that is this stretched to the downside you could easily see a large retracement. If you are long and it really starts eating through offers, you might want to at least trail a stop behind a part of your position.

 

Interestingly, the market hasn't made new lows but has remained weak. I'm interested to see where we go from here. This is the type of market where I have to constantly remind myself not to predict.

 

PS Can you post a chart of the dollar index? I don't have it on my feed.

[TheNegotiator 13]

I agree totally with the retracement idea. However, the manner in which we have sold off makes me more than a little suspect. So right now, I'm not too worried if I miss a big move up although I'm switched onto the possibility of one.

 

As for dollar index, you sure you don't have it? Which feed do you have?