Day Trading the E-mini Futures

[roztom 10]

Looks fishy, out flat 54 on final unit. All in all a decent trade.

 

Good work..I'm suprised they didn't pull 50 - 51 out of there...

[TheNegotiator 13]

Just one-timeframing the day away....

 

Hey, that'd be a great crooner song!

 

(cough) anyway.

 

[joshdance 10]

If you're a fib kind of person...

 

feels like it's time to give the shorts some heat, but let's see.

[roztom 10]

Just one-timeframing the day away....

 

Hey, that'd be a great crooner song!

 

(couch) anyway.

 

 

I personally find it a little weird that it just sank with no urgency like in slow motion...

[gosu 10]

Ya, Rays is good stuff... Did you ever go to the Peanut Butter Restaurant down there?

 

Nope. I've only recently heard about that place from a vegan friend, which made me think it's not a place for an omnivore like me.

 

 

Back to the market: currently left to right on the tilted lateral. Going into the last hour of the day...I think most of the juice has been squeezed out of the short trend for today. Will need a big surge in volume to get the VE on the larger fractal. It's not off the table but I just don't picture that happening.

 

Closing shop early and gonna take the good vibes to the beach. Good chatting with you, roztom.

[joshdance 10]

Hopefully this is not a repeat of stupidity, but I bought 55.25, 2/3 position.

[roztom 10]

Nope. I've only recently heard about that place from a vegan friend, which made me think it's not a place for an omnivore like me.

 

 

Back to the market: currently left to right on the tilted lateral. Going into the last hour of the day...I think most of the juice has been squeezed out of the short trend for today. Will need a big surge in volume to get the VE on the larger fractal. It's not off the table but I just don't picture that happening.

 

Closing shop early and gonna take the good vibes to the beach. Good chatting with you, roztom.

 

Are you over by Venice Beach? When I traded out there I had an office in Santa Monica and lived in Marina Del Ray...

[TheNegotiator 13]

Hopefully this is not a repeat of stupidity, but I bought 55.25, 2/3 position.

 

There's no place in trading for hope :yes sir:

[joshdance 10]

Hopefully this is not a repeat of stupidity, but I bought 55.25, 2/3 position.

 

targets are 59 and 60.25, will stop out for a loss around 54

 

Even if I stop out, I may look to re-enter long.

[roztom 10]

There's no place in trading for hope :yes sir:

 

NOW you tell me.... Why did you wait so long.... ? :crap:

[joshdance 10]

Seems we are consolidating into a nice little pennant/triangle down here... ah joy.

[joshdance 10]

targets are 59 and 60.25

 

waiting... hopefully not in vain.

[joshdance 10]

targets are 59 and 60.25

 

took 57.75 instead of 59, and holding last for 60, stop at 55.50 on remaining

 

EDIT: out 55.50 on remaining..

 

all in all, a very average trade -- subpar entry location, good exit on the scale, but overall fortunate to be a winner.

Edited April 10, 2012 by joshdance

[joshdance 10]

I strongly dislike this volatility. I will never complain about a 10 point day again. After having so many 10 point days, it's hard for me to readjust to "the way it used to be."

 

Largest range so far this year (26.00)

Highest volume this year (2.4M or so by close)

5th or 6th highest range since bull run started on "turnaround tuesday" 10/4/11

Edited April 10, 2012 by joshdance

[gosu 10]

Are you over by Venice Beach? When I traded out there I had an office in Santa Monica and lived in Marina Del Ray...

 

Not too far from there, further east, nearer the "gritty" neighborhoods. I get a kick out of my OC friends coming to visit and freaking out about the area. They think they're about to get mugged when approached by a panhandler. I've lived in rougher places but they're used to new streets lined with palm trees so their perception is a bit warped.

[roztom 10]

Not too far from there, further east, nearer the "gritty" neighborhoods. I get a kick out of my OC friends coming to visit and freaking out about the area. They think they're about to get mugged when approached by a panhandler. I've lived in rougher places but they're used to new streets lined with palm trees so their perception is a bit warped.

 

I liked it out there... I had a CQG TQ20/20 with a satellite dish on top of a building for data...unreal... the only issue was the earthquakes...the building was 9 stories high and it would sway when there were tremors... Not exactly my cup of tea....

 

After trading I would walk from the Marina to the pier in Santa Monica to air my brain out.. great spot and the "scenery" was incredible...

[gosu 10]

I strongly dislike this volatility. I will never complain about a 10 point day again. After having so many 10 point days, it's hard for me to readjust to "the way it used to be."

 

Largest range so far this year (26.00)

Highest volume this year (2.4M or so by close)

5th or 6th highest range since bull run started on "turnaround tuesday" 10/4/11

 

Those are good stats to keep.

 

Today was the third dominant leg after the BO of the 4/3 pennant, and the best one so far for trading RTH. The prior 2 dominant legs had the bulk of the move occurring overnight or on a holiday, leaving the RTH session mostly in nondom modus.

 

I'm not sure about calling today volatile. It was a one-way market, what's commonly called a trend day. I don't particularly care for the term "trend day" because I always look at the day in 3 related but disparate parts that usually require disparate strategies.

 

The strategy for a "trend AM" is always the same: detect the potential for a trend day ASAP, entire on the dominant side, and sit on my hands until midday which usually begins around 8:50 more or less. The strategy protects me against the very strong urge to trade the nondoms, which from experience I know to be not worth the risk of getting a poor price or even missing out on the resumption.

 

If I have to set a stop loss and walk away from the screens to avoid trading around the nondoms, then that's what I do. Sometimes I have to remind myself who is in charge of profits in the partnership because on trend AMs it is easy for me to usurp the market's role.

 

Much has been written on how to detect the potential for a trend day - narrow ranges (nr3, nr7, etc.), surprise side moves, etc. I take a bit more focused approach and want to know the potential for a trend AM, which can be a part of a trend day proper or even a day where the market reverses the morning move in the PM.

 

Finally, it is true that the market's design is such that your volatile days outnumber the one-way days. It is important not to sit on positions in the AM on such days because nondoms can be as profitable as dominants and can erase profits from dominants without action. Most days are of this type and they come in various forms. I detect them by default - once the trend day is taken off the table, I know to go into default mode.

[CYP 10]

I liked it out there... I had a CQG TQ20/20 with a satellite dish on top of a building for data...unreal... the only issue was the earthquakes...the building was 9 stories high and it would sway when there were tremors... Not exactly my cup of tea....

 

After trading I would walk from the Marina to the pier in Santa Monica to air my brain out.. great spot and the "scenery" was incredible...

 

Tom - you old dog! You weren't only enjoying the ocean scenery, but you were also watching the "mountains"... .

[karoshiman 10]

 

...

 

Today was the third dominant leg after the BO of the 4/3 pennant... The prior 2 dominant legs had the bulk of the move occurring overnight or on a holiday, leaving the RTH session mostly in nondom modus.

 

...

 

The strategy for a "trend AM" is always the same: detect the potential for a trend day ASAP, entire on the dominant side, and sit on my hands until midday which usually begins around 8:50 more or less. The strategy protects me against the very strong urge to trade the nondoms, which from experience I know to be not worth the risk of getting a poor price or even missing out on the resumption.

 

... avoid trading around the nondoms...

 

... It is important not to sit on positions in the AM on such days because nondoms can be as profitable as dominants and can erase profits from dominants without action.

 

 

Hi gosu,

 

Interesting comment. First I thought I understood you comment, but your reference to dominants and nondom modus (non-dominants I guess?) confused me. Could you please explain what you mean by that, in particular the way you refer to both?

 

That would be helpful.

 

Thanks!

k

[gosu 10]

Hi gosu,

 

Interesting comment. First I thought I understood you comment, but your reference to dominants and nondom modus (non-dominants I guess?) confused me. Could you please explain what you mean by that, in particular the way you refer to both?

 

That would be helpful.

 

Thanks!

k

 

Yes, I could have been clearer by making explicit that I am referencing different "fractals," for want of a better term. Elliott Wavers would say I am referencing more than one "degree" of trend.

 

The reference to "nondom modus" is to the fractal that overlaps days and connects RTH sessions, what I call the ST (short term). Specifically, I am saying that the RTH sessions following the first two dominant legs after the 4/3 BO are nondom on the ST. Contained within these nondom sessions are, of course, smaller dominant/nondominant moves that are traded by intraday players.

 

With the ST in mind, yesterday's RTH session was a "trend day" comprising the third dominant leg short following the 4/3 BO.

 

All subsequent references to dominant/nondom are with intraday legs in mind, specifically in the AM portion of the day which is from the RTH open to roughly 8:50 a.m. pacific time, give or take a few 5m bars.

 

A bit of background: I always see an RTH session, unless holiday-shortened, as consisting of 3 parts - AM, midday, PM. The open and AM is what I trade primarily; midday I usually break for a meal; and PM I will come back to trade if I think it has potential.

 

My strategy for the AM on what is potentially a trend day is to enter on the dominant side and sit tight all through the AM. This is not as easy as it sounds because it requires a change in the mindset used to trade the AM on most other days, what I call "default" days.

 

On default AM's, the strategy is to take profit at the end of a dominant leg followed by a choice to either reverse and reverse again on the nondom and resumption that follow, or, in the alternative, to sideline through the nondom and reenter on the resumption. In a potential trend AM, I am better off just holding throughout the dominant/nondom cycles without either trading the nondoms (reverse-reverse) or trading around the nondoms (sideline-reenter). I've learned from experience that it is easy to mistime the beginnings and endings of nondom legs as the trend continues on toward lunch (and congestion).

 

On default AM's, the nondoms are more pronounced and there is usually at least one reversal. Consequently, holding through a nondom retrace will result in profit erosion with a likelihood of some type of failure (ftt, fp3, ftr) to follow. Thus, the strategy is to take profit at the end of a dominant leg and to either trade the nondom as well or trade around it.

 

Hopefully this doesn't confuse you further and clears things up at least a little.

 

Cheers. :beer:

[karoshiman 10]

Thank you! That was helpful.

 

 

 

...

 

A bit of background: I always see an RTH session, unless holiday-shortened, as consisting of 3 parts - AM, midday, PM. The open and AM is what I trade primarily; midday I usually break for a meal; and PM I will come back to trade if I think it has potential.

 

...

 

 

 

I've divided the sessions the same way like you did, except for I do trade the PM session nearly always, although the moves might be smaller as compared to the AM session.

 

 

 

...

 

I've learned from experience that it is easy to mistime the beginnings and endings of nondom legs as the trend continues on toward lunch (and congestion).

 

 

 

Yeah... have been underwater yesterday for a looong time... ... managed to make a profit still at the end of the day, but only with very aggressive scalping in the PM session. Not happy about my performance yesterday...

 

 

 

... a likelihood of some type of failure (ftt, fp3, ftr) to follow.

 

 

What do these acronyms mean?

[roztom 10]

Yes, I could have been clearer by making explicit that I am referencing different "fractals," for want of a better term. Elliott Wavers would say I am referencing more than one "degree" of trend.

 

The reference to "nondom modus" is to the fractal that overlaps days and connects RTH sessions, what I call the ST (short term). Specifically, I am saying that the RTH sessions following the first two dominant legs after the 4/3 BO are nondom on the ST. Contained within these nondom sessions are, of course, smaller dominant/nondominant moves that are traded by intraday players.

 

With the ST in mind, yesterday's RTH session was a "trend day" comprising the third dominant leg short following the 4/3 BO.

 

All subsequent references to dominant/nondom are with intraday legs in mind, specifically in the AM portion of the day which is from the RTH open to roughly 8:50 a.m. pacific time, give or take a few 5m bars.

 

A bit of background: I always see an RTH session, unless holiday-shortened, as consisting of 3 parts - AM, midday, PM. The open and AM is what I trade primarily; midday I usually break for a meal; and PM I will come back to trade if I think it has potential.

 

My strategy for the AM on what is potentially a trend day is to enter on the dominant side and sit tight all through the AM. This is not as easy as it sounds because it requires a change in the mindset used to trade the AM on most other days, what I call "default" days.

 

On default AM's, the strategy is to take profit at the end of a dominant leg followed by a choice to either reverse and reverse again on the nondom and resumption that follow, or, in the alternative, to sideline through the nondom and reenter on the resumption. In a potential trend AM, I am better off just holding throughout the dominant/nondom cycles without either trading the nondoms (reverse-reverse) or trading around the nondoms (sideline-reenter). I've learned from experience that it is easy to mistime the beginnings and endings of nondom legs as the trend continues on toward lunch (and congestion).

 

On default AM's, the nondoms are more pronounced and there is usually at least one reversal. Consequently, holding through a nondom retrace will result in profit erosion with a likelihood of some type of failure (ftt, fp3, ftr) to follow. Thus, the strategy is to take profit at the end of a dominant leg and to either trade the nondom as well or trade around it.

 

Hopefully this doesn't confuse you further and clears things up at least a little.

 

Cheers. :beer:

 

Is this market based or time based?

[gosu 10]

What do these acronyms mean?

 

ftt - failure to traverse.

 

fp3 - failure to point 3.

 

ftr - failure to resume.

[gosu 10]

Is this market based or time based?

 

Both. The determination of a trend day beginning (trend AM) is market based. Once the determination is made, the hold through the AM is based on duration alone.

[roztom 10]

Both. The determination of a trend day beginning (trend AM) is market based. Once the determination is made, the hold through the AM is based on duration alone.

 

Yesterday was a somewhat out of sample day.. no rotation... would you hold this through lunch or get out after the morning part of the session?