How Many TRADES

[SONICSCOOTER 10]

Simple question, how many different markets, shares, currencies do you follow and trade. Do you concentrate on 1 or 2, or many at once.

 

Thanks Shane.

[wrbtrader 10]

  SONICSCOOTER said:

Simple question, how many different markets, shares, currencies do you follow and trade. Do you concentrate on 1 or 2, or many at once.

 

Thanks Shane.

 

I follow closely many different key markets to help me trade one market called Russell 2000 Emini TF futures.

[steve46 12]

Hello

 

I monitor markets by country and time period...Asia during the early afternoon, Europe...throughout the evening, I trade the DAX and London open and if possible pre-position myself to trade the S&P 500 Futures when they open at 6:30am PST.....

[Mysticforex 13]

Only Currencies. Primarily the London Market, sometimes into the New York Market.

I like the GBP crosses, GBP/USD...GBP/JPY...GBP/CHF.

[henryduncan12 10]

I concentrate on only one that is forex market.

[SONICSCOOTER 10]

Maybe i should be more to the point, how many instruments do you trade, ie just 1 forex pair or several, or just 2 or 3 shares or more.

 

Regards Shane....

[MightyMouse 12]

I trade 1 or 2 instruments if daytrading, but only one at a time. Longer term I can trade a couple but generally focus on 1.

[BlueHorseshoe 10]

As a VERY general rule, the higher the frequency with which you trade, the fewer markets you need to trade. Floor traders used to make fortunes scalping just a single market; a trend following fund holding positions for months or years will often trade upwards of a hundred markets.

 

Ultimately though, it's up to you. Have a play around trading in sim - how does it feel if you try and follow gold, crude, the ES, and the Euro all at once? What about if you just trade wheat? You'll quickly discover your own preferences if you're new to trading - just try not to lose lots of money doing so.

 

Hope that's helpful.

 

BlueHorseshoe

[MadMarketScientist 11]

Trade options on 30-35 stocks ...

 

MMS

[alwaysastudent 10]

Autotrade Fx

 

Options on 1 ETF and 5 stocks. However this is due to laziness running scans, when actively scanning no restrictions.

[SONICSCOOTER 10]

Hi, thanks for the replies.

 

Regards Shane.

[bidie 10]

  alwaysastudent said:

Autotrade Fx

 

Options on 1 ETF and 5 stocks. However this is due to laziness running scans, when actively scanning no restrictions.

 

 

--------

What do you use to run scans? Thx in advance------

[bidie 10]

  mitsubishi said:

Where else could you find this kind of advice?

Yes Scooter,try not losing money and see how you get on.On the other hand you may wanna try losing money first and see if you like that better:) sorry horse jk

 

Your basic question is a bit like asking Mozart how many notes he needs to write a symphony....

-------------

Here is a more pertinent answer I believe- it was posted by someone a while ago-

 

-

http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/e-mini-futures-trading-laboratory/12147-emini-has-best-intraday-trends-2.htmlWhile it is true that these are all highly correlated markets, there are some large differences in the way that they trade every day. I like to trade where there is the most movement and trend.

 

I look at these markets from a mathematical standpoint by looking at 3 things:

 

The AverageTrue Range In Dollars

The Open to Close Range to Average True Range Ratio

The Current Initial Margin Amounts.

 

Currently as of March 3, 2012. The 10 day Average True Range computed in US Dollars for the 5 markets is as follows:

 

TF $1,501 per day range

EMD $1,366 per day range

ES $647 per day range

YM $544 per day range

NQ $532 per day range

 

So, my observation is that the same intraday swing in the TF is almost 3 times a large in dollars as the YM and 2.3 times as large as the ES. Or put another way, if your goal is to make $500 per day trading one of these markets, you would have to net approximately 1/3 or 33% of the daily range in the TF, 37% of the EMD, 77% of the ES, 92% of the YM and 94% of the NQ.

 

How well they trend during the day can be looked at by the Open to Close Range to Average True Range Ratio. This shows the percentage of a candlestick body vs. the high to low range.

 

Current 10 Average Values are:

 

TF 51%

EMD 40%

ES 41%

YM 41%

NQ 40%

 

This suggests to me that the TF trends better during the day, while the others back and fill more. My own theory for these differences is that there are fewer scalping systems attacking and ruining the daily trends in the less popular TF and EMD, which can be seen in the lower volumes and open interests in these contracts.

 

The 3rd thing that I look at is which market gives me the "best bang for the buck" in my account by using the Current Margin Rates. I usually compare this by testing my automated system results over a period of time using the same style of system on each market versus the margin rate. A simpler comparison is the compare the Average Daily Range in Dollars versus the Margin Amount.

 

Current tradestation initial margins are:

 

TF $7,535

EMD $7,500

ES $5,000

YM $3,750

NQ $3,500

 

To compare:

 

TF $1,501 ATRinDollars / $7,535 Margin = 20%

EMD $1,366 / $7,500 = 18.2%

ES $647 / $5,000 = 12.9%

YM $544 / $3,750 = 14.5%

NQ $532 / $3,500 = 15.2%

[alwaysastudent 10]

  bidie said:

--------

What do you use to run scans? Thx in advance------

 

MachTrader in the beginning and now MetaStock.

[TimRacette 11]

The smaller the time frame the more precise you have to be with your entry's and exits so for that reason I try and focus on one set of principles across a couple futures markets when day trading.

 

When swing trading stocks I look at a wider variety, but longer time frame. I'm a big proponent of learning to trade by swing trading stocks.

[philipwade 10]

I generally go with currencies- EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/CHF

[BlueHorseshoe 10]

  mitsubishi said:

Where else could you find this kind of advice?

Yes Scooter,try not losing money and see how you get on.On the other hand you may wanna try losing money first and see if you like that better:) sorry horse jk

 

It's stating the bleeding obvious, I know!

 

But then when I started out I pretty much jumped in head first with a live account, in part perhaps because I didn't even know sim existed. It's easy to forget what it's like to be completely new to trading, especially for those of you who have many more years experience than myself or the thread starter.

 

BlueHorseshoe

[Obsidian 10]

  SONICSCOOTER said:

Simple question, how many different markets, shares, currencies do you follow and trade. Do you concentrate on 1 or 2, or many at once.

 

Thanks Shane.

 

I focus and trade 24 currency pairs+gold

In addition I follow major stock markets+oil

[richard branson 10]

Currently I m concentrate on Forex Market. I have gain a lot of profit from forex market.

[Eddie Z 10]

  SONICSCOOTER said:

Simple question, how many different markets, shares, currencies do you follow and trade. Do you concentrate on 1 or 2, or many at once.

 

Thanks Shane.

 

I concentrate on equities. I have a system and only follow the stocks that fit my criteria, which could be several at the same time.

[Predictor 11]

I recommend a trader to focus 1 or 2 markets only.... I only trade a single market ES. I view myself as a specialist. Can you really be a specialist in 10 different products?

 

As others noted, the only way I would trade many products is if I had lower frequency systems that triggered. As a small trader, I can't afford to be surprised by a market I'm not an expert in. Larger traders will probably find some value in selectively and carefully expanding but I've always felt that the right way to trade was to focus on 1 market.

[steve46 12]

I think it depends on your background and skills. I managed a book of business for a large institution for many years and followed all the majors AND the bond (Treasury). Full time occupation, so I was expected to know everything about that part of the business....if you work elsewhere to make a living, you have to know your limits and decide just how much you can do.....If you're not making money, scale back and figure it out....if you're a retail trader, don't fool yourself thinking you know it all (previous post is a great example)....best thing you can do is to be a good student of the game.

 

Currencies are a bit different than other markets.....you HAVE TO to be able to follow world news and understand how political developments affect your market...you HAVE TO be able interpret the significance of pending events....one way to do this is to head over to Forex Factory and use the economic calendar (its free)....check out each pending event and ask yourself "do I know what this event (usually a report) means to the market I trade"....if the answer to that question is "yes" usually you're good to go....the next step is to understand how events that effect one market bleed over into others....when you get to that point....chances are good you can move to other markets and make money consistently

 

Good luck and if you make money, remember to save some of it, and don't let the BS artists take any of it...

 

Merry Christmas

[sergso 10]

  steve46 said:

Currencies are a bit different than other markets.....you HAVE TO to be able to follow world news and understand how political developments affect your market...you HAVE TO be able interpret the significance of pending events....one way to do this is to head over to Forex Factory and use the economic calendar (its free)....check out each pending event and ask yourself "do I know what this event (usually a report) means to the market I trade"....if the answer to that question is "yes" usually you're good to go....the next step is to understand how events that effect one market bleed over into others....when you get to that point....chances are good you can move to other markets and make money consistently

 

Sounds like an impossible task. What about pending but unknown events?

[ntrader 10]

  SONICSCOOTER said:

Simple question, how many different markets, shares, currencies do you follow and trade. Do you concentrate on 1 or 2, or many at once.

 

Thanks Shane.

 

In today's globalized world you have to follow all the major markets in order to make the right decision, for example, a decision from ECB about interest rates wiil have an impact in currencies in european stocks and also to a large number of US stocks, the debate about fiscal cliff is affecting all the markets and the commodities, etc.

[nelsonhimes 10]

I am always going with the one and that is forex market