Emini S&P 500 Short Term Trading - Traders Laboratory Forums

MightyMouse · 04-08-2011, 10:03 PM

This thread is dedicated to trading short term trades in the Emini S&P 500 contract. My definition of short term is any trade lasting more than a day and generally not longer than 10 days. Many types of swing trading strategies will fit here.

I have a couple of rules for posting that should help keep it nice and clean.

1. Since these trades allow more time for decision making, if you would like to post your trade, please post where you intend to get in and out before the fact. So, if you are going to post that you got into a short at 1320 when the market is already at 1315, and then please refrain from posting it here. If you want to post that you intend to get short at 1320 when the market is at 1315, then that is fine. If you entered at 1315 short and the market is at 1320 and you are short, then you can post it.
2. You can make any comment you like, but make sure that it is before the fact information. So, if you think that someone should have gotten out at point B because you are brilliant and you knew it was going to turn there, please refrain from posting. On the other hand, if you know it is going to turn at point B and we have not arrived at point B yet, then please share.
3. If you had an order that you say you had in that should have gotten filled and last minute you mysteriously and miraculously decided to pull it and did not post that you were pulling it, you will get called on it.
4. If you post a chart of what you did, you can do so, but only if you indicated what you were going to do before the recorded events on the chart occurred.
5. Lastly, I reserve the right to break your stones if you try to post after-the-fact information and you have to right to break my stones if I were to post after-the-fact information. Let’s keep it real.

I am a discretionary trader and use the dom, T&S, price, volume, and time as my indicators. I am trading live and I generally enter with stop orders. So, there is a certainty if I say that I am getting in at point A and point A is touched then I am in. The same is true on my exits. However, I do exit at market a lot to conserve a profit. I believe that 95% of the work is done after you enter a trade, not before.

Each of the trades I do, I start with a small position and intend on building the position but I do not always have the chance to do so.

I only intend on trading ES on this thread, but might trade something else later on. You do not have to trade ES only, but I ask you all to try to keep it to short term trades as I have defined above.

My hope with this thread is to give newer traders the experience of the ups and downs and decisions that real traders make during the course of the day, week and month. It is important to know how to win and it is equally important to know how to lose. When I began, I struggled with the idea of losses and thought that I was doing something wrong when I lost. The “traders” I knew pretended to have minimal losses and always seemed to catch the turn 1 tick from the high or low. I think the experience of seeing real traders both win and lose when I started trading would have been tremendously helpful to me.

Lastly, I do not intend to teach anyone anything about how or where to enter. I am posting so that you get the experience of trading.

Best of Luck,

Mighty Mouse

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMarketScientist »

I have a question for the ES traders out there. Years ago, many years ago I traded the ES - back in the day when the order would get routed to some dude on the floor who would sometimes accidentally (to his advantage) forget to execute the order or stuff it in his pocket until a very untimely fill. Flash forward many years and with the ES it's always bugged me the 0.25 ticks -- to me it leaves it wide open with the huge volumes on the bid/ask to have the market hit your limit on a target - and never fill.

I had that problem a lot and gave up on the ES and switched to the TF/NQ/YM since that problem went away. Of course the huge volumes on the ES is appealing but this lack of execution unless it goes THROUGH your limit causes a lot of doubt and frustration when you are trading and on paper the market hits your target but you never get the execution.

Wondering how people handle that and if it still is very regular that it occurs?

MMS

Yes it does and for that reason I only trade ES longer term and I enter with stops.

In fact, I am short as we speak at 1322.5 and I am underwater a little. I am hoping we work our way below 1300. I'll start adding to it at 1301 and will add further below and I'll accelerate the adds if the 1300 area acts as resistance. At the moment, my planned stop is currently 3475 and I might reverse there too but that depends on what it looks like then. It developed that nice range in the 20's and 30's that looks to me like we are either going to push through the bottom or blow through the top of it. The direction looks like it is currently down in spite of the late day pullback so I am playing it short and will continue to play it short until it looks like the direction turns from down to up. I will get slapped twice if we get stuck in this range.

This is not a set it and forget it trade so whether any of the above pans out depends on what develops next and has less to do with past action. So, I might have to get out with a small profit without adding or, obviously, I might get stopped out. these trades work maybe 3-4 out of 10 times. So, it's more likely to fail than succeed but that's life.

I am not going to be able to give a real time blow by blow but I will say when I get out or if I am able to add. I do not make decisions based on fear and greed is sort of built into it if supply keeps coming in.

Anyhow in the meantime I need it to get green and since it is underwater it is a good trade for newer traders to watch unfold as a win or a loss without it being an after the fact already in the money trade. I wasn't going to post it since it quickly went profitable when I entered and do not like to post that I am in a winning trade when it is already in the money. Traders with ego issues always seem to be able to take a short a few ticks from the high and also seem to tell you they are short when the trade is 5-6 points in the money. Funny how that happens and funny how they never take losses. Personally, I do not care if I take a loss or if anyone knows I took a loss. I think its important to learn how to lose since trading involves lots and lots of losses. I certainly do not want to lose and will be pissed off if I do lose.

The amount of risk I took on this trade is more than I would normally take on an ES trade, but I killed it in oil today and when I do have a good day, I am allowed to take a trade with added dollar risk. Since I am in this trade, I won't trade anything else until I am out of this and it will suck for me if oil moves 3 dollars on Monday. Possibly TMI

Regards,

MM

MightyMouse · 04-11-2011, 02:09 AM