ES Emini Day Trading:  Eight Habits of Successful Trading Scalpers

Not everyone day trades in the same manner, but successful scalpers tend to share some similar characteristics.  Over the years, I have noticed that:

1.  A good scalper is familiar with the contract he is trading.  He has extensive experience trading the contract, and most scalpers will tell you that every futures contract has it’s own idiosyncracies that make it unique.  Trading a contract you are unfamiliar with can be fun, if you are trading low contract numbers and trying to learn, but it is a tough place to try and make money.

2.  A good scalper is in complete control of his trading account.  He does not overtrade or trade more contracts than his pre-set risk tolerance.  There is often a tendency among less talented scalpers to start trading larger contract amounts if they find themselves having a bad day.  A good scalper does not try to over compensate and stays within the parameters he lives by in his trading life.  Doubling down is not a good way to make up for successive losing trades.

3.  A good scalper is self-disciplined and stays within himself.  He has a system and his goal is to execute his system flawlessly.  He does not take on a risky trade that is not within the parameters of his entries, and he does not bail out of a trade that is still within his parameters if he starts feeling bad about the trade.  The ability to stay under control during difficult trading times is the hallmark of a great scalper.

4.  A good scalper has a solid understanding of his own ability.  Some markets are very difficult to trade, especially when the price action is whipshawing back and forth and there is no clear trend.  There are risky techniques to trade these markets, but they involve considerable risk which is probably outside the risk parameters of the scalpers.   Trading is not like Texas Hold ‘Em, you never go all in, and you never bluff.

5.  A good scalper realizes that the market is always right and he is always wrong.  This is a tough one to swallow, but when I make a losing trade, even though the set up was just exactly what I was looking for and the price started moving in the expected direction, then turns south and I get stop out, I am wrong.  The market is a constant, so it is always right.  It may not always be logical, but it is the ultimate decider of trading truth.

6.  A good scalper keeps track of his trading.  Most good scalpers keep a trading diary and perhaps even the daily chart for every day they trade.  I frequently go back six months and look at the things I did well and some of the things I did poorly.  It is part of the method of learning to trade to keep track of where you have been and revisit that place from time to time.  You don’t live in the past or dwell on your mistakes, you learn from your mistakes.

7.  A good scalper controls all the outside variables in his trading environment.  Many traders listen to music while they trade, some prefer silence, but very few listen to the trendy market television shows that blare out all sorts of speculation and rumor.  Scalpers trade the chart in front of them, and that chart contains all the information they need.  There is no need for some television talking head to skew your thinking, and it can happen.  The trading atmosphere should be away from the family, tv, radio anything that can distract, and the family should understand that while dad is trading he should be left to trade.

8.  And finally, a good trader has a healthy perspective on life.  He understands that as a scalper he does not have to worry about the broader trends effecting the economy or the world, at least from a trading standpoint.   He knows that all the information he needs is right there in the price action and indicators he has come to rely upon, and he trust his system to serve him well.  Trading isn’t everything in his life, but it is his income.  But trading gives him the time to spend with his children and family, his leisure time is enhanced, and he has a chance to make the world a better place instead of working long hours in the corporate life.

I am a long time retail and institutional trader who now only trades part time, usually in the morning. I enjoy writing informational articles about my style of trading so others may benefit.

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