Posts tagged ‘futures trading’

ES emini trades for July 16, 2009

By , 16 July, 2009, No Comment
emini trading chart ESU9 for 7-16-09

emini trading chart ESU9 for 7-16-09

Charts courtesy of AMP Trading, get a free demo account and paper trade

Very enjoyable day to trade on the es dow emini, especially the afternoon session, which proved to be profitable.  There is no better feeling that being on the right side of a long protracted trade.  The morning was a little choppy and I eeked out a few decent trades, and a loser, but the action was fast and interesting.

I was paying fair close attention to the divergence line on the MACD as the market wanted to change directions early on, and I hate to overstay my welcome in a trade because it usually spells bad news, so I was a little slow to get in and quick to get out, when possible.

There were a variety of banking and financial concerns buffeting the market today, and I had to focus on the chart and ignore all the news.  Seems the banks we bailed out are making money hand over fist again,  hmmm….imagine that.  My Dad always reminded me, “your banker is not your friend”…truer words have never been spoken.  Apologies to any bankers who are offended, but I’ll stick with my old dad on this one.

CIT appears headed for bankruptcy, and this had the market riled up all morning.  JP Morgan Chase posted nice profits, with CITI and the rest of the banking cabal reporting earnings tomorrow.  Probably make for an interesting day…just remember, trade the chart, not the news or the economy.

Go Cubs!  We need a good second half of the season.  I guess I let the cat out of the bag, I am an inveterate Cubs fan.

Emini Trading on the ES emini contract 7-14-09

By , 14 July, 2009, No Comment
ESU9 July 14, 2009

ESU9 July 14, 2009

Charts courtesy of AMP Trading, get a free demo account and paper trade

The market made its usual move around 9:30 and that was about it.  There were some possible trade later in the afternoon as the price swung back in forth between support and resistance, but I was in a catatonic state by then, as the market once again proved to offer little in the way of afternoon price action.  Oddly enough, this particular day the price stayed close to the predicted pivots and deviated very little from the 89 period SMA.

ES Emini Trading for July 13, 2009

By , 13 July, 2009, No Comment

ESjuly1309Charts courtesy of AMP Trading, get a free demo account and paper trade

Well, it wasn’t exactly one of those days you dream about, although it was profitable.  We had a nice move upward and the market treaded water for the rest of the day.  I highlighted the one try and exit for the day, and I am sorry to say that was the end of the action.  Sometimes trading can be very boring and tedious.  I might also add that the boring and tedious days are usually the most profitable, so I suppose I should not complain.

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Trading on the ES Emini Contract Using CCI Entries

By , 9 July, 2009, No Comment

ES Trading 7-9-09

ES Trading 7-9-09

Charts courtesy of AMP Trading

Some pretty long bars today as the market enjoyed a day of volatility without a huge range.  I really enjoyed the trading today, but was fairly conservative.  Notice the entries on the 100 and -100.  I also avoid trades around the 100′s when there has been a lot of activity bouncing around those points.  I have found that these trades can be very uneven and unpredictable.  I like a straighter entry point.

Special Note:

The analyst from several investment firms have been absolutely screaming about the current glut of oil in the US and some have set targets as low as $20.  Of course, I have an inherent distrust of any analyst, but the fundamentals for the price moving downward, as it has been, seem fairly compelling.  I don’t trade the oils, but for those who have mastered this market it would seem a nice story line to cash in on.  I’ll leave that to your judgement, as it is not my area of expertise.

Learning to Trade the Emini through Experience and Discipline

By , 9 July, 2009, No Comment

Something has been bothering me lately, and I feel the need to express my opinion on the topic.  As many experienced, and unexeperienced traders know, trading is not an exact science.  Still, the impulse to trade on one’s “gut feeling” is one of the worst strategies a trader can have.  Remember the axiom:

The market is always right, you are always wrong

I also add a few axioms of my own:

1.  Never let a winning trade become a losing trade, ever.

2.  Never trade without well thought out stops and limits.

3.  When you are clearly on the wrong side of the trade, get out and move on.  Emotional attachment to any trade is the kiss of death.

4.  Trade markets you know, don’t bounce willy-nilly from market to market.  Learn one and trade it well, then you may be ready to move to another market.

5.  Trade the market on paper in a demo account until you can consistently string together five days of winning trades.

6.  Avoid counter-trend trades at all costs.

However, there have been a plethora of one size fits all trading programs that promise fantastic profits.  These programs, or systems, usually sell for thousands of dollars and are usually not nearly as fantastic as the seller promised.  Learn to trade through experience.  Once you have seen a set up two or three hundred times, you will recognize the pattern….then understand that even the most perfect setup may not result in a winning trade.  There is a randomness to the market that makes fools of all of us.  Just don’t compound your foolishness by riding the trade into the ground.

I love trading, and I truly enjoy traders.   Traders are a maverick bunch.   I prefer to scalp, which means I am making very short trades try to earn 2-3 point on a trade.  It is simply my preference, as I have no tolerance for sleeping while I have an active trade.  That’s just me.

Find your trading style, whether it be scalping, swing trading or any other trading style and be the best you can be, because it is a wonderful lifestyle to live.

All the best, and learn to love this wonderful thing called trading.

The emini Trade you Don’t Take

By , 8 July, 2009, No Comment

Trading is a funny thing, especially after you have stared at an emini chart for four or five hours.  A trader can see possibilities in every price move, and usually these potential trades are losers.  Learning to control your emotions and stay disciplined in your trading is one of the most difficult aspects of trading.  To be sure, it is, in my opinion, the MOST important aspect of trading.   In my opinion most traders fritter away their money by making emotional trades they should never have taken.

Emini trading is the process of discerning proper set ups and taking those set ups in a disciplined way.  In past posts have described a number of filtering mechanisms I use to keep me out of bad trades.

1. I try to never take counter trend trades

2. I strike an 89 period SMA and usually take short trades when the price action is significantly below the 89 period average.   When the price action is significantly above the 89 period SMA I concentrate on long trades.

3.  I use DecisionBar, with it’s dynamic support and resistance lines, to get a read on the market range and breadth.

4.  I set specific stops and limits with my trades using the Absolute Range Indicator.

But here is the problem most emini traders experience, they become emotionally attached to their trade. Sometimes the very best looking set up will result in a loss, and there is nothing you can do, as a trader, to change this besides exit the trade and look for a trade.  The problem many traders have is an emotional attachment to their trade…since the trade looked so well in the set up stage, surely it will eventually result in a nice gain.  This is not true.

A good trader learns to cut his losses and lock in his gains in a disciplined manner.  A good trader has no emotional involvement in any trade he makes.  It is akin to a math equation, when it’s time to exit a trade….it’s time to exit a trade.   On the other hand, I have witnesses hundreds of traders hang on to bad trades and ride them right in the ground.

Why?

The have invested their emotions in the trade and are convinced that it should be a good trade.  The market is always right, you are always wrong.  It’s a simple axiom, yet one of the hardest to conquer when trading the emini contracts.  Or any other contract, for that matter.

This is no simple skill to master, as it requires you to think akin to a computer.  After all, we all have emotions, and we all want out trades to succeed.   But a certain percentage of trades are not going to profitable.  That is a fact of trading, so cut your losses when it’s time and find a new trade.

An interesting day, to say the least

By , 8 June, 2009, No Comment
emini trading dow trading

emini trading dow trading

What a day we had, the market fell out of bed from the onset, as economists squabbled over what the “real” unemployment numbers should be. No matter how you look at it, they ain’t good, so to speak. And at the end of the day the financials staged what I would call a miracle rally and drove the Dow into positive territory. There any number of theories being floated as the the nature of this late rise in price, and they range from conspiratorial to fundamental. Heck, I’m just a scalper, I want to stay in the trend.

The late day rallyy was a hard one to stay in as it made no sense, so there was a constant compulsion to pull out with a large gain, but the thing just kept going up, and up, and up. One of the oddest last minute moves I’ve seen. Then again, these are odd times…so what should I expect?

Another easy set up today

By , 4 June, 2009, No Comment
YM trade

YM trade

This was an interesting trade, as the price bounced a third time off the bottom of a short support line, all the indicators, which I have circled, turned to indicate executing a long position. It turned out to be a good trade. The DecisionBar software, which is not shown, all indicated a long trade one bar later. Also notice how I took my profits one bar too soon, the indicators were beginning to flatten out and I felt I was somewhere near the top. This was a fun trade to watch play out.

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