ES EMINI Trading - The gap and others

This is funny... when I worked on the software, I was looking for a trader/programmer . Now that I trade, I find a trader/programmer...

I day trade during the first 30 minutes of the market, no swing or long term positions (yet). 100% of my day is in front of a computer screen so I find this forum to be reviving.

My direction, in most cases, is dictated by the GAP but my entries are discretionary, I look at 2 charts to determine levels of "argument" and place my entry at or around those levels. I use t&S to keep my eyes busy :) I think that the only way to analyze T&S is by a computer program, I cannot base a decision on the t&S data flow that comes in.

To me, trading is about managing your risk and saving money for tomorrow. We all know that a trade can go either way and that no wins or losses are guaranteed.

but God I enjoy it :)
 
I can't think of a more rewarding thing to do to be frank. I wish I had discovered this years ago. Having said that, I don't think I was mature enough to do this years ago and age, life experience and self awareness have helped tremendously I suspect.
 
Hi aversano

How do you decide your entry in the first 30 minutes of trade? What factors do you use in determining your direction on each trade? You mention 'the gap' ..please can you elaborate..How tight do u place ur stops

cheers

aversano said:
This is funny... when I worked on the software, I was looking for a trader/programmer . Now that I trade, I find a trader/programmer...

I day trade during the first 30 minutes of the market, no swing or long term positions (yet). 100% of my day is in front of a computer screen so I find this forum to be reviving.

My direction, in most cases, is dictated by the GAP but my entries are discretionary, I look at 2 charts to determine levels of "argument" and place my entry at or around those levels. I use t&S to keep my eyes busy :) I think that the only way to analyze T&S is by a computer program, I cannot base a decision on the t&S data flow that comes in.

To me, trading is about managing your risk and saving money for tomorrow. We all know that a trade can go either way and that no wins or losses are guaranteed.

but God I enjoy it :)
Click to expand...
 
I pick a direction based on pre market trend and gap.Entry is based on volume and areas or "argument" on the chart. I try to read the waves. is it a reversal? is it a pullback? continuation? my stops are between 1.5 to 3 points. not less, not more.

I have a very limited experience so please take that into consideration.
 
robster970 said:
I can't think of a more rewarding thing to do to be frank. I wish I had discovered this years ago. Having said that, I don't think I was mature enough to do this years ago and age, life experience and self awareness have helped tremendously I suspect.
Click to expand...

Same here, I am at a stage of my life that I cannot rely on the markets as a source of income to support my family.
Time will tell but I hope to have a 30 contracts entry somewhere in the future. it's the potential that keeps me trading. after debating with myself for quite awhile I honestly believe that most people fail due to the lack of management and realization that there is no holy grail.You need to know how to extract the useful information. To me its a battle of emotions. Again, I might be wrong but this is the way I view it.

My day starts with a trade (and a few diapers) that's managed by my platform. I get ready to leave and hear one of the following sounds "Target Filled" or "Stop Filled" needless to say which one brings a smile on my face but they both end up as a line in my track record. Then platform goes off until 4:15 when I gather information for tomorrow.
 
I meant to say I don't swing trade rollover days. I do gap trade them though. I'm long.
 
My platform requires me to manually change the contract... and I didn't...
I traded the March contract, my stop was hit and then it bounced all the way up.

Rob, I assume you traded the 06 contract and used its yesterday's close?
 
Last edited:
Sorry man, I ended up getting distracted with some other stuff going on. To answer your question - yes. I don't swing trade though because I always feel that the volume is transitory on rollover day so price movements always seem a bit lacking to me.

Business as usual tomorrow though. I also avoid expiration fridays too. Just had some bad experiences with them so choose to not play those days.
 
To the person who sent me an IM. Screen time made the difference for me. I use ninja trader's market replay feature. By replaying months of data i developed an approach, simmed it and now trade it live.
it's a never ending process.

Read this article found on CNBC http://www.cnbc.com/id/35796139/
 
Last edited:
robster970 said:
The story goes along the lines of:

  • Trading friend tells me it is entirely possible to build system to trade profitably
  • Lurk around here and read stuff
  • Start building system and post question
  • Get lots of advice and continue to build the app
  • Realise that I should learn to trade so I can program things back into the system
  • Start to understand that trading price only is where it's at
  • Start to outperform system and move from demo to live trading
  • Never looked back.............
Click to expand...

You've been spending too much time on CrapStories.com!
 
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