How do day traders make money.....very simply, by buying low and selling higher, and selling high and buying lower, not difficult really, just the trader, armed with a mulititude of everybody's else opinions making it difficult really, I suppose. Do it yourself, sod everybody elses view is all I can say, what works for one, doesn't for another etc.
...morning appt is running late, so I have some time...
The Dow Jones is controlled by mechanical trading systems, imo. The reversal points of the Dow are inviolate, as set by the Dow Cash (not the futures, except in the overnight session). I teach to always trade WITH the Mechanicals, anything else is a 'counter trend' trade..which is ok, just don't enter and walk away from the market, you're profit objective is likely to be swiftly hit then a reversal against your original trade entry will be in the cards and you shall be stopped out.
The Dow moves at TWO definite time/price speeds - students are taught how to read that - based on the 'speed' the market will only move 'x' points in 'x' minutes, so when you see a mechanical overbought or oversold scenario you take the opposite direction (trading the likely reversal) with a risk of about 6 to 12 ticks max (rarely that large).
The e-mini's were created with new technology (imo) and set up as a profit center for the Mechanical Trading Systems and the brokers as cash cows. No matter what the size of the market at any given time, the emini Mechanicals will automatically and instantly adjust their trading size to handle it -- this is the major difference between the emini index futures and the open outcry for the S&P, etc -- liquidity is rigid in the outcry biz model. As long as you trade a recognized mechanical trading system Institutional Stop, you can enter a 50 or 100 lot via limit and get a great fill. If you are entering at a "non-Institutional Stop" then you're likely to get a bunch of slippage. [you can verify this easily within Tradestation by adjusting your time & sales window lot size and watch when the big stops are hit...excellent fills with sizes > 30 lots all day long, every day]
This type of trading runs counter to many 'myths', 'conventional wisdom', and
Linus security blankets that have been worshiped for years, so it is unpopular and rattles some cages.
I don't freaking care. Somebody with a disciplined, objective trading style (like Lee) can nail many likely low risk reversal points almost every day.
The
Methodology breaks down a little when the market is in a 40 point trading range for hours..in that case you move your timeframe out to 'x' minutes/hours based on the time of day and look for the "codes" be to be hit or ignored or violated..that DOES take some experience..however, futures traders DON'T make money in small trading range markets, so this does not happen frequently..usually a mid-day announcement is imminent and the Mechanicals are locked in place waiting for their move once the announcement comes out....so when this happens, you just take each overbought and each oversold and get out at the first or second profit objective...otherwise the Dow is a speedy PT Boat and "trends" 200 to 300 points every single day (intraday, counting the overnight session after 6 am ET).
The
DayRaider Upgrade nails a lot of the trading ranges at
DR 2.2 did not, matter of fact I'd say EVERY trading range reversal that
DR 2.2 did not. You'll see the proof of the pudding via daily statements in the near future.
To each his own, that's fine, no problem there.
The Mechanical Day Trader
