Mini Dow

[DAVIEGRANT]

Sold @ 9187
10 pts in the bag!!

+20pts in total for the day.

I'm off for a glass of wine.

My first impressions of the mini-dow.Well........I'll see what tommorow brings.??

 

[DAVIEGRANT]

Options:

I sold that last order at market, rather than Limit order.
Thanks for advice
Davie

 

[options]

Well done Davie

Do that every day, even if it's just 10 points and you will be quickly building up a cash flow. Pick your trades, don't be suckered.
Get it wrong, which will happen and cut it without thinking about it. (It takes a time to build up a gut instinct for this and you will suffer some loses that hurt, but these are good for you even though it will not seem like it at the time.) Whatever you do. don't hesitate to cut. The times when you cut wrongly, ie when you are proved right all along, will greatly be out numbered by the trades that you exited with only a small loss.

Won't be long before you are swinging properly, and then you will have a grin.

 

[esiotrot]

hi all

Just a query as I have just started trading the mini DOW; with expiry of June very close (19th?) are you trading the June contract of have you swapped to Sept?

Volume seems higher for September.

 

[oatman]

Thanks matey, I wondered why the vol was crap. I only started playing the dow last week and meant to ask about expiry. I've just gone to U. :cheesy:

Cheers

 

[Skimbleshanks]

In the US expiry is the 3rd Friday of the expiration month (June), and rollover day is the Thursday one week and one day before the last trading day.

So yesterday was the first day of the U contract (September).

 

[Trader777]

hi davie - I have traded the mini dow futures exclusively for 1 year. It is a very fast market and your style must suit. i have other major stock indexes running as proxies. It will surprise you to know that an excellent proxy is the SOX...watch it and see. most use the DIA.

You should have a direct access platform such as PATS or J-Trader if day trading and wide stops if swing trading. don't trade any other market because this one will demand your full attention.Commissions are high with regard to R/R ratio so multiple entries cost alot.

It doesn't matter who your broker is if you subscribe to Execution only. They are very much the same. I prefer to have my accounts in Chicago. Brokers do not have a good knowledge of futures so learn this trade yourself.

Watch your ........

 

[stevem12]

Can any of you mini dow traders help me with market orders. Do the fills for market orders suffer with a lot of slippage? I`ve thought of moving to them, but if there`s a couple of points slippage on sizable orders theres little point. Thanks.
Steve.

 

[Trader333]

stevem12,

You should only get slippage, or apparant slippage, in a fast moving market or where the spread between the bid and ask is wide, for the Dow it shouldnt be more than 1-2 points. The only other issue is the distance that the market will have moved between placing your order and the time taken for it being filled and this will appear as slippage. Again it depends on whether you are using a SB company or direct access.


Cheers


Paul

 

[oatman]

You're trading on the internet so the speed of the market will always beat the fastest line. It often works in your favour. By the time you've hit the button, gone round the world and back, well.......Good news is that it's a small contract/big moves so at least you can increase size comfortably when it feels right.

 

[esiotrot]

Hi All

As a newbie to DOW mini trading I'm interested in knowing the methodologies experienced traders use.

I'm using Sierra and IB and find it very good. I'm still playing with different chart setups and at present use 1 min candlestick charts plus Bollingers (20,2) I am basically a support and resistance trader. I watch a longer time frame for market direction.

For signals I have looked at using CCI and Stochastics; both work some of the time but not all the time.
I use TSim+ for simulated trades and Real trades - works fine. Setting a stop is proving a problem; 5 points is too small (stopped out too often when I have got the direction right) and currently I'm using 10. I'm not a scalper at heart so I'm looking for more than one or two points in a trade. My ideal would be 30 points in perhaps 3 or 4 trades.

Any of you experienced traders got any ideas that you might share with me? Set ups or strategy?

BTW Trader777 - SOX?

 

[Trader333]

SOX = Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and is made up of a number of Nasdaq stocks, the key ones of which are:
ALTR, AMAT, BRCM, INTC, KLAC, LLTC, MXIM and NVLS There will probably be more but these are the ones which have the greatest influence on the sector index.

On IB if you enter SOX then you will get the data. For esignal you would need to use $SOX


Cheers


Paul

 

[options]

Easi,
I think you are on the right lines m8, but as you are finding, the price jumps about a bit on a 1 min chart. Try running a slower chart alongside it to compare.
Taking one or two points here and there must be better then getting stopped out for 5
At $4.80 RT with a tick size of $5.00 you only need one point to be in profit. Alright it's only 20c but it's a profit.

Actually. Set up a 3 or 5 min or whatever chart and scroll through Thursday and Fridays action to see how it reads.

I find it qiucker to use the IB screen direct, they also have stops and brackets built into the screen now if you want to use them.

Initally, I don't use tight stops for the very reason you have stated. Though getting stopped out of a trade is not a problem. What rubs salt into the wound however is then seeing the move go the way you planned. Owww.

I also have a very tiny chart running that shows the volume. Set this to colour in the settings and watch how the battle unfolds.

 

[esiotrot]

oops!
Sorry trader - used Trader777 as your monicker! thanks for the info - I'll watch that next week.

What's your setup for dow mini?

 

[marky]

Hi Guys

Nice thread you have going I assume most of you are trading a 1 min time frame and scalping the question i have is whilst trading 1 minute do you look at larger time frames or just stick with what your trading as i try to look at larger frames to get a bigger picture but often tye myself in a knot and end up missing out on a good trade im only interested in scalping but being selective about it i also trade the ym using ib .
Regards mark

 

[options]

Hi Marky.
I have a longer time frame chart runing as well, to give trend direction and only trade in that direction. (well I try to, but it's not cast in stone.)

 

[fttrader]

Hi All

Just noticed this thread.
I've been trading the E-mini Dow for a month or so and still trying to make up my mind if it's got enough volume and if it suits me as I find it very wild.

From my limited experience I think it's bad trading the middle couple of hours and best avoided.

Volume in the couple of days before contracts changed over was spit between the June and September future and was therefore not very good.

I first looked at a stop of 8 when taking trade and trailing this. I have now increased this to 15 and am doing much better. it all depends on your method but I found even with a 10 point stop I was getting stopped out too often. 15 has been working well for me. This doesn't mean I'll let it get that far, if things start to look wrong I'm out.

I'm using I.B. and also using a simulator on Ninja Trader which has been mentioned on these boards, works very well in my opinion. I really wouldn't want to manage without it for real trading, brilliant.

I'm using Investor RT software which is an incredible package for features, pity the data and chart updating don't match it.

Would be good to see more postings on the thread regarding E-mini Dow as with the even increasing interest volume must go up and up making it better to trade.

David.

 

[Helenqu]

I've only simmed it but you do need a 15 point stop, as you say it's wild. Certainly not as steady to trade as ESTX.

 

[JonnyT]

Being honest I've thought it untradeable without a 20 point stop.

One system I have (not great, averages 21 points per day) needs a 40 point stop

JonnyT

 

[marky]

Hi all
Myself having limited experience trading decided to go real time and WOW what an eye opener , i didn't realize just how much the dow moves in an hour /day, as for volatility i guess to the more experienced traders thats what makes the big bucks fast, i use ib and have never had a bad fill its instant and 1-2 point spread ,the exchange claim volume is on the increase constantly so fills should not be a problem all limits and stops being filled so far so good , as for stops i know what you mean i have found im getting better all the time i now enter on a 10 point stop and move it as the price moves my way , my theory being if it moves against me i want out as soon as possible as i got it wrong, im trading a 1 minute and my entry is not bad my problem is in 2 parts , first i get out to early and miss the big move except for friday i followed it down all the way, lucky i guess , and secondly i cant decide if im scalper taking a handful of points several times a day or stepping up a time frame and waiting for the big one, i try to follow chartman but just cant hold in i always bottle it and close, so am i a scalper or day trader i have attended several courses and now fill like im progressing all the time if there are any scalpers out there could you please let me know what sort of points and how many trades a day would you expect to take bearing in mind its trading the dow .great thread guys and girls enjoy the rest of the weekend . cheers mark