I've been approaching these markets differently lately.
I'm not so obsessed with catching the big moves anymore.
On another day where the Fed didn't move to raise interest rates how can you be?
It's endless drift: chop out there right now.
The fundamentals continue to deteriorate weekly but what is the catalyst for the Bear to show his fangs?
The Central Bankers are keeping a lid on the dollar. Rate Hikes would most-assuredly spike the dollar and nobody in this over-indebted world wants that right now.
Oils miraculous rise seems to be capped around $50 for now. I see no reason why energy could not head back south again like it's industrial brethren copper.
Oil hitting fresh lows may be enough to blow a gasket in the stock market. They seem to be trading lock-step lately.
I'm not so obsessed with catching the big moves anymore.
On another day where the Fed didn't move to raise interest rates how can you be?
It's endless drift: chop out there right now.
The fundamentals continue to deteriorate weekly but what is the catalyst for the Bear to show his fangs?
The Central Bankers are keeping a lid on the dollar. Rate Hikes would most-assuredly spike the dollar and nobody in this over-indebted world wants that right now.
Oils miraculous rise seems to be capped around $50 for now. I see no reason why energy could not head back south again like it's industrial brethren copper.
Oil hitting fresh lows may be enough to blow a gasket in the stock market. They seem to be trading lock-step lately.
As far as surviving day to day.
I'm not playing big. I'm more cautious. Patient. I used to feel like I had to be in it all the time. Now I realize, the less time I'm in, the less risk I'm placing, the better.
I don't care so much about being right on the big picture. Of course it's fun to speculate and I do have my over-arching long term predictions but in reality, trading is a process. The market will show you what it wants to do through price-action.
It is your job as a trader to ride the waves while managing short-term risk.
The market will almost never do what you want it to do. The moves it gives you will in all likelihood not have the timing or the magnitude you are looking for.
It's imperative you go with the flow.
You know it's just like wheat today. I saw what looked like a bottom, put on a contract and a little bit later it spikes up. I was up a hundred bucks or so but no, I saw a bigger move in the cards... Well what happened? It flops around and pukes at the end of the day triggering my stop. I shouldn't have pushed it. I should've moved my stop to break even. In this business you are so lucky to make any money at all that you just can't go for the big moves. If you have a much smaller price-target. Expect much less. If you take what the market gives you then you will always be better off in the long run.
I was lucky enough to salvage my day with a quick TF scalp.
Quick-Scalping equity index futures still seems to be my bread and butter. I'm good at that. The market moves fast and constant and provides many scalping opportunities throughout the day. The soft commodity markets move slow and when they trigger stops, they wash big.
It's not that I don't care about markets anymore. It's that I've embraced the grind. You can't put so much energy into each day. You can't live & die by each tic of the chart because if you do, these markets will burn you out. Spend as little time as possible fighting these algos. Try to: get-in, get-out, make a little bit of money each day and be happy with it.
Trading markets is the life. The dream. Just try to grind it out and be happy.
Survive these markets first and foremost. If you just survive the grind, the money will come In due time.
You've got to protect your neck though. Use stops. Never bet the farm.
It's crazy as hell out there right now. The Feds trapped in a bag and nobody knows up from down.
Embrace the grind.
I'm not playing big. I'm more cautious. Patient. I used to feel like I had to be in it all the time. Now I realize, the less time I'm in, the less risk I'm placing, the better.
I don't care so much about being right on the big picture. Of course it's fun to speculate and I do have my over-arching long term predictions but in reality, trading is a process. The market will show you what it wants to do through price-action.
It is your job as a trader to ride the waves while managing short-term risk.
The market will almost never do what you want it to do. The moves it gives you will in all likelihood not have the timing or the magnitude you are looking for.
It's imperative you go with the flow.
You know it's just like wheat today. I saw what looked like a bottom, put on a contract and a little bit later it spikes up. I was up a hundred bucks or so but no, I saw a bigger move in the cards... Well what happened? It flops around and pukes at the end of the day triggering my stop. I shouldn't have pushed it. I should've moved my stop to break even. In this business you are so lucky to make any money at all that you just can't go for the big moves. If you have a much smaller price-target. Expect much less. If you take what the market gives you then you will always be better off in the long run.
I was lucky enough to salvage my day with a quick TF scalp.
Quick-Scalping equity index futures still seems to be my bread and butter. I'm good at that. The market moves fast and constant and provides many scalping opportunities throughout the day. The soft commodity markets move slow and when they trigger stops, they wash big.
It's not that I don't care about markets anymore. It's that I've embraced the grind. You can't put so much energy into each day. You can't live & die by each tic of the chart because if you do, these markets will burn you out. Spend as little time as possible fighting these algos. Try to: get-in, get-out, make a little bit of money each day and be happy with it.
Trading markets is the life. The dream. Just try to grind it out and be happy.
Survive these markets first and foremost. If you just survive the grind, the money will come In due time.
You've got to protect your neck though. Use stops. Never bet the farm.
It's crazy as hell out there right now. The Feds trapped in a bag and nobody knows up from down.
Embrace the grind.
As I write this post: The Fed once again did not hike interest rates and SPX is slightly below the level it was at for the first and only rate-hike to date.
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