ES Trading - 30 Mar 2009

Dear fellow traders :

Saw the S&P500 10 min. stochastic slowly edging up thus went in to long the ES around 10.00am EST.


But the news about the rejection of the automakers' plans hit the market real hard right when the market opened & any recovery of the S&P500 seemed faint.

The retracement only brought the S&P500 & the ES lower and at one point I was hit with a 7 points loss. But the S&P500 10 min. stochastic was still slowly creeping up thus I just want to get out with a lesser damage. I had that chance when the ES bumped the resistance level of 787 twice. I set a stop loss for -4 points ($200). It was filled moments later.


Regards,

Tony Chai

ES Trading - 25 Mar 2009

Dear fellow traders :

In the last trade, I shorted the ES of what seemed like a double top.


Got "chickened" out when I saw the next candle tried to thrust upwards though I saw the 10 mins. stochastic of the S&P500 was starting to trend downwards.


Sometimes when trying to protect the profits that I've gained from earlier trades, I would be afraid to hold on to a trade in fear of losing those earlier profits, although my convictions (from the indicators) to hold on were there.

From the next chart you'll realize that the ES did go lower after forming a double top. But as we know, hind-sight is always perfect.



By the way, I've learned the e-minis trading skill from Mr Michael Woo. If you're also keen on attending his future e-minis class, you can check out his web-site at http://www.tfal.com.sg.

Regards,

Tony Chai

ES Trading - 20 Mar 2009

Dear fellow traders :

Still practising my skills in the index futures (S&P 500 e-minis) trading. In my 3rd trade, I saw a double-top forming & shorted the ES at the support. Got out after netting 1.25 points.


I believed the ES would move down further from there as you can see from the following chart that the Stochastic of the S&P500 is starting to turn down. But I was just too tired to carry on my trade thus I couldn't really verify whether the S&P 500 and the ES did continue to trend downwards from there.


Couldn't really recover my losses incurred in my 1st 2 trades.

I realized that it's quite to tough to trade in a choppy market because you need to decide real fast whether to get out of a trade once it whipped-saw you in the opposite direction of your trade.

Regards,

Tony Chai

ES Trading - 18 Mar 09

Dear fellow traders :

Still training up on my ES index futures intra-day trading with paper trading. Controlled myself to avoid going in between 9.30am to 10.00am EST. This time tried using pivot points to gauge the possible support & resistance while still using indicators to time my entry & exit. Called it a day after netting $150 per contract.



Regards,

Tony Chai

49 ex-freely students scored a legal victory

Dear fellow traders :

The Staits Times article is here.

ES Trading - 12 Mar 09

Dear fellow traders :

Most of the trades here were done to recover the loss of -10.50 points suffered earlier. These trades were NOT executed hazardously or randomly although it's still paper trading. Noticed I still make some trades within 9.30am to 10.00am EST, BUT this time I went in when indicators show that there's high probability of ES trending downwards during that time. And this time I kept my stop loss tight at max. 2 points. Scalped for 0.50 to 2.00 points in a few trades. By 10.30am EST reduced the loss to -2 points.

Wanted to call it a day. But near 11.00am EST saw the indicators showing a probable downward trend thus I went in short. But near 12.00pm EST saw the indicator starting to turn up. Not going to fight the trend and exited with a 0.25 point gain. Loss reduced to -1.75 points.



Note that if I didn't exit my last trade, I would have chalk up massive loss coz the ES kept trending upwards from then.



Regards,

Tony Chai

ES Trading - 11 Mar 09

Dear fellow traders :

Was taken out by -6 points just within 3 mins. When would I learn not to trade within that crazy 30 mins after market opened. I would keep to my max. 2 points loss for any position traded within this period. I know I could be whip-sawed out of my position quickly but at least I do not let it run to a 6 points (or more) loss.


Managed to recover +3 points later. Now had an open position which is still bleeding -7 points. What a day.

Regards,

Tony Chai

ES Trading - 10 Mar 09

Dear fellow traders :


Told myself it's crazy to trade between 9.30am to 10.00am EST and yet I've went in. Done a few trades & by 11.00am EST I was down -5 points ($250).


It was then I realized that the indicators pointed downwards around 11.15am EST but the S&P 500 & ES simply refused to plunge. This rally has strength thus I long the ES using the profit target/stop loss figures suggested by Michael during the course. Let the trade run and closed the trade for 12 points ($600), thus netting a 7 points gain after deducting the 5 points loss earlier.



Regards,

Tony Chai

ES Trading - 9 Mar 09

Dear fellow traders :

ES traded on 9 Mar 09.



Suffered 3 consecutive losses amounting to -9.50 points ($475). Would have suffered more if I didn't bother to set the stop loss. Then the indicators pointed to probable downward trend and I shorted the ES. Took out profits in the 1st 2 trades & since ES still trending downward, I took a 3rd trade & the 3 trades netted 8.25 points ($412.50), reducing my loss to -$62.50. Not trading beyond 12.00pm EST.


Juliana has a great blog about futures trading at http://www.juzjules.blogspot.com/. And yes, she does reveal her trading setup in her blog. You just need to search through her blog to find it. Or simply ask her, she is usually gracious to point out to you.

Check out Michael's site at http://www.tfal.com.sg/ for the next preview date of his e-mini futures trading course. You can also email him at : mw@shoyun.com

Regards,

Tony Chai

e-mini futures trading

Dear fellow trading buddies :

It's been quite a while since I blog.

After attending Mr Michael Woo's e-mini futures trading course back in Dec 08, I have been paper-trading this instrument till today.

During the past few years, I've been trading mainly US stock options. Those trades were mainly swing trading; although at times when I traded options for earnings gapping, I only held the options overnight.

Trading the e-mini futures is mainly a day trading affair - a totally new ball game for me as compared to what I've been doing for the past few years. I understand that there are many traders who trade e-mini futures via swing trading, but what I was taught by Michael was mainly on day trading thus I would stick to what I've been taught in my paper trading for the moment.

I've been paper trading mainly the S&P 500 e-mini (ticker : ES) for the past few months. In his class, Michael taught us how to trade the e-minis purely using indicators, candle stick price action & profit target/stop loss templates. But he did reveal that over the years he don't rely overly on indicators to time his entry & exit. He relies sometimes on his "intuition" to time his trade but he warned that it would take years of experiences to develop. For beginners, sticking to indicators for entry/exit and setting a disciplined profit target/stop loss level would do.

During these few months, these were the things that I've observed trading the S&P 500 e-mini (ES).
1) The 1st half-hour when the cash market opened ie. 9.30am to 10.00am EST is a "crazy" time to trade the ES, where the ES price movement is very volatile. If you don't have clear signals for entry, don't jump in. If you don't know where the next candle stick is pointing to, you "lagi" don't jump in.
2) In a trending day, you have a high probability trade buying or selling during retrace-ment.
3) If you have a choppy trading day, switch off your pc and don't trade the e-mini once you encountered 2 consecutive losses; provided that you trade after 10am EST.
4) Indicators are just indicators, there are never 100% accurate. Be prepared that indicators are sometimes lagging, especially during choppy days, where you could very well go long when the rally has peaked & short the e-mini when it has bottomed out.
5) You need to keep upgrading your trading skills with additional reading materials. Currently, I'm reading a book "Mastering the Trade" by John Carter, which provides me further insights into the world of day trading.

I would blog my e-mini trading paper trades at times, winning as well as losing ones. But do remember that they would be paper trades, where the emotional barriers would be vastly removed. This would be an important aspect that I would need to control once I switched to live trading with real money.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Chai