I have been trying unsuccessfully for a long time (around 10 years) to make money from trading - there are a few other posts of mine where I have elaborated on this. I still have not quit my day job, but ultimately that is my goal. In summary, I have bought quite a few systems and have also created a few of my own but haven't had much luck with any. The systems I have traded have involved both short and long time frames with reward-to-risk ratios from 4:1 down to 0.5:1, and with associated win/loss probabilities which generally vary inversely with the reward-risk ratio. Some systems try to get 100 ticks on 6E held over a few days, and others try to get as little as 3 ticks on ES over several minutes.
My preference is for short-term scalping over a timeframe of minutes. Right now I am trading either:
ES with 1 lot per $1000 targeting 4-8 ticks, stop of 4-8 ticks, from 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM NY EST
6E with 1 lot per $2000 targeting 5-10 ticks, stop of 5-10 ticks from 3:00 AM-7:00 AM NY EST
Also I like to keep things really simple with just one indicator. Since I really can't trade other people's signals I had to develop my own. It is based on a tuned up MA crossover with volatility using ATR as the main filter and using tick charts which need to be chosen according to the volatility. There are a few other filters in there that I won't be able to reveal but that's the gist of it.
For a given session I will first try to tune the system (period of MA and ATR and filters and number of ticks in chart) so that it looks like it is currently catching the swings (so it varies a lot) for the session up to this point in time. Then I decide if it is a day where I just take the signals, or apply some strength filters first. For example, for the 6E I might use the 4-tick rule after a signal has been issued. So I wait for the system to indicate a possible entry, then I wait for the trade to move 4 ticks into positive territory, then I wait for a 2-4 tick pullback and then jump in keeping stops tight. Other days when things are not so choppy I just jump in once I get the signal. So each day I tune the system to that day and then decide if I should be agresssive or patient in taking the trades. It is in the process of developing as I am writing. Over the next few posts I will put in some trades and try to explain what I am doing.
Other rules I have is to only trade during times when there is movement and volume and avoid reversals.
Here's an example of the signals I get right now on the 6E with the chart and indicator tuned. The 2:31 AM short signal would not be taken if I am using the 4-tick filter, whereas the 2:42 AM signal would be.