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Poll: How many ES contracts do you play on average per trade?


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View Poll Results: How many ES contracts on average do you play per trade?
1 to 5 contracts per trade 116 76.32%
1 to 5 contracts per trade
116 76.32%
6 to 10 contracts per trade 14 9.21%
6 to 10 contracts per trade
14 9.21%
11 to 15 contracts per trade 4 2.63%
11 to 15 contracts per trade
4 2.63%
16 to 20 contracts per trade 2 1.32%
16 to 20 contracts per trade
2 1.32%
21 to 25 contracts per trade 0 0%
21 to 25 contracts per trade
0 0%
26 to 30 contracts per trade 2 1.32%
26 to 30 contracts per trade
2 1.32%
31 to 35 contracts per trade 0 0%
31 to 35 contracts per trade
0 0%
36 to 40 contracts per trade 0 0%
36 to 40 contracts per trade
0 0%
41 to 50 contracts per trade 3 1.97%
41 to 50 contracts per trade
3 1.97%
more than 50 contracts per trade 11 7.24%
more than 50 contracts per trade
11 7.24%
Voters: 152. You may not vote on this poll

 
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Poll: How many ES contracts do you play on average per trade?

  #1 (permalink)
 
Fadi's Avatar
 Fadi 
Luxembourg
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: IB / Kinetick
Trading: ES, CL
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Hi Guys
What is the average number of contracts that you usually play per trade on the ES?
Also, do you happen to know what is the number of contracts that could start to be problematic in terms of fills and perhaps moving the bid and ask too?

Thank you
Fadi

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  #3 (permalink)
 TwoHands 
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: TradeStation
Trading: ES
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I'm still in kindergarten with futures trading so I'm going pretty slowly but I have a specific, fairly conservative method of determining trading size. I take the total amount of money in the trading account, subtract $10K and divide the balance by $10K. That will tell me my full position size. For example, if I have $100K in the account that lets me trade 9 contracts max. My plan also allows me to reduce position size in any trade based on my confidence in the setup.

An experienced trader I know tells me he evaluates his position size annually. My plan doesn't wait that long and automatically reduces position size if I'm in a heavy drawdown or increases it if I'm on a roll. For me, this appeals to my comfort level more than my friend's approach.

I can't speak to how many contracts it takes to move price but on occasion I've seen trades of as many as 300 contracts hit the tape with barely a blip. I wouldn't take that info out of context tho. There are likely other factors involved.

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  #4 (permalink)
 Koepisch 
@ Germany
 
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Hi TwoHands,

due to risk of failure of the FCM's (see MFGlobal, PFGBest) it's not recommended to have much more cash at the FCM as your strategies daily risk + contract margins + some buffer require. Your position size calculation is conservative but ok.

Koepisch

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  #5 (permalink)
rknas
san jose, CA
 
Posts: 3 since Sep 2012
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I don't think you will hit fill issues with ES during RTH. It is one of the most liquid instruments out there.

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  #6 (permalink)
 
Nicolas11's Avatar
 Nicolas11 
near Paris, France
 
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@Fadi,

You could also open ES DOM and see how many contracts are usually offered at the bid and at the ask.

This number is very high. ES is a "thick" market. You cannot move it alone.

Nicolas

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  #7 (permalink)
 
Fadi's Avatar
 Fadi 
Luxembourg
 
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Nicolas11 View Post
@Fadi,

You could also open ES DOM and see how many contracts are usually offered at the bid and at the ask.

This number is very high. ES is a "thick" market. You cannot move it alone.

Nicolas

Yes good point
I have watched that for a while, the usual number I see is between 1500 and 2500 contract per level.
Sometimes it drops drastically to 200 to 700 contracts prior to news or something like this...
I definitely do not trade that high of a position size, but never know, maybe one day

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  #8 (permalink)
 budfox 
Toronto
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: Sierra
Broker: MB
Trading: ES
Posts: 313 since Jun 2013


rknas View Post
I don't think you will hit fill issues with ES during RTH. It is one of the most liquid instruments out there.


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  #9 (permalink)
 
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 Massive l 
OR/USA
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2 on average

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  #10 (permalink)
pchan
sasqatchuanville
 
Posts: 11 since Jun 2009
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I've witnessed a large trader in the ES who fired as many as 80 contracts at a time. He almost always got filled with no partial. He was located in Connecticut not at the exchange so I don't know if that had any bearing on the rare occasions he did get partials.

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Last Updated on October 13, 2013


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