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Look there are ways you can use just ten ticks if trading the Naz you can up it to 20 here is my Edge using Fibonacci fans different color lines for different setups using ABC patterns and pivots I placed the arrows on the trades so you can see there are ways... NQ today Capture.PNGNAZTODAY
You are a realist and there is a lot to said for knowing when you cant be an NFL linebacker
I was 6' 3" 260 but was not mean enough to be in the NFL...
Edges in the markets are very small and elusive, you can only tell if they work after years of trading.
I encourage you to listen to Adam Grimes' interviews on "Chat with traders" where he dissects this important subject.
My two cents worth .... get to know market structure ---- movement on the Emini is mostly between Support and Resistance areas .... when there is a move to a resistance area the price will cross the 10 period ema as it moves to the resistance zone (I use a 5 minute chart) .... the MA will act as a trailing stop. Enter above the MA 'at market and place an MIT two or three ticks below the support line .... same thing when price moves to support .... try to capture one to two points and then wait for the next move ....
Buy double or triple bottoms and sell double or triple tops ... with tight stops ... and re-enter if necessary ... the other two patterns that are useful are 'triangles and flags ... these patterns provide price targets and you can use the same system as above
Thesis for this style of trading ... price always respects support and resistance levels ...
I never use angular trend lines ... only horizontal price levels ... and the 10 period ema.
When the market is trending ... buy or sell on pullbacks ... until the trend is broke'
Never buy at resistance and never sell at support ..... I never trade breakouts on the emini but wait for pullback and then start the above process all over again
Before the trading day make sure you prepare by identifying the support and resistance levels. Know these areas before trading and mentally rehearse possible trading these levels ... never trade on payroll data day ... on the day ... wait ..
Stops ... I use tight stops and then re-enter if I need to .... the 10 period ema and support and resistance areas are important to my trading .... but most importantly preparation is the key
Never try to pick direction on the emini it is far too volatile ... that is a losing game ... stick to rules ... buy above 10 period ema and sell below
That is it .... and good luck ... and never be greedy
You need a trading plan, based on a trading system with clearly defined conditions for setup, entry trigger, position sizing and exit algorithm etc. Then paper trade or backtest this trading plan to see if it statistically makes money. Then do some forward testing in a demo account. Once you see that the trading system is profitable you should be ready to trade in your live account. Your trading plan should be a combination of edges. Plan the trade, and trade the plan. That should get you a long way.
Ok.
First: Thank you for sharing your difficulties. Admitting and looking for help is the most healthy way to improve. Congrats!
Now answering your question. If you think you have no edge, then you definitely don't have it. So, STOP TRADING RIGHT NOW! Go to simulation. I don't know If you are flow trader, chartist or spread trader. Neither if trade scalp, trade location or day trade. It's tricky to help without knowing what are you looking for.
Let me say this: Edge is an advantage over the market. A pattern you perceive that gives you a probability of capitalize your margin.
For its own nature, an edge is at same time objective and subjective. Objective because must be measurable (or falsifiable in science method). Subjective because it depends of the human mind and then influenceable by human emotions.
Your edge must be learned. And demands time and effort. It's not possible for one person to put 1k into the broker and starts to taking profits. It is not that easy. Personally, I have two years of watching price ladder (I am a price ladder scalper) in one specific market and now I can say I am finding my edge. And it was very hard and frustrating to developing it.
But also, I must say, the edge is only 30% of your trading process. 70% is about to risk management. When you enter in a trade you must know where it you probable gain and your probable loss. And you have to manage it. You must know you likehood of hit your gain before hit you loss. Also, you must have distinct Value At Risk. For each trade, daily, weekly and monthy. And you must stick on it.
You said you lose 28% of your capital (1k), and lost 5% in one trade. You should be more conservative on your loss. Some say you should never risk more then 2% of capital each trade. I suggest 0,2%. So, to you lose 50 USD, you should have 10k into broker. And never lose more then 2,5% a Day. This is a more reasonable approach.
Everytime I enter in a trade, I ask these questions to myself: "Why I am entering this trade?"; "Where is my most probable positive gain?";"Where is my tinyest stop loss if I am wrong?";"Are the odds in my favour?"; "What must be happen to I remain in this trade?".
Sorry for beeing too long. This is an extensive topic. Hope it helps
It looks like you need to learn order flow, to improve your entries. It's not easy, but this is the only way. Don't rely blindly on indicators and levels. You need to see what's happening at the level before entry. Check out Axia Futures YouTube channel or even better, enrol for the Career Course online, or better still do the In-House course if you can afford
I find it ironic, but not surprising that this thread is currently the most active thread on the forum. In the almost 10 years that I've been a member, (and @Big Mike will attest to this fact) we've gone through many, many, iterations of discussions on this very topic. It's almost a cyclical phenomenon. Another generation of aspiring traders embarking on what they think is going to be a walk-in-the-park, until they discover that achieving success in trading isn't quite as easy as they had envisioned.
Most of them are under-capitalized, and the majority of them don't know the difference between a stock and a bond. A lot of them believe the market owes them a living, and will blame the market for their lack of success, when in fact they lack the self-determination to succeed. There is nothing novel about this phenomenon. And, there is certainly nothing surprising about the response it is generating.
Other aspiring traders are eager to offer their advice. What's ironic is most of these traders are experiencing the same problems, and are incompetent at trading themselves. Incompetent traders are at a double disadvantage, since they are not only incompetent, but they are unawre of it. Almost 1/2 of them couldn't even pony up the $ to become elite members, most are on SIM and have no skin in the game, and I truly wonder how many of the others are consistently profitable to the point, where they can actually support themselves and a family, from their trading. Yet they are crawling all over themselves to tell-like-it-is; to explain how they have reinvented the wheel, and found the answer to the eternal question.
Their advice is a panoply of retail aphorisms and urban trading myths that have been propagated over the years, and regurgitated to the newbie masses. And, it's the same worthless garbage every time. You have to find your edge! Trade your plan! Find what suits you and makes you comfortable. Find a nice indicator you can settle down with and crank out 4 tics at a time. I haven't heard one expert that was offering advice say, "learn how the markets work" before you attempt to trade it.
What's ironic, Is that you'll never see these "experts" participating in threads about the markets and trading, because they really have little knowledge of how markets function, and little idea of what it really takes to make consistent and scalable profits. But they are very inclined to tell a newbie how to trade, and dispense advice with no uncertainty, blissfully ignorant of their own ineptitude. This only serves to perpetuate the cycle of retail mis-information, and re-cycle uninformed, unprepared traders that provide the winners their fresh and unknowing counterparts.
Most people are unlikely to think highly of anyone whose views they oppose. So when the newbie thinks about which person to listen to, whose advice to respect, and where to get his information, it’s likely that he will choose the one that parallels his views, even though it may not be in his best interest. There have been countless times that @Big Mike and I have tried to steer people in the right direction, but people hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest. And what's sad, not ironic, is that these words will probably fall on deaf ears, or not really be comprehended nor believed, and most assuredly, they will be ignored by most.
