Fat Cat is a god tier YouTuber. He gives all the details with nothing left behind and there are so many good videos. I have improved so much since watching him.

Best video for me was the sorta recent one about ideal reading emotions. Been in a flow state after watching that.

Who ever recommended me to watch him thank you so much!

If you are reading this and don’t know him, I highly recommend you check him out.

Just curious if anyone else has ever went down this path. I religiously use stops on every trade, but we all know that there has to be buyers during a freefall. Just wondered if anyone ever went back and analyzed potential 1-min drops during regular market hours to have a realistic idea of max loss.

https://preview.redd.it/bu4yqswvy9yd1.png?width=99&format=png&auto=webp&s=004e8ce44ef8bd7b1b7337c5d0709e950e3984b8

Top chart --> Price

Bottom chart --> Cumulative Delta

This is on the E-Mini Nasdaq. CD and Price aren't always like this but it has phases where there is a very proportional relationship between the two.
I'm looking for other symbols anyone knows of that experiences this from time to time.

Please use this thread to ask questions regarding futures trading.

To get a good feeling of all the different types of futures there are, see a list of margin requirements from a broker like Ampfutures or InteractiveBrokers

Related subs:

• r/DayTrading
• r/TheWallStreet

We don't have a wiki yet, but maybe in the future we'll create a general FAQ based on all the questions asked here.

Here's a list of all the previous question stickies.

https://preview.redd.it/j83fncj2o9yd1.png?width=3435&format=png&auto=webp&s=61c309a8696758807e90bdc2bb98b76698ecfa95

If that's correct, how do Motivewave scalpers label high impact events? Add a text callout to a plain vertical line? Many thanks in advance for the guidance.

Odd that Motivewave has 3 different versions of a horizontal line and not a vertical line. Also odd that they merely ave a single line component, with controls for the text... instead of 3 different components. As Tradingview does (screenshot).

Hi all,

After many hiccups with prop firms, I will trade my own money now. What are you guys using (in the US), and what margin is needed? There are quite a few options out there, so I just want to get a general review.

Main Instrument: ES/MES, NQ/MNQ

Is there a way to lock it so that it always remains onscreen, even when the user scales and expands and spaces out the candles horizontally?

The object lock doesn't do it...

Many thanks!

What platform do you recommend? I’m practicing on forexdotcom (currencies) and Plus500 (stocks/futures). StoneXOne was recommended by forexdotcom as they don’t trade stocks in the US, but I’m not very impressed with them. Are there big brokerages that you recommend? If they have a demo account, that would be even better for me. Thank you!

This is my second attempt around at being profitable with just sim trading (Tradovate sim, mainly NQ and occasionally ES) and I'm considering going for a funded account maybe two months in if I'm consistently profitable/disciplined sticking to my strategy.

Is two months a decent amount of time before jumping into it?

Today was an interesting day in the futures markets. Just looking at the ES or NQ charts will show how dynamic the markets can be.

If you were swing trading and long, your stops were probably tripped - unless you had very deep stops and an account that could handle the drawdown.

Those who saw the tickers dropping and tried to scalp on the upside (against the trend) probably didn't do too well unless they have very tight limits and planned in advance for such conditions.

Those who played the downside correctly had a chance to do very, very well but as the market settled a bit, the volatility is still there and it is easy to suddenly drawdown to you stop or if undercapitalized, be auto-closed.

It is days like today that can make your month, quarter or year. Or bust you out completely.

Its for these days that you should have order templates ready to go for a fast moving market. When you can risk moving up from micro contracts or trade more and make serious gains in seconds - or just as easily bust big.

Some new traders have been busted out. Some think they have found the money printing machine.

The lesson here is that futures markets can run FAST. And now you see just how crazy day trading futures can be.

And it is also OK if you DIDN'T make a single trade today. That can be a very SMART play. You didn't lose.

For swing traders, you see what can happen when you are not watching the markets and why everyone says stops are vital. I don't think today's action blew past any stops but slippage was a thing.

And if you were on the right side of the overnight action or was able to hold on at the bell and ride it down, Congrats and well done!

Or doing something like a MNQ and NQ hedge just before the open and riding it for hundreds of points.

I'm searching for a platform as easy to use and visually appealing as TradingView, but without the high cost. The only feature I need is to track the pre-market VWAP indicator. I’ve tried the Interactive Brokers platform, and honestly, I didn't like it at all. Colmex Pro has been the most comfortable platform for my trading, but unfortunately, it doesn’t offer the pre-market VWAP indicator.

As they say, "I don’t want to buy the whole cow just for a glass of milk." So, I’m hoping to find a super lightweight, affordable, and straightforward platform that focuses on this one key metric without the extra complexity or cost. Any recommendations for a simple, budget-friendly solution? Thanks in advance!

Setting alerts seem to give more freedom

My question is where are you finding/marking your key levels? Support and resistance, pivot points, POC?

What kind of set ups are you waiting price to give? Reversals or trend continuation etc?

S&P futures still going down, 11pm. Any theories on the cause of this sell-off?

update: S&P hit 5801 overnight.

Does anyone trade option for futures contracts and if so how much do you initially need to invest with and how have you been doing?

I just discovered futures and after reading & watching a few videos I'm convinced that the possibility of making money is greater than of losing it. Being able to cash out at any moment before the expiry date, and being able to take advantage of the smallest price movements sounds like a pot of gold waiting to be collected. Is this true, or am I not seeing something?

For the last two months I have only been trading sweep model - based off key POI, SNDRs, or zones and other pivots. Usually allows me to get in way before the ICT/FVG bros.

Putting the 14-day trial of Motivewave through its paces. Looks great so far. But the DOM shows only 10 levels above the bid/ask for the ZF/ZN, rather than the full ladder.

The heatmap seems to be limited to the path of the same 10 levels.

I'm presently subscribed to CQG's level 2, and will switch to Rithmic. Is this why I see only 10 levels of depth? Or is that a limitation of of the 14-day trial? I'm assuming it's the former, because MBO data isn't visible in the bid/ask either.

Many thanks in advance...

https://preview.redd.it/0ejvzejipyxd1.png?width=3552&format=png&auto=webp&s=47ff596e0f7027c6d80b314b20ae9d90d66a7967

Has anyone here completely turned their trading around by switching to micros in the indices or perhaps gold due to the lower stress level and flexibility that it offers.

If so, would you explain your experience.

I’m fairly new to trading futures (7 months) and for the life of me, have not been able to find an “edge” that works for me. When I think of an edge, I think of specific entry points, SL and TP’s.  I understand that this is a journey and I’ve been putting the time in, but it seems nothing I’ve tried has even remotely resembled what I would call an edge. The closest I felt I came was while using Fib retracements on a trending day.

Right now, I’m back on paper working on the psychological side a bit and my trading has gone well. For the past month, my W/L ratio has been at 67.82% and I’ve had 19 green days out of 20. The one red day was green until I start playing around and moved my SL way beyond where I typically would have.

I’m currently trading off price action and pull backs. I enter with 1 mnq, a 50t SL and scale in if the trade goes as expected. My average day is typically in the $600-700 range and today I closed out at $1640. I typically don’t use a TP, only a SL and move it as needed. I average 65 trades a day... which I would like to change.

While this is working, it is far from what I would consider an “edge” or even close to it. I’d love to actually have an edge I felt comfortable with, has back tested well, etc… I just haven’t found one that worked for my trading style. What I’m doing is working, on paper, but not sure I want to risk going live with it.

I guess what I was wondering if there were any profitable traders here who are doing something similar?

Any and all suggestions, advice, experiences are appreciated! And if you have any resources that may help me with this style of trading, please, please send them along! TIA!

Here are todays #'s:

https://preview.redd.it/oz4ur6cq5yxd1.png?width=1288&format=png&auto=webp&s=f487ec2b37a764e5cb4a507fb8e1071f43aa931b

I have developed a trading system which can really capture big momentum moves. Often I really do capture the whole move BUT the problem comes when price becomes non directional and momentum doesn't persist. In this situation the strategy starts bleeding and giving back most profits what were made during the big moves.

It seems impossible to filter out when a momentum persists and when it won't.

What is your solution for this? How to filter better trades? Is it even possible?
Filtering more feels like an extra problem because you can miss good trades this way.

Do you even care for momentum? Does bringing down R:R closer to 1:1 could solve this issue?

Also if you trade for mean reversion how to do avoid being stopped out of momentum moves against you?

I've been learning to trade futures for the last year or so. Lots of paper trading, some prop firm attempts, and a little live trading on my own (a little while ago).

Have been journaling and working through my mental obstacles, and am gaining good consistency - paper trading.

Every time I think about moving to a live account, I get very nervous and anxious, which I know is going to have negative impacts.

Any suggestions on how to overcome this?

Whenever I think the bottom has hit or the trend is reversing, I get proven wrong.

How is it possible for a front month contract to drop 30% in a month and that's just normal? What am I missing? I would have thought news like weather and geopolitics would have been priced in so you don't see such extreme moves in such a short period of time compounding on top of each other in the same direction. This commodity doesn't seem to follow any logic and feels like I'm trying to understand and follow a babbling homeless guy on the street who sometimes says words I can understand but then speaks tongues.

Like why can't you just be normal? Lol I know it's my fault but still what a ride. Just wanted to cry and see if anyone else feels the same or can share some advice. 😭

Is it just my imagination, or is it common to have a lower win rate at night? ES, NQ, GC don't seem to follow the typical patterns. I've been losing a lot doing short term trades at night (1m, 5m timeframes). What are your thoughts about after hours trading, specifically 6pm-12am Eastern?

It seems like it takes forever, and then I lose, and that sucks!!

Hi everyone,

I’m new to futures trading and have recently transitioned from options trading. I found the Greeks a bit overwhelming, so I decided to explore futures instead. I really appreciate the liquidity, reduced slippage, flexible trading hours, and the absence of Greeks in futures trading.

I started trading Nasdaq Mini futures last week through IBKR, and I’m currently only trading one contract. I don’t have a robust trading system yet, but I’ve been scalping and making small profits. Since futures are new to me, I’ve decided to take only long positions. My strategy is to hold if things go against me, as I have enough cushion for overnight maintenance and can buy one more contract if needed.

For example, last week I took a long position that initially went against me. Instead of taking a loss, I waited and added another contract when the price dipped, which helped me lower my average cost. I held both contracts until today, and I was able to profit from the NY session.

My question is: what could go wrong if I continue to hold my contracts in this manner? Are there risks I should be aware of when holding long positions?

Thanks for your insights!

Hoping i can get some help. I've made a heat map for Sierra for ES. How do I clean up the noise around it? Bookmap offers Tradermap Lite which filters it, is anything available for Sierra?

I feel like just a month ago the market wasn’t as choppy but best I am able to do is maybe a $200 day or just breakeven. A buddy of mine said it was due to the election. Just gauging to see if i wasn’t the only one.

Curious to know what helped you the most with the mental side of trading - in general - and if you could specify what were the biggest issues and what solved them please share!
Thank you!

Interested in index futures around election times and if there’s any statistical relevant data such as changes in trends, price structures, volatility, reactions to daily breaks, momentum, etc. Thanks in advance, cheers.