Trading T-Note Futures

IAydelman · Oct 8, 2015

Hi all,

First post here but hoping to learn plenty! I work at a prop trading firm in london, 2 months in, so far i am relatively consistent in my trading thankfully (still not making the big money just yet) however my risk manager told me that i should trade T-Notes as they would suit my trading style best.

My best traded product so far is easily the Bund, followed by Estoxx, Eur/Usd, S&P 500 futures, and i tend to go for high probability retracement trades. However i just can't wrap my head around the way T-Notes move, waiting an hour for a possible 4 tick profit, not knowing if youre right or not is just crushing for me!

Part of me thinks my manager made me trade T-Notes to force me to be more patient in my trades but so far i am losing money on it, any advice on how to read the T-Note market would be hugely helpful.

IA

options-george · Oct 9, 2015

IAydelman said:
Hi all,

First post here but hoping to learn plenty! I work at a prop trading firm in london, 2 months in, so far i am relatively consistent in my trading thankfully (still not making the big money just yet) however my risk manager told me that i should trade T-Notes as they would suit my trading style best.

My best traded product so far is easily the Bund, followed by Estoxx, Eur/Usd, S&P 500 futures, and i tend to go for high probability retracement trades. However i just can't wrap my head around the way T-Notes move, waiting an hour for a possible 4 tick profit, not knowing if youre right or not is just crushing for me!

Part of me thinks my manager made me trade T-Notes to force me to be more patient in my trades but so far i am losing money on it, any advice on how to read the T-Note market would be hugely helpful.

IA

Hi IAydelman
I have been looking at the T-note contract for quite a few months now, and have started trading it more regularly in recent weeks.

Yes it is very slow and steady compared to some of the other instruments you mentioned. Personally, I like it specifically for that reason. Hence if you like/are good at trading more volatile instruments then you would probably have a hard time with the t-note, because it generally doesn't behave in a volatile manner. I wouldn't put it past your manager that he is trying to teach you patience by suggesting you look at the t-note.

How long have you been trading? Have you found your trading personality/style or are you still looking? It's good to experiment with different instruments to see what you are good and not good at it.

I am surprised that you are trading a mix of fixed income, equities and fx. That can't be too easy? A lot of the time I trade Cable and DAX (using cfds), but recently have been focusing on t-note and emini futures. I find two instruments is about as much as I can handle.

I am not really sure whether that helps.

Am also based in London (in the City), so if you fancy taking a coffee break at some point, then let me know.

Good luck

IAydelman · Oct 10, 2015

options-george said:
Hi IAydelman
I have been looking at the T-note contract for quite a few months now, and have started trading it more regularly in recent weeks.

Yes it is very slow and steady compared to some of the other instruments you mentioned. Personally, I like it specifically for that reason. Hence if you like/are good at trading more volatile instruments then you would probably have a hard time with the t-note, because it generally doesn't behave in a volatile manner. I wouldn't put it past your manager that he is trying to teach you patience by suggesting you look at the t-note.

How long have you been trading? Have you found your trading personality/style or are you still looking? It's good to experiment with different instruments to see what you are good and not good at it.

I am surprised that you are trading a mix of fixed income, equities and fx. That can't be too easy? A lot of the time I trade Cable and DAX (using cfds), but recently have been focusing on t-note and emini futures. I find two instruments is about as much as I can handle.

I am not really sure whether that helps.

Am also based in London (in the City), so if you fancy taking a coffee break at some point, then let me know.

Good luck

Surprisingly about 2 months, but i do have a decent investing knowledge which i guess helps rather than being completely new to it. As for the multiple products, the firm really focuses on macroeconomics, correlations and fundamental factors. So we've been taught to really watch how each product reacts with eachother and in isolation. Also they give us a period on a simulator to see which products we naturally gravitate to, i know some guys who only trade the indexes, i know one who only trades oil contracts!

As i said before, i tend to go for easy, high probability trades, conservative entries etc. Friday was another unsuccessful day on TNotes, just have no idea how to judge the momentum on it. But, i guess i'll keep trying. Coffee would be great! I work just by Cannon Street station if you are nearby.

IA

options-george · Oct 11, 2015

IAydelman said:
Friday was another unsuccessful day on TNotes, just have no idea how to judge the momentum on it. But, i guess i'll keep trying.
IA

Thanks for the PM exchanges. This is one thing I really like about these trading forums - the ability to make new connections! Look forward to meeting up in person.

Btw, I am glad to find out that i wasn't the only trader who lost money trading the t-note on Friday. :cheesy:

Trading T-Note Futures

IAydelman

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options-george

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IAydelman

Newbie

options-george

Guest Author

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