Anyone scalping the FTSE Futures??

ordinaryguy76 said:
My reason for shorting: DAX futures hit 7621 on Tuesday and today and stopped on both occasions. Bearish Wednesday candle. Only move above 7621 would change my attitude.
Click to expand...

Interesting, I went long DAX because it broke 7500 and found support there. It is now coming back down, perhaps for a retest. Let's see what happens
 
MartinC-J said:
I have been paper trading the FTSE Futures for over a year now, with occasional trades live. I would like to find other FTSE Futures Traders and compare notes.

I am consistently profitable on the Sim, averaging £400 per day allowing for commissions, but to achieve this I am doing 30+ trades per day. I trade one contract only, but add more if a trend continues. My average winner is £35 and my average loser is £20. My win/loss ratio is roughly 60% winners, 40% losers.

I am a very short term trader with most trades lasting 2 to 9 minutes.

My price targets are 6 to 10 points, depending on the price action.

My stops are usually 4.5 points if entered on a limit order, or 5 pts if on a stop order.

I use direct market access trading using the Open ECry platform. You get filled at the bid or the ask, and there is no spread to pay. Most people in the UK seem to use spreadbetting to trade the FTSE cash. They pay a minimum of 0.5 points per side in spread, which costs them £10 per trade, which makes it much harder to make a profit when you are scalping. My fees are £1.81 per trade.

As for strategy, I trade reversals, continuations, pullbacks and breakouts.

With the FTSE, a 2 point move above or below the previous 5 minute candle is significant enough to signal a change of trend most of the time.

I use support and resistance from the 60 minute and daily charts, and watch the 5 min, 1 min and 50 volume charts all the time.

As soon as a reversal is in, I look for retracements to the 38%, 50% and 61.8% levels.

I don't use pivots, but I make a rough note of where they are. They work better for swing trades, and are less accurate for scalping.

A 2 point move away from a S/R or fib level is enough for me to consider a change of trend.

I use the 5 min chart to monitor trends and the 1 minute chart to time my entries.

I watch how price action moves between upper, middle and lower boly bands on the 5 min chart, to decide my bias. This mid line is critical. Below mid bb, take short entries only. Above mid bb, take longs only, unless it bounces off a strong level. Importantly, I use an 8 period setting for bolys on the 5 min chart.

Pullbacks to the 5 EMA on the 5 min chart are good entries for a steady trending market.
Pullbacks to the 5 EMA on the 1 min chart are good entries in rapidly falling/rising markets.

I trade from 8am to 11am usually, and 2:30pm to 4:15pm, UK time. In the morning, I watch the ES and FESX for confirmation of moves by the FTSE. In the afternoon, I watch the ES for trend but trade the FTSE depending on what happens with the ES.

I am trying to reduce the number of trades I take, and cherry pick which trades to take. I also and trying to run my trades longer, but when I get 10 points up I usually close and bank the profit.

I am interested to see how many others scalp the FTSE futures like me, and if they are comfortable taking so many trades in a day. Also what set ups do they use that are successful.
Click to expand...

Scalping is difficult forget it!
 
Morning All
BHP +0.14%
RIO +0.40%
Most Asian markets up, Shanghai Composite up 3.5% on good HSBC PMI.
ASX flat and range bound with good movement up and down, think the FTSE will follow these type of move's.
With the US deciding the next move up or down.
Japan election at the weekend, result priced into YEN and 225, could be buy the rumour sell the news
Japan opposition LDP set to win solid election majority: polls | Reuters
 
bustech said:
Morning SD
This is the non government version
More trusted and gives more detail.
China looks good for 1/4 2013 investing, should support BHP and RIO.
Click to expand...

check out RIO/BLT year charts, both breaking resistance. if it can turn into resistance into support. happy days
 
Dick Lexic said:
US shows some amber lights today but indicator is still bullish...

ftse no change

dow no change
Click to expand...


might scrap this indicator for now it's a nightmare collecting and analyzing the data ....will try to simplify over the week end

a bit of a down day yesterday but the indicator remains bullish......

ftse no change

dow no change

nasdaq back below 2660 ....all us need quick reversal today
 
Dick Lexic said:
might scrap this indicator for now it's a nightmare collecting and analyzing the data ....will try to simplify over the week end

a bit of a down day yesterday but the indicator remains bullish......

ftse no change

dow no change

nasdaq back below 2660 ....all us need quick reversal today
Click to expand...

Dear Dick Lexic, are you allowed to reveal how u were calculating strong/weak stocks?

:)
 
EURUSD on year chart looks like massive inverse head shoulders or possible cup and handle. bullish for stocks bearish for dollar
 
SuddenDeath said:
your indicator may be fine

it has been bullish and the FTSE hit 5950 and we are now only 11 pts below those highs. it cannot be 100%,

we are 4pts from making 9 month highs
Click to expand...

yes i wont scrap it completely but i need to make it easier.. it's doing my head in:(

might be more of a swing traders indicator i think...
 
Dick Lexic said:
yes i wont scrap it completely but i need to make it easier.. it's doing my head in:(

might be more of a swing traders indicator i think...
Click to expand...

your indicator is very good, the only issue is that the indicator cannot "see" big resistance like 13,300 dow, and also when the stops have been run by fomc statement.

13,300 dow was 5950 approx on FTSE
 
SuddenDeath said:
your indicator is very good, the only issue is that the indicator cannot "see" big resistance like 13,300 dow, and also when the stops have been run by fomc statement.

13,300 dow was 5950 approx on FTSE
Click to expand...

yes as i said in the first post it is only to gauge the overall strength of the index it could suffer big drawdowns i suppose ..with all the shenanigans
 
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