Mid-day rest during trading

[clylbw]

Hi,

I wonder whether other day traders also take a mid-day rest, and how they take it if that is the case.

Currently, I take 1 hour off each day, normally between 12:30 and 13:30 pm EST. I day trade eminis; the markets are often quiet during this period, but I have been caught quite a few times. One example was today, when I was off, missed the 13:25 pm short entry and had to enter in a worse place.

I know I need the time off as I am physically unable to stare at the charts the whole day. However, is it possible to schedule my rest flexibly so that I am only off when the market is really quiet, instead of missing good opportunities like today and other times? Does any other day trader have such a flexible schedule? If so, can you please tell me how to arrange the rest time flexibly?

Or is missing opportunities simply an opportunity cost here, given that I cannot trade non-stop for the whole day?

Many thanks.

 

[wasp]

Hi clylbw,

Seems like a luxury that maybe neccessary and you need to take but I don't know if I could do it. I trade cable intraday and have plenty of other things going on (reading, TV, music, other studies) so I can just check every so often to see what the market is up to then carry on as I was. My computer is always in sight but although I'm not totally switched off its relaxation to a point.

If its quiet during that time it sounds okay to me. have you found yourself missing much in those periods?

 

[fxmarkets]

hmm not sure what time frame you trade off or how long you need to assess a setup or market activity few seconds ? few mins ? could you not set alarms when away from screen to highlight "some type" of pickup that may warrant an eyeball on screen. ? as long as you dont mind being available to attend to it, and are not too far away from things, unless you want to completely veg out for an hour ,then reside to let in go.........

 

[charliechan]

i dont trade all day and wouldnt want to - staring at a screen all day just makes me dull, bored and makes me take sloppy trades.

uk time, i trade from 1:30 to 5pm. this allows me to get the opening of us fx futures and the opening session of the us index i trade. if i cant make money in that sort of volatility then whats the point.

mind you, my mind set is a bit different from most people.

i would rather make fewer trades with a lot of size when i am sure the probability is in my favour (it takes courage to be a pig ), than sit in front of a screen all day making a load of trades hoping my edge and expectancy is going to play out in my favour. grinding it out with loads of tiny trades? yikes! that sounds too much like a 9-5 job to me! no thanks.

i trade for 50 min then take a 10min break away from the screen.

if i miss a massive move in that break or in the afternoon then so what. the market will still be there tomorrow (unless its the weekend )

 

[JumpOff]

Currently, I take 1 hour off each day, normally between 12:30 and 13:30 pm EST. I day trade eminis; the markets are often quiet during this period, but I have been caught quite a few times. One example was today, when I was off, missed the 13:25 pm short entry and had to enter in a worse place.

What do you do during this time off? Are you still within ear shot of your desk? Does your system have audible alerts? If so, perhaps you could take your break, and let the computer honk at you if some event happens that you decide in advance would be worth looking at.

Obviously that doesn't work if your break time is spent away. If you really do need to get away, then you really need to. Everybody has to sleep, eat, exercise, have a social life, etc..

The other idea I had is about 'when' you take a break. Is it possible to let the charts tell you when is a good time - and to take smaller little breaks? it might not be at the same time everyday, but is there something you use to indicate, OK- this looks like paint drying - so might be a good time to take a 5 minute break?
JO

 

[jezza888]

i would rather make fewer trades with a lot of size when i am sure the probability is in my favour (it takes courage to be a pig ), than sit in front of a screen all day making a load of trades hoping my edge and expectancy is going to play out in my favour. grinding it out with loads of tiny trades? yikes! that sounds too much like a 9-5 job to me! no thanks.

QUOTE]

All good as long as you have the capital! :cheesy:

 

[charliechan]

i would rather make fewer trades with a lot of size when i am sure the probability is in my favour (it takes courage to be a pig ), than sit in front of a screen all day making a load of trades hoping my edge and expectancy is going to play out in my favour. grinding it out with loads of tiny trades? yikes! that sounds too much like a 9-5 job to me! no thanks.

QUOTE]

All good as long as you have the capital! :cheesy:

yep - and thats the idea.

go for a higher win rate with (almost) everything i have so i have more capital. grinding away the capital on the flip of a coin/or alleged probable/statistical outcome (not the same as an edge) is one way to go bust slowly.

overtrading is a big problem with most people - they dont even know it though because the industry encourages it to earn their commissions/spreads etc.

all though i am a day trader, i do not trade every day.

 

[jezza888]

Totally agree with you there. I would much rather take one trade a day I'm more confident with than numerous smaller ones, but at the moment I'm taking two or three to speed up the capital building process.

So I guess you don't stick to using just 1% risk then!

 

[clylbw]

Many thanks.

During my rest, I normally go out for a walk or take some mild exercises to refresh myself, so a glance at the computer from time to time is less likely. But I am considering taking smaller periods off, instead of one big chunk. It is easier to make flexible arrangements this way.

I also aim to make trades with reasonably big moves. Off course there are successful traders who do hundreds of traders per day, but that is simply not for me.

 

[charliechan]

Totally agree with you there. I would much rather take one trade a day I'm more confident with than numerous smaller ones, but at the moment I'm taking two or three to speed up the capital building process.

So I guess you don't stick to using just 1% risk then!

lol - no id never risk 1%

to be truthful though, for a newbie trading multiple times probably is a good drill as it gets you used to the market, what it can do, how etc. it also makes the trader realise that less is more when looking at how they managed to grind all the winners away.

youve got to have the experience to know when 'this is the one' . of course, there are still losses, but they are much smaller in number. if they turn into a small string then its often a good idea to drastically reduce size or paper trade until you find your mojo again


once you can 1 winner 70-80% of the time, you can then work on developing the skills to find another - maybe in a different market.


this is just what suits me & how i see things. most will probably think im talking tosh. thats fine - it suits me. obviously wouldnt be that great advise to a scalper though!