The Easiest Instrument to Trade.

[Jason101]

Which instrument do you think is the easiest to trade and which do you think are the hardest? An idea of your style/time frames may be helpful.

What are your reasons?

 

[Jason101]

Good question Jason, I find I myself making more consistent money from UK equities. I trend follow on the daily charts. Mostly T/A with a quick look at the company fundamentals.

 

[Jason101]

Anyone else?

I was hoping to get a bit of a discussion going on pros and cons of different instruments.

 

[timsk]

Hi Jason,
I suspect that the reason you're not getting any replies is that the answer to your question hasn't changed since it was last asked - and the time before that and the time before that!

In a nutshell, no instrument is inherently easier to trade than any other. If such an instrument existed then, presumably, everyone would trade it. Only trading masochists are gonna say 'nah, it's way too easy to make money trading that, I want a real challenge - so I'm going trade XYZ'. Don't tell me, I've just walked straight into your trap and this is where you tell me there is indeed just such an instrument and everyone here on T2W knows about it and is making shed loads of wonga trading it - everyone except me that is!

This is not to be confused with personal preference which is another matter entirely. We all have markets and instruments that we like / don't like and many of us are more suited to trading one/some of them in preference to others. For example, I've always steered clear of forex, largely on the grounds that when we're sitting in a cafe in Spain and my wife asks me what our coffees cost in sterling - it takes me five minutes to work out the conversion from euros to pounds - and even then I'm prone to getting it wrong.

Tim.

 

[tar]

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/general-trading-chat/44970-easiest-market-predict.html

 

[tar]

Hi Jason,
I suspect that the reason you're not getting any replies is that the answer to your question hasn't changed since it was last asked - and the time before that and the time before that!

In a nutshell, no instrument is inherently easier to trade than any other. If such an instrument existed then, presumably, everyone would trade it. Only trading masochists are gonna say 'nah, it's way too easy to make money trading that, I want a real challenge - so I'm going trade XYZ'. Don't tell me, I've just walked straight into your trap and this is where you tell me there is indeed just such an instrument and everyone here on T2W knows about it and is making shed loads of wonga trading it - everyone except me that is!

This is not to be confused with personal preference which is another matter entirely. We all have markets and instruments that we like / don't like and many of us are more suited to trading one/some of them in preference to others. For example, I've always steered clear of forex, largely on the grounds that when we're sitting in a cafe in Spain and my wife asks me what our coffees cost in sterling - it takes me five minutes to work out the conversion from euros to pounds - and even then I'm prone to getting it wrong.

Tim.

I think the right question is : Which market u personally find it easier to trade ...

 

[temporarilylight]

For what its worth, Most people ive spoken with find the ES the HARDEST to trade.
Quite a few traders I know have been having some joy trading oil for quite a while now.
Everything is pretty much the same to me though....

 

[Jason101]

Hi Jason,
I suspect that the reason you're not getting any replies is that the answer to your question hasn't changed since it was last asked - and the time before that and the time before that!

Dont hold back, say what you feel!

In a nutshell, no instrument is inherently easier to trade than any other. If such an instrument existed then, presumably, everyone would trade it. Only trading masochists are gonna say 'nah, it's way too easy to make money trading that, I want a real challenge - so I'm going trade XYZ'. Don't tell me, I've just walked straight into your trap and this is where you tell me there is indeed just such an instrument and everyone here on T2W knows about it and is making shed loads of wonga trading it - everyone except me that is!

I don't agree with you at all. It could be said that exotic FX is nasty due to wide spreads, lack of news and lack of liquidity. Do you really believe that exotic FX is as equally hard as a UK ETF Investment trust?

This is not to be confused with personal preference which is another matter entirely.

Yes you are spot on here, what I am after is a discussion on why you personally prefer trading a particular market.

We all have markets and instruments that we like / don't like and many of us are more suited to trading one/some of them in preference to others. For example, I've always steered clear of forex, largely on the grounds that when we're sitting in a cafe in Spain and my wife asks me what our coffees cost in sterling - it takes me five minutes to work out the conversion from euros to pounds - and even then I'm prone to getting it wrong.

Tim.

“80 to 90% of traders fail” how often have you heard that?

What does that mean? Not a lot. Why not tell me 85% of forex scalpers fail, or 85% of share swing traders fail. What about 85% of buy and holders fail.

For example trend trading UK shares may have the pros of - you can go long when the indices is up, the sector is up, the particular company’s profits are up, the TA looks good. Also it could be said that there are a lot of shares to choose from all with different ATR’s and different movements.

You may tell me you like US share because you finish work at 5pm are home, eaten and at your lap top by 7.30 pm UK time, to catch the end of US market.

You may tell me you work in IT and only trade tech shares. What is your story?

Btw, sorry about the blue, it seemed like an easy way to distinguish quotes.

Jason

 

[timsk]

"I don't agree with you at all. It could be said that exotic FX is nasty due to wide spreads, lack of news and lack of liquidity. Do you really believe that exotic FX is as equally hard as a UK ETF Investment trust?"

Hi Jason,
I see what you're getting at and a year or two back I would have agreed with you. As it is, I'm now very much of the view that, broadly speaking, all instruments are equal and that it's purely personal preference based on knowledge and experience that draws us to one instrument in preference to another. I can't comment on either exotic FX or ETFs - as I've never traded either of them. However, I can give you a similar example that's resulted in my current thinking.

In 2008, when I day traded US equities, I found that there were stocks that I returned to time and again, among them were AAPL and POT. Relative to one another, AAPL was a mild and sedate stock with a tight spread of a few cents, whereas POT was a wild beast whose spread rarely dipped below 5 cents and was often nearer 10 or more. When I first saw POT, my first reaction was that I couldn't trade it. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I made good money on POT and was a net loser on AAPL. But conventional wisdom would say that of the two - at the time - AAPL was the 'easier' stock to trade and that POT was a total 'mare. By the same token, somewhere, there will be traders who think exotic FX pairs are 'easier' to trade than cable and other majors and that UK ETFs are 'difficult' to trade.

It must, surely, all come down to the P&L? If there was an instrument that enabled more people to make money than any other, then this would support the hypothesis that one instrument is 'easier' to trade than another. I've never heard of one. If you find one, please let me know and I'll switch straight away!
Tim.

 

[kwickwool]

Have to agree with the marority here as in no such thing as an easy instrument to trade, they all go through there ups and down, volitle in peaks and troughs, best thing I think is to find certain high probablity trading signals and keep your eye on as many instruments as your brain will allow, easy hey

 

[Adamus]

New Zealand lambs wool futures.

 

[Mr. Charts]

Is it just me who finds post #2 a little bizarre.......?

 

[Ambrose Ackroyd]

Maybe it's a touch of sarcasm Richard or someone who actually enjoys talking to himself.

 

[tar]

Is it just me who finds post #2 a little bizarre.......?

Just now i noticed !!

 

[oildaytrader]

Which instrument do you think is the easiest to trade and which do you think are the hardest? An idea of your style/time frames may be helpful.

What are your reasons?

euro/usd is the best ,most liquid,least manipulated,least fakey,least controlled with smooth trends and trendy .It dwarfs the indices and the rest.

Now you can tell all the other posters are real professionals.

 

[oildaytrader]

For what its worth, Most people ive spoken with find the ES the HARDEST to trade.
Quite a few traders I know have been having some joy trading oil for quite a while now.
Everything is pretty much the same to me though....

Depends if you are trading or gambling,if you are gambling its like any number on a roullete is the same.

 

[oildaytrader]

Good question Jason, I find I myself making more consistent money from UK equities. I trend follow on the daily charts. Mostly T/A with a quick look at the company fundamentals.

Are you sure?

 

[oildaytrader]

"I don't agree with you at all. It could be said that exotic FX is nasty due to wide spreads, lack of news and lack of liquidity. Do you really believe that exotic FX is as equally hard as a UK ETF Investment trust?"

Hi Jason,
I see what you're getting at and a year or two back I would have agreed with you. As it is, I'm now very much of the view that, broadly speaking, all instruments are equal and that it's purely personal preference based on knowledge and experience that draws us to one instrument in preference to another. I can't comment on either exotic FX or ETFs - as I've never traded either of them. However, I can give you a similar example that's resulted in my current thinking.

In 2008, when I day traded US equities, I found that there were stocks that I returned to time and again, among them were AAPL and POT. Relative to one another, AAPL was a mild and sedate stock with a tight spread of a few cents, whereas POT was a wild beast whose spread rarely dipped below 5 cents and was often nearer 10 or more. When I first saw POT, my first reaction was that I couldn't trade it. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I made good money on POT and was a net loser on AAPL. But conventional wisdom would say that of the two - at the time - AAPL was the 'easier' stock to trade and that POT was a total 'mare. By the same token, somewhere, there will be traders who think exotic FX pairs are 'easier' to trade than cable and other majors and that UK ETFs are 'difficult' to trade.

It must, surely, all come down to the P&L? If there was an instrument that enabled more people to make money than any other, then this would support the hypothesis that one instrument is 'easier' to trade than another. I've never heard of one. If you find one, please let me know and I'll switch straight away!
Tim.

You sure about this?

 

[timsk]

You sure about this?

Am I sure about what?

 

[Ambrose Ackroyd]

One thing you can be sure about...... you can never be sure about the markets.