Three Reasons Not to Rush into E-Mini Day Trading
It seems there is a chorus of marketers hawking a variety of Forex and e-mini day trading programs on the Internet. There are promises of fast cash, 1000% returns, and guaranteed methods of trading. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Learning to trade is a skill, much like the skill set required for any job. This skill set is not acquired instantly from reading an e-book or buying a trading course. This is not to say that buying a trading course is a bad idea, in fact, it's a great idea. But to trade effectively you need to give yourself some time to learn trading methodology, market psychology and acclimate yourself to the trading environment.
I encourage everyone to learn e-mini day trading, but I caution against running headlong into the market place with expectations that are not realistic. The first few months of trading can be disastrous without proper preparation and experience.
1. Most Novice Traders Tend to over Trade.
When considering an e-mini day trading opportunity it is important to weigh a number of factors and assess the probability of the trade being successful. Relying on rote oscillator signals or similar rate of change indicators without fully assessing the price action in the e-mini contract being traded is the recipe for failure. It is important to firmly understand the current trend in the market and the size of your e-mini futures account before entering any trade.
I regularly see new traders taking 10 to 15 trades a day. Rarely are there are this many trading opportunities during a trading session. Experience has taught me that there are 5 to 8 good trading setups each day, sometimes less. Why do novice traders tend to over trade?
A typical reason for over trading is "chasing the market." New traders tend to pile into trades late, usually just-in-time for the directional movement of the market to change. There are a variety of reasons new traders tend to chase the market, for the most common reason for this phenomenon is taking every single trade indicated by an oscillator or indicator. It is important to use a multi-threaded system to filter your trades in a manner that eliminates some of lower probability trades. Trade filtering is one of the most important components of any trading system. Some trading systems use trending markets and agreement between several indicators to indicate a trade. There are many filtering systems on the market and all good trading programs filter trades in some manner.
2. Most Novice Traders Tend to Trade to Many Contracts
Money management in your e-mini futures trading account is the skill that will enable traders to remain in the market for an extended period of time. On the other hand, trading the maximum number of contracts your account is authorized to trade (by the brokerage margin department) is a mistake.
A good rule of thumb for sizing the number of contracts in a potential trade is to never trade more than 5% of your e-mini trading account balance. For many smaller accounts, this will mean trading only one contract. Emotionally, trading a mere one contract is a difficult task, especially when the new trader has purchased a program that has conditioned his or her thinking to get-rich-quick. Because the margin department has authorized you to trade up to 5 contracts doesn't mean it's a good idea to do so.
Why?
Should you go on a run of losing trades, save 4 in a row, you can easily lose 60 to 70% of your e-mini trading account balance. Needless to say, this is a less than desirable outcome. In my opinion, most traders trade to many contracts because they have been conditioned to believe their trading system is infallible and all they need to do is follow the system and riches will come pouring their way. As I said earlier, 5 to 7% of your account balance is the maximum you should risk on any given trade.
3. Most Traders Are Not Familiar with the Psychological Factors in Trading.
I like for my first trade to be successful because it puts me in the right frame of mind. Of course, there are days when you might be stopped out on your first trade and find yourself with a significant negative profit/loss position. At this point, it is not unusual for novice traders to over trade or trade too many contracts in order to catch up.
Regardless of the day's prior trades, is essential to maintain your trading methodology and money management system. There is always a temptation when you are having a losing day to up the number of contracts in an effort to regain your footing in positive territory. This is always a bad idea. Traders also tend to increase their risk tolerance by initiating lower probability trades when they are having a losing day.
It is essential to trade your account, not let your account trade you. It is entirely possible to salvage a day after an initial losing trade. To be sure, you are more likely to produce positive results when you stay true to your system. Negative account balances for a trading session are notorious for compounding problems. You can easily turn a modest loss and to disaster by trading outside the parameters of your e-mini day trading system.
In summary, we have discussed the importance of staying true to your system and not letting outside factors put you in the market before you are ready; over trading, poor money management, and unfamiliar psychological feelings all contribute to trader failure. In short, be fully prepared to trade before you begin trading in earnest; there is no need to rush into e-mini day trading before you are ready.
Questions and Answers
Most new traders want to test their new e-mini trading skills on a trading simulator. Most new students can easily obtain a trading simulator from a reputable futures broker. The general line of thinking is to master e-mini trading on a simulator and then move to trading an actual live account. I believe this line of thinking is counter-productive.
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