tips for trading the ES


Hey everybody.
This is my first post here so be kind

A little about me first up.
I currently trade spot fx(mainly gbpusd and gbpjpy)and have done so for the past 4 years.I traded stock's and cfd's on stocks for about 3 years prior to that(still trade stocks on the ASX).So i'm well past the new guy stage but i know that the learning curve never stops and on that note i would like to day trade the ES and wondered if there is anything i must know first up.I am an Australian and have only really traded the ASX as mentioned and don't know the perks to the US markets.I thought rather than trying to cover a boatload of stocks it may be better to just trade and focus on the market as a whole(sp500)and get a few points each day with an edge and just push volume through that edge.
I know from experience that spot fx and the stock market tend to behave a little differently but they can both be moved by economic releases/political and governmental issues etc.
My MO is basically trading breakouts with trends and i also use PA(i am a NO indicators guy-clean charts).I give extra weight to daily highs and lows and also opening prices and i tend to think in terms of orderflow/support resistance.I am making the assumption that these would aid me but we all know what happens when we make assumptions

The question is,is there anything else that is MUST know?I displease losing capital if it can be helped.
I have browsed the forum and seen that some of you guys really put some solid work in(BruceM/dt/jk/CharterJoe etc)and wanted to say that you guys are a credit and thankyou.
I appreciate any advice and or direction you guys can give me and thankyou in advance.

regards
sk


quote:
What you might be thinking of is a volume profile which usually turns out to be the same shape as the Market Profile for any given time period and market.


Yep dt,that is what i was thinking of.
So,basically back in the day they would know that if price spent quite some time at a certain level then volumes would be higher there.I guess that would be a sensible thing when looking at it.
They say you learn something new everyday,thanks for the info dt.I had no idea about all this.
I think my best bet is to purchase one of the recommended books and see if i can devise a strategy around the MP concept.

Cheers

If you ever need to generate a Market Profile then here's an online Market Profile generator/calculator. Just drop in the 30 minute highs and lows for the given trading period and it will generate the profile with the Value Area high and low and the Point of Control to use in the next trading session.
Cheers dt.
I just took a quick look.Just a quick question.
If say i want to get the required values(VAH/VAL/POC) would i need to enter every high low(1/2hr)that would make up a trading session? I only ask this because when i just enter one set of high low data it asks for more.
I am thinking i should be right if i enter the high and low for each half hour in the trading session and this would give me the VAH/VAL/POC for next day.
If you could confirm dt that would be great.
I had a quick look at the CME website and it gives some useful info on MP,probably just a taste.I also downloaded a pdf MP handbook which is +300 pages.Wow,this is going to take some time lol.
From what i have read and what you have told me,i think its in my best interests though.

Cheers
steve

Yes you need to enter the high and low for each half hour session to generate the profile. Many charting packages allow you to copy/paste this information so it's not too difficult to that.
Thanks for clearing that up dt.
When you use MP dt,what are the most important things to look at?What do you give more weight to?I don't want your edge or anything but just what you tend to find works best when trading MP.
I appreciate you sharing your experience btw.

Cheers
steve
The Initial Balance is the first thing to look at. This is less of a Profile concept and more market dynamics. The Initial Balance is the high and low of the first hour of trading. These two areas form the initial support and resistance to counter-trade and if broken indicate that you should go with the direction and they switch from support/resistance to resistance/support.
excellent dt.
so if i was trading the ES,then i would be looking closely at the high/low for the period 09:30-10:30EST and making calls based upon what the buyers and sellers are doing around these extremes.I could use price action and MP to give me the best odds of success.

If i was looking at a futures broker dt,would i be doing alot wrong if i went with either interactive brokers or mf global?Because of my experience with spotfx and stock trading i am up to speed with these brokers but not up to speed on futures brokers.
I have looked up a few but you may know more about issues with certain futures brokers due to your experience with these instruments.
Appreciate the help dt.

cheers
sk