Trading Eminis - How To Win When You Are A New Index Futures Trader

Trading eminis is a vocation which has been proven time and again that just about anyone can learn to be profitable. However, there is one underlying fact that new traders fail to acknowledge when they first begin.

Almost all will lose money initially. Why? Because most will jump into the index futures markets without the necessary knowledge to trade successfully.

Check The Daily Emini Trading Room Results

Most will have some background and possibly some varying degree of success in trading stocks. Index futures have the liquidity and movement each day which entice these new traders since stocks may be stagnant and range bound for days on end.

Futures have the ability to generate profits everyday making them the ideal day trading instrument and the number one reason novice traders jump in unprepared.

Which Contract To Trade?

Most realize in order to be successful, they will need to quickly get up to speed and seek out basic information about the futures markets. For example they may acquire information to determine which  contract they prefer to trade such as the DOW YM or the S&P 500 ES contract.

Or they may search the Internet for a live trading room and trade alongside as the moderator calls out trades. Of course most of these live trading rooms charge hundreds of dollars in monthly subscription fees, placing a strain on the new trader's funding sources with most blowing out their brokerage account within the first month or two, quickly leaving the futures markets in frustration.

Trading profitably takes work on the part of the new trader. Being impatient is probably the largest factor attributed to why most new traders fail, never to return to the index futures markets. Sure, they know huge gains can be made on a daily basis, but won't take the necessary time to understand and learn the dynamics of this fascinating market.

Knowledge is key to becoming successful at mini index futures trading!

Keep It Simple

Even more importantly, simple strategies are usually the ones that work the best far more than a tedious and complex system. The good news is, a simple trading system can be learned and traded successfully in a matter of a few weeks, providing the new traders approaches with the right frame of mind.

Most new traders are not unlike small children when Christmas is approaching. Visions of presents under the tree on Christmas morning is what dominates the minds of small children at Christmas time each year. New emini traders have visions of huge gains and piles of money which distract them from what they should be focusing on...learning to trade well.

Trading well has been covered many times here on this website for one very important reason - profits are a by-product of trading well!

Trading Well Begins With The Trader

However, trading well does not begin with adopting a system or strategy, it begins within the mind of the futures trader. The novice trader must first adopt a plan for approaching the market and it begins first with trading discipline.

What do we mean when we talk about discipline where trading is concerned? It's very easy when we first start out as index future traders to easily be swayed by a moving market.

For example, say you are using pivot points or levels of major and minor support or resistance. During the afternoon session when the New York lunch comes to an end as all of the major players return the market starts to show some life after the lunchtime blues.

The market at times can take off quickly and blow through a pivot point or level and the new trader hesitates, not entering the market as planned.

An undisciplined trader will many times force a trade out of frustration and enter the market right when the NYSE TICK is at an extreme and the move is reaching exhaustion, finding himself holding a position at the high of the day as the market recedes as sellers begin shorting the pullback.

The novice trader will then either exit quickly as excitement turns to fear or further increase his loss by holding the position hoping the market will return to the high of the day before the market closes.

The point here is, the undisciplined trader forced a trade because he failed to enter the market based on his trading plan, let emotion take over when he saw the market going up and couldn't restrain himself thinking of the cash he could be making.

The disciplined trader would have stuck to his trading plan and stayed on the sidelines if he missed his planned entry point. He understands the market will always be there and another opportunity is always right around the corner, especially with the amount of liquidity provided in the futures market.

The point is,,,,trade as a disciplined trader and trading eminis can be as profitable as you need it to be.

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