Emini Trading Tips - Three That Are Important

Although many are drawn to the financial markets because they can be lucrative, most will leave in failure. Why?

Lack of discipline. In this blog post, we will cover three very important emini trading tips that can increase your chances of becoming a successful futures trader.

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Mini futures day trading offers something other forms of trading does not…short term profits, everyday!

The level of risk involved with index futures trading is substantially high but new traders can learn to become successful.

Most new participants (we will call them participants because they aren’t traders) will fail miserably because they are more focused on gambling rather than trading with purpose.

Getting It Right In The Beginning

Profits, to them, are more important than learning a skill and increasing knowledge. They, in effect, have the process backwards. Profits are only a result of gaining the skill to trade first.

Many increase the number of contracts they are trading from one to two or more before they are ready which results in larger losses and eventually blowing out their trading account.

Trading with one contract until such time the necessary skill level is gained and accounts levels justify increasing the number of contracts, should always be the rule.

This is one area where discipline is necessary.

It’s easy for a new trader to throw caution to the wind after a successful trade rationalizing, “I could have made more had I only traded with more contracts“.

Don’t do it!!!

Tip number one is; never ever increase the number of contracts until you are ready and your trading account capital can tolerate failed trade draw downs.

Always know the prevailing trend for the day.

Countertrend methodologies are the domain of experienced traders whom have the trading account balances to withstand the loss should the countertrend method go bad.

In trading, the trend is your friend!

Every level of trading throughout the daily session is effected by the underlying trend.

If you trade with the prevailing trend when trading, your odds of success are greater.

Always know what the current trend is by checking higher time frames before the opening bell.

Look at the hourly, daily, weekly and even the monthly time frames.

This information may seem unimportant to you as a  day trader since the goal is short term profits.

Nothing could be further from the truth. So index futures trading tip number two is to always trade with the prevailing trend.

Trading tip number three is another area where new participants fail miserably:

Obeying stop losses is also where a new trader often lets the gambling mentality takeover, leading to disaster.

Stops are there for a reason, to stop the trader from taking a larger than anticipated loss.

Where the new participant fails is he lets emotion take over when a trade goes against them, hoping the market will return to their entry point or higher.

In some cases this does happen but the novice failed to trade and only gambled.

Do this over and over and you will soon find yourself with a empty trading account.

Stops are there to be obeyed and not disregarded - EVER!

Trading is difficult enough without a proper trading system in place.

Why would anyone approach the index futures market without a proper trading plan in place?

Because they are more focused on profits rather than learning to trade well.

Follow these trading tips and you could be well on your way to being a successful  futures trader.

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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.

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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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Learning Index Futures Trading With A Focus On Trading Well

Make no mistake, the odds of long term success at short term trading stands firmly against most all who enter the financial markets. Each year, beginning traders set out with a plan to educate themselves about emini futures trading with most soon realizing index futures trading is one of the most difficult challenges they’ve ever experienced.

Once they reach this realization most will throw in the towel, ending their short trading careers in frustration, while a serious few will stay in the futures game long enough to learn how to trade and become successful.

Will you become one of the few serious winners or will you go home with the losers?

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Profiting consistently in the index futures markets demands standing against the crowd mentality which requires a level of commitment and dedication most cannot successfully achieve.

Learn To Trade Well

By beginning to build on these skills early in your trading career, you will be one step ahead and on your way to trading well. Trading well is what successful traders strive for everyday in the markets with profits being the result of trading well.

Most index futures traders use various techniques that comprise a trading system to execute potential trades. By learning to read and understand the dynamics of the market as well as developing an understanding of the internal and external forces which impact the markets, will they set themselves apart from the those that have less commitment to trading well.

The index futures market is one of extremes with traders experiencing winning and losing on a daily basis since all experienced traders know losing trades are a part of trading well. Losses are a part of futures trading and to be expected.

How the trader handles losses is the difference between a successful trader and someone who will not last long in the game. The emotional up and downs, so much a part of the markets, drives many rookies to a quick exit.

Once you learn how to handle your losing trades and accept losses equally with controlling your emotions, you’ve matured as a trader.

Learning to trade well is the key to the game. Beginners come into the futures markets raw and reckless with no clear understanding of market dynamics and most importantly, with no trading system or an expectancy.

Learn from mental mistakes. Make notes on bad executions, cut losses short and use trailing stops. Learn to exercise discipline since lack of this important skill can end a trading career far more rapidly than a lack of trading knowledge.

Many new and inexperienced traders often find themselves in a cycle of winning and losing bigger, over-trading to “get back” what they lost on the previous trade, eventually blowing out their trading account. At this point the trader will either give up or commit to gaining the skills through trading education to become successful.

Use a Trading Mentor

Locate an experienced trader that’s willing to share his knowledge about the markets. Ask about winning  trading systems, bad habits and losing strategies. Find a mentoring program that utilizes a trading system that can be expanded on once you gain confidence and experience at index mini-sized futures trading.

By joining a mentoring program, beginning traders can learn the system used by the mentor with some offering a live  trading room so the beginner can follow along during live trading sessions. Turn their knowledge into your success and follow their advice. The assistance you receive eliminates throwing money away and many months of frustration.

Trading requires that you learn to crawl before you walk. Unfortunately, many who enter the futures markets each year believe they can walk when they haven’t yet learned to crawl.

The futures trading roadside is littered with the blown out trading accounts of novices who didn’t have what it takes, focused only on the potential profits to be made rather than learning to trade well.

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Dump The Stock Market And Focus On Emini Futures

If you’re reading this page it is probably for one reason - you are bored to tears with trading stocks! Understandable, but we shouldn’t be too hard on stocks since stock trading is where almost every veteran trader began his career before moving on to other trading instruments such as emini futures contracts.

Usually starting as a fundamental investor, searching for specific stocks in favorable sectors or buying on a “hot tip” given to us by a friend, we all begin somewhere and that starting point is almost always the stock market.

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Once we enter the market we undoubtedly become hooked although not in a reckless and gambling sort of way (there are exceptions and they don‘t last long), but in more of a analytical and rational sense, which turns us into students of the financial markets.

Falling In Love With The Markets

We grow to love the ebb and flow as bulls and bears fight it out each day. The successful veteran trader has learned profits are the result of trading well. He understands that profits are a byproduct of his skill and concentrates on developing a system that fits his personality and tolerance levels. And for most, it began with a simple stock purchase.

Once that first stock is purchased, one of three things is going to happen. 1)The investor is going to sell the stock at a profit or loss then walk away. 2) Continue to invest as a long term fundamental investor -concerned only with companies and the bottom line or they will become number three.

A life long adherent of technical analysis who could give two cents if a company goes bust or what geopolitical event is currently upsetting the world markets. Long or short ,the technical trader doesn’t care about anything except being on the correct side of the market and he does this with technical analysis.

After cutting their teeth on stock trading, many find it boring and labor intensive since stock trading requires hours of chart scanning to find potential stocks to trade. Liquidity and volatility can be an ever present problem for stock traders since stocks may trade sideways, with very little movement for days or weeks, even months. Eventually, some stock traders seek out a different approach to the market by utilizing a different financial instrument.

Lessons

Lesson one - the futures market is liquid enough for a trader to make profitable trades several times daily. Long or short, profitable trades can be executed in every daily session which is why index futures trading has exploded since their introduction in 1997.

Day trading is a popular method used by index future traders, with some executing a trade at the open and riding the day’s trend all the way to the close while others will employ a scalping strategy, entering and exiting the market rapidly, often making several trades daily.

Whether you are a full time stock day trader, swing trader or a hard core fundamental long term investor, mini futures trading offers and excellent opportunity for short term profits. Emini contracts are available to trade for all of the Indexes: S&P 500, NASDAQ, DOW and The Russell, all of which offer enough liquidity to enter and exit the market several times daily.

With lower margin requirements than the full-sized index futures contract, the mini index contract is available to those that don’t have the $25,000 minimum required to open a stock day trading account, which eliminates many people that would otherwise participate in the stock market on a daily basis.

If you’re bored with trading stocks and looking for a new financial instrument to trade, you should consider mini futures trading. With enough liquidity on a daily basis to trade several times each session, more than enough opportunity exist to profit.

Since the trader often focuses on one index contract such as the Dow YM, he eliminates hours of research which otherwise would be required to locate stocks to trade.

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Capital Preservation And The Importance Of Stops

People very often enter the index futures market using a new a set up technique or jump on board following the momentum crowd based on a event that has spurred the market, with very little consideration given to their exit strategy. Seasoned veterans who understand the market and emini trading, know well planned exit strategies are the key to making money. It’s been said many times by many experienced traders and is worth mentioning once more: Cut your losses short and let your profits run!

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Although this sage advice has been preached for untold years, people fail to follow this cornerstone rule of trading the financial markets. The point of the rule, you will never be profitable as an emini futures trader until losses are cut short and bad trades exited quickly. Much effort is put into learning and recognizing trade set-ups and how to enter the market with very little placed on how to exit both profitable and losing trades. The trader will only taste success once he learns to master exiting trades and money management, or in this case, capital preservation.

Almost all experienced futures players have a trading strategy they use to enter and exit the markets with this strategy being their trading system. A trading system is not complete or does not exist until the trader knows what his exit strategy is before he enters the trade. Once the market presents a possible trade set up, a index futures trader should know what his exit will be before he ever enters the position, long or short. Knowing how you are going to take profits and letting them run should also be known before entering the position as well.

Setting Your Stop Loss

When a trader determines where he will place his stop loss, he is determining one very important factor: The trader is drawing a line and setting the maximum amount he is willing to lose on the trade should it go against him. However, determining where to place stops increases with experience and a clear understanding of market dynamics. Many market participants routinely place there stop loss in areas of recent support or resistance. The problem with this stop loss trading strategy is, everyone else knows where these support and resistance levels are located since they can read a chart also. The index futures market will very often reverse and execute protective stop orders in these areas then slowly return to the former market trend, leaving frustrated traders in it’s wake. This is where market experience and knowing market dynamics comes into play. Using a trading strategy that is not so obvious as placing your stop loss in the easily recognizable support and resistance areas is one tactic the trader may use.

Tight stops are one tactic that is beneficial to the inexperienced  market participants since they lend themselves to micro-controlling losses by losing less money . By utilizing tight stops, the trader can make more than one attempt to capture a big market if previous attempts failed. By losing less money on prior broken trades, the trader has enough powder to attempt subsequent trades to capture the move. However, tight stops require many more trades that involve small losses. For the trader that cannot tolerate many losses, tight stops should not be used. Transaction cost or brokerage trade execution fees should also be considered since this methodology will increase these cost. Finding a inexpensive broker is a must for traders that utilize tight stops.

Using stops based the amount of money they are willing to lose on each trade is another popular stop loss methodology utilized by trading participants. The trade simply determines the amount he is willing lose should the trade turn sour. The largest benefit of this type of stop is it is only known by the trader himself. Since the stop is more then likely not placed in an area of recent support and resistance, the odds of the market reversing to take out stop orders is almost nonexistent. Other traders use moving average stops when trading mini-sized contracts. Moving average crossovers happen when a shorter line moving average crosses over the larger moving average line, Many traders will execute their stops when these lines intersect.
Not only does the trader exit at these intersections, he also may execute another position going in the opposite direction since the index futures market will very often reverse when these moving averages intersect and cross one another.

Stops are not unlike road sign and signals we see while driving our automobile. These signs alert us of impending change or that danger may be lurking. Stops do the same. Just as when driving, we sometimes disregard the road signs and continue on our present path. We may not experience any danger but we are not driving safely. If we allow our protection stops to pass without initiating a exit trade, we are being unsafe.

Stops only work as an emini strategy if we react when these physical or mental areas are reached. How much faith you have in your trading system will be determined if you yield to it’s parameters and are not ruled by human emotion - fear and greed. Index futures trading is a profitable vocation and professional seasoned traders make an excellent living by plying their vocation. However, they did not reach this level of professionalism by following their emotions. The got where they are by implementing a system, testing it and following it’s rules based on market dynamics.

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Breakouts And Index Futures Trading Strategy

Emini futures trading requires market participants to utilize strategies which increase their chances of avoiding broken trades and have proven to produce success and profitability. One of the most common trading strategies implemented by veteran traders is the breakout. In this article, we will outline the dynamics of a breakout and how to trade the breakout and increase the odds of trading success.

Major market declines can evolve into long basing periods which often produce failed rallies and multiple testing of previous lows. As continual re-testing takes place, buyer accumulation slowly shakes out the last of the sellers, the market begins to change character. Index future contract prices begin to rally toward levels of significant resistance as short term strength increases and the chart starts to reveal a series of green candlesticks with the closing tops near the candlestick highs. As this happens, the market begins to climb toward and through the area of resistance that produced prior failures.

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Mini-Sized Futures contracts must overcome downward pressure to begin a new uptrend. Bounce traders try to build a base but cannot gain enough traction and momentum to fuel a strong enough rally. However, many times this is the momentum players join in and help bounce players push the futures through resistance. As the contract begins to slowly break through resistance, the dinner bell rings and breakout players all jump on the bandwagon at the same time.

When the breakout gap appears on the charting landscape, a great deal of buying power is behind the move. However, the futures trader must exercise caution at this juncture in case the move does not produce heavy volume. Tremendous buying pressure must entice other traders to join in on the frenzy to increase price expansion. The breakout gap may rapidly fill and trap inexperienced traders when heavy volume fails to show up. Moves that do not gap and only produce strong volume surges print breakouts similar to gaps but support is not as dependable and force the contract to a new range rather than the tell-tale rapid rise of the gap.

Breakouts that only produce moderate volume often are excellent set ups for trading pullbacks. The uptrend path is marked by many obstacles of clear pockets and congestion that is left in the wake of the previous downtrends. The obstacles very often force the chart into dips that make excellent buying opportunities. The experienced trader recognizes the profitable zones quickly and is equally ready to react and execute the trade. As is often the case, price moves quickly past the top Bollinger Band right when price hits the strong ceiling, revealing the most likely turning point on the chart. When this happens when trading index futures, the trader should follow price back to normal support which should offer opportunity for low risk trade execution.

Trend following indicators will register price surges as market players jump on board building momentum. As volatility absorbs each wave and new rallies erupt, the trader should ignore dip set-ups and focus on catching powerful moves by shifting to the next lower time frame and finding small packets of support in the charting landscape. At this point, volume should peak as the trending waves reach the peak as price expansion often moves into a final spike as exhaustion set in.

The index futures market will then need to take in any instability generated by the quick movement in price, pausing to breathe as both price and volume drop sharply. At this time, consolidation take place and new ranges are tested to find new areas of support and resistance. Futures trading does require a working knowledge of candlestick patterns and to the experienced technician, this area will reveal common formations of pennants, flags and triangles. The appearance of these formations signify the return of the markets previous state and a excellent possibility of a new thrust in the same direction is expected.

Congestion tends to fluctuate between simple and complex candlestick patterns in a series of sharp waves. For example, after the first pullback, traders will notice the chart very often will reveal eight to ten candlesticks in a close pattern while the following congestion period shows a wide price range through twenty to twenty-five candlesticks. The trader should always look back at the last range to properly estimate the expected price action for the new congestion area. The trader should be cautious and trade defensively if the former pattern was simple and short.

When using this method, the trader should pay close attention to continuation patterns. Constricted chart ranges should be in proportion and should time the relative trends that preceded them. The trader should evaluate all chart patterns within the context of trend relativity. A constricted range exists only in the current time frame used by the trader. Arrange drawn through one individual time frame does not automatically mean trade conditions exist in other time periods.

Index futures trading offers excellent chances of profitability in uncharted territory. Futures markets at new highs produce unique momentum properties that can incite quick price movement as well as unexpected behavior. As old support and resistance areas disappear at new highs, there are few areas appearing on the chart to give the trader a road map to vector. Although possible trade set-ups abound, risk also increases in this highly volatile trading environment. Once the market completes the breakout to new highs, it completes overhead inventory and supply but the the struggle for newer highs continue. These strong markets often produce new tests and base building before returning to the strong uptrend. The experienced trader that has learned how to trade, will watch as this base building process develops through candlestick pattern formation.

As the futures market reaches new highs, it may return several times to test the boundaries of prior resistance levels. As the market completes these test, it creates a range or series of stepping stones before the trend resumes and surges forward or higher. The market can sometimes go immediately vertical when they enter new high breakout phases. The futures contract trade faces the challenge of doing his best to predict what the new high market will produce. At his point, it is wise for traders to let indicators reveal accumulation and distribution as well as candlestick formation guide their decision on trade execution. Price action either lags or leads accumulation. When accumulation leads price in the first move to new highs, odds are the new high breakout will imitate a new round of buying as new traders pile on an push prices higher with no basing period.

As trading pushes further into the days uncharted territory, the index futures trader should study existing chart patterns. The last area of congestion before the breakout occurred very often prints sharp patterns for the new move. The trader can locate these patterns in double bottom lows lying in the trading range underneath the breakout price area. The price range between the low and the previous resistance areas may reveal price targets for a rally soon to follow.

In the futures market, a strong move upward can occur for a extended time frame after it finally escapes the breakout area. Price may on occasion, print a strong third wave of buyers at the level of the final congestion low point. This buying thrust can easily blow past initial price predictions when the chart converges with large scale momentum buyers.

Index future trading is at it's best when trading the breakout. This type of trading offers a wonderful opportunity for traders to exploit the breakout and enjoy profits that would otherwise take day or even weeks to gain. Learning how to trade eminis effectively can be vastly improved on by the novice trader by joining our trading room. Veteran traders are available to explain the system that is designed to teach and most importantly, to be profitable.

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