Emini Day Trading Diary

5 min Emini Nasdaq 100

Hi,

How is it going lately? Market is still digesting the new stimulus packages the government is dishing out.. Candlesticks are short bodied and moving averages are flat...

There is a slight signal in stochastics and short-term MACD when they cut their signal line... But I did not short for the following 2 reasons:

1) there is strong support at 1175 to 1180 region... but when the signal came out I could only enter at 1188 it exhibited low risk/reward ratio... Not worth the risk..

2) Even though stochastics and short-term MACD are falling, candlesticks are not really below the moving averages and if I were to enter the market, I would go long simply because prices are still above the moving averages.

NO TRADE TODAY.

Posted by Michael Taylor at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

5 min Emini Nasdaq 100

Hi,

How is it going lately? Market is in a ranging condition and there isn't much to trade. The point here is that you should be able to discern the trading condition and make decisions whether to enter the market or not.

Reasons:
1 Moving averages are flat
2 Bollinger bands are narrow
3 Stochastics and short-term MACD show irregular moving patterns.

Posted by Michael Taylor at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

5 min Emini Nasdaq 100

Hi,

How is it going lately? Big banks have declared ever increasing losses and governments injecting more and more money...

There is almost a singal for going short today... with stochastics and short-term MACD cutting down the signal line.. However, I wasn't comfortable with the fact that the market was flat yesterday and the day before and the day before.... etc..

There is no clear trend and it is better to wait for a clear signal... I did not short...
After the first 30 minutes of plunging, price edged downwards slowly with short-bodied candlesticks.. There is nothing you can do with this condition... It is not worth the risk and I stayed on the sidelines..

Posted by Michael Taylor at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

5 min Emini Nasdaq 100

Hi,

Is there a trade today or not? On hindsight, it seems that we have a trade from the signals in stochastics and short-term MACD. Furthermore, it seems that we could have somehow tagged onto this V-shaped trend reversal..

However, the cold hard truth is that moving averages are almost flat and when stochastics or short-term MACD cut their signal lines, price did not find support from the moving averages.. Instead it was below the moving averages and there was some resistance to price reaching out above the moving averages..

This itself is a major signal that stopped me from going long..

Posted by Michael Taylor at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

5 min Emini Nasdaq 100

Hi,

Market activity is slowing down... we have been ranging up and down, whipsawing sideways for the past month..

It pretty easy to know that we should not enter the market today.... Moving averages are extremely flat and Stochastics and short-term MACD only gave long signals...

Obviously we should not go long in such a scenario when price is ranging below the moving averages .. No trade today.

Posted by Michael Taylor at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

5 min Emini Nasdaq 100

Hi,

How is it going? Price trended down from the opening bell declining slowly all the way till 12:00 pm ..

If you look at stochastics.. you might think there is a chance to go long... but is that really so??

Moving averages are trending down, candlesticks have short bodies,, and Bollinger bands are narrow.. This goes against my principal for going long... --> NO TRADE TODAY.

Posted by Michael Taylor at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

5 min Emini Nasdaq 100

Hi,

How is it going lately? Market is not really trending lately and it is increasingly difficult to find trades with good risk/reward entry points.

I did not trade today.. The chart says it all. If you were able to catch the first few minutes of red candlesticks, congratulations. I was not able to do that because the moving averages were flat and although stochastics cut down the signal line, the cut from the short-term MACD was not as obvious.

The mid-term MACD did offer a good signal, however I decided not to enter as current market conditions have been whipsawing up and down especially when moving average are flat...

Posted by Michael Taylor at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

5 min Emini Nasdaq 100

Hi,

How is it going lately? I hope 2008 was good for you. Nobody knows how 2009 is going to turn out, but let's make this a profitable year as well.

This is my first trade for the year... I am still testing the market... To be frank, I don't like the candlestick patterns...

Price gapped up and immediately closed the gap... It then rebounded from the moving averages and I took the chance to long 1 contract at 1269.... My target is the high formed earlier. I exited at 1280 with profits of $220. Notice that I did not trade a second contract because there simply is no trend in the market.. Bollinger is not expanding too.

Posted by Michael Taylor at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)