re: Day/swing trading

Did you ever trade the ES?

I traded it for about 2 yrs and pretty much broke even. I didn't think it mattered who saw what I did as it was like pissing in the ocean considering the amount of volume.

I've been thinking about getting back into it. I would have been profitable if not for emotions. Any other instruments you guys find easier to trade?

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r/wallstreetbets

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I check them all
r/investing
r/robinhood
r/wallstreetbets

Lots of comedy, but some solid posters.

No. I traded some aluminum and copper. Mostly silver, oil and natural gas futures, and still do, but very strategically. I haven't traded a futures contract since I got done with oil and natty gas, and those trades are spelled out in those respective threads on here. I took managed advice on other commodities, and the biggest winner ever was actually coffee. The majority of what I have done (and still do) was/is buy (not write) options on futures contracts. Much less risk with a guaranteed maximum loss.

If I were to do the e minis, I'd try to find a decent contract for difference. And I'm not even sure something like that exists on an index, but I bet if you looked hard enough you could find a willing participant. The cost of entry and exit would prevent any true day trading or scraping. Too cumbersome, and a limited amount of market participants, meaning I would likely be the stupidest guy in the room. Easily.

I'd tried to trade physical gold in London, but there was always a question about how legal that was. Something similar to being an accredited investor (oversimplified), although IB never checked, but as that is done across international lines, I never wanted to find out the hard way that I was breaking multiple federal laws.

Speaking of which, there are a lot of guys that (illegally) open brokerage accounts in Bermuda as an example, and can margin to unbelievable levels.

I was never really a day trader, although there were multiple times I entered and exited a position 4-8 times daily, so I was defined as a PDT, and needed the minimum margin in order to trade.

Even back then it was a lot of work. I was probably only making $40K at that time, and I think I averaged another $15-$20K ordinary income trading.

I simply don't have the time or energy to do most of this anymore. And as I outlined above in other posts, it was never a level playing field, and that is more true than ever today.

I think you can still "trade" as as either an investment or speculation, but I hardly think an ordinary guy like me can day trade in the present environment.

There are some pretty smart guys on here that probably think I'm reckless and aggressive. I'm not, and I suspect they don't quite grasp just how conservative I really am. It's a little bit of a disconnect for me when they post about shorting, or writing naked calls. There are a lot of other ways to accomplish the same general trade without unlimited losses.

Back then it is all about risk management and lack of emotion. I didn't chart read in a very complex manner, and fundamentals hardly ever came into play.

Got a warning today from etrade for PDC

If yall want want some entertainment join stocktwits and follow the chat rooms of penny stocks. Lots of poor souls in there pumping junk stocks swearing they're about to break out.

Most won't admit it but didn't cut their losses and now they're long on scompanies that are about to be delisted

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Joined Stocktwits

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I suppose that's one way to learn how to think and ignore the noise in markets.

I tend to avoid earnings. It's usually nothing more than a coin flip at best in terms of risk and reward. You need an edge to make it worthwhile, and the edge can't be luck.

And for what it's worth, I'm expecting volatility to spike in the next month or two. While some may think that's obvious given upcoming events, I'm actually making that forecast based on technicals.