# Closing out of a position (how quick can it be done)?



## darkhorse70 (30 January 2015)

Just wondering how quickly you can close an open position on the eminis s&p 500.
Currently Im playing the sim on NT and I'm doing ok when I scalp after a break out but im scalping one tick one way then reversing and scalping the other way. My question is on NT once I have an open position I just press close  to close OUT the trade. Is closing it instantaneous or do you have to sell or buy back the contract to close out?

If its the latter, how quick can positions be closed out. Im aware that it depends on the amount of bids/asks but in general in a liquid market can you close out in less than a second on average?


----------



## tech/a (30 January 2015)

darkhorse70 said:


> Just wondering how quickly you can close an open position on the eminis s&p 500.
> Currently Im playing the sim on NT and I'm doing ok when I scalp after a break out but im scalping one tick one way then reversing and scalping the other way. My question is on NT once I have an open position I just press close  to close OUT the trade. Is closing it instantaneous or do you have to sell or buy back the contract to close out?
> 
> If its the latter, how quick can positions be closed out. Im aware that it depends on the amount of bids/asks but in general in a liquid market can you close out in less than a second on average?




To close a short you need to buy back
To close a long you need to sell.

Time to do this is a second or so if your set
for quick trading.


----------



## darkhorse70 (30 January 2015)

Ok thanks John.


----------



## Trembling Hand (30 January 2015)

Just be aware that scalping for ticks on a sim cannot be replicated in the real world because you are now competing against algos who are paying cents per RT where you are paying dollars. Plus the fills on a sim do not represent what is really happening in the order book, especially something like the ES with 1000s stuffed on each level.


----------



## darkhorse70 (30 January 2015)

Thanks TH. Those are fair points.

 I really liked the concept of scalping. It was stimulating/engaging plus your losses were small. The stats were easier to calculate as you had more trades (minmising tge potential of skewed stats).

Is it possible to scalp in a bigger range for example grab 3 ticks one way then reverse positions. Would that eliminate the effects of HFT/algos plus paint a truer picture in terms of entry points within the sim?

(By the way when you mean RT are you reffering to real time?)

King regards


----------



## Trembling Hand (30 January 2015)

darkhorse70 said:


> Thanks TH. Those are fair points.
> 
> I really liked the concept of scalping. It was stimulating/engaging plus your losses were small. The stats were easier to calculate as you had more trades (minmising tge potential of skewed stats).
> 
> ...




RT = Round Trip (cost to open and close a trade)

Have a play all you want. Thats what I did but the shorter the timeframe/target the less realistic it becomes.

The other thing is concentrating on the next 3 ticks leads to massive brokerage cost when you do go live and time not spent practising what actually makes you money, the runners.


----------



## darkhorse70 (30 January 2015)

Thanks for the feedback TH. While ive been playing on the sim, everything ive learnt regarding trends etc seems to not be applicable (for very long). There's a huge break out, a run, then a complete reversal out of the blue.

Im sort of getting a feel for the market, although ill need 100s if not 1000's more hours to get a feel for the effects of different market conditions. However im picking up some patters which I like or do better on than others. Ill keep at it and ill focus on identifying the runners.

Either way im getting much more xp compared to looking at one stock chart and drawing trend lines.

Oh yeah, I found a comment which I think tech a made regarding al brook's book so I ordered that plus markets made simple. Currently im using nuthing but price action in my decision making process. I have no knowledge of the effects of bid/ask numbers or DOM or volume. Hopefully understanding those tools will allow me to increase my win rate or reduce risk etc.


----------



## RADO (3 February 2015)

darkhorse70 said:


> how quick can positions be closed out. Im aware that it depends on the amount of bids/asks but in general in a liquid market can you close out in less than a second on average?



 Depends on the broker also, if they use CQG or rithmic to route orders it will be a lot faster than IB.


----------



## darkhorse70 (4 February 2015)

Thanks Rado. I don't think ill be trying to scalp the markets for ticks.


----------

