Trading FTSE and other European Indexes

[pavilion103]

Thanks for the replies.

So it appears that this is a whole new game and screen time is the key.

I think I will begin the learning process by devoting a couple of nights watching the FTSE futures, while I'm trading Aussie equities EOD. Hopefully in the months to come I will gain greater clarity and my questions will be answered.

It was better me coming on here, asking questions and getting a reality check, than assuming the market is the same as equities, keeping my mouth shut and losing thousands of dollars.

 

[KurwaJegoMac]

Do you wanna know the secret to success in trading?

Read the passage at the link below. If it doesn't make sense, you're not ready.

http://www.somerandom.com/the-jade-master

 

[Trembling Hand]

Read the passage at the link below. If it doesn't make sense, you're not ready.

http://www.somerandom.com/the-jade-master

I like it.

 

[pavilion103]

Do you wanna know the secret to success in trading?

Read the passage at the link below. If it doesn't make sense, you're not ready.

http://www.somerandom.com/the-jade-master

I enjoyed that. Most of my learning has been through trading the simulator and making mistakes and gaining an intuitive understanding.


However, there are times for people to be cryptic and times for theoretical guidance. That can help speed up the learning process.

I like the saying "A fool learns from (only) his own mistakes. A wise man from others' mistakes."

 

[KurwaJegoMac]

I enjoyed that. Most of my learning has been through trading the simulator and making mistakes and gaining an intuitive understanding.


However, there are times for people to be cryptic and times for theoretical guidance. That can help speed up the learning process.

I like the saying "A fool learns from (only) his own mistakes. A wise man from others' mistakes."

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I agree with you that there is a time for guidance. However what you were asking for were specific examples of others' trading practices after only having spent a few weeks staring at the sim.

You need to spend a lot longer understanding the fundamentals of your chosen markets and observing its' behaviour before going into trading practices.

For example do you know when are the most liquid times of the day for your market? When does volume dry up? Does it suffer from violent swings? What's the typical volatility at different times in the market? What other markets potentially influence yours? Etc etc.

Once you have a feel for the market after observing it, you'll probably be able to come up with your own methodolgy based on what you've observed. The next step is to practice/implement it. Once you've been trading it you can see what works and what doesnt - once you're at this point then i'd recommend asking for further advice about traders recommendations and personal trading styles for your chosen market. You can compare it against yours and incorporate what works for you.

Remember we all have different beliefs about the market and trade a multitude of different styles. If you attempt to start with seeking to emulate a technique of a poster on this board without understanding your market then you'll be setting yourself up for failure.

Hope that helps. We're not trying to be rude or dismissive - we're on here responding because we want to help and we encourage you to ask questions. Just understand that there's no substitute for screen time.

 

[CanOz]

Some excellent points KJM!

The Dax and FESX as an example have totally different personalities depending on the time of day...watch and you will see!

CanOz

 

[pavilion103]

Thanks KJM and CanOz

 

[KurwaJegoMac]

You're welcome.

 

[5oclock]

Pav is not the only one to have benefited from all of those good posts, thanks again all of you for taking the time to help.A forum is only as good as its posters,and once again ASF shines because of all of you guys!!

 

[pavilion103]

I am seeking clarification. Below are two charts. These are of the FTSE Futures June 2013 contract.

The first one is the chart from my computer - logged into IB.
It has an upthrust yesterday followed by another down day today.


The second one is the chart from my mobile - logged into IB
It has an up day yesterday and a down day today.


Can anyone explain to me why there is a difference? I'm confused as to the two different charts both for the symbol "Z". Which is "correct:?

 

[CanOz]

Without even pulling up a chart I'm just guessing that one is RTH and one is ETH....i do know the markets sold off later...

Will check and let you know...

CanOz

 

[tech/a]

I am seeking clarification. Below are two charts. These are of the FTSE Futures June 2013 contract.

The first one is the chart from my computer - logged into IB.
It has an upthrust yesterday followed by another down day today.


The second one is the chart from my mobile - logged into IB
It has an up day yesterday and a down day today.


Can anyone explain to me why there is a difference? I'm confused as to the two different charts both for the symbol "Z". Which is "correct:?


View attachment 52361

View attachment 52362

Thats the one Pav the LIFFE contract


Tradeguider code for 5 min chart

 

[kid hustlr]

99% sure it would have something to do with the timezones of each bar.

EDIT: just to calrify, my guess is on one chart is uses a different start and end time to the other chart, as such the bars print differently.

 

[pavilion103]

99% sure it would have something to do with the timezones of each bar.

EDIT: just to calrify, my guess is on one chart is uses a different start and end time to the other chart, as such the bars print differently.

This was my thought. It almost certainly has to be this.

Does anyone with IB know how this works? If not ill phone IB and ask them.

 

[pavilion103]

Without even pulling up a chart I'm just guessing that one is RTH and one is ETH....i do know the markets sold off later...

Will check and let you know...

CanOz

Ok cool.

If this is the case can you let me know which chart is ETH and which one is RTH?

Antything that can clarify the confusion would be great. Thanks.

 

[kid hustlr]

This was my thought. It almost certainly has to be this.

Does anyone with IB know how this works? If not ill phone IB and ask them.

I remember with the SPI it used to start at the night session (ie 5.10pm) and finish @ 4.30 the next day. It's probably different for each contract.

I'm unsure if you can 'adjust the settings' so to speak to have it start/end when you wish.

 

[CanOz]

It looks to me like your TWS chart has the data outside regular trading hours, so you must have that option checked in the charts settings, where as the TWS Mobile charts look to NOT have data outside regular trading hours. I've not used the charts on the mobile platform so can't comment on that adjustment.

CanOz

 

[tech/a]

I remember with the SPI it used to start at the night session (ie 5.10pm) and finish @ 4.30 the next day. It's probably different for each contract.

I'm unsure if you can 'adjust the settings' so to speak to have it start/end when you wish.

Found this

1. Electronic Trading Hours (ETH) vs Regular Trading Hours (RTH) on electronically traded futures charts:

The session manager templates for managing the start and end times for different markets is an awesome addition. It just needs a little work on giving accurate ETH templates for the electronically traded futures markets like the e-mini S&P 500 (ES), Nasdaq (NQ), Dow (YM), Russell 2000 (TF) index instruments, US 30 Year Bonds (ZB), T-Notes (ZN) financials, as well as any other electronically traded grains or metals.

For example, the instrument default for the S&P 500 (ES) is currently the CME Globex Index Futures RTH template which starts at 8:00 am and ends at 3:15 pm central. The regular trading hours templates are nice to have, but the electronic futures contracts should really have electronic trading hours templates (ETH). I think the ETH hours are defined differently for each instrument depending on the exchange so they should be looked at individually. They aren't just 24 hours 12:00 am to 12:00 am either.

After looking at trading hours information for ES at the CME website I think the CME ES session hours should look like the following (big question mark):

Monday session opens on Sunday at 5:00 pm and closes on Monday at 3:15 pm central.
Tuesday session opens on Monday at 3:30 pm, and closes on Tuesday at 3:15 pm central,
Wednesday session opens on Tuesday at 3:30 pm, and closes on Wednesday at 3:15 pm central, and so on.
I've attached a graphic of a sample session template.

I (and possibly others) will want to see all the data available, not just the pit hours.

It would be great if you (or the data provider if they are responsible) could change the default session templates to electronic trading hours for the electronically traded contracts in the instrument manager.

I know editing the templates to get the full session would be over the head of many of my friends to whom I've recommended NinjaTrader. My main concern is for them.

2. Day Bars not using template hours

Constructing daily bars from the minute bar data is also a great advantage to the new version when using Zenfire. Daily bars are very important for giving context. The only problem is that even after changing the session template in the data series window for the chart to electronic trading hours the OHLC of the bars on the daily time frame are still constructed using the daytime regular trading hours. The open, high, low, close should be built from the specified session hours if at all possible.

You can compare daily HLC to values for the current (March 2010) ES futures contract using ETH hours at this site: http://www.mypivots.com/dn/?symbol=250.

(I removed the Pivots indicator comment since no action is required, it was just an observation that it will work better when the day bar HLC is corrected.)

 

[CanOz]

this is the box that makes the difference with IB....

 

[pavilion103]

Thanks guys ill have a look through these posts tonight at home.

Another question - what are some good futures indexes books that are worth reading? I've read "Futures Made Simple"
I'm thinking something in terms not of information but strategies for profiting from them. How they differ in movement from stocks etc. Although I guess much if this understanding will come from watching the markets.
Any good books would be a good educational supplement.