Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Wednesday Notes - "Time" to Trade

One of the concepts I've been drilling into the concept of both Jellie teams is that of understanding that S&P futures trading is far from a 9:30am - 4:15pm ET business. In fact, one could argue -- and I certainly would based on this year's market -- that some of the best opportunities are now occurring outside of the "regular" U.S. session based on cues taken from the overseas markets.

Frankly, much of my recent ES income has come from trading between 4:00am and 9:30am ET, and my DAX trading has been far more profitable this year than in 2008. This has especially been true recently as I've ramped up the "seriousness" of my personal trading by getting to bed earlier or sacrificing some sleep to mirror some of the dedication and commitment I showed during the 2007-early 2009 stretch, before deciding to restore the body and soul over the summer.

And as I write this tonight, I see ES has broken out of its intraday logjam, and yes, I've been trading it.

As is typically the case, we reap what we sow, and the extent of our trading earnings is a direct reflection of the time and effort we choose to put into this business. Such was the case during the recent $2 Million stretch where I made sacrifices few would ever think of making, before easing off the accelerator over the summer.

As has often been said, one has to fish when the fish are biting, which is why I devoted multiple portions of the Jellie Study Series Webinars to the critical relationship between Europe and U.S. markets during the 3:00am - 9:00am timeframe.

And lately, the catch of the day has often occurred while most frustrated intraday traders have been sleeping.