Mini I.B.

Set-up is VERY simple take the first 1/2 hour of RTH and if price trades above buy, and if it goes below sell short.

For mini Russell 2000 use targets of 2 points and a stop of 2 points.

For mini S&P500 use targets of 2.5 points and a stop of 2.5 points.

So far this March the ES has triggered 4 profits and 2 lossers or a gain of +$896.00 trading 4 contracts. It tends to perform better over a longer period. But the TF continues to outperform the ES month after month.
And trading 4 contracts in the past month would have yielded +$3150.00 on the ES

The TF on the other hand trading in the past month has yeilded +$6400.00 via trading 4 contracts

*these are actual results that counted my slippage but not comm.

I was using them on a 15min basis...and only after they meet a certain criteria; 2 month high on high volume, with a wider range than the previous 9 days then go in the direction of the 15min breakout.

so were you looking at the stock for high volume or the option?

For example, GOOG is a high volume stock but its options are not high volume at all. So do you trade the stock itself then?

To be honest NK, I haven't traded Goog. I am in whats hot and right now thats banks XLF sector and energy XLE. I take the hottest movers out of the hottest sector in the S&P 500. Make sure there in a momentum move up or down, if there making 2month highs/lows I am really hitting them hard on the morning breakout. I'll walk you through a couple of setup's I traded on BAC, I am not one to use past examples of trades I made but didn't post, but these are real trades I used I could in the future post trades as I do them on stocks if any one cares, but I just assumed no one trades stocks in here. Any way BAC on 4/09 was making 2 month highs, widest range in at least 9 days, I went long at some where around 8.60 after the 15 min range. 2 days later the market was over 11.50 Today BAC made a 2 month high but no wide range, We did buy the pull back around the same price of 8.60 but that was not for the reasons here. Thats a hot one in the XLF
Bexp an oil exploration company from the hot moving sector XLE on 4/29 it made a 2month high on the widest range in at least nine days, we went long above that high @ 2.70 and is presently @ 3.53, I am targeting 5.52 for other reasons. This is what I am doing, I am combining the opening range with these rules.

Thanks a lot Joe. It helps a lot. I would be interested in seeing some examples of your trade. I am curious to how you define "widest range in 9 days". Could you explain that?

I bought 7 years of 5 min SPX data (to emulate the ES) to backtest breakout strategies. I started to code in VBA but am getting to my programming limitation.
I wanted to look at the Expectancy vs X points of profits per day for different brakout times after the open. So if I only needed 1 point per day what are the odds of that.

I found info on Tony Crabel who adds filters to his breakouts to increase the odds. He looked at bull and Bear hooks to see which direction of breakout would be more profitable.

Can anyone code VBA well here that is interested in helping me with this?

quote:

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Originally posted by gtslabs



I found info on Tony Crabel who adds filters to his breakouts to increase the odds. He looked at bull and Bear hooks to see which direction of breakout would be more profitable.

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Crabel method is a good idea to filter some trades, I'll have to look into that. VBA coding is way over my head. If you cannot get anywhere I recommend Trade Station easy language, I have found it very easy all you have to do is tell the computer what you want in plain english and you can use there software even if you don't have an account.
The best filter I have found is the "V" or inverted "V" in the first 5 min.

Hey Charterjoe,

what profit target and stop loss would you use for the bonds? I've tested 2 handles and it seems to do very well. your thoughts?

I have to admit this method intrigued me and it does show some promise. The "V" is a good filter. I like this and also AK1's method. Played with that today.

I've backtested and actually traded the bonds (ZB) based on a 2 point profit target and 2 point stop loss with excellent results. so far this May i'm up $581.86/contract, including commission. it may not be massive, but it's very easy to do and have only suffered 2 losing days vs. 12 winning days. plus, you only have to trade for about 10 minutes a day - giving you the rest of the day to watch others lose money :)

When you say 2pts on the ZB how many "ticks" is that? I must have the wrong terminology your not talking about 64 32nd's are you? Anyway thanks for the post on bonds and please keep me posted I'll start trading this in the bonds if it works well. Also what time are you using?

(duplicate post in "Mini I.B. vs 7am-9am Breakout" thread)

I have been a member of mypivots for a little over a year now, using the posts as a springboard for learning about the futures and currency markets – I’ve really appreciated the research and insight of so many of the contributors.

I’m now at the point where I’d like to begin systematically back testing one or two strategies for potential trading. I like the concept of breakouts (just finished Fisher, currently reading Crabel) – this thread and Charter Joe's 7am-9am GBP/USD Breakout thread are especially interesting in this regard.

I’d appreciate some advice from the folks here. The IB and 7-9 threads are now over a year old: do both concepts still perform reasonably well in live trading? If so, which of these would you recommend that I begin my back testing with:

1. The 30B
2. The 5B
3. The 7-9 currency breakout

I have a full time job so I need a scheduled window of time to trade in. I plan to trade single lots, primarily intraday. I am methodical by nature and prefer smaller, steady gains to wild gains… and wild losses.

Any thoughts gratefully received! Thanks.

Isaac