You probably noticed that most of my focus today was on stocks and options rather than day trading futures. I have been wrestling with myself for weeks now about whether to shift my focus solely to stocks/options or not, and over the weekend I made the decision to go ahead and do it for several reasons.
The first reason is just simply because I don't want to be trading all day anymore. Putting on positions and letting them work without making split second decisions really sounds nice to me for some reason, so that is what I am going to do. I have been trading options all along and before my futures journey but I am shifting 100% back toward the equity markets now. On this same note, not having to make split second decisions regularly will allow me to more thoroughly think out a trade idea.
Second is more reliable price action on the higher time frames (daily & weekly). With more reliable price action comes more reliable trades and being more comfortable putting on more size, which is the reason I started trading ES in the first place. But with options, the opportunities are just all over the place in the equity markets compared to the futures which have been dwindling. I'd rather have my capital working in the equity market since that is where I am seeing the most opportunity.
For those that follow me you know I want to start a fund eventually and have started taking steps in order to position myself to trade size. First it was moving to the ES but the opportunities in that market are just completely dead to be quite honest, so this is the move I am making in order to accommodate that future goal of mine. Also I think potential clients would feel better about a primary holding period longer than an hour or two.
With the extra capital I will be putting to work in the equity markets, my diversification will greatly increase. Not diversification as in the traditional sense, but rather having a lot of positions on at once. With most of my concentration being in the futures markets, my capital was piled into one or two intraday positions & diversification was slim since I was only doing options and equity positions on the side.
You know, the lifestyle of a trader is also a big part of this business. We work this hard so we can enjoy life and relax as much as possible and on our own terms. If I can keep the same returns or even increase returns by making this switch while having more free time at the same time then it is a no brainer. I know, I probably should've done this sooner but nothing I can do about that. Futures are dying for intraday trading, volume is drying up and ranges are tightening, and I'm not going to die with them. Maybe one day they will come back.
All these reasons carry a lot of weight in my mind and I just feel like this is the right thing for me to do. I really feel like I learned a lot from trading futures though and will carry that knowledge into the stock market where the opportunity is much, much higher.
So I'm just letting you all know what's going on. I'll probably still trade e-mini's sometimes, but from here on out they will take a backseat to the stocks. The weekly recap will change. I haven't decided if I will change the name or not, but the content will be different and geared towards options and swing trades, as well as most other blog posts I make.
What do you think? Good move? I'm a moron? Let me know..
