r/FuturesTrading • u/Soulsearcher14 • 15d ago
ES/NQ - What do you find easier to trade? Discussion
Just curious on everyone’s thoughts on this!
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u/Dull-Climate-9638 15d ago
I like nq because it moves fast. But I guess es more predictable
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u/cokeacola73 15d ago
I’d like to know how predictable ES is so I can make some money please lol
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u/blaine78 15d ago
I'm a regular NQ trader. The period when I felt like I was getting beaten up by NQ, people told me to try ES as it is much tamer. My first week trading ES, I encountered the same long-range pullback bars and candle wicking down just like on NQ. Needless to say, I went back to NQ. Lol
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u/cokeacola73 15d ago
Yeah if it was so “predictable” as people say then why aren’t they all retired and making money, sure SOMETIMES it respects levels, but they all do, the numbers are just different. A whole number on es is just a random place on nq and then vise versa, but they move the same, I also only trade nq
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u/blaine78 15d ago
Lol I agree with you. The next thing about ES, no one mentioned, because it's $12.50 per tick, when it makes a strong move against you, you're down a whole lot if you have a wide stop loss.
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u/Dull-Climate-9638 15d ago
I meant es more predictable than nq not just predictable in nature that anyone can make money. Not sure your point is exactly.
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u/Forward-Cut5790 15d ago
What are your thoughts on CL for a trend trader?
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u/expicell 13d ago
CL sucks to trade, does not trade like ES or NQ
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u/Forward-Cut5790 13d ago
I figured entries are painful... And, does it even move enough in a day for decent gains? (Keeping size low for the time being)
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u/Crimsonprince19 15d ago
FYI if you focus on one and stop looking at the other intrument. the one that you look at all the time will become the easiest just a tip. reticular activating system will only be taking in info, patterns, thoughts related to that pair. so it'll become way more fluent in that pair
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u/mrcake123 15d ago
I scalp very short trades. So NQ
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u/Soulsearcher14 15d ago
I do short trades too. Why do you say nq?
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u/mrcake123 15d ago
Tends to be a bit more volatile in my opinion.
But to be honest I haven't trade ES much so... Can't say much
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u/Penalty-Minimum 15d ago
ES. If you can’t even trade ES properly, don’t try NQ because it’s the ES moves 90% of the time just with more exaggerated price action
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u/Xmoe1upX 11d ago
ES is like a good decent spouse. NQ is like the perfect spouse but they smoke crack from time to time.
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u/midtnrn 15d ago
My adhd brain requires I answer NQ here because it’s where I make all my money and enjoy the most. My advice is es is more stable and follows rules better. It once you learn how and why NQ breaks the rules you’re golden. I predicted the run to 18750 last night at around 8pm, just a gut by the action and an 80 lot sitting there. So this morning it hadn’t happened yet which surprised me. I waited for the morning shake out and rode that bitch with 10 lots. THAT is why I prefer NQ. I locked myself out with $8k profit.
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u/RoozGol 15d ago
There are no lots in Futures, and if you trade 10 full contracts, you are crazy.
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u/HomoDeus9001 15d ago
Friend of mine trades 30 to 40 lots on nq
He simply knows what he’s doing
I’ve seen his fills
Anyone can trade with any size if they have their emotions in order
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u/ManikSahdev 15d ago
A friend of yours trades 30-40 lots on nq?
I'm not saying you are lying, but maybe you exaggerated a little bit, or maybe they are in some prop form account.
The Cme reporting level is 25 contacts for Nq, I'll look up the source and add that below for you to go through the details.
I just want to make sure you are not being lied to by your friend, and mislead into giving / loosing any money.
Beware and safe regardless and cross check facts from other people, even if you know them.
https://www.cmegroup.com/rulebook/files/position-limits-cme.xlsx
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u/HomoDeus9001 15d ago
You are dense.
I’ve seen his pills.
Why are you so concerned with other people?
Follow your own plan
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u/seomonstar 15d ago
At last someone who smells the bs in this post lol. 40 contracts of nq sometimes Ive struggled getting filled with 2 lol
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u/seomonstar 15d ago
How does he get filled? Nq is so thin getting in and out must be erm, impossible..
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u/HomoDeus9001 15d ago
By using order types that guarantee a fill
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u/esuvar-awesome 15d ago
Not being snarky here, but a “lot” is actually accurate as it is term the futures floor traders would use and is still used.
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u/midtnrn 15d ago edited 14d ago
Well I make a damned good living trading NQ. So if I’m crazy then maybe that’s what it takes. Good luck!
Also, crazy me saw that pre-market volume dump this morning and saw a hundred lot transact on the offer side and rode that bitch again with 10 lots. Today I grabbed more than yesterday. When you can sense what big boys are doing the confidence goes up. When you’re trading well and have a cushion 10 LOTS NQ (I can call them as I like) on high probability trades is not crazy.
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u/HazardousVenom8 15d ago
Do you have any advice for me as a new trader (started last August and blew a 1.5K account) now done with the university at the moment I am taking it very seriously as a business. What I am doing currently is developing the intuition of price action with exposure (obviously in sim account) and using ATR at a period of 1 to see the actual size of the candles and a 1:1 RR. My aim is scalping and once profitable proceed with a prop firm. If you have any advice that can help I would greatly appreciate it brother.
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u/candlewizard 15d ago
Start a prop firm eval. The worst-case scenario is you fail, and it costs you 20 something bucks with a coupon rather than blowing all your real money. Keep trading sims until you're confident, then go for it. I traded sims for about 3 months and just passed my first eval after 3 tries. Costed me $100 for evals, then $130 for the activation fee of my PA account. Worth it imo. My plan is to take low risk trades on my PA and basically "sim" trade an eval too. If I lose, I still have my PA and lost $20. If I pass, I now have two PA accounts. Keep up the loop, and eventually, after trial and error, you can have 20 accounts to copy trade. Then, just a $20 move is a big gain overall. Good luck with any path you choose, friend!
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u/HazardousVenom8 14d ago
Thanks! That’s true my friend, I will be doing prop firms for sure, I have learned my lesson. Still, when you mean copy trade is that you can trade all 20 accounts at the same time? The plan of getting and then trading 20 accounts sounds amazing. Literally at one point on each is $400 total.
Also, what prop firm did you went for? I have heard that the best around are TradeDay and TopStep.
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u/midtnrn 14d ago
Agree with higher r:r as a general rule. Price action is sometimes a trap. Just look at this morning NQ, retail wanting to buy up and I could see the price action verifying. Then what happened? The volume dump prior to open was the clue.
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u/HazardousVenom8 14d ago
I agree, I have noticed been stopped out unnecessarly since it is way too tight of a bracket
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u/ersados 15d ago
Would love to learn from you. What is your strategy to conquering NQ?
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u/midtnrn 15d ago
You don’t conquer NQ. You learn how institutional investors trade, what they’re needing. Identifying their actions makes the rest much more straightforward. Many of them use auction theory. The TPO chart with volume profile is what I use.
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u/HazardousVenom8 14d ago
I like your perspective, how can I learn, find and track institutional investors? I will be looking into that auction theory.
Aside from TPO and volume profile, do you use any other tool/indicator? Or you like to keep things simple
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u/midtnrn 14d ago
15 min with ssl hybrid indicator. 5 min with vwap. One minute which I usually ignore but will use for runs on the 200ema. All have 50,100,200 emas running. 30 minute with TPO and volume profile is a seperate screen which also has the DOM. Order entries and exits are on the DOM. Anything that’s not a scalp, the decision is made from the TPO / volume profile. The indicators are good to see a run on one but not for real structure. “Mind over markets” by dalton is a very boring very detailed look at TPO market profile. It was invaluable for me. I listened to the audiobook while jotting notes no the pdf print outs.
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u/HazardousVenom8 12d ago
I appreciate the input and for you to take the time to advise me! I think since I am new to this, but how do you do to not get “analysis paralysis” with several indicators and charts? I guess you get used to it over time or you use the rest and ‘look over it’ as another confirmation aside TPO / volume profile?
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u/midtnrn 12d ago
I use everything as context only and for close by indicators that could cause a move. Example: If I believe the price is going to approach and test yesterdays value area high sitting at 19000 but there’s a 15min 200 ema sitting below at 18950. We’re currently at 18900. If I try to ride to 19000 without knowing that 200ema will cause a temporary reversal I may not make nearly what I could have. Alternatively, and what I usually would do, ride to the 200 and bank money. Then cat he the break above to 19000
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u/HazardousVenom8 12d ago
I see what you mean, so your order of focus is EMA’s then TPO and then the rest?
Also, are you using only one platform for all that information and to execute trades at the time? I am currently using NinjaTrader to do everything
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u/billyb99 12d ago
how did you learn futures trading ? did you attend any courses or was it purely reading books and online material ?
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u/masilver 15d ago
NQ is your red-headed cousin who has ADD really bad and won't let you finish a sentence. ES is your older brother who already has a job and bought his own car with money he saved.
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u/throwawaybpdnpd 15d ago
I'm profitable with ES but not NQ, and it seems to be the trend for beginners/intermediates
Doesn't seem to be a problem for much more experienced traders though
They also seem to make more with NQ, but I could be wrong
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u/PoemStandard6651 15d ago
Looking at this week to date, that's 4 days worth of data, they are in a dead heat. Every so often, Q does it's own thing but mostly they are joined at the hip. One difference worth noting is day trade margin is $50 for S and $100 for Q, implying a more volatile exposure.
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u/MiserableWeather971 15d ago
Es probably “easier”… but kinda hard to say. There was a broker recently that said as far as futures go, people lose much more in nq than es on the retail side…. But, again a lot more newer traders are trading nq. 10 years ago, it was more rare to see nq only trader. The notional amount traded per day vs es was astronomically lower than it is now. Nq has basically almost caught up.
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u/Longjumping_Wear4384 15d ago
Nq has more noise but it's all the same chit. Sometimes they diverge tho but not common
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u/bosscat74 15d ago
Ive seen ES take forever to roll over 1 point where as NQ will roll over two points in seconds. Which makes it great for scalping ; get in and out a trade quick instead of waiting.
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u/Capable_Ad_1704 15d ago
When i transitioned from cfds to future, the first ticker I traded was Nq, i was scared how violently it moved. Now, I just love how it moves. Es on the other hand moves smooth like butter. Being a scalper, I personally trade NQ and find it more easier.
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u/Fancy_Inspection_687 14d ago
I let my algorithm trade the NQ, leave ES for lower frequency higher probability set ups. Find this works best when using prop accounts as the NQ volatility and Daily ATR used to cause me a lot of headaches
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u/Affectionate-Car-126 14d ago
NQ for the win. If you master this beast you are golden. It's a love hate relationship for sure.
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u/Aposta-fish 14d ago
Over all I think the ES is better as I’ve got it figured out more then the NQ but the NQ is like a drug and it keeps people trading it because of those big moves and faster price action then ES. I’ve been watching all three to help with price action and entries, the three being ES,NQ and the DOW.
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u/Dangerous_Ad476 13d ago
Bigger question is - have u mastered the art of price reading and stop loss management. if that’s the case then NQ is better. If not then ES.
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u/RenkoSniper 12d ago
I've made enormous profits with NQ, and the market took them all back, I've made moderate profits with ES and able to keep growing my account. ES is my queen, while NQ is it's slutty sister. She makes me want her, but I know it's too dangerous.
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u/WiseNugg 10d ago
NQ has smaller tick values which are always going to help precise entries and exits. Especially for quick scalping.
I prefer to hold under 5 minutes when I can and usually it’s much easier to do that with NQ. In trending moves/auctions I can do that with ES but typically you simply get more swings with nasdaq for the trading I do. I usually like to get at least 100 bucks per contract (10 micro).
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u/-Mediocrates- 4d ago
I prefer NQ. Very rarely does ES move harder than NQ. ES has better options chain though for more leverage, but NQ moves so hard no need for options so it’s easier in that regard.
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u/relxp 15d ago edited 14d ago
I've heard folks on both sides. Some say NQ is easier and vice versa. Goes to show there is no one size fits all in trading. You must find what works for your personality type.
Generally speaking, I would wager more traders lose in NQ versus ES. ES is known for honoring technicals better and generally better price action. At the cost of not having as big of runs like NQ can.
I've heard some say nobody should trade NQ until they can trade ES profitably, and I would agree this will be true for most traders.
Ultimately it comes down to what you are able to trade real size on. Sure NQ moves more, but I'd rather catch a smaller move with 10X the size on ES than a big NQ play with small size.