Vix Scalping: Day 1

There was a lot of success initially. I was up $250...then I lost $200 in a single swoop. The market is not active and volatile enough at 12 PM to make trading worthwhile...nothing fills. So overall, that's $50 - 12*1.5 - $25 (for 1 month of market data)= $7 profit.

Trading in the real market is much slower and far more difficult than on think or swim paper trading. At the same time though, the market is not as active right now as it is in the AM. I am using optionshouse though, perhaps if I were able to use interactive brokers things would be different. I am not sure. If there was a way to trade in increments of 0.01 instead of 0.05 it would be game over...the potential is amazing!

During the time I was trading, Mnuchin outlined Trump's tax plan...this might have contributed to the relatively fast decline in vix futures prices which resulted in the $200 loss.

Posted on Tech Meets Trader:
So...I achieved a $7 profit this afternoon trading /vx futures for the first time...that's after commissions and a $25/month market data package. 12 fills. Had 4 wins then 2 larger losses...real markets are quite different than paper data because there is a queue at a certain price, whereas in paper trading you get instant fill! Is the queue order based on timestamp of trade? Are there any front of the line passes? Different brokers result in different positions in line? It seems these particular contracts are listed on the CFE, only. Also, the minimum price increment is $0.05. It seems open outcry traders can trade in $0.01 increments, according to Charles Schwab, if so...those bastards have an insane advantage.