anyone else find it antiquated that AMP does not support exchange spreads or the margins on spreads recognized by the exchange?
no broker HAS to offer the margin reduction...it is the exchange minimum. Having said that, sounds bad for business. I've cleared through 3 different FCMs over the years and have never even had it cross my mind that this would be an issue
The real issue for me is that they do not support trading the exchange traded spreads via DOM. The autospreader function is great but it would be nice to utilize the DOM as well
It may not be AMP per se, rather the data feed risk management that you utilize through them. Maybe it does not offer a way to recognize what the exchange offers. This is only an educated guess. Matt Optimus Futures There is a substantial risk of loss in futures trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Sounds like a Firm-specific Risk Control settings or policy issue. Maybe AMP can offer an explanation. I do know that some other Chicago FCMs that have a large spread trading clientele will adjust intraday margining for known spread traders. Generally speaking, the firms I speak of increase intraday margin allowances (buying power) for these spread traders because obviously assigning full outright product margins to each individual leg component in a properly hedged spread combination is not fair.
@bone: Are you able to recommend any FCM that are good for spread trading by any chance? My current one is good but gives me some issues when I trade outrights while holding positions on spreads... Which means that I have to have 2 accounts, one for outrights and one for spreads...
There are several - any traditional long standing large cap major Chicago FCM like Advantage, RCG, RJ O'Brien, Cunningham, ADM, FC Stone, Rand, etc. will clear big commercials and big specs that spread trade as a core strategy. Avoid the retail oriented firms that cater to scalpers and day traders if you are a spread trader.
AMP uses the same Industry Standard SPAN margin calculations for carried "Open Positions". Every spread starts as individual leg/contract until the risk systems recognize the spread and then adjust the required margin used intra-day to the spread margin requirement vs the individual leg/contract. For example, if you buy 1 ES contract - the required day trade margin is $400 and you sell 1 NQ contract - the required day trade margin is $500. The total initial intraday margin to initiate both legs of this spread is $900. Once both legs are filled, the risk system will recognize the spread and reduce the margin used from $900 down to the exchange spread margin requirement - give the account more buying power to initiate any future trades. This is confirmed how CQG, Rithmic and TT pre-trade risk systems work. If you have any questions or would like to confirm margin requirements - please do not hesitate to email trading@ampclearing.com