Face Value matters because it's the value of what's being traded. For you to ask such a question makes me wonder whether (1) you are "slow", or (2) you don't have enough trading capital to cover the face value of 1 ES.
I knew I was going to regret asking it, but this is getting stranger: I MUST BE really slow today. Please explain it to me, when I sign up for a futures account with 5 K, does the broker expect me to cover the face value?? Obviously not. Again, we both made $50 x 250 = 12500 at the end of the year on the same capital of 10K. How come our returns (according to you) are different?? You know what? Nevermind.... P.S.: Here is another approach so even FAST people like you can understand it: If your futures account is let's say 3K, how much money can you lose, 3K or 70K??? Thank you....
Oh come on... even YOU can figure out that returns based upon leverage are so highly variable as to be meaningless. If you're trading on high margin, you're taking high risk.. with an equally high risk of disaster. So What if you get away with it for a while? High Leverage = "one misstep from ruin". Whatever calculation you make based on leverage is likely not applicable to anything in the future.
If you want to make serious money you can't delegate to any trading system Trading systems are 100% bullshit, Large drawdown, optimization, long periods without profits Only newbies and unsuccessful person use trading systems Trade charts with 15/30 minute time frame, use pivot points, other support and resistance lines, the OHLC of the previous two days, weekly high, weekly low. and TIME AND SALES filtered (10/100). I make 20/25 point per week Trading is definitely a serious job You must have good reflexes and nerves of steel
YES esnewbie, all you need it positive thinking: "You're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you!"* *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Smalley
let's encourage the ESNewbie...you were once a YM or ES Newbie..maybe even a Oanda small lot Newbie...