yes, this topic has been discussed. For long term trading spy is always better no matter how much money you have. Not sure what the margin is to put on es vs ym dollar neutral. It was like 8 ym vs 7 es or something. But for fooling around with no money short term it is a great spread.
Someone's already suggested leveraged ETFs. If you need more leverage on top of this then you could always leverage your account 2:1. On a product such as SPXL that would give 6:1 leverage versus SPY. What's an ES contract, about 20:1? Plus you'll be able to control your position size much more accurately with ETFs.
I mainly trade es outside the regular trading hours, it's really slow, with one contract you can keep P/L under $100 very easily. Trading SPY is a good idea, when I want to protect my profit but don't want to call it a day, I will trade SPY instead.
lately it's been very slow, but it sure isn't/wasn't when there is some global turmoil...See Jan-Feb...It definitely picks up around 9pm (CT) and then once again at 2am (CT).
Thanks for the info, I have only traded es for one month. Yes, you are right, European traders come online at 2 am, there will be a drastic change (usually drop), a good chance to hit a home run.