Hi there MarketMonk, That looks like a nice little cheat sheet. I have nothing like that, sorry. I like to trade the Nikkei mainly because out of the Asian SIFs, it is probably the smoothest. Kospi is a bit more jiggly for me. HSI is jiggly to the maximum. There is lots of choice if trading the Nikkei. You could choose the Osaka contracts (mini or full-size) or you could choose the Singapore contract. All contracts have good volumes keeping the spread at 1 tick. Arbs keep them in line. Margin is low on the Nikkei contracts. Then there is also the issue of datafeed.Since I started using marketdelta early last year I switched from IB feed to DTN IQFeed. At this time they only offer Singapore exchange so that limits my market selection. I really hope they add more Asian markets in the future, but I have heard no comment from them either way. One thing I really like about Asian markets is their session times. Aside from them being more favorable to someone living in the southern hemisphere, I like the extra break in the middle of the day. The SIFs (don't know about JGB) trade in 2 sessions. There is the first session, then a break for lunch (1.5 hour on the nikkei), followed by the second session. I don't think I've noticed a meaningful gap open from the lunch time re-open. Kind regards, MK
Hi MK and all, Just a quick note to thank everyone for their comments. I am slammed at the moment and will try to respond in detail later but certainly appreciate the suggestions so far. Hey, I would be glad to share my cheat sheet with anyone who would like a copy and also would appreciate any assistance in creating an Asian version. Yes, I know that IB has a lot of the data at their website but I am getting old (lol) and the cheat sheet saves me from looking up this data (especially when you are just starting out and don't have it memorized yet). On another note, I fired off an email to the CFTC regarding the mini Hang Seng and got a very nice response back from them suggesting that I contact HKE directly to petition them to submit an application to the CFTC. Which I plan to do. They also indicated that the KOSPI futures contract is under review and could not provide an estimated time as to when a determination would be made. Trade well, MM
FYI, the costs of applying for CFTC approval are > $100K USD. The MHI contract is 1/5 the size of HSI but also trades a fraction of the volume. There is no reason for the exchange to believe that with CFTC approval the mini volume would increase to justify the cost.
hi def, are you not doing jpn equities yet? i briefly looked at the site last week and the list of markets & instruments - you got all the JSE stocks - and thought u did... wrong?
Hi def (or anyone at IB), How is that agenda looking with regard to JPY commissions, in particular Osaka and SGX? Best regards, MK