Believe or not, but Eastern European Markets seem to be very trader friendly. I just started position trading contract in Poland, the only one with sufficient liquidity. Not enough for daytrading though.
No brother. Unfortunately, many of them have no english web sites yet. I import data from local brokerage services and convert them to Global Server (ASCII). Let me know if You need more insights.
Take most of the following with a grain of salt. I don't trade it yet, but I have done some preliminary investigations. I am not yet ready to go, so I haven't followed up...... IMHO there is not much doubt that the Kospi is the best equity futures market outside of the US. I think I saw a table in one of the futures magazines that it is the 4th most liquid equity futures market in the world. Depth is great. As I write, there are 1200 by 600 contracts within 5 spreads of best. Contracts are small - worth about US$35k each, but the thing turns over between 150k and 200k contracts per day. It trades electronically. The main problem with it is getting set up. My understanding is that you first need to apply for foreign investor status, then there are a few other steps you need to go thru before being able to trade. There are no big international brokers operating there (apart from the institutional guys - Merrill etc - which don't want retail business), but the local brokers (Samsung, Daewoo, Hyundai, LG)are well regarded, and, I believe, well capitalised. 4 or 5 of them offer on-line trading, in English, but all are browser based. Fees tend to be 1-2 bps per side. Intraday charts look very similar to ES where either intraday trends tend to persist, or the market tends to trade well at support levels. I would suggest if you can successfully trade emini, you'll have similar or better success with Kospi. I have seen a discussion on the IB website about the possibility of IB going into Korea, but it doesn't look likely short term. def will have a better idea. JM2c
KOSPI isn't CFTC approved so I don't expect us to be offering them shortly. It is a very liquid market. The only problem would be system speed and commissions. The options are trading millions of contracts per day and overload the trading system. Fills could take what seems forever to return during an active period.
Def (or anyone). What are the restrictions on a non-CFTC approved contract? Does this mean US individuals can't trade it, or does it simply restrict your institutional/CTA client base?
Does the Kospi have a CFTC "no action" letter yet? If not, it may be forthcoming shortly. Eurex and EuroNext (LIFFE) aren't CFTC-approved nor regulated, but trades in the US by virtue of the CFTC "no action" letter. I thank God for it, too, because that's how I make a living. When the CBOT finally grows a pair and pulls the plug on the Bond and Note pits, then A/C/E will live up to its' full potential. Right now, it's a liquidity trap for arbs.
P.S.: Eurex gets my vote for the best futures market in the world, including the U.S.. Less expensive to trade, most liquidity, and certainly more fair to the retail and commercial participants than open outcry. All of that crap the Board and the Merc have been feeding us for years about floor locals and dual-trading brokers providing liquidity is a patent falsehood. Nine thousand screens across the globe provides the ultimate in liquidity. It's also HARDER TO STEAL from a first-in, first-filled order matching engine.