I am not recommending that you use this firm: LionsFutures But they have the $500.00 margin on the ES and the NQ. P.S. Just a side note. I know you were not asking for trading advice. But unless you have a robust system...say with an 83% win rate and a reasonable Avg Win/loss Ratio...and a reasonable P/L ratio...you should not consider trading many contracts with a small balance. remember most systems need to be adjusted as the character of the market changes, so just because you see a way to do this now....does not mean you cannot destroy your account....please be careful. Even if you have backtested your system from 1997 for the ES....does not mean your safe.... The point is you must be able to have time to react to what the market is telling you and suffer drawdowns while you adjust your system. TIME TO SURVIVE Michael B.
One more note......Many new traders have discovered bet sizing systems out there.....and think that they can use those various strategies to pyramid with. Now I am not saying that these strategies are not valid, as I believe that money management is necessary. But a word of warning......I have seen systems drawdown when they have not before....and even if you give yourself a buffer by pyramiding, it is a losing strategy.....just take my word for it. If it were so easy as to take a roulette system and win with futures their would be many millionaires. There are mathematicians here in Elite Trader who can verify what I am saying if you do not believe me. Do not overleverage yourself with a highly leveraged instrument such as the ES. Forget about the margin! Just use your system stops and calculate them against your balance and risk 1-5% of your capitol. I do not want to debate if trading futures is gambling or not....as this is not the thread for that. If your reason for the inquiry is that you do not have more than the 5k to open your account with, then wait....save your money.....get 15k or 30k and trade 1 contract with a 3-6 point stop. Michael B.
Don't mean to call you out ... but don't do it man. Don't trade ES on a $500 margin. It's a very, very bad idea.
Unfortunately, many people trade with $500-$750 margins which is too agressive and leaves most with a losing battle. Most of our successful traders are well capitalized, but that is not to say I haven't seen people with small accounts that over leveraged, make money. Craig
$500 margin can be a good idea if you are a medium-to-large lot trader... for example, if you are trading 20 ES, why bother tying up 1 contract per $5k margin ($100k total) when you can do it for $10k... just keep maybe a buffer of $20k and put the rest of your cachingos into some passive income earning asset... alternatively, open up several back-up accounts with the change, in case your main broker goes down with technical issues... the backup/s will enable you to immediately hedge against any open positions with the downed broker... But I agree with the folks who suggest $500 margin is a bad idea for undercapitalized newbies...