I think the ES is not the best one to start with as a beginner. A lot of big players in this market...
Technically there are sometimes others that look better in the opening, however Dow, Nasdaq and Sp500 are available a lot of information before the opening. Sometimes I like raw materials for example, but the information available before the opening is not so extensive, it is necessary to rely more on technical aspects. Is this why the indexes are easier to operate?
Backtest all the futures that you're interested in and let the results determine which is the "best futures" via your own trade strategy instead of via the opinions of the forum that have obviously not used your trade strategy. Yet, whatever your results tell you...market conditions do in fact change. Simply, what's best to trade this week may be the worst to trade next week. What your backtest results show as the 3rd best to trade this week may be the best to trade next week. Heck, you can take this furuther. What's best to trade the first hour this week...is worst to trade the first hour next week. I think you now see how difficult this can get when you chase "what's best to trade" considering in reality its an endless ongoing question to answer. Worst, each futures have different characteristics to learn...what you learn in one may not be applicable to another. Regardless, let the results of your backtesting do the bulk of the work (answering your questions) for you and then you can use your account balance to tell you which one you can afford to trade and/or use your availability (time of day) to trade it as a way to filter which you can trade. For example of the latter above...lets say your backtest results determine that you should be trading the Hang Seng HSI futures but its trading hours conflict with your sleeping hours or you reside in a time zone in conflict with the Hang Seng HSI futures... You may be forced to trade something else that's 2nd best, 3rd best or worst just because it fits your time schedule (your availability to trade it). Also, this is an advantage not often discussed that professional institutional trading firms have over retail traders that trade from home...most professional institutional trading firms have offices in different countries. Simply, they can trade whatever the hell they want to while us retail traders are posting at forums trying to discover what's best to trade. Yeah, that's your WTF moment for the day ! Further, I've met a few retail traders that were so serious about being able to successfully trade something that their backtesting results revealed what was best to trade...they moved (relocated) to a different time zone to trade it. I know this is an extreme example but its no different than someone taking a new job offer on the other side of the country or even taking a new job in another country to earn a living. Thus, people routingly pull up roots and relocate their family for a better life...some traders have done the same. Yet, you can just keep it simple via just letting someone tell you what to trade even if your backtest results via your trade strategy & your availability to trade it show its the worst to trade. wrbtrader