just found out on IB DD big contract $25 say 12,500 is worth $ 312,500 initial overnight margin $ 14,063 YM contract $5 say 12,500 is worth $ 62,500 initial overnight margin $ 2,813 So if I place a stop sell order for1 biggie and 3 small the initial overnight margin would be $ 22,502 would that be the kind of money IB expects in my account before I even place those stop sell orders? and when my stop sell orders get filled I have to have the overnight maintenance money in my account on that day as well? thanks people
vet - each broker is different for what they will require, but the margins have their overnight which you've found. I would just email IB and ask. When the order is placed you will need funds in your account to cover the trade, even if it's far from being filled. I've never heard of a futures firm allowing you to place a trade w/o any funds in the account to cover the position. So, you will more than likely need to have the funds in your account as soon as you want to place a trade.
thank you browny for your reply I`m now going away from futures to protect my trading capital. Easier would be to place a stop sell trade on with a CFD provider on the DOW index. They let you do a trade with a deposit of only 1%, so to cover $ 500,000 would require a deposit of $ 5,000. Man Financial will give me the official cash rate on this deposit, so the opportunity cost will be a lot lower. Heck I could even put $ 50,000 on it, wait for the crash (patience, patience, patience) and come out a millionair. GUARANTEED
vet - I am not familiar with CFD's - can you provide a few links? Your thread got my interest, so I'd like to see what you've decided on.