Thanks I've checked them out and unfortunately I don't have the required minimum. I looks like they might be the only option in Canada though eh?
If you have your heart set on trading e-minis there are some US brokers that will take Canadian Clients. I would contact Mirus, Infinity and Global futures to see. The other thing you can do is trade the ETFs with a Canadian broker. I have found that QID and QLD pretty well mimic the NQ. I will repeat the warning that being under capitalized is one of the main reason that traders fail. Get a demo platform and practice your trading until you save enough to fund an account with IB.
Thanks very much for the advice. I will heed your warning and will definitely check out the etf's as well. I'm not far off the $10k anyway but some practice trading eminis would certainly be a good idea and timing may work out nicely. Thanks again
Never put more than 5k in any futures account. Plenty o brokers offer 500 day trading margins. 5 k is plenty. Be extremely cautious if any one suggests or requires more. They are likely shills for a broker that simply has weak internal risk controls. Be very afraid.
Ok, so given my absolute 'newbie to futures' status, how would you rate the futures racket as compared to stock markets. ie, would they be a closer comparison to the otc bb or the big exchanges such as the dow or tsx? Not a comparison in size but in integrity. Thanks
It's one step above the forex dealer market and 2 steps below the stock market. Most firms mean well. Some do not. Only place funds in account you can afford to lose in total. See refco for an example of what can happen.