I was browing through Esignal's data sources window the other day and noticed that access to the NYMEX E-minis is pretty cheap (about $5 per month). Oil seems to frequently be a factor lately in determining market direction, so my question is: Do the E-minis tend to track the full contracts for crude fairly closely? My goal wouldn't be to trade oil, but to just be able to monitor it in real-time. I'm just curious as to how good of an indicator the minis are given that they aren't as liquid. Thanks!
the qm is in spite of its relative illiquidity fine for the monitoring you're looking for. Arbed closely to Cl at all times