I like futures (for tax reasons and no PDT rule and no wash sale rule) but i'd feel more comfortable trading something smaller. Too easy to lose hundreds on a move against you. Are there any brokers that offer like 1/2 size eminis so each tick on the YM is $2.50? That'd be awesome.
You are absolutely right, for most small accounts even 1 future is too large and you can't scale in or out. Over here in Europe you can trade CFD's. These are not allowed for US-citizens I believe. Usually contracts are for 1 euro per 1 point. No commission, only 2 pt spread. You could trade the spy, dia or qqqq based on the futures charts (ES, YM or NQ) as an alternative. That works quite well...
Why would you trade the SPY, DIA or QQQQ off the futures charts!? Why not trade them off their own charts?