I currently trade nyse listed stocks only with the e mini as an indicator in itself. i.e. when futures move up buy stock etc... but after talking to a few people that only trade futures some have said they are watching the cash.. (I really didn't understand how that can help them if its lagging the futures) am i wrong in assuming at a some point in time during a turn there will be some point that the cash would be leading? considering people are arbing the two against each other constantly? that is to say ... when cash is cheap according to some form of prem. or fair value.. buy cash sell futures .. or vise versa.. sell cash buy futures... this maybe more of the program trading approach and not the individual speculator, and thoughts? R.D.
ss - i use oec (www.openecry.com). their platform is free and have competitive and negotiable rates. fwiw, MANY people use IB who also meets your criteria. one of the biggest differences is when i call up OEC i get a human and it is usually my AR. if not, i still know who i am speaking with and vice versa. i think MBT also meets your needs, but haven't checked with them for a while. they are also very cust serv focused (in my experience). these sites may or may not address your questions: http://www.indexarb.com/ http://www.programtrading.com/welcome.htm hth take care omni
Have traded es, nq in 2002 with great results. Too much liquidity and choppiness after 2002 so I switched to zf,zn,zb spreads using TT's Xtrader and Autospreader. Worked for 2 years but now EVERYONE is using Autospreader so your chances of missing a leg of the spread is huge, thus offering a great chance at a loss. There is usually 1000+ contracts going after 100 "real" contracts for sale/tobuy so 10% chance if you have the best connection/machine, etc. Through a pro account without a seat lease, was paying about $1.30 R/T. Commissions were only .50c R/T plus exchange fees. If you trade more than 100 contracts per day, you should open a pro account somewhere. If you trade > 300 per day, lease a seat.
=================== Short seller; Best Stocks tend to trend in same direction more days per week; ES,ER2 usually reverse long or short with meaningful % gains much more than stocks per day.ER2 reminds me of some NasdaQQQ stocks Stocks are more forgiving, frequently take long walk with NYSE stocks trending ; actually never even thought much about taking a walk with futures position open, dont want that pain. More traders in futures; more investors in stocks, dividend collectors, holders. Just like timing is more critical in short stock than long uptrends; timing is more critical either way in futures Even though could get hurt more with futures; occasional futures insure an active & alert mind & body.