Hi, my name is Dan. I have been trading stocks (long term) for 3 years with reasonable success. I want to get into the e-mini but I really dont know how. Can anyone steer me in the right direction? What company do you guys use to trade futures. I tried IB but they require a $40,000 min for futures. I currently use zecco. Googling E-mini just brings up pay sites and what-not. Any advice would be stellar. Thanks.
Hi Dan, I suggest you go here: http://www.easypick.hostzi.com/eminiarticle.htm This will give you the info you need to trade the eminis. As for brokers, I recommend Go Futures. You can trade with as little as $1000 and their commissions are the lowest I've seen.
Check out AMP Futures or Mirus Futures, both have low capital requirements. Make sure you paper trade first, or you will lose all of your capital in a week learning.
I know IB has raised their minimum to open an account (even a few years back it was only $2k), but I'm not sure where you came up with $40k. I know a guy that trades the e-mini occasionally and he opened an account less than 6 months ago and I know he didn't need $40k to open it. As far as I can tell you need about $10k now. http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/fees/minimumDeposits.php Your best bet is probably to take a look-see at the brokers page, check what trading platforms they offer and then play with the demos to see which suits your needs.