An old trader told me, to survive in the futures market, I must keep more than enough cash reserve in my a/c. So even the market suddenly crashed, I could still survive. He suggested at least 3 times the initial margin for one contract. For day trading NQ, if I keep $10,000(=500 points) for one contract, I could quite sure that it won't move so many points within one day(even for the Sep 11). Would you do this? Any guy doing so?
Yes, you need cash reserves for futures, more than stocks, in my opinion. Still, it all comes down to how you trade( a cliche). Are you profitable? then you should already have money management model. If you 're a beginner, then 1 contract no matter how much you have.