Fed announcing buying $300 billion of long term gov bonds at that point is not really a random spike. Even tnotes went 121 to 126 making that fx chart look like a small move.
Futures traders do not waste their time photoshopping, cut and paste etc to templates and post paper trading results in P/L 2009 Journal. Chkitout, thks for being so misinformed and such a loser in the stock index futures. Did you ever think that nitwits like yourself that profess to know what you are talking about when in fact are clueless are why the small % of winners in trading any instrument make so much money ? Ohh, yes, i agree many futures traders started out trading stocks i know i did. Then to juice up the game and gains some i changed to futures because the rewards are faster. I never considered forex as an alternative but indeed did trade currency futures. To think trading FX (forex) is a step up from regular futures is extremly misquided information. I fully realize we all talk our game but lets be honest, trading forex is like falling for a con mans speak. FX is all about retail suckers. chkitout................please fund your futures ES account today, i could use some more cash. PS: Let me amend about posting blotters, nodoji gives real results because she leaves her ego behind working on being a trader.
How about discussing the real pros and cons of futures vs individual stocks rather than talking shit about each other? How come all the threads become about throwing shit at each other? It's actually odd that you guys say you're experienced traders but get upset about little things like forum postings. Discretionary trading requires levelheadedness and patience, virtues many here are not displaying - which begs the question....
Ok, then how is a .20 move on a 11.10 purchase equal to a $750 move on 1 ES contract using $500 intraday margin ? I'll even let you use prop leverage on the stock trade.
screenstruck, sorry, i didn't direct that to you, it was a general response to the naysayers and my overall current feeling toward ET.
What I was trying to say tho is that someone with $5k is forced into using 1:9 leverage with futures. Someone with $5k cannot trade with 1:1 leverage on futures. I consider that a disadvantage. (unless he lives in Australia and can use that broker that offers micro index futures @ 1/10 the ES... US$1.25 per tick)
With how this thread has devolved into a fight between futures vs stock guys, I fear stepping into it. Always interesting how some guys are so entrenched in one or the other and hate the guys who tout the other. Stock guys vs futures guys is worse than Repubs vs Dems, almost more of like how those English soccer fans have such hatred for other teams' fans. So having said that, I want to try and give some insight to the original poster BASED PURELY ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES, so please don't flame this, it is one man's journey. I have tried both stocks and futures. There was a quote earlier where someone said futures are like a jungle and stocks are like finding hidden money in the corner. From my experience that is very true. I know some futures guys that do make money. The guys I know that make money do take pretty large P&L swings from time to time, swings I myself would be very uncomfortable with, but they are large traders with big accounts. I tried futures as well, I would make a bit - make a bit - make a bit - then wham, one move would rip me a new one. I made money on it overall, but not near enough as I would need and not as much as stocks make for me. Stocks on the other hand are for me much more predictable. From my experience and connections in the business there I have seen a much higher success rate and P&Ls with stock guys than futures guys. I know there are guys killing it in futures, just saying I have seen many more guys fail trading futures than I have seen who trade stocks. To the guy earlier that said stocks lead the futures, this is totally incorrect. All the big stock traders watch the S&P E-mini's like a hawk, and base our decisions around where it is going. In the real world there is no question that futures lead cash, not the other way around. Which brings us to edge, if you are trading the leader (futures), you have to be a very good trader as you have to be right. If you trade the follower (stocks), you have an edge which is a few seconds of knowing which way the stocks should go before they do. You do not have to right near as often, thus the edge and higher success rate I have seen. There are many more factors at play, but to any traders that ask me which they should trade I say stocks - albeit with one caveat: Prop. Two of the big advantages futures offer are leverage and simpler tax accounting. If you do your daytrading retail, yes you have the PDT rule and a nightmare of accounting to deal with. If you get a Series 7 and head to a registered prop firm for stocks, you get leverage much better than futures offer (depending on your deal) and very simple accounting - one simplified P&L on a single page K1 statement at year's end. Every now and then I don't doubt I will dabble with futures here and there just because I am a trading addict, but for the bread and butter that pays the bills I could not imagine doing anything but stocks for that.
You must be new here. Unless you have a postcount > 1000 your noise-hole is not welcomed. Just sit back, interject intelligent questions where appropriate and learn from others mistakes.
Your post was thoughtful and well written, but left out one very important point to this discussion: Timeframe. A daytrader, working only in that environment, may find stocks easier to trade, IF they know what they're doing. But in my considerable experience with both stocks and index futures, a trader holding longer than intraday will find futures the better vehicle. Among other advantages, the most important is that stops and targets will be active overnight, avoiding the morning gaps that often cause havoc with even the best planned stock trades. I successfully traded equities for years, but eventually had my fill of stocks like DRL, THC, HAL, etc., that welcomed me in the morning with 10%+ losses because of criminal activity or just plain stupidity of the part of the managers. And if I've learned anything over the past few years, it's that NO management of any company is to be trusted again with my funds.