hi, i am intending to pick up gold futures options trading. i have some questions here: 1) which online brokers are good for this? 2) are the liquidity and spread good in gold future options? cos i saw in IB the spread in GC isnt that tight. 3) how much capital would be required to play this market? 4) whats the difference between GC, YG and ZG? thank you dm
Hi, As for brokers that give access to futures options, I've had experience with several. But, I would recommend going directly with a major FCM--in this case, MF Global. They have a private client group and have treated me extremely well (and are very competitive on commissions: www.mfglobalfutures.com or www.directfills.com). As for liquidity, check on www.barchart.com. They have quotes for all of the major metals, and also have options quotes with open interest. For example: http://www2.barchart.com/optqte.asp?mode=D&view=&sym=ZGM8 The symbols are Comex Gold, CBOT gold, and CBOT mini-gold, respectively. See http://www2.barchart.com/mktcom.asp?code=BSTK§ion=metals Good luck! E
Thinkorswim is currently rolling out futures and options on futures. These options are already on their platform but unable to place a trade at this time. I would guess another month or so.