Being undercapitelized (US$20K) I just decided to open aother IB account for trading futures in: - European Markets (London-Liffe + Germany-Eurex) and - US market Can somebody kindly suggest me some really worth and useful web-sites where to find tutorials, learning from basics, training, software ...? I am using esignal as charting tool Thanks
A good starting point is the Chicago Merc's site at http://www.cme.com to learn contract specs, etc. Chris
i do no want to sound pessimistic here, but if you are undercapitalized go for swing-trading stocks but DO NOT jump into trading Eminis especially if you are just starting. you will leave money on the table after the game is over, and Emini provides just a quicker way to do that. PKJR
www.dacharts.com is a good place to start. You may want to consider just trading stocks 3 times a week instead. If you wait for a clear setups in NQ before buying you won't be trading that often. And if you trade just to get into the action you'll pay for it. Good luck. EC
http://www.mrci.com/ and read this daily column: After Midnight Morning Outlook with Toni Hansen http://www.hardrightedge.com/trader.htm otherwise just stay glued to your real time charts all day long for a few months and papertrade a few strategies before trading real money.
$20k is more than enough to trade the eminis, it is not being undercapitalized (it is, obviously, under capitalized for daytrading per new SEC rule). I would recommend that you first paper trade the eminis using whatever trading methodology you used on stocks to make sure that you are profitable on paper first.
i am not going to argue about what is being undercapitalized or not (personal preference) but if someone has 20k and cannot build to 25k that gives me something to think about. Sure you can trade with 20k Eminis.. is it enough to LEARN and SURVIVE and then start making money..I would say NO. If you cannot make money in stocks - Emini is not going to help you...but after years of trading I might be wrong and you are genius trading Eminis from a day one. Hey, how about if we let allesim report how is he doing and what is his threshold for pain when account goes below 15k slowly but surely... allesim, before you jump into Eminis build your account to 25k - prove it to yourself and then make a decision to try Eminis. I you really go for trading Emini - remember never trade one contract! PKJR
thanks to all of you for your kind suggestions What you suggests is scaring me enough and I feel I will think twice also considered my poor results in trading stocks Personally I began trading 8 months ago: little paper work. I use no TA. My strategy is very simple: buying or shorting in trending days, stay still in chopping days I buy stocks showing strenghs AND trading at or near 2-5 days highs I short stocks showing weakness AND trading at or near 2-5 days lows I use t&s to locate the exact time when entering a position. I use the size column in esignal (if size shows 1x10 or 2x15 for some 20-30 secs that is my starting signal for a short move, provided other conditions are also met) I also use to monitor $COMPQ before entering a position: if I want to short on a tier 2 stock but COMPQ is rising, then I think twice or use only 100 shares instead of 400 shares Despite my diligency, probably I am not good at executions or my strategy is flawed, since I lost USD5K since I started. So now I wanted to try EMINI, but it seems that I better forget trading at all. Thanks anyway for your kind recommendations
PKJR- Knowing some basics of futures, but never having traded the e-mini, why not trade 1 contract? More than a few successful traders started off by trading just one contract. Futures and options make me dizzy, I'm going to take a nap. bronks
but if someone has 20k and cannot build to 25k that gives me something to think about. Sure you can trade with 20k Eminis.. is it enough to LEARN and SURVIVE and then start making money..I would say NO. So are you saying that the initial investment for any trader new to eminis, regardless of experience, is > $20k loss before they can be successful? That sounds silly to me. Maybe someone started out with $5k to get their feet wet, and have built it up to $20k, then the new SEC rule prevents them from day trading unless they add funds to their trading account. After having day trading stocks, they now are looking to eminis as an alternative. I see nothing wrong with this. In fact, many stock traders haven't even thought much of trading futures until the SEC forced them to look around and consider their options. I know a lot of traders with trading accounts in the $5k-20k range. They are not superstars or gurus by any means, just individuals who have had mild to moderate success trading stocks. Now with the SEC rule they can either add funds to their trading account, or look at alternatives. I don't see them at a huge disadvantage "switching" to eminis as many critics have suggested, especially if they spend some time paper trading to get used to the nuances of eminis vs. the stocks they previously followed. And even if you were referring to a raw newbie with no previous trading experience, I don't necessarily agree that $20k is the "cost of education". Obviously the odds are stacked against a newbie, as it is with any profession, but I've seen new traders be successful from day one, and I've seen some that have lost their initial trading capital. It just depends on a lot of different factors, including dedication, self-education, discipline, money-management, luck, and many others.