zdawg, Your post indicates you are intelligent and ahead of the game for your age. Now, drop the `I am a highschooler, I need special help` BS. Take responsibility for being a man, unlike 99% of your peers, and travel the way of an adult. If it`s trading, then navigate the waters of ET or whatever with no apologies. You will be even further ahead of the game.
You're 17 and you wanna trade during summertime?? Boy, don't you have some girls to chase? That's what summer's for when you're young...
Trust me, girls won't be a problem since I'll only be trading MAX 4 hours a day (either morning or afternoon session, or both)
zdawg164 I'm also 17 and have been trading futures since 16. Its not a bad biz and its definantly possible to make good money at your age (I myself started with 3k when I first started about 2 years ago). I would recommend to start trading the european hours first (as you should be in school during the day). European hours tend to be a little more forgiving when you are trading american markets and you will learn a lot. Good Luck man and feel free to pm me with any questions. There aren't too many 17 year olds on these boards so we have to stick together lol! YT
Margin for YM is $3500, I'd save a bit more money and start with at least 5k. But other than that, go for it.
If your trading strategy can be used on things BESIDES YM, I would advise trading something else. Starting with an Index like ES, YM, etc. is not the most lucrative way to trade. They are chopped to ribbons by legions of traders and automated trading systems. You can start with something like soybeans (or smaller like corn). Pick something that has good up and down movement (not sideways), and with a small margin that fits your $2500 budget.
In time, you will grow wise and hold positions overnight and maybe even multiple days or weeks. j/k Day trading isn't for me, but hats off to anyone that does daytrade and can be consistently profitable. I did not know daytrade margins were that low. I'm in my early 20's too
Ok I've read some of the posts and I realized that YM might not be the best to trade. For those of you who have, how does it compare to the NQ in terms of liquidity, short term trends, and etc.... ?