Hi, I tried a demo account over at IB but later I found out that the feed are somewhat different than the current market. I'd like to know the liquidity on hsi and n225, which one is more liquid. as for n225 I noticed IB has like 5 different contracts (2 with OSE and 3 with SGX). between the minis for both OSE and SGX, which one of them is more liquid. OSE's standard n225 is bigger than SGX' standard contract. which one of them are the most traded. lastly SGX' standard (yen) and standard (USD), which one is more liquid. I've been trying to demo trade both hsi and n225 (standard USD) with broker other than IB and I noticed that hsi is a lot more hectic than n225. but n225 is a bit orderly for my setup. any experience from the "experienced" ones are greatly appreciated. Thanks. Don.
Hi Don, The Nikkei 225 Mini on OSE wins the liquidity department, hands down. It's liquidity rivals that of the ES. I can't comment on the bigger contracts on the SGX, as I do not trade them. But here are some useful links for you. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=103059 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=120474 The HSI is not for the weak of heart. It's big, expensive, and it's on crack If you're just starting out, or would like to pro-long your existing trading career, stick with N225. Good luck, Schaefer
Thanks Schaefer, I enjoyed your thread. why haven't you update it? is HSI the same with mHI (the mini) in terms of volume. how does mHI weigh compared to N225m? @mazaltov why STW and not K200? is it safe to assume that both (STW and K200) rarely gap when in trading session due to their "no lunch break" characteristic? I noticed in the demo platform that K200 is heavier in volume than STW, does this reflect the real trading environment in terms of activity and volume? what about their chart orderliness? what does your experience say about this, guys?
The mhi is low on volume although it does follow hsi. If you're not ready for hsi don't use mhi as a substitute. SGXNK has great liquidity (not as much as N225M but what has) and is about 25 per tick. STW, SGXNK and SPI all have no lunch break (sgxnk now trades through) so no significant gaps in your normal trade. STW is a nice orderly market with great depth at about $10 per tick. SPI is much thinner than STW but is quite orderly anyway and for many strategies is more profitable than STW or SGXNK. $22 per tick. KOSPI is a nice market too but seems just a bit less friendly than the others. Its is heavily institutional fwiw. Of the last 3 mentioned I would recommend Nk if you like smaller tighter moves, STW in the middle and SPI for greater ranges in each move. But you need to test your strategy against them. Our opinions reflect our trading styles.
Looking at the commission of N225M at IB it is 300 yen bundled and over 500 yen unbundled. Am I missing something?
The unbundled yen denom contracts are more expensive. IB was going to look at this a year or so back ... I guess they did and its not changing.
thanks for your advise, kiwi_trader. I'll keep them in mind just out of curiosity, which one of them that you trade most of the time?
does anyone know if there is a vix equivalent for the n225? where i can download historical data from? I searched google but came up blank
After demo-trading HSI and N225m along with other stock index futures and also watching closely SPI200 for a while I concluded that I will only trade YM. I think this is the best suited instrument for me to trade for the following reasons: 1. my trading strategy has always been to avoid using any time frame lower than 1H 2. the opening gaps always messes up my chart reading 3. any opening gap means I will miss good trade whenever it presents itself 4. I prefer to trade a 24-hour market (or at least near 24-hour market) so I can see how the market develops 5. the spread is ridiculously lower compared to e-minis 6. the tick offered more flexibility SPI200 is also a good instrument to trade. However, the tick is more than 4 times bigger which means it will require more fund to absorb the cushion of the price action. Therefore, I will stick to YM and put $10 Dow and SPI200 on the next best instrument (at least until I have enough risk fund). I want to thank you guys for the info and help, especially to Schaefer and kiwi_trader. Good trading to you, guys!