I want to learn how to trade future, but don't know where to start. Could someone guide me to the basic like: 1. Which index is ok to start with? YM, ES...I heard that YM is easier to trade than ES. Is it true? 2. Where to get live streaming charts for these market? Either paid or free as long as it is reliable and has indicators come with it as well. Like stockcharts.com is where I subscribe for the stock market. 3. How much money to start with? 4. Is it easier to day trade these markets or swing trade? 5. Any other information that u think I should be aware or need to have good knowledge of. Please share. any good book for beginner like me to read and learn? Thank you for all ur helps. TN
1) Not sure any futures market is 'easier' - if something was easier to trade, wouldn't the entire world trade the easy one? The main US indexes move similar (most of the time) but you will see times where a trade you take on the ES would not have worked on the YM and times where your NQ trade made a bunch of profit while the ES didn't move as much. 2) Most brokers will have this. I use Open ECry which offers a trial and also provides free data/platform to live accounts. After your trial runs out, you could open an account but you don't have to trade it till you are ready. http://www.openecry.com 3) There's no perfect answer here but I think most would suggest at least $5,000 per contract to start (and probably should be more). I would trade 1 contract when you start regardless of how much you deposit. 4) Once again, there is nothing in the market that is easy when you start. Nothing. If it was easy, everyone would daytrade as it's the perfect business - unlimited income, no customers, no inventory, etc. 5) The CME has a nice educational area - http://www.cmegroup.com/education/index.html There's also good threads on this forum and others.
I would definitely start with a book. Introduction to commodity futures trading or something like that. A lot of the concepts were a little difficult for me to understand at first. Like how can there be more corn contracts trading than there is corn in the field? Just a plain old book. Then later move to the internet for more up to date information. Next is to open a simulated account. That will teach you more than anything. Then you won't have to ask how much money it takes. Plus, everybody will give you different answers based on how they trade. I think a lot of new traders start at a disadvantage when they just learn ES and don't really have a grasp of futures markets as a whole. Margin is the thing. in futures with just 5k in your account they will let you control almost 100k. So a lot of things stock traders do would wipe them out on that kind of margin. If you have 10k, you can open an account at IB and use their simulated trading account, which trades just like a real account. It only costs $10 a month. Then you can see if you like it. And later you can use a different platform if you think you need to. And if you don't like it or you don't like IB all it takes is a click of the mouse and they will send you all your money back minus the $10/mo data fee. I think there are other brokers that also have simulated accounts and lower minimums. Usually 5k. My advice is don't start trading with real money until you are so comfortable on the simulator entering and closing orders and managing margin that you can do it in your sleep.
once you get a data feed from your broker, you can subscribe to a chart service. Most chart providers have a list of brokers they interface with. Check out Sierra Charts for an example. Many traders daytrade because they can trade on reduced margin. For example it takes about 5k to hold ES overnight, but you can daytrade one contract for $2500. Also, if you think you want to trade ES or YM, you should also be familiar with SPY and DIA so you can make an intelligent comparison between futures and ETFs. But you started at the right place. This is a great place to learn if you don't mind getting ridiculed and laughed at.
Nah..For only $2 999 999, nada menos. I don`t know how to mentor and have no such experience.Maybe some day,i will.
Trading is definitely not easy . You should practice for several months before risking money that you can afford to lose . You would think that a company would make it easy for someone to practice trading futures , but they don't . One of the few sites that I know off , where you can practice without opening an account is strategyrunner.com . Click on trading platform , then under education , click on educator . The educator lite version , will allow you to practice monthly for $60 . If the lite version allows you , put the ishimoku indicator and the 9 , 20 and 50 exponantial moving averages . It's crucial to your success that you look at the slope of those averages in different time frames ; 10 minutes , 5 minutes and 3 minutes. If the 10 minute is flat , the trend can go either way and your risk of losing increases. You want the average lines to be at a 45 degree angle . Let's say that you waited an hour or so after the market opens to decide where the trend is for the next hour ; and the trend in the 10 and 5 and 3 minute time frames is trending upward . Before you put a buy order , look at the 20 exponential moving average in the 3 and 5 minute time frames , and wait for the price to retrace back close to the 20ema and then put your buy order. keep on practicing this method before you place an order. Go to sites like marketwatch.com and forex factory.com to know when to expect a major news release and don't trade around those times. When you open a real account , have your trading desk phone number and your account number readily available , so you don't have to waste time looking for it, if your computer crashes. Use stop orders to limit your loses , but know that there is no guarantee that your order will be executed. Also, even if you are right, and the market goes in the direction that you believe , the price can retrace $300 against you , per contract traded. That's why it's crucial that you be patient and wait for the price to retrace close to the 20 ema before you place your order . And you must look at 3,5 and 10 minute time frames to gauge the trend . I hope this will help in your practice. Best of luck and remember that there is much more to it than this, but you must start somewhere .
Thank you for all the answer. Last night and this morning I practiced using macd and stochastic and some candle sticks and I made around $800 for a total of 19 contracts (I only purchase 1 contract at a time). I use limit order for buy and sale. The speed at night was slow compare to the morning. I mean will it be easier to trade at night time when you have time to think more where it will be going? And how is the order get fill at night time? Is it fast just like the morning time in real life trading. And how much is it for the cost of commission at open e cry since I don't see it shows when I purchase or sell 1 contract. Is it included in the sale? Since I take profit at 1/2 to 3/4 of an ES point, so if the commission is too expensive, then I will end up paying more for commission than taking profits. How do you guys do this every morning when the price go up and down so crazy like that. It seems very intense than swing trading for stocks or even day trading for stocks, but I see more people interest in ES than stocks. What r the secrets behind this . But I definitely practice some more before I put my hard earned money on the line. Thanks again for all the answers. TN