Long term hold e mini 500 or SPY

What do you mean by take a huge loss if you are down? Each day, your Future’s position is marked to the close and so is your liquidating equity. Each 12/31, you are marked to market for IRS taxes. Other countries might have another process for taxes but the reality is if your position goes against you, you lost money already.

 

What I mean is, with the future you are forced to close your position at the end of the 3-month term, sometimes at a very large loss, which debits your account. With the non-future choices, it is just a buy-and hold situation.

You might be marked-to-market at end of year for tax purposes on SPY, but you are not forced to liquidate, and have all the time in the world for the position to recover.

 

For the rolling part does it incur commission and spread difference ?

I intent to hold a position in es equivalent to what my cash amount can hold, so there won't be any margin issue.
with realised large loss, I will view it as if it's large paper loss on holding spy.

 

There's expense ratio in spy.
Is there expense ratio for es?

 

Hmm, you are asking a question I cannot answer. I believe I erred when I commented on SPY. I thought that meant the pure index, the parent of the ES, but I think I have that wrong. I was trying to compare ES to the parent, which I guess is the SPX? *shrugs*

Sorry guys, I have been so deeply buried in the futures shit, I don't know what is above the surface of the water, lol!

See @Robert Morse for answers, he's keen on the bits you be asking about.

I scoot away into my corner now.

 

No expense ratio for holding ES other than the financing cost.

 

What financing costs?

 

For the same notional value, commissions will be in most cases much cheaper for futures.
Not too sure for ETF spread. For SPY, it should be tight. For futures, you buy a calendar spread every 3 months. Spread is 0,05 point.
To get T-bills, you might have to go across the spread. Depending the amount you buy, your order might not get filled

 

3M Lib at expiration but integrated in the futures price

 

This thread has gotten overly complicated for a long-term investment. You said this is a foreign account with taxes that I’m not familiar with. In the end this is a tax question and nothing else. What would you get to keep more if your gain was from Futures or in the ETF with dividends. And if there’s a loss, how would that affect your savings

We can’t answer those questions. All the other stuff is not as material.