But it is more volatile, look at the last few days charts and see the crazy spikes. It might be dangerous if you are trading with tight stops. If you are looking for a trendier future contract look at NQ. TM Trader
dumb question!!! keep in mind i am just starting to trade these and am not going all in, so my question is what are some leading indicators for the es, nq, & ym, if any, obviously these are a few things i use for the stocks i trade, but is there anything else i should be looking at as far as indexes are concerned?
Help: is there an abbreviation or code used here for the $5 mini-Dow? As a new member, just want to follow any BB discussion on the mini-Dow and its market.
http://finance.lycos.com/qc/stocks/quotes.aspx?symbols=CBOT:YM03U http://finance.lycos.com/qc/livecharts/default.aspx?symbols=CBOT:YM03U NihabaAshi
The following are a list of what traders I know do use: (Note: Some traders use one or a few of this list) TICK, TRIN, PREM, Advance Decline Line, MER, VIX, SOX, Dow Industrial, Nasdaq Composite, SP Cash Index, Time & Sales, Key Economic Reports (U.S. and Europe) et cetera... Most likely...whatever your using for stocks (you mention prior that you trade stocks) as a leading indicator... may be of some use in the Eminis. Now if you want to know how to use any of the above that's mentioned... all the above have been discussed heavily and if you use EliteTraders.com search menu in the upper right corner... you may find some useful info. NihabaAshi
What are the fills like when trading the ES??? Can you ever get filled buying on the bid and selling on the ask, or do you have to pay the spread? Can you go in between the spread? What are the fills like in fast markets? Thanks, axe
Where did you see that? The minimum deposit for IB is $2000 and currently initial margin on a YM trade is about $1,300. (assuming you meant USD's)
Quote from axehawk: What are the fills like when trading the ES??? Very fast...(with IB) Can you ever get filled buying on the bid and selling on the ask? Sure...there's a program called TraderGuard Platinum that is designed to help you do just that. But, be aware though, commissions will eat you alive. When you get your tick, you get 8 bucks. When you lose a tick, you pay $18 bucks. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the outcome of that game. What are the fills like in fast markets? You can expect a few ticks slippage, but for us older guys who were trading 10 years ago on the phones when a trade could "slip" 3 or 4 handles before your broker picked up the phone, a few ticks is nothing.
blb078- If you are just starting out. Stay on paper. Don't bother with the YM. Although, its smaller contract tick size would beg you to trade it as an entry level mini-futures contract it is anything but feasible for a beginner. The YM is simply too volatile at this time. It is too thinly traded and prone to sudden whips and spikes. I trade the NQ daily and although it is 10 per tick, it is less volatile excluding report times. It is quite cordial and lends itself to intraday trading more so than the YM. NQ has the liquidity needed to scale up your size and not suffer from staggered slippage on multiple contracts. Setup some Stoch-RSI indicators with 2 varying lengths and get a feel for the oscillations in the Nq prior to going live. -momo
I agree that you should give yourself some time on paper before opening an account. I too am a stock swing trader who has recently started trading ES as a sideline. If you are honest in logging your trades as you watch the ES and/or NQ charts (sell bid, buy ask), you will gain a lot of knowledge as how these move without opening up an account until you are convinced you will succeed. No, it isn't precisely the same, but close enough for your training and experimentation.