I just got my TradersExpo catalog/schedule. In it there is a chance, for $100, to put on a trading jacket, go to the MERC and "see how you stack up against the pros on the floor in a mock trading session. Prizes will be given for the "best" and "worst" traders." I don't know about you guys, but I think this is pretty cool! nitro
I've done this before at the CBOE. What I noticed most, was how limited the universe is of traders in the pit that you trade with. At best you can see and communicate with 1/3 to 1/2 of the other traders. The rest are looking some other way. Compare this with electronic trading where you can see and communicate with tens of thousands of other traders on the screen. Another thing I noticed was how the mob mentality could affect your opinion of price - sort of like people at an auction bidding more than they should because of the influence of the crowd or getting distracted because someone yelled in your ear. I think calm evaluation in front of a screen is a more efficient environment for price discovery.
the CME should not charge $100 to do this I recently did mock trading at the NYMEX pit during a derivatives symposium and it was free and included a free copy of the logical trader
but it was all paper trading ... I was upset that I was bidding and my price was violated so I complained and they told me in real trading they would have fined the violator for going through my bid
LOL. Just like real life alright - the establishment gets to break the rules to screw the "regular" people.
Not really. In futures you can't trade through the bid ask spread. (Unlike in stocks where apparently it is a requirement). You hear this all the time on the squawk. The bid ask is 20 bid and 50 offer and someone will try to print at 90 and the squawk will say the print is not being allowed until there is a 90 offer.