Great question. I have CME Core loaded on one of my office PC's, so I couldn't give the exact margin comparisons at this moment, but after looking at the CME website SPAN runs from my iPad I would venture a solid guess that the initial margin for that Condor (4 contracts) is no more than 50% of the $2,050 initial margin requirement for one August NG outright contract. SPAN is based entirely upon historical volatility, so that's about as empirical as one could get. As an aside, tracking daily drawdowns during the paper trading phase of training is one of the major points I like to stress. When a client decides for himself that he wants to go live, we talk about his account capitalization and his own particular drawdown comfort level. From that, we devise a sensible sizing and product suite plan to start out on. Crack spreads, metals spreads, and Cotton spreads are the really chippy ones.
Yes, there are literally thousands of spread combinations. I provide a system, including a proprietary technical study package developed exclusively for spread trading, to make entry decisions. Since we are swing trading using longer timeframes, it's a bit more manageable. Your point is an excellent one.
so i technically "own" the system, or can use it for life since I "help" build it and understand it with direction ?
There is a 4 page contract which addresses primarily NDA and my obligations to the client. Clients own the system outright for life provided that they do not share it with others. I provide a couple hundred hours of recorded webinars covering the entire spectrum of topics dealing with spread construction and trading, and also about 150 files of hard copy reference materials. The vast majority of these materials are proprietary to me. I also provide one-on-one client support and training as part of the program.
Bone, have you experimented with adding onto positions after it moves favorably in your direction? I've found that this can really help returns in the long run.
Pressing winners can work well as you describe. Traders adding to losers in the name of "dollar cost averaging" and "price improvement" I'm not so enthusiastic about.