Hi, newbie here. How much money is needed to day trade 1 E-mini S&P 500 contract? The price of 1 sp500 emini contract is $50 x E-mini S&P 500 futures price. Assuming SP500 is at 1100. So the price per contract would be $55000. Intraday Initial Margin is $1406. Intraday Maintenance margin is $1125. Does this means I need $56406 ($55000+$1406)just to start trading 1 e-mini sp500 contract? How much leverage is allow in emini sp500?
For a real brokerage you'll need around 6,000 per contract, and 2,500 during market hours. You earn or lose 50 dollars per contract per point. For a bucket shop like AMP or Mirus, you'll need 500 per contract during trading hours. They will put most of your trades through to the exchange, but often times, they will just keep it in house. They will not deny this openly, because they would be lying to do so. But they will try their best to hide it. I would stick with interactive brokers or trade station.
After a year of me saying this, and neither Mirus nor AMP will refute it, there's your proof. Ask your self this? How much over head do they have? Do you really think they could pull a profit with those puney commissions?
You are a chump, and if they even happen to come across your posts Im certain they just roll their eyes. Have you been to their offices? You are making wild assumptions about their potential overhead. You have no clue. Do you even know how the futures market works? Do you know the difference between an introducing broker and a fcm?
Intraday margin is at the discretion of your broker. All of them can have a different requirement for intraday. The initial margin is all you deposit with the broker. You do not need the value of the contract deposited. That is your leverage. Using your example, your leverage would be $55,000 divided by $1406 or about 39 to 1. Don't believe 99% of the stuff posted on this blog. Most of it is pure BS and the other part is from people who do not know what they are talking about. If you have questions, someone will finally provide you a straight answer. Good luck with your trading.
Hi, chartman Are you saying that as long as I am within margin requirement, I can trade as many contracts as I want?
You can trade as many contracts as you have money for initial margin. But before you start trading, it appears, you need to know about the markets. At least, learn about money management and overtrading.
You probably won't to keep some margin on the sidelines just in case the trade doesn't go your way initially. But yes it is possible, just not recommended