How do I get set up to trade the Hang Seng mini futures contract. I have a futures account with IB that I trade the NQ & ES. Do I need a seperate account or can I trade the MHI in the same account? Also, is there any sources of free charting or a website to look at data for the MHI? Thanks, Savage
the symbol is MHI but you'll need to open a HK account and have to fund in HK dollars. However, the universal account which should be released shortly will enable you do do it from one account (you'll just have to fill the online application for the univeral account and fax the risk disclosure agreement (HK requires a physical copy of the signature page). As mentioned in another post, the universal accounts are currently being beta tested by a number of clients and will be opened for all shortly. charting: there are a couple that might have free charts but nothing great. For a small fee you can try prosticks. On the IB web discussion board under Asia there are a few links. However, when qcharts and quote tracker finish integrating with IB, you should be able to use them. -- one last thing. If you are looking at charts, you should use HSI since that is the main market. MHI will simply follow HSI within 1-2 ticks.
I just opened an account in Hong Kong Dollars with IB to trade the Hang Seng futures contract. Does anyone know how I can fund that here in the US. IB won't let me transfer US funds from my US account. Thanks, Savage
the wiring instructions to Citibank Hong Kong are on the IB web site. You'll have to do that until the unviversal account is opened.
Def, Who would a US trade call if there was a TWS problem and he wanted out of a HK position? Is the e-mini HS the only electronically traded contract? Also, I can't find anything on QCharts related to hong kong or any other asian market, but their web site is so confused and opaque I wouldn't guarantee it's not there. What are the best web-based news sources to keep up with hong kong? In the past I have found that it was a chore to keep up with such things as economic releases. Personally, I have wanted to trade HK for years and I think it can be a great market for US-based traders now.
You would use chat, or call the HK help desk to get out of a trade. (long distance calls with the proper telco provider is only about a dime a minute). We have an exchagne terminal in the office if necessary. No, the HSI is the most active contract, the options have decent spreads as well. They have dow futures now as well as individual stock futures. The dow future has a multiplier of 10 HKD and thus you're better off using A/C/E. The SSF's are on HK stocks. I wouldn't sweat the economic news in HK. The dollar is pegged to the US and thus interest rates follow the states. There are exceptions but you'll see the futures move before you read or hear about it. I don't think Qcharts has anything for Asia. for info: Read the south china morning post (www.scmp.com), the asian wall street journal, Quamnet, http://e-finet.com/, and http://www.quotepower.com/english/ If you can read chinese, let me know and i'll provide some more links I agree with you on trading the HK market.
savage, are you trading this yet? how's it going? anyone else here trading the hang seng? I'm curious what youa re using for quotes, etc and if the same patterns that work on the S&P work here.
The markets in Asia were open as usual. The Future opened down 8% hit intraday lows down about 11% and closed down 8.5%. Options vols opened 25% higher and traded around there till the afternoon when they shot up 50% (probably a margin call or a squeeze). Trading HK: I can't comment on charts/graphs as we don't use them to make trading decisions.