You need to open your mind, get rid of your preconceptions (what we dont know CAN hurt us), and take the advice to "consider" futures. If you are 'daytrading' there is only one reason for eschewing Futures in order to trade stocks: Ignorance. Leverage & Diversification using index futures trading will ALWAYS beat single-stock methods. If you want to be really stubborn: at least look into Single-stock Futures. There are over 7,000 stocks available for trading and your chances of picking the Correct stock AND the CORRECT Direction (consistantly) are slim-to-none: slim will eventually leave town. Your edge is empheral & fleeting as many 'geniuses' in 1999-2000 will attest. In any event, goood luck.
A few thousand guys and black boxes all staring the same quotes on their screen, plus a few dozen in the pit staring at each other, trying to grind out an edge with futures vs. 7000 stocks of which my computer only needs to flag a few to make money. i'll stick to stocks thank you. I'd like to hear how you diversify your daytrading with futures.
1 ES = $12.50 spread + $2.40 commish = $14.90 500 SPY = $5 spread, $2.50 commish = $7.50 + SEC fees, call it $8 At 3 round turns per day I'm saving $42/day or $10,500/year. Where's the advantage with futures?
Total bs. The less competitors in a market, the easier the trade. Index futures are a hedgers playground; you get one-way streets like today maybe twice a month. If you're looking for pure movement, each and every session, nothing beats a good eye for what's really pushing the sif's in the first place.
No, I make 500 gross on avg and I net out 250-300 on many days unless i get lucky and hit it big in just one trade in whcih case i get to keep at least 450...
I understand, but picking up 3 points on the es most days is very hard..What futures do u trade? Only the es or also the ym and cl(oil)? If I were to go the futures route. I definitely need to trade more than one market because the es and ym are not always volatile and some stocks are always moving even if the market is dead. This is why i trade stocks...
Futures adhere to technical analysis up there with the best instruments. They are liquid, secure and offer terrific leverage for those that know the meaning of risk and reward. You must however become an expert on price and volume to trade them consistently well day after day, no short cuts but the opportunity if you are willing to take the long road of hard work, is there. NN
Besides, futures trading is not cheap either. I traded the ym and cl for 1 year and came out flat. Huge commissions when scalping 5 contracts at a time... Someone said $500 a day is nothing. I would not say that when you look at all those people below us. The other day, I responded to a newspaper delivery ad and went to deliver newspapers in manhattan, ny to earn some extra income...They pay 800 a month, I gotta put gas, I gotta depreciate my car, I gotta kill my health waking up at 2 am to start work at 3 am, and not t0 mention the possibility of getting into an accident by the time I get out of that jam packed parking lot for delivery guys.. I had to deliver to 5 buildings, 23 floors each.. Absolutely ridiculous isn't it? There are 400 guys standing on line to do this job. Thats how desperate this country has become. Oh and after gas, you really end up with 125 a week. ha! And the funny part: I quit after 2 days and the guy wont pay me!!!!!!! Why? Because I dont have my ss card. I lost it. Born and raised right in nyc and suddenly I am placed among the ranks of illegal immigrants. Anyway, there must be a way to lower these fees. Maybe I should go with IB, they dont have sec fees i believe....And the pricing is all in. Cant beat that. But their software is freakin decades old and it was java based when I last saw it 4 years ago...I'm pretty sure they didn't do any updates...But I want to save my series 7. If I go with IB, i will lose that...That's why I am stuck with these prop dudes... Maybe there is a good prop deal out there similar to IB...Let me know if you guys find any.... So far no one made a comment about the sec fees...Isn't it the responsibility of the brokerage? And Dinoman, I agree with you about the politics. When people have no choice they feel compelled to choose the best out of the worst. The American public is the dumbest in the world and that includes us traders, because we don't fight back. We just accept everything they throw on us.
Averaging $500/day Mon-Fri, you shouldn't have to accept a paper route job, unless you want the exercise. How much capital are you trading with? How much leverage?