let me see.the futures already give you huge leverage.then you go to a prop firm to double even that leverage.i wonder how many traders that play wipes out?
Chad-- Thanks for the reply. I see your points, but... to me, one of the reasons to go to a pro firm is to eventually do some serious size. Trading anywhere between 1 and 10 cars may not make a huge difference but once you start getting into higher multiples of contracts- well you can see where I'm going with this. The price differential becomes even more evident if you're in and out of positions all day long. The bottom line is how much money I would be able to retain with you as opposed to being on my own.
The margin requirements mentioned above are for holding overnight, which is what the CME requirements cover. The intraday margin requirements vary from broker to broker depending on how much risk they are willing to let you take. With intraday futures trading (i.e. exit all positions at close) you can have some great leverage regardless of whether you trade retail or prop.
Thanks, Chad. Which licenses are required, Series 7 only and/or others? What is the minimun capital requirement? Any plans to open up an office in the Pacific North West?
Uh, I thought I *was* calc'ing the intradays: from CME mins, to IB min o'nite, to IB 50% intraday. Where'd I go wrong? What do *you* think are the IB intradays for ES & NQ? Thanks.
Ne'mind. Pointless question; I'll just park an order at IB ten hours from now, and see what margin it wants for me to submit the order.
I meant the CME margins are the minimum requirements for holding overnight, but brokers are not subject to CME minimums for intraday. In other words a broker could give you as much leverage as they wanted to risk. You are indeed correct on the IB intraday margins requirements! Note that IB while offering cheap commissions has never been competitive with intraday margins. It took IB a long time to even go down to 50% on intraday margins! At least now they are around the average. My point is that intraday margins are always at discretion of the broker, so shop around! Depending on your account size, I've seen around $850 margin for intraday margins on ES. You need to look for a broker that is willing to compete for your business. You will have to agree to commit to a minimum account balance and volume, of course, but if you're really considering prop or not I thought I'd mention that there are several retail alternatives.