Mav, I heard you talk on the chat about learning to trade with ETF's instead of futures. Here are a couple of questions i have: 1) Is there PTD restrictions on day trading the ETFs? If there is, then if you get stopped out 4 times in a day, you wont be able to trade for the rest of the week. 2) Can you short on a downtick?
i traded etf's for 6 months before using futes (i currently trade YM for a livin') yes, the PDT rule applies to ETF's yes, you can short on a downtick but be advised the fills on ETF's are not quite as good as on futes, which is good because if a strategy works on the ETF it will generally work better with the futures equivalent i have also seen occasional crossed bid/ask during times of very hi volatility on ETF's (but never on futes)
I like trading ETFs, thats what i do for about 80% of my income. They are more innefficient that futs. I like how they are crossed, held, pushed around, or lagging. Thats where the money is for me, i dont actually bet that much on pure direction. If you are trading for a directional/long term move, i dont know if there would be a point to trading ETFs.
ETF's also tie up IMMENSELY more capital, have inferior tax treatment, cannot be shorted in an IRA, and do not trade 24 hrs.
How do you guys deal with GLD and SLV or even the 10 yrs treasuries ETF when the trading begins at 820? Is there enough liquidity pre-market? The spread in the mini gold could get erratic at times, so GLD might be the way to go, but with most of the activities happening before 930, it could be a problem.