Range of ES commissions?

Discussion in 'Index Futures' started by Boomer, Feb 25, 2008.

  1. Boomer

    Boomer

    what are you guys paying to trade the es rt? i am about to negotiate with a new broker, and want a starting point...
     
  2. DonKee

    DonKee

    Anything >$5.00 RT is overpaying and not necessary.

    Anything <$5.00 RT only becomes significant if you are doing more than a few hundred RT's per month. Execution, fills, and stabilization of platform are, also, extremely important.
     
  3. Boomer

    Boomer

    a little more detail:

    i have been sim trading and doing about 50 rt's a day. (that is trading 2-3 contracts, not # of trades.)
     
  4. DonKee

    DonKee

    I know you posted regarding commissions, but this comment below is part of the equation.

    I have found trading 20-30 RT's per day on the ES to be both exhausting and unsustainable, in the long run (5-10 years). I used to do it. Now I just wait for a few good set-ups each day and take the trade. Much less stress, mental gymnastics, etc.

    To give you an example from todays trading: After the open, I put in a buy limit on 3 contracts just above the PP at 1347.25 with a 3 point stop. I just recently exited at 1362.25, for 15 handles. That's a nice day's work.

    Now I can go walk my dog, workout and return for the last two hours of the day. Does it always work out this way? NO, but when it does, it sure is nice. :)
     
  5. Focus on getting a "low" rate, not the lowest rate. You need to trade real-money and determine what your actually risk tolerance is before generating too many trades, too fast. Walk before you run.
     
  6. cszulc

    cszulc

    IB is generally the lowest of all, but if you have significant size you can negotiate with some firms that have significant futures business (think Advantage Futures and Rosenthal).