I trade NYSE stocks, so i follow the S&P futures alot. However, I have no idea what affects the futures. Is there any good links out there someone can recommend to me with some good info about these futures and things to watch for when trading them. Thanks in advance.
Don't worry about it at all, just start trading them. It's so easy. I would like for you to trade NQ, if you don't mind.
There are many places to learn about what futures are and how they are used. The CME and CBOT websites are full of great tutorials, etc. I traded equities back when you didn't need a chart to have the confidence to slip in and out of the market with 10's of thousands of shares at a time scalping. Futures, however, are a lot more efficient and require a broader understanding of their fundamentals and technicals. If you intend to trade futures, then you would do yourself a great disservice if you put on a single contract without fully understanding that product's contract specifications completely and without knowing what the underlying market is for that contract and what fundamentals effect it. Good luck.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/b-econoday.htm Mark (a.k.a. NihabaAshi) Japanese Candlestick term