I have been looking for the last days some intraday TBonds charts and it looks to me that it is an "easier" market to trade intraday than SP for example. It looks more trendy and its market flow and structure more readable. Could anybody daytrading this market, or Tnotes, please give us his/her impressions? Why the most of the futures daytraders go for SP or ND (ES or NQ) and apparently so few daytrade TBonds? Any remark, etc, is welcome. Thanks Marvin
I sometimes trade the t-bond futures contract symbol ZB on a/c/e, it offers good movement for the money (margin 2160 per contract). It used to be a somewhat slow mover , but for the last couple of months, has been extremely volatile, so unfortunately it can move against you very quickly. I use it many times for daytrades because of this reason, and also for small scalps because of price movement and fast fills.
Marvin, just curious, what indicators and/or systems are you using for t-bond trading? I agree with you that the t-bonds are overlooked as a trading vehicle, they can be a great addition even if you trade ES and NQ as I also do. Thanks, jlk
easy question The 30 year pit in the CBOT is full of locals. Transactions go through human hands. The e-minis are done electronically. It is possible to trade intra-day (hey I was in that pit for awhile) but look for big moves and forget about it when an F goes up on the board (fast market) Robert Tharp
As a broker I like the t-bonds as a daytrading tool (sometimes even better than the minis) Both the open out cry and the A/C/E report very fast fills. From my experience trends, support, resistance etc. work well on this market - when it moves. The chart attached may be a good example.
Friday's Numbers (Couldn't find yesterdays): 30 Yr Bond Pit: 96,053 (56.8%) A/C/E: 73,196 (43.2%) 10 Yr Note Pit: 104,592 (55.5%) A/C/E: 84,004 (44.5%) I hear A/C/E is a technical interface nightmare. So make sure your broker doesn't say they offer A/C/E but has to hand enter it into the system (you'd be suprised). I know you don't need to worry about this with IB and J-trader9(s) (so if you go with anyone else its best to check).
Try www.elocaltrading.com The principals of the firm have traded Bonds for 20 years. They still clear 150 floor locals mostly in the Bond Pit. They use the Patsystems J-TRADER platform to access the electronic CBOT Bond market.
I did not spend much time trading bonds but the charts appear to have less noisse than SnP. One thing is that spread on IB for eminis is 4-5 ticks (x $15 and change) and there is not much liquidity unless you want to sell bid/buy ask PKJR