I loaded up the ks200 index and june futures and have been using IB charts to watch, starting with a 3 or 5 minute just to see smaller time frame movements. The index seems to trade in large bars but I dont see the futures move much. I wanted to watch the index and compare movement to futures , but on a fine scale they are no way near the comparable sp500 pair. Is this the way they trade or is it the IB charting? If I checked exchange rates correctly it runs about $ 23 per .05 so $400 + per full point?
Other than the time-of-day, what advantages are there from a technical standpoint of trading the KOSPI futures vs. the ES/NQ/YM contracts ? Especially if you are talking exclusively of HF trading.
not only can one trade the European / Asian instruments, I'd say more often than not, longer swing time frame works better than intraday trades. longer time frame charts are more predictive. Market is fractal, but they don't necessarily behave the same way on different time frames, because players are different. I think intraday trade is only good in extreme volatile situations, like the dump we had in 08-09, when the trade is so directional, and price was so easy to read, you can leverage up intraday to maximize profit.
Time is the main reason I trade KOSPI. Best instrument to compare Kospi to is ES. Kospi is a bit thinner, but much higher tick value around $22.
Totally disagree. It is very debatable which time frame is more predictive than the other. My experience shows that short term is much more predictive, plus trading intra day allows you to monitor and adjust any system much easier, and the results are visible much sooner. Kospi has decent range (2 or more points - 40+ ricks) for most of the trading days. This presents many opportunities to trade.
Futures have many days with 2 points plus. Yes, the value of 1 point is $400+. Most of the time 20-30 contracts a clip produce no slippage.
A good thread with good posts. jackson1234, your opening post was really good and interesting. I agree with the posters to "Try to learn something of trading by paper trading (without actual currency) & then when confident switch to real money. Do part time trading as you have two incomes from trading & job." Have a look here, http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=126368. Many books & advices are mentioned here.