1Reason, IB charges for most markets are less than a tick. Are you converting the currencies correctly? Don't worry about margin you just have to have enough money in your usd account to cover the number of contracts you trade --- nothing is converted, margin is just a guarantee of your ability to take a risk. learner
I trade anything that moves. IB commission is always competitive, there is no need to worry about the cost. I don't think there are much alternatives. It is better to spend your energy to worry about your profits. Look at my blot. As long as my comm is less than 10% of my gain, I am happy. No need to convert your US$ to HK$. IB does that for you automatically. When you made money, IB will automatically convert the HK$ and deposit the money into your base currency. The exchange cost is minimal, and is always a better rate in comparison to other institutions.
cmaxb: Any basic TA would do the trick. If you are starting out, I would recommend you to overlay the Bollinger Bands on the chart and observe the distribution for a few weeks. (a thorough reading of Bollinger's book is a must if you are to go this route.)
Morning session. 30 sec chart. Bollinger Bands set at 1 Dev and 2 Dev. You can see the market bounces between the boundaries. <img src="http://elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1741448">
That chart is pretty. Head and shoulders, double bottom. All sorts of good shit. How do the moving averages work on this future?
I posted this chart on the first page of this thread. The moving averages look trackable. <img src="http://elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1679807">