the tub may not show any bids / offers in the ics if you look, but if you put an order out there you'll get filled the instant it is given away for free by the bond market- which is the most liquid market in the world- that implies that the ics markets even if the bids / offers are invisible are some of the most liquid markets in the world.
Exactly - show them and you will get them. And there is sometimes a sliver of tail edge in there, especially with the twos. I love 'em. If you think about it, no matter how crafty you've been with the AutoSpreader settings the market basically has to trade through you in order to get filled on the automation. You can work a bid or offer in the implieds, not worry about the fill-to-messaging ratio policy, and IMO give up nothing to automation. Automation is recognized by the exchange as a contingent order, which of course gets pushed to the back of the order queue. So, use the exchange-supported implieds. Good stuff.
TradingJournals: I have three Australian clients trading SFE and other regional exchanges like SGE - the two prop traders clear Man Financial and one is a former hedge fund analyst trading his own account through IB. One of the clients is using the CQG IC Spreader. A helping hand: the Australian Dollar, the equity markets, and the fixed income markets are all heavily driven by natural resources. Keep your eye on Rio Tinto quotes and you'll get the picture (seriously). The front part of the bill curve tends to key off the same drivers. Check the Euribor curve in the rear-view mirror. I have some contacts at TMG who also trade SFE - the exchange has a poor reputation for busting trades and technical reliability issues from time to time. Careful about leaving GTC orders in the book for extended periods of time - you might regret it.
Bone: I didn't see your post untill now but it was very helpful. I found this link which provided so good information as well. http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/int...y_ICS__Take_a_Closer_Look_July_2010_FINAL.pdf Do you know where I can find the margin requirments for the Treasury Spreads? I read that it is less but couldn't find prices anywhere. Also I use OpenECry and it looks like they don't have any of the spreads listed. Does anyone know if they are available with OpenECry?
Go to the CME/CBOT website page for interest rates, and in the right hand margin there is a link for "Performance Bond Rates". Once there, select the "Intracommodity Rates" and the "Intercommodity Rates" for the spread margin credits. You will find them to be substantial, which is one of the great strengths for spread trading - they are cheap to capitalize and thus you can economically lever the crap out of them.