mgzheng take the advice and cut your size now. If you have been only "oberserving" bonds for 3 weeks you have no idea what real major moves look like and therefore should not be putting on 100/200 lots during volatile periods of the day.
No. This is no joke. I don't waste people's time like that. But I don't answer questions as basic as "margin". Go to CBOT and IB websites. As far as entries and exits and stops are concerned, I have already answered all of them in my messages. Definitely someone who doesn't know a thing about trading. Well, after taking some losses these past few days, don't do scalping folks. It only worked during the few day before the rate hike. And it may not work again for the next rate hike. You may take a little profit when news come out and big moves happen. But trade small, account for max possible correction for each contract you trade, try to keep your position. No more scalping for me. Dangerous! Thanks to all.
My friend.... I am asking you what YOUR margin is. I'm a member of the CBOT, CME and a licensed trader with a couple of others global exchanges. I do this professionally for a living. This is why I'm asking YOU for YOUR margin. I think I know a thing or two about trading. I need to know because I run a futures trading firm. The purpose of my questions was to offer some well-informed advice on what you are doing. Many people open an IB account put some money in and then begin to trade without understanding much about futures at all. You have already wasted my time... Best wishes.
Dear FuturesTrader71, In that case I apologize. IB margin for ZB is a little higher than exchange requirements, $776 intraday initial; $575 intraday maintenance; $1553 overnight initial; and $1150 overnight maintenance. Margin requirements checked every 15 minutes.
Thanks for replying. Again, I'm asking you for how much margin you have in YOUR account. I know what IB's margins are. Your answer gives me an idea of how much heat you can take and how much risk you are taking. The list of questions I ask are very very easy to answer if you are, in fact, scalping that much size. I have actually lost interest in this thread. Maybe someone else can help.