If I want to trade the Oct 07 lean hogs contract which does not trade electronically how do I do it (as a retail investor)? Are there any brokers that are much better for pit trading? Is there a way to do it in IB? Thanks in advance for answering a noobie question.
Lean Hogs Oct 07 does indeed trade electronically (but, there's not much liquidity this far out and electronic hasn't really taken off yet). On IB, the symbol root is HE. You can trade the pit-traded LH contract on IB. Just select "CME" instead of "GLOBEX" when it prompts.
Thanks much for replying. I know that it "trades" electronically but I don't see any bid or offer and there is absolutely no volume. I also know I can bring up the pit contract but I can't see any bid-offer there either. How do I know what price I will pay?
You generally will not see a bid/ask on pit traded contracts. It requires a reporter to sit there listening to bids/asks and typing them into a computer. For the front months, you may get this, but for back months or options, you may not. Welcome to the world of pit trading--the price you will get is whatever the floor broker is able to get. You can submit a limit order if you'd like, or just hope he can get a good price. In general, I've found some brokers are very good at getting good fills on market orders. Some are horrible.
Got it. Do you (or anyone else) have an opinion on whether IB will give me decent execution? Is there somewhere better I should go?
I believe it completely depends on who is in the pit (the floor broker), not really the broker (IB). I'd say give it a try and see if you're happy. Opening an account at a new broker is probably not worth the time if you can trade what you need to at IB. I opened an account elsewhere so I could trade pit traded futures options, but with IB getting those now too...
bobby-i use Ib for hogs and they are pretty good.do you get cme floor data? i don't know waht to expect with oct 07.i'm going as far as june right now. ihave used mkt orders before and didnt get screwed but not with a thin month. you will need cme floor data to trade that month.it will pay for itself.
I would advise against sending a market order in these back month futures. You are likely to get a horrible fill, especially if you send any size. The pit traders will be smiling as they fill your order.
I would usually call the floor/broker for a quote... Old School "discount brokers" did it... dunno about IB...