This subject has been beaten into the ground so many times its not even funny anymore. There are no definitive advantage to either futures or stocks except for tax savings. All other arguments are subjective at best.
And it's a BIG exception. Most are aware of the one-line reporting & generous 60/40 benefits, but there's another benefit that rarely gets mentioned - losses from futures can be used to offset any gains in the prior 3 years. iow, if you have a down year, you can roll-backward those losses against gains from up to 3 years prior and reclaim taxes back (as opposed to stock losses, which only offset gains in the current year and then must be rolled-forward). I sure would've loved to have seen some '98-'00 taxes back in '01-'02 from my stock trades..
You forget that if the futures move no where intra-day which happens. That there are always something that is moving in the stocks I am not saying that stocks have the advantage, but a case can be easily made that you can even out if not do better in stocks. All I am saying is there are more opportunities for trades in stocks. The main question that remains to be answered is can one obtain better opportunities or price objects with stock or futures. I personally like a mix of both.
jimmygold Nice post, you stated nice clear thoughts about what your new games going to be. Stick to your guns and stay focused on futures just like you did when trading stocks. Welcome to the future. I would give a pass to the suggestions others quickly came up with, FX, all those other playtoys also. learn "ONE" instrument and learn it well. I always feel that others say do this or that and drop this or that because that is either their game or where they failed. Good luck and enjoy. this hogwash about YM, ES etc losing volatility is just like any other playtoy, nothing is going to be action packed day in and day out. Why some bad mouth things that slow down for awhile is beyond me. maybe they have a constant nagging wife and think the rest of the world is like that. :eek: Congratulations for becoming a convert. PS, MOST stock traders wet their pants when thinking about trading ES, remember stocks trading is trading just half a loaf. The beauty of trading stock index is VERY simple..........on the down days you are in the batters box. Stocks you are always biased to the upside. Index trading is done expertly with "ZERO" bias to the upside or downside, you trade what you see, not what you think. Again good luck. ___DONE___
================== Jimgold; Agree ''reviewing balance sheets''; probably will not help your derivative trading. Never did care for that . And pivot points may not help as much as an 18 or 50 period moving average; but speaking of balance, , balances with lagging moving averages. YM traders figure them same way as i figure ES pivot point; add daily high, plus daily low plus daily close, divide by 3 Also someone had an older elite derivatives link where they figured them for you. Hope this helps; it helped me.
When one graduates to stock index trading from plain Jane stocks is when your chart is more about trading price and not about how PRETTY and complicated you can make a chart look for your newest flame. lets make some bacon today, need to get 5 days avg in 4 days. Have fun. Futures rule.
Not a problem! http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f6781.pdf Form 6781 Box D. Net Section 1256 Contracts Loss Election "If you have a net section 1256 contracts loss for 2006, you can elect to carry it back 3 years. " more: "Net Section 1256 Contracts Loss Election: In the Form 6781 instructions, see the directive for Box D (Net Section 1256 Contracts Loss Election). When preparing Form 6781, all individual taxpayers may mark Box D, thereby electing to carry back a net section 1256 contract loss three tax years. You then file an amended return for the carryback year and you may apply the section 1256 carryback loss on your Form 6781 for that prior tax year. Note: If you don't have Form 6781 gains in that prior carry back year, you won't get any benefit from this carry back. " http://www.greencompany.com/EducationCenter/GTTRecCommodities.shtml The tax advantages in laymen's terms: http://www.tradersaccounting.com/news_detail.php?newsid=33