Futures trading

[highnote]

I know I asked this question a year or so ago, but I want to ask it again in case things have changed.

Which online futures broker do you recommend?

E-trade charges 2.99 per trade. Xpresstrade charges $9.50. Big difference.

Am I missing something? Is one service better than the other?

Also, what are exchange fees and what is the amount of the typical exchange fee? Are there any other common charges for a simple round-trip trade?

Thanks.

[bigmack]

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u70/macktime/9_26_07_01_01_52.jpg

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/ibg/main.php

[Dick Schmidt]

One that I have used with satisfaction is TradeStation. You need good charting software anyway, and TS is one of the best packages, with more custom indicators than you could ever use in this lifetime. It costs $300 a month, but if you open an account with them, the cost drops to $100. Make 10 trades a month and it is free. As I recall, the trades are somewhere about $2 a side, but check on current costs.

Right now, they are offering a two month free trial with a demo account if you want to check them out.

Dick


The statement following is true. The statement prior is false.

[PaceAdvantage]

I just opened a TS account myself (I was also with IB for a little while in the past...no problems with them at all, I just stopped trading futures for a while).

IB and TS are pretty close commission wise when trading equity futures...about $2.40 per contract per side.

AFAIK, TS platform fees are $99 a month if you don't trade at least 10 times (or is that 10 contracts?) In any event, if you're any type of active trader, you shouldn't be hit with any platform fees.

I went with TS because of their impressive charts and end-user community.

[highnote]

Thanks Gentlemen,

I don't intend on being an active trader at first. My thinking is that I will take a long-term position -- from 3-6 months.

Wheat has always been interesting to me. So that will be the first commodity I study. My plan is to use fundamental and technical information.

Of course, at this point, I know virtually nothing about trading futures. I'm trying to read as many different books as I can.

If you have some thoughts on good books that would be appreciated, too!

John

PS
I was very surprised when I looked at a chart and noticed Dec 07 wheat had nearly doubled in price since April. I think I'm reading the chart correctly. Trend followers must have made a fortune during this run.

[PaceAdvantage]

Here are TS commissions....wheat is about $3 per side per contract....

http://www.tradestation.com/popups/fees/commissions_markets/cbot.htm

[highnote]

Thanks, PA. When you consider the dollar amount of the contract you control, $3 fees are, as they say in the math world, epsilon -- essentially zero.

[o0xst!]

I heard that on of our Senators here in Oklahoma, Tom Coburn who is viewed as a "radical right winger" but is someone whom I respect a lot in many regards...is trying to make futures trading on energy a thing of the past....not sure of all the details but it could be a good thing.

He was anti nafta by the way so you know he's a good guy.

[highnote]

Tom Coburn ...is trying to make futures trading on energy a thing of the past....not sure of all the details but it could be a good thing.


Not sure if that would be good or not.

I made a little money trading crude oil on Hedgestreet after Hurricane Katrina. I saw that crude was starting to rise and figured my gasoline and home heating oil costs would rise, too.

My goal was to make enough of a profit on crude oil trading to offset my increased costs of gasoline and heating oil.

Without the ability to hedge, my costs would have been higher for the year.

Large oil companies like ExxonMobile surely must trade crude oil futures in an effort stabilize their prices.

With the U.S. dollar dropping so much oil is that much more expensive. Some of that expense can be hedged.

It seems to me it would be a bad idea to stop futures trading on crude oil. But then again, maybe he knows something I don't? Very likely! :D

[bigmack]

Quick question for PA or DSchmidt -

Have either of you heard any good or bad Re: automated programs for use with Forex?

[PaceAdvantage]

Quick question for PA or DSchmidt -

Have either of you heard any good or bad Re: automated programs for use with Forex?Dick would know more than me, as he actually trades Forex....

It sounds like you're talking about a commercially available program? Something tells me that doesn't exist, or if it does, it should cost a fortune.

If you had an automated program that successfully traded ANY market long-term, would you sell it? It's the equivalent of being able to PRINT YOUR OWN MONEY!

And I don't want to hear from anyone how, in the stock market, the more people who "trade your way" the better off you're going to be. After a certain point (and all too quickly), it becomes a detriment, not an aid....everyone trying to jump in on the same stock at the same time will start to erode the automated system's edge....

[lamboguy]

look for it to go to 78.27. this would be great time to load up the truck in the metals market.......platinum has been the strongest metal as of late because of catalytic converters. in some trucks the price of a catalytic converter is as much as $18k.

gold and silver will be real good in the year 2008, due to demands for all forms of raw materials, turmoil in this world, and very weak congress, even weaker president, and more than likely weaker future president from what i can see from either side of the isle

[bigmack]

If you had an automated program that successfully traded ANY market long-term, would you sell it? It's the equivalent of being able to PRINT YOUR OWN MONEY!
A couple of guys approached with as they use this program:
http://cfosfx.com/

It's fully automated and they use it with options. From what they've shown me $100k yields $1k/day regularly. I don't know enough about Forex but I like automation.

[Dick Schmidt]

There are any number of automatic trading programs out there. Almost all the big players (Bank of America, Citibank, Bank of Japan etc) use them to some extent or another. At times over 50% of the FOREX market is controlled by auto programs. They have a world championship for them as well. Trade for 6 months and the one with the most money wins. Of course, the pros don't enter but some of the results are impressive. If you want such a program, what you need to do is sit down for a day or two with Google and see what you can find. A lot of the programs come from Europe. As always, a little research pays off big-time. Look before you invest and expect to pay a good deal for them.

I personally use two semi-automatic programs. They give me the exact entry and exit points, but I have to put in the trades myself. Gives me a bit more control. Both are up over 100% in three months.

Dick

"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons." - General Douglas Macarthur

[bigmack]

They have a world championship for them as well. Trade for 6 months and the one with the most money wins. Of course, the pros don't enter but some of the results are impressive. If you want such a program, what you need to do is sit down for a day or two with Google and see what you can find. A lot of the programs come from Europe. As always, a little research pays off big-time. Look before you invest and expect to pay a good deal for them.
Sage advice. I've now dealt with Russians, Romanians and settled on a couple of guys in Israel that have written a fully automated program to bring data from ESignal into Ninja Trader & then into Interactive Brokers.

Amazing stuff. I still have a couple of guys to nurse the operation but it is not far removed from the printing money scenario that PA alluded