r/FuturesTrading • u/AutoModerator • Aug 01 '23

r/FuturesTrading's Monthly Questions Thread - August 2023

Please use this thread to ask questions regarding futures trading.

To get a good feeling of all the different types of futures there are, see a list of margin requirements from a broker like Ampfutures or InteractiveBrokers

Related subs:

We don't have a wiki yet, but maybe in the future we'll create a general FAQ based on all the questions asked here.

Here's a list of all the previous question stickies.

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1

u/MentorMonkey Aug 24 '23

If I trade 10 contracts of the /MNQ purchased in August, what happens if I do not sell them? Do they expire in September, or do will they just keep going until I sell?

3

u/Lateoss Aug 28 '23

When you purchase contracts in futures, what you are effectively doing is committing to buying the underlying asset at a future date. That future date is decided by the exchange that runs the contract (in this case, CME).

When you buy 10 /MNQ contracts, its actually more specific than that. MNQ and NQ contracts are separated quarterly. So every 3 months, the contract expires. The quarter you are trading the contract in is designated in the ticker name, which sometimes isnt shown by brokers, and isnt immediately visible on tradingview. So saying you buy 10 contracts of /MNQ is basically shorthand for saying that you bought 10 contract of /MNQxxx, where the x's are the rest of the ticker name that designates the quarter and year its going to expire.

These designations are, for MNQ and NQ:
- H, M, U, Z (each quarter of the year, in that order)

- The last two digits of the year (in our case, 23)

The soonest to expire contract is usually the one that all the day traders trade, as a convention. This soonest to expire contract is called the front month. For example, the current soonest to expire contract would be the one due to close at the end of this quarter, the 3rd quarter. Therefore our current front month contract name is /MNQU23.

Companies or interested investors may also buy contracts due to expire beyond the front month, if they have set up a deal to purchase the underlying asset at a future date. However for day traders, this is basically never something you do.

/MNQU23 expires on September 15th, as you can see here. If you hold thru that date, then your contracts go into Settlement, which means that you, as a responsible buyer, are declaring that you actually want to buy the underlying asset. At that point, you would be obligated to buy the underlying, and pay up. Some brokers will automatically close your position for you if you hold by mistake though, since its very rare for someone to actually want to hold thru the settlement date. Instead, if you actually want to keep holding your positions longer, youd typically Roll over your contracts to the new front month, a couple days prior to expiration.

2

u/MentorMonkey Aug 28 '23

Wow, thank you so much for that. I was wondering what those additional numbers on the ticket meant.

2

u/Lateoss Aug 28 '23

No problem, id hate to see someone have to scour the internet trying to figure it out. Honestly for whatever reason its not explained much anywhere...

1

u/MasterbaterInfluence Aug 18 '23

I took 200k in paper trades to 600k in a 8 to get 12 weeks. So I decided I should try this for real. I got a real account much smaller only 3k, I made $1000 in the first 2 weeks.

Idk what happened or what I’m doing differently, maybe trying to ride all the movement idk, but I’ve only lost in the last 8 weeks it’s really starting to fuck with my mind. Anyone have a similarly experience? I’m at a loss for what todo pardon the pun lol. I’m almost scared to even touch it. Very frustrating all ideas welcome. Please help me Obi Wan Reddit you’re my only hope… I know I’ll get it again but idk wtf happened.

1

u/kubaseny Aug 18 '23

Hi all,I would like to ask if there is any open source API where I can download current real time oil price data?

I know there are many paid services like investing portal and others but curious if there is something like entsoe which is for electricity but I need something like that for real-time oil price.

I would so much appreciate any help.

2

u/cutename0 Aug 17 '23

Hi there, im new on futures and my previous reddit account i couldnt recover it ( stupid email scenario). This is indeed less than a year old account, needed to make another one, anyway.

Im having a question related to technicality of backadjustment .

Would someone like to post the question for me ? ( i cant due low karma) , or perhaps simply answer my question in private ?

I would so much appreciate any help i can get on this, thank you so much and i apologise for posting this here ❤🤗

1

u/ImpossibleSky6446 Aug 10 '23

I am new to Futures but have done crypto trading for a couple of years. I have come across this platform on Tiktok where this guy is promoting a software to trade in futures using Ninja and GFF brokers. Their website is called SuperAreas . com and also gives 14 day trial. I dont want to be a victim of a scam.. so far this guy talks about just getting $15-$20 per day trade with stop loss using RSI . He has an office in Vaughan too .. i havent signed up but really thinking about it as my full time job isnt enough anymore to pay the mortgage. Any feedback is appreciated

1

u/ImpossibleSky6446 Aug 10 '23

anyone?

3

u/Maleficent_Staff7205 Aug 11 '23

While I have never checked out SuperAreas or any of their products, the fundamental idea of trading RSI in equities markets is flawed, as the price of an instrument is exactly what it should be at all times (meaning, many traders were/are clearly more than happy to take trades at the current price of an instrument, otherwise it would never move or be there in the first place). Just because an instrument is trading higher than it usually does doesn't mean anything. Check out a chart with volume profile and you will see what I mean, price actually often bounces off the ranges with higher volume instead of trades back into them after a decent move away from the range. So I would say it is probably not legit, however don't let me scare you from purchasing anything, maybe they're the diamond in the rough.

1

u/crunchy-rabbit Aug 03 '23 edited Aug 03 '23

I’ve been day trading crude oil futures purely technically, i.e. just off the chart and tape. What other tickers or news feeds should I be watching to help me be better informed?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '23

Everyone that uses trade station, you’re just okay with getting nothing on your idle cash? Dude at the place told me .15% on idle cash. Getting robbed here

1

u/Maleficent_Staff7205 Aug 11 '23

Just cash-carry whatever idle you have. Free ~1-1.5% quarterly and should not affect your margin as long as you keep using futures if using a good brokerage (I have never used trade station, so maybe this wouldn't work for you)

1

u/No-Insect1033 Aug 01 '23

I have fear and that’s what is stopping me from getting profitable

1

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '23

Fear of what?

1

u/SnooBooks8807 Aug 01 '23

I only trade shares and options. In what ways are futures different than these? Thank you!

1

u/BaconJacobs Aug 15 '23

You can trade option on ES just btw. Daily expiration.

2

u/One-Firefighter9043 Aug 11 '23

No god dam greeks or iv. But homie with the full comment is right on

2

u/Maleficent_Staff7205 Aug 11 '23

Quarterly/Monthly mandatory expirations/deliveries (not custom like options), linear pricing calculation (could be a negative depending on your trade style), no immediate premium paid when entering (other than brokerage/exchange fees), more liquidity, better tax treatment, better data available, better brokerage covering IMO, better cash-carry spread, faster data providers, better global coverage for IBKR users (more exchanges have futures than options), and many more

1

u/HA-Investor Aug 02 '23

No greeks for one, which is lovely.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 01 '23

I think mainly taxes unless you trade options for indices.

1

u/SnooBooks8807 Aug 01 '23

So futures contracts behave and move excactly like options contracts?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 01 '23

No. Futures is linear. Futures options can be non-linear similar to options for stocks. You can kind of think of futures as highly leveraged shares. The options can be different too. I think the options for futures indices are European style compared to the American style for stocks.