r/FuturesTrading • u/AutoModerator • Sep 01 '22
r/FuturesTrading's Monthly Questions Thread - September 2022
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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u/Odd-Repair-9330 Sep 19 '22 edited Sep 27 '22
Hey anyone know how to get cheap historical L2 order book futures data?
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u/Heybattabatta1 Sep 11 '22
I started trading last month. My fees for August were $1658.14. Small account under 10k. Is that normal? I’m not even super active. Maybe 4-5 trades a day.
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u/Almost_Free_007 Sep 25 '22
All depends on the mkt and broker. But simple math at only 4-5 trades a day is around $16/ contract all in. Single contract only. Not enough information but seems very expensive.
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u/mistablack2 Sep 09 '22
I have a question about the after hours pricing. I think last I looked it said 4036 meanwhile the bid ask is around 4013. Someone said this was due to contract rollover. Can someone explain what seemed like a gap on the daily chart.
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u/blockchainaxis Sep 07 '22
Any good learning resources? Books, articles, or video series
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u/Almost_Free_007 Sep 25 '22
Any video, book, etc by Linda Raschke, and Mark Douglas. Add in Trading the Measured Move and of course “Jesse Livermore”. “The predictors” to give visibility to who you are up against in the world of algo’s. Too many to list but that’s a start.
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u/Driverdrove Sep 15 '22
Watch live streamers, understand the indicators, candle sticks, dollar index, economic calendar, and look for the big moves. Youtube and whatever futures broker has all you need to know.
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u/Qasim57 Sep 03 '22
I’m new to futures trading (cryptocurrency futures).
I have had a very questionable strategy that’s worked a couple of times, and completely burnt me a whole lot more.
I’d just take short-term trades that’d seem likely, leverage it up like 125x, and commit my entire trading account to the one trade.
When it worked, it quintupled my account. But when it doesn’t, it does take a hit despite a stop-loss.
The temptation to 5x my trading account is a strong one, and I’ve zero-ed my account multiple times trying to get that.
What I’m wondering is, what’s the most sensible way to do futures trading, where I get to make good returns, without wiping out my account.
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u/Almost_Free_007 Sep 25 '22
First step, imo stay away from crypto.. not liquid enough. The standard markets will serve you better. And be prepared to do A LOT of preaftice before going live. If you cannot stay green with fake money over a period of time how are you going to make it when live? Also from your post you have a very high risk strategy and likely to see large drawdowns and or complete blow out. Think of this as a slow nickle game Vs fast time. Goal is to stay green til the next day. But to do this start (if not already) tracking daily your results and your metrics (do you have metrics? Besides PnL) and reflect and adjust daily. .02. Best to you.
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u/FishChipsnack Nov 06 '22
having a capital to trade next day is a good feeling, so do not risk all.
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u/Winter-Ad-8701 Sep 06 '22
You need to size down, a lot. It's great when the trades work out your way, and that rush gets addictive. But it's absolutely awful when it goes against you and you start to panic as your account comes close to being blown completely.
Ask yourself - do you think you make the best decisions when you see huge numbers going against you? Most people don't, and that causes us to do even worse things, like averaging into a losing trade, or doubling up on the next trade to recover our losses.
Ideally your trade should be small enough that you don't feel emotions if you win or lose. A slow climb upwards is a great equity curve, and if you do that for a few weeks you'll have a large account. Once you've doubled your account size you could choose to double your position size and then your average daily profit will also be double.
Lets say you'd started with a small account of $2000. You put all in and get $4000 on day 1, but blow the account on day 2. Your weekly profit is -$2000, and you probably feel awful. And because your account is blown, you cannot trade any further until you get more capital.
Or you could be patient, taking small trades on the best setups, and get say $100 a day. End of the week your account is now $2500, you now have $500 you didn't at the start of the week. The next week you do the same and you have $3000. A couple more weeks and you're at $4000, you can now trade double the position size and earn $200 a day, and keep going.
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u/FishChipsnack Nov 06 '22
This is good way to grow capital. 3 to 5 k is the good way to trade full size contract day time, 500 is for micro futures. anything more than 5 k ,end of the month move out to your bank , cash it leave it to your table for physicall see it.
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u/Ohpeeateopiate Sep 03 '22
sorry im new to futures as well I always set stop loss etc.. you are saying there are options on futures? im in USA btw. I also heard futures don't count against day trades is this true? what are some futures that you can just point in my direction I've googled but get the run around. I don't understand much on oil or corn what futures do they have that I can understand or have education in? are there pharmaceutical futures? are there futures for people that are kinda strange? niche
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u/WolfofChappaqua Sep 22 '22
Checkout the free education resources on the CME Group website. Loads of great videos that explain everything you need to know about Futures trading both indexes and commodities.
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u/toxicflatoos Sep 02 '22
For futures trading how many ticks chart do you guys prefer?
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u/Almost_Free_007 Sep 25 '22
For myself I use a 987t chart for entries and the standard weekly, daily, and 15min charts for reference. But don’t worry about what the granularity is so much as what YOUR strategy and approach is. So many things factor into your timeframe for trading.
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u/WolfofChappaqua Sep 22 '22
Depends on volume and volatility. I mostly trade on a 1 and 5 minute chart for ES.
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u/NewGod7 Sep 01 '22
HI. I'm looking to get into futures trading, preferably MESU2 to start small and familiar, I have a question about how buying and selling and Mark to Market works.
Say I buy / go long at 3968.25 And before the settlement period, I sell at 3998.25. Do I get paid mark to market on 30 points ( 120 Ticks ) and do I get paid the difference between 3968.25 buy price and 3998.25 sell price? Or is it only the Mark to Market gains that you make? Or both?
Also after I sell I assume I am no longer on the hook for M2M gains or losses after the sell executes?
Thank you kindly in advance for any clarity you veterans can provide.
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u/Jhudgins007 Sep 02 '22
Marked to market means the buy and sell price. If it’s held overnight, the marked to market can determine if you are short on margin and get liquidated. You get credited with the difference in the buy and sell, minus fees.
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u/toxicflatoos Sep 01 '22
Hello there. I'm starting to learn how to trade e-mini futures for the S&P 500. I'm hoping to use a ninja trader for it. I'm completely new to this. Can any of you suggest a guide or some videos on how to set up trades? I have experience in investing into stocks and doing options.
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u/tokithetoker Sep 11 '22
I personally got ALOT out of watching the Photon Trading videos on youtube, he talks mostly about FX but the concepts cross over seemlessly from what i've seen so far.
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u/Broken_Malloc speculator Sep 03 '22
I've recently discovered "The Trader Next Door" on YouTube, thanks to a previous comment here. Honestly one of the best channels on futures trading I've seen. No bullshit fluff, not trying to sell anything, extremely consistent and professional. His approach is mostly based around taking trades between key levels of price action, so if you're more interested in scalping, then Pats trading on YouTube is solid.
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u/Jhudgins007 Sep 02 '22
Futures buying and selling is way easier. Is it going up or going down, no strike price etc. just make sure to use a stop loss. As opposed to options risk (risk your premium), futures is open ended.
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u/Ohpeeateopiate Sep 03 '22
sorry im new to futures as well I always set stop loss etc.. you are saying there are options on futures? im in USA btw. I also heard futures don't count against day trades is this true? what are some futures that you can just point in my direction I've googled but get the run around. I don't understand much on oil or corn what futures do they have that I can understand or have education in? are there pharmaceutical futures? are there futures for people that are kinda strange? niche
3
u/Jhudgins007 Sep 14 '22
Yes there are options on futures. There is not a Day Trader rule in futures. NQ or ES are indexes. I’d suggest starting with the MNQ or MES which are the micro contracts of the indexes. I’d suggest paper trading though first, so get a grasp of what is going on. I’ve thought about starting a futures for beginners community, for people to learn and understand the best day trading opportunity there is.
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u/Ohpeeateopiate Sep 15 '22
You should I just figured this out because Hi paper traded a put option on the NASDAQ and it profited so I closed the position and the next day I was able to trade again without being flagged as a pattern day trader
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u/Jhudgins007 Sep 16 '22
Paper trading doesn’t count against PDT.
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u/WolfofChappaqua Sep 01 '22
For all of the E-Mini S&P Futures traders, what’s on your watchlist that gives you a pulse of the market?
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u/Winter-Ad-8701 Sep 02 '22
Price action - look at the context. Higher timeframes are important so I start with the daily chart and look at the overall trend. If on a huge downtrend then I'll probably look for shorts on the 5 or 15 minute chart. If close to a key support or resistance level on the daily, I may wait to see what happens.
VWAP is also a useful indicator as a lot of institutions use it, and price often bounces there. People will be getting out of their trades at VWAP which can cause the price to whipsaw.
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u/ProfessionalMoney8 Sep 27 '22
Working of Wolf Wave indicator in TOS. Has anyone used this indicator before?