kairos

My 2 Cents: As a beginner (less than 2-3 years experience) you should stay as far away from futures as you can especially if you have a small account. I was in the same situation you find yourself in and I decided to go with Mini Forex and started trading 2-3 lots at a time. I focused only on the best setups and started a journal (you also read that in all the books but almost nobody *hint* actually takes the time). My strategy is very simple I take a small profit after a couple of pips and the rest gets set to breakeven, if it turns into a runner great if not you at least have a small profit if you trade one big future contract you will often see your paper profits fade away which is the one thing I cannot stand in trading. If you consistently trade that way your account will grow in no time but you have to forget about that 1% Risk mumbo-jumbo.. If I see a big opportunity I am willing to risk far more than one percent but if the trade goes against me I would never allow it to actually hit my emergency stop. If you decide to stay with equities than don't focus on the money you are actually making. Just focus on steadily growing your account and building a track record. If you made a couple thousand trades and you are clearly profitable you will get a job at a prop firm and they will happily provide you with enough leverage. Good luck!