Bonds

[erichsiao167 10]

Anyone trade bonds? Whats the minimum contract size for bonds? Is there enough liquidity in the bond market to day trade them?

[brownsfan019 17]

I've never had much luck with them. I think it's b/c they seem to move SO slow.

 

There is plenty of liquidity daily to be daytraded if they work for you.

 

More info:

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,1462,00.html

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,1642,00.html

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,1265,00.html

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,1631,00.html

 

Looks like the 10 yr has the most daily volume when I glanced at the pages.

[erichsiao167 10]

Thanks,

i was thinking more in terms of corporate bonds.. the minimum contract size on those t bills are 100k.. to rich for my blood.

[brownsfan019 17]

Thanks,

i was thinking more in terms of corporate bonds.. the minimum contract size on those t bills are 100k.. to rich for my blood.

 

The links I provided are to the bond futures, which can be traded for as little as $5000 (maybe even lower).

 

As for individual corporate bonds, I would recommend doing quite a bit of homework before thinking about trying to daytrade them. Even some of the most liquid issues can have trouble selling on the market. It's not as easy as stocks or futures. Your broker has to go find a willing buyer at the price you are asking and it can take DAYS to fill.

[Guest cooter]

I've never had much luck with them. I think it's b/c they seem to move SO slow.

 

There is plenty of liquidity daily to be daytraded if they work for you.

 

More info:

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,1462,00.html

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,1642,00.html

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,1265,00.html

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,1631,00.html

 

Looks like the 10 yr has the most daily volume when I glanced at the pages.

 

Yes, 10yr has the most volume. 30yr has the $$$ though - $31.25 per tick.

[feb2865 10]

I personally won't touch corporate bonds for daytrading. Very risky business unless you have plenty of cashand willing to sacrifice profit to cash then at market. Some brokers won't even look at them.

 

I really don't know what you're looking for but if you need to park some cash, I'll put some on treasury notes and hedge my position on futures to smooth the yield curve.