Better for scalping: ES or YM?

[Armand 10]

Do you know that 50 contracts controls about $3 million. A 1% move, which can easily happen in less than a couple hours given today's volatility, means a $30,000 swing in your account.

Would someone please explain what this means? I'm not quite sure I understand and it seems very important...

[Sparrow 10]

This is because you only have to pay a margin on futures to buy a contract unless you take delivery. But price changes take full effect on your account not only the money you had to pay for buying the contracts.

e.g. E-mini S&P: $12.5 per tick * 50 contracts = $750 per tick

It just takes 10 S&P points to lose 30k, that's less than 1% at the moment.

[OAC 10]

Would someone please explain what this means? I'm not quite sure I understand and it seems very important...

 

Do you know that 50 contracts controls about $3 million. A 1% move, which can easily happen in less than a couple hours given today's volatility, means a $30,000 swing in your account.

 

Sorry that was written a couple months ago, now it is more like a couple of minutes instead of a couple of hours. :o

[treydog 10]

I hate to resurrect a dead thread but this is the topic I was looking for.

 

I am mostly concerned about fill times i only trade 1-2 contracts of ES. But have had a lot of problems with fills as the posters above noted. I have not tried the YM but what is the difference? I have placed a couple of orders and both my ES and YM get filled at close to the same time (a few seconds) but that was only a couple of times. I am hoping someone can give me deeper insight into the differences in fill times on trading the ES vs YM at small contract sizes 5 contracts or less.

[BlueHorseshoe 10]

That is open for debate.

 

If you lease a seat (or purchase one) and get your commissions under $3 round trip and focus on the ES, I think slippage is not an issue.

 

It's not really necessary to be an exchange member to get commissions below $3 per round trip if trading a significant number of contracts, is it? I'd have thought most brokers could be talked down from their headline rate by someone flipping contracts at the rate the thread starter suggests.

 

I'd be really interested to hear more of your thoughts on slippage in the ES - are you saying that most market orders will be filled without any slippage?

 

Thanks

 

BlueHorseshoe

[BlueHorseshoe 10]

I developed trading systems for funds which scalp the market and they play orders at the beginning of the day and pull them once the price gets close so when they need them they are first in line on the ES.

 

I am currently exploring this idea myself, having read about it in a book on HFT. The difficulty seems to be in 'sweeping away' unwanted orders ahead of time. Would you be willing to share any information about how this concept can be implemented? Is it possible within the confines of the retail platforms (or TS, specifically), or are bespoke software/hardware solutions required?

 

Many thanks,

 

BlueHorseshoe

[steveh2009 10]

For the small trader, the CL is the premier scalping instrument. Once you start looking at that, the e-minis won't hold much interest unless the VIX gets over 30.

[BlueHorseshoe 10]

For the small trader, the CL is the premier scalping instrument. Once you start looking at that, the e-minis won't hold much interest unless the VIX gets over 30.

 

Do you think that this is true on grounds of volatility alone, or due to some element of how the crude market behaves?

 

BlueHorseshoe

[TimRacette 11]

I've nver had issues on the ES, YM yes, as the spreads can get a bit wide especially around numbers. (I use Infinity Futures with Comcast Business Internet Connection).

[cma6 10]

What about Russell 2000 futures vs. ES or YM?

If one is trading more than 5 lots of the mini-futures, why not trade the full contract?

 

Can anyone recommend an FCM for a starting mini futures trader?

[TimRacette 11]

What about Russell 2000 futures vs. ES or YM?

If one is trading more than 5 lots of the mini-futures, why not trade the full contract?

 

Can anyone recommend an FCM for a starting mini futures trader?

 

Trading a 5 lot on the mini vs 1 big contract would allow you the ability to scale out. And I use Infinity Futures for my order execution.

[cma6 10]

Trading a 5 lot on the mini vs 1 big contract would allow you the ability to scale out. And I use Infinity Futures for my order execution.

 

Tim, thanks, I will check out Infinity Futures.

CMA

[c0l$il 10]

This very much depends on your order size.