Why Futures Are Better

[Gekko78 10]

The attached screenshot is just an example of the difference between order flow trading and trading off a chart.

 

Your charts will tell you what happened in X time frame or X tick count but

 

You charts will NOT tell you how many contracts actually hit the bid or lifted the offer.

 

Even a regular volume bar will not tell you this.

 

This screenshot is a look actually what is actually going on in real time ....... How many contracts are trading the price and who is winning the battle between the buyers and the sellers which is the most important thing since size is what actually moves the market.

 

This is why the pros use this stuff......you cannot see this on any candle , bar or tick chart.

[Gekko78 10]

Just so you are all aware you can get this on NT 7 .

[Ammeo 10]

This article sounds like a PR piece planted on behalf of the CME. While it may contain some good info - telling a trader which vehicle is best to trade is goofy. This article is geared towards novice traders. You yourself state that you went through a progression and settled upon the vehicle that best suited you. There are obviously people making money in stocks, forex, as well as Spooz. If memory serves me well Warren Buffet detests futures, but he seems to do ok with his stocks. I recently re-read Market Wizards and The New Market Wizards and it is clear that there are giants trading not only every feasible time frame but every vehicle known to man as well.

 

Trade what you feel comfortable with.

 

I'll go with that..there's no this is the best or that is the best thing to trade. Best area to trade for someone is where he feels comfortable and suits his trading style the best.

[Larry1234 10]

I totally agree with you regarding trading in futures comparatively easier than Option and Forex. But I made a point regarding the differences in a futures price and forward price.

 

From the Corporate point of view, they generally prefer forward contract compared to futures contract because the terms of forwards contracts are negotiable where as the futures contract are standardized.

 

I think it all depends on what you were raised on. Personally, I think the trader that begins their career on Futures will ultimately do better quicker but that's dependent on a number of factors. In other words, if they are trading by the phases of the moon and when Voyager 1 aligns with Pluto, they might find success a bit more elusive. Let's consider some other "vehicles":

 

Options - Learning how to trade is always more difficult when you have to learn a new language first. Puts and Calls and Naked Leaps and Covered Dishes and Vertical Spreads and Iron Condors and Cardboard Butterflies...geez. It goes on and on. Plus you have this ticking bomb in your hand the whole time. No thanks, too complicated and the deck is stacked against me.

 

Forex - If you had your choice of trading a regulated market where you could enter within one tick of where you wanted (on avg.) and be making money from the very first tick towards profit and you could move your stop and target(s) at will anywhere anytime OR start out deep in the hole (best I ever got in Forex was -8 pips to BE) and when you tried to move a stop or target you usually got an error message plus your broker could legally run a bucket shop on your trades if he chose to do so, which market would you choose?

 

Equities - Hey, is anybody making any money in stocks these days? This is a market that ties up a lot of capital (1 to 1 leverage), is basically one directional and so slow a snail could beat it to goal line and still have time to catch a movie. Companies cook their books and the big boys get the reports long before you do. Terrific game if you've got about 20+ years of experience, are already rich and have access to insider trading info (which is illegal, you know), but that's how they got rich. You might also appreciate the excitement of waiting years to get ahead on your portfolio and then have everything come crashing down on your head taking you under water for the next decade. What a rush.

 

Futures - You Buy and You Sell. That's about it. Small account required, no extensive special lingo to learn, great leverage, liquidity and smooth volatility in many markets to choose from. Is trading Futures easy? Heck no...but it's simple and that really helps. It's also offers the fairest, most level playing field. Learn a good system, stick to your rules, practice like a madman and never never give up.

[enochbenjamin 10]

 

Forex - If you had your choice of trading a regulated market where you could enter within one tick of where you wanted (on avg.) and be making money from the very first tick towards profit and you could move your stop and target(s) at will anywhere anytime OR start out deep in the hole (best I ever got in Forex was -8 pips to BE) and when you tried to move a stop or target you usually got an error message plus your broker could legally run a bucket shop on your trades if he chose to do so, which market would you choose?

 

You obviously have not traded forex in quite some time. The execution is much better and with current spreads I am never down more than 2 pips on a newly initiated trade - if I time my entry correctly that is it. The spread is the equivalent of a futures commission, I will admit it is higher, but if you when your trade and compensate for the spread then the transaction does not cost you a dime.

 

Also, having started trading on futures, I can assure you that most trades will enter some drawdown as well and depending on what your trading 1 tick can be more expensive than 1 or 2 forex pips.

 

As I stated previously, I am not one for trying to convince others to trade one vehicle over another, but I do want to point out that some of the opinions are very biased and slightly misleading.

[TradeRunner 10]

but if you when your trade and compensate for the spread then the transaction does not cost you a dime.

 

Please explain how you are not paying the spread both on the entry and the exit?

[Ammeo 10]

Agricultural futures are the best to trade imo...they offer the best year in and year out price movements according to the seasonal production unless there's a big drought, change in taxes or heavy rainfall..

[Patuca 13]

Mitsubishi needs neither chart nor DOM for trading. see pic for detailed explanation...

[enochbenjamin 10]

Please explain how you are not paying the spread both on the entry and the exit?

 

if i want to get short at say 129.50, I set a limit for 129.50 and get filled at 129.50. if i set a take profit stop at 129.40 and get filled at 129.40. I do not see any transaction cost when I tally up at the end of the day.

[Patuca 13]

I guess internet cafes are getting thin on the ground in these hard economic times.Do you keep that picture on your computor purely for whenever you need to post something about me?...that makes you appear kinda creepy doesn't it?

 

You been gone so long i thought maybe you got your golf club jammed in your spokes...in future,just allow more time if you insist on making happy hour at Mcdonalds.

LOL i suppose you been doing pretty well mitt...eh? I been traveling in most dangerous country on the planet.....cap bob i see has become a star gazer...moon and sun too.....per his post on the p.m. thread.....how is the perfect mathematical trading doing? did you read the article for the perfect mathematical economy?....i think mr suiya posted it or mr zdo..... Edited May 13, 2013 by Patuca

[Patuca 13]

So,you had to shoot your way out of a few bars.I guess you would just call that managing a trade.But really,i would have thought that a quick study of DOM would have told you which places to avoid so i can only conclude that you actually enjoy flirting with danger.

As for me,my progress is on hold- i was waiting for your return so i can pick your brains on the difference between real volume and spoof orders.And there's no point in me starting any new threads if you're not there to screw around with them.

Only scalpers need be aware of spoof. real vol shows real money. big real vol shows big real money. could be a conglomerationof penny ass traders (especially in times of panic) all added together but more often than not it has deep pockets involved...generally in uptrend you wanna see less vol (translate less dollars) during pullbacks and more vol (more dollars in advances)...always helpful to think of vol in terms of dollars not activity. vol must be correlated with spread & ohlc..and support/resistance....chart patterns...and the beloved fib markers.....cap bob might also correlate it with sun...moon...stars...etc...