Online Futures Trading - Advantages and Disadvantages
What Is Online Futures Trading? A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a commodity at a date in the future. Everything about a futures contract is standardized except its price. All of the terms under which the commodity or financial instrument is to be transferred are established before active trading begins, so neither side is hampered by ambiguity. The price for a futures contract is determined in the trading pit or on the electronic trading system of a futures exchange. The internet now allows access to those electronic trading systems from anywhere in the world. This increases liquidity in those markets and makes them even more attractive to traders. Trading on all futures exchanges takes place against a backdrop of statutory regulation and rules as laid down by each exchange and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Regardless of whether your trading is executed within the trading pit or electronically, it is subject to the same rules, regulations and safeguards. Advantages of online futures trading Leverage. Futures operate on margin, meaning that to take a position only a fraction of the total value needs to be available in cash in the trading account. Commission Costs. Electronically traded futures contracts require no human intervention to match buys and sells unlike a traditional futures pit. This means that commission costs can be cut dramatically, leading to significant savings for the frequent trader. Liquidity. The involvement of speculators means that futures contracts are reasonably liquid. However, how liquid depends on the actual contract being traded. Electronically traded contracts, such as the e-mini's tend to be the most liquid whereas the pit traded commodities like corn, orange juice etc are not so readily available to the retail trader and are more expensive to trade in terms of commission and spread. Ability to go short. Futures contracts can be sold as easily as they are bought enabling a trader to profit from falling markets as well as rising ones. There is no 'uptick rule' for example like there is with stocks. No 'Time Decay'. Options suffer from time decay because the closer they come to expiry the less time there is for the option to come into the money. Futures contracts do not suffer from this as they are not anticipating a particular strike price at expiry. Automated trading. Electronic futures brokers offer the facility to programmers to interface directly with their trading software. This means that custom written trading software can automatically trade a strategy without any human intervention at all. A system can make buy/sell signals which are automatically routed to the exchange along with any stops and targets. Almost instant fills. With electronically traded futures there is no need to call up a broker and wait for a fill from the trading floor. Orders are instantly placed on the electronic order book and filled as soon as a match is found - for liquid contracts such as the emini S&P500 this will be within a second. Level playing field. With traditional pit traded futures the professional in the pit has a major advantage over the retail trader in terms of speed of execution and costs. Electronic futures trading offers all participants exactly the same advantages. Disadvantages of online futures trading Leverage. Can be a disadvantage if it encourages trading with too high a risk for a particular strategy. A carefully devised money management plan is essential. Overtrading. The instant nature of electronic futures trading coupled with low commission costs and tight spreads can encourage a trader to take additional trades to those determined by their trading plan. Online futures trading offers significant benefits to the retail trader. However, a carefully developed trading plan must be formulated before attempting to enter this extremely competitive business. Tim Wreford operates Online Futures Trading, a website that provides information and resources for traders. Tim also provides an article detailing the development of a day trading system, the results of which are updated daily on the site. |
Other Online Trading Articles
Traders Are Flocking To The Forex The forex, or Foreign Currency Exchange is vast and growing everyday. The forex market is larger than all other markets combined. Literally trillions of dollars are traded daily on the exchange.The forex does not have an actual trading floor. It is made up of a network of banks, they use telecommunication systems, including the internet t ...Duck Duck! No I don't mean a quack, quack. I meant get down, look out for a huge blob of brown stuff is heading your way.This one is so large it is going to make Enron and Worldcom look like Boy Scouts stealing cookies at a picnic. As a result of these latest revelations we are going to have to find someone new to blame. So far the blame has b ...Futures Trading All futures contracts are generally made for the purpose of speculation or hedging. As such, the general procedure for settlement is the neutralization of the original contract by an opposite contract on settlement, so that only difference between the current and the contract price is paid or received. It is rare that actual delivery of the good ...What Is Options Trading? If you've been trading stocks for a while and want to do something a little more speculative, then maybe options trading is for you. At a very basic level, an option traded on the stock exchange means 'a right'. So an options trade involves giving someone the right to buy or sell a certain stock at a certain price by a specific time. If you b ...Forecasting the Stock Market Every day I see in the financial section of newspapers how to forecast what the market will do in 6 months, 12 months, several years. “Ten stocks that will double in the next 6 months.” Right! I have trouble trying to forecast what it will do tomorrow. Do not trust any who claims he knows what the future will be for the market.Of course, ...Sticking With Your Trading Plan We've all seen it on TV in some fashion. A couple of people invest hard earned money into a stock that is guaranteed to go through the roof in just a couple of days based on a "friends" word. So they buy in and excitedly watch the value of their investment rise and rise, just when they think about cashing in, their "friend" tells them to hold ...Futures Trading Forums A forum is a medium of expression, whether through newspapers, television or an open discussion in a public place. It's a place where ideas can be put forth. Discussion on viewpoints can be exchanged at forums. Futures trading forum is also a forum that is a medium of exchange, of ideas and discussion on matters concerning futures trading. ...What is the Foreign Exchange Market Introduction Foreign exchange, Forex or FX as it is know is the Planet’s oldest and largest financial market. It is the place where one country’s currency is exchanged for that of another. On average $2 Trillion exchanges hands every day in the form of currency transactions. This volume makes equity markets look minuscule by compariso ...Online FOREX Trading - The Secret of Building Huge Profits Quickly The secret of how to make big profits with online FOREX trading is staring traders in the face - but most traders don’t see it. The secret is ...Ignore the usual advice you are given, on how to make money in online FOREX trading - and do the opposite!Read each myth outlined below - which are touted as the great ways to make money o ...Buy Shares from Amazon NOW! This past week eBay recently released its third quarter results which came up to be pretty favorable to investors as the stock managed to climb pretty significantly the next day. This week, Amazon (AMZN), a similar cousin to the online auction giant will be reporting its own earnings in attempt to edge back to the glory days of nearly five years ...A Look at Forex Market Makers The investor in the currency market takes for granted that a pair of currencies can be bought or sold at a moment’s notice. Once an order is placed with a broker, the trade is executed within seconds. It is, of course, not as easy as that.Whenever a pair of currencies is bought or sold, there must be someone at the other end of the trans ...Forces that Move Stock Prices Among the largest forces that affect stock prices are inflation, interest rates, bonds, commodities and currencies. At times the stock market suddenly reverses itself followed typically by published explanations phrased to suggest that the writer’s keen observation allowed him to predict the market turn. Such circumstances leave investors some ...6 Reasons Why Exchange Traded Funds Are Better Than Mutual Funds Exchange traded funds (or ETFs) are better for most investors than mutual funds. The mutual fund industry has experienced tremendous growth over that last twenty-five years or so. But it's a new era now. It's the era of the ETF.What are exchange traded funds? ETFs are similar to index mutual funds. Essentially, an ETF is a portfolio of s ...Builders' Bonds Tumble US home builders' bonds have become the biggest losers in the market for debt, with ratings below investment grade.The debt sold by D.R. Horton Inc., KB Home and other construction companies has fallen an average 3% since May, leaving investors with losses around 1.1% for the year, including reinvested interest.It equals the worst ...Forex Signals Reviewed I started in the FOREX market in June of 2002. With hardly any experience at all, I really did not know what I was getting into, other than I wanted to be a full-time trader making tons of money from home. Little did I know from the start that my lifestyle as I knew it was about to change drastically.The ProblemI initially began ...Utilise Online Resources To Help You Become A Successful Forex Trader As with almost anything concerned with making money, searching the Internet for Forex will give you a wealth of information. Some of this information can be very useful while some of it very dubious in nature. Be sure not to pay over the odds for a training course or trading software. Many sites offer a very convincing case for you to spend seve ...Why Demo Account Performance Is Often Better Than Real Account Performance Over the past several years, the popularity of online currency trading has grown substantially. Each day, online FX brokerage firms attract new investors - each of them lining up with a glint in their eye, lured in by promises of easy money. Most of these companies allow you to sign up for a free demo account which lets you place mock trades u ...How To Safely Trade Bonds So That You Actually Make Money Trading bonds can seem a bit difficult compare to stocks, because there's no central exchange for trading bonds. Still, once you learn what you're doing, trading bonds becomes a lot easier.To start, you need a brokerage account. It's your choice whether you go with a full-service broker or an online trading account. Possibly your own l ...Moving Averages Every day on CNBC-TV they show a 200-day moving average line superimposed on the stock price history. It seems they give great credence to this manufactured line as it represents 10 months of price action. What is it? Does it really mean anything?The line represents the addition of the closing prices of that particular stock, mutual fund ...Why Choose Online Stock Trading? A century ago, the stock market was beginning to take shape. It was very different from what we know today as online stock trading. As time moved on, stock trading developed more and more and turned out to be a great way to make money. By giving the investors a variety of choices such as online stock trading, breakout systems, futures trading, h ...Barnes and Noble: A Buy or Sell? As Amazon recently reported its quarterly results, which, not only did I predict right on, but surprised many other experts and analysts awaiting a more negative outcome, one of its competitors, Barnes and Noble (BKS), which typically utilizes similar methods in achieving its respective businesses will be reporting earnings shortly as well. With ...Stock Picks Stock picks are the choicest and most profitable stock deals available for trade. Experienced and skilful stock analysts can suggest stock picks and the best trading scenario.Stock picking is the art of selecting stocks based on a certain set of criteria, with the main aim being huge returns. It is one of the four main investment strategi ...How to Trade Stocks Understanding how the economy works isn’t the only fundamental analysis tools that are important while trading stocks. You also need to read financial statements to understand the financial status of the companies you want to buy. A Company’s income statements on the other hand give you a look at the results of the most recent period and provide ...How To Become A Day Trader Like all businesses, day trading can be extremely lucrative. I suppose that is the reason why so many people want to become day traders. However, the risks are equally great and it is important to know what it takes to become a day trader.There are a few things you need to consider before you decide whether a day trader job is suitable fo ...Trading Small Stocks - Things to Consider Historically smaller stocks outperform larger stocks. However, at the same time many more smaller stocks have fallen by the wayside than the larger more established stocks. As a reference point, a small stock is considered any stock with a market cap under 1 billion while a larger stock is a stock with a market cap over 5 billion. A company's ...Stock Brokers When corporations put their companies out in the market, they make their shares available, allowing other business people to invest in the company. As an investor, you want to know which companies would profit or loose out over the months after you make the investment on their stocks. But what if you are not familiar with the stock market? Do yo ...Dollar Cost Averaging – Automatically Dollar cost averaging (DCA) is a technique designed to reduce market risk through systematic purchase of securities at predetermined intervals and set amounts. If you participate in your company’s 401K plan, knowingly or unknowingly, you are practicing dollar cost averaging. Each pay period your company deducts a specified dollar amount from y ...Stock Broker Training If you are thinking of brokering stocks in the stock market but you are worried that you do not have a financial background, then you can worry no more. You only need to have are an interest in the stock market and perseverance to learn.A lot of stockbrokers do not start off as a stockbroker right after college. Many stockbrokers start of ...Beating the Market with Forex Charts As you read forex charts, remember that the two fundamental approaches for online forex trading: fundamental analysis and technical analysis.Fundamental analysis doesn’t rely on forex charts. It scrutinizes political and economic indicators to determine trades. Charts here are deployed as used as a secondary reference.Technical a ...Day Trading Commodities Day trading has its own value in the marketing world. While increasing and decreasing values and levels of risk can fluctuate between maximum and minimum, many people indulge in day trading to make some money.Trading in stocks on a regular, day-to-day basis increases the value and level of success. Sometimes risk factors may affect the su ...A Guide to Forex Courses For anyone interested in forex trading, education is essential. There are many online forex courses. There are “home-study” programs, seminars, “webinars”, books, DVDs, free demo accounts and more. In fact, with all the information that is out there, it would be silly to begin trading without first educating.Some of the best sites will, ...
|
