Experienced stock trader but am confused with commodities!

[blaugrana]

Hi,

My first post

I've been trading stocks for around 20 years and I now want to expand and see what are the opportunities in the futures markets (just read Jim Rogers book, Hot commodities, yes I realize it is a bit out of date!)

Initially I want to papertrade selected futures markets and I was looking for ways to analyze the charts of the most popular commodities (I wont get into interest rate futures at this point)

The problem I am having is I dont really know how to get charts for the various commodities, in fact, I cant even find the symbols! I am initially going to use the freestockcharts.com site for charts (unless there is a bettter one out theere for futures?) but I cannot for the life of me, what are the symbols and contracts I should be looking at? Initially I would like to analyze crude oil, lead, aluminium, wheat, soy beans etc (majors?)

Any info appreciated

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

try futuresource.com for a basic free starter with pricing / charts.

 

[anley]

http://tfc-charts.w2d.com/menu.html

I'd advise you only go for the big markets, grains, energy etc. Try to stay away from anything that has a bone, like Cattle/Hogs etc. Also stay away from Natural Gas, it's a widow maker unless you know/have contacts in the cash market.

 

[blaugrana]

lets say I want to start with crude oil only.

Should I trade the cash market or the futures market? if futures, which contract? and what is the symbol for it?

 

[anley]

Futures, as for which contract see what the spread betters are quoting and that's the one to trade. The months also change every month, unlike financials which are normally quarterly.

 

[tdrtw]

Many years ago I traded stocks but ended up moving to the Futures market and haven't looked back. There is a lot to understand, and unless you have a big account (>1 million), I would suggest staying away from holding overnight positions (aka day trade the markets only). I would suggest also having a minimum capital base of 50K, to give you room to move and not have to take on too great a risk per trade. A 1$ move on Oil is a $1,000 per contract. Imagine having 2 contracts overnight, and Oil moves $5 away from you. That's a $10,000 loss right there... I'm sure you get the picture.

You will probably want to redefine your strategies if you are a long term trader in stocks. I day traded stocks and applied the same strategies to Futures without any issues.

Don't go live trading until you have a very well defined plan for entry/exits and rock solid money management and risk control.

Be careful and good luck.