Scalping futures trading or spot fx

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moyes

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It is a well known fact that futures is well regulated and spot forex is full of bucket shop brokers.

I have been trading spot fx for over a year now and i am now contemplating scalping futures emini s&p 500.

I would like to hear from other futures traders who trade futures and scalp the market and if they could recommend a broker preferably from Australia, but I don't think that will matter.

Any advice and/or opinions about either market would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
 
I use a DMA broker but I'm in the US and so is my broker. I have a very good (fiber) internet connection and haven't had any delay problems that seem to affect my scalping too greatly when I scalp trades on the ES. I use Lightspeed, which is also in US,but I would imagine any other DMA broker should be fine. I scalp programmatically so I needed a broker with a full service API. I love the volume on the ES and the wide price fluctuations for multi point scalps.

Cheers
 
numbertea said:
I use a DMA broker but I'm in the US and so is my broker. I have a very good (fiber) internet connection and haven't had any delay problems that seem to affect my scalping too greatly when I scalp trades on the ES. I use Lightspeed, which is also in US,but I would imagine any other DMA broker should be fine. I scalp programmatically so I needed a broker with a full service API. I love the volume on the ES and the wide price fluctuations for multi point scalps.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Hi, what broker do you use and do they offer a demo account to begin with? I am in Australia region. I would like to learn to trade futures emini s&p 500 as i am not entirely happy with trading spot forex. I find futures to be well regulated and transparent.
 
:cheesy:
moyes said:
It is a well known fact that futures is well regulated and spot forex is full of bucket shop brokers.

I have been trading spot fx for over a year now and i am now contemplating scalping futures emini s&p 500.

I would like to hear from other futures traders who trade futures and scalp the market and if they could recommend a broker preferably from Australia, but I don't think that will matter.

Any advice and/or opinions about either market would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I scalp trade DOW E-mini, using Tradestation. Pleased with that platform. I use one account. Beginning serious consideration to opening an additional account, so I can swing trade. Not familiar with Aussie brokers.:cheesy:
 
moyes said:
Hi, what broker do you use and do they offer a demo account to begin with? I am in Australia region. I would like to learn to trade futures emini s&p 500 as i am not entirely happy with trading spot forex. I find futures to be well regulated and transparent.
Click to expand...

Lightspeed is my broker, they offer a demo account so you can check out their data feed. Compare bar completion to atomic clock time for answer to question of feed latency.

Cheers
 
Scalping

numbertea said:
Lightspeed is my broker, they offer a demo account so you can check out their data feed. Compare bar completion to atomic clock time for answer to question of feed latency.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Hi numbertea, do you think fx scalping strategies are transferable to the futures market? The biggest issue for me is trying to find a reputable broker, but I am slowly getting there. Not a easy task. I am very interested to learn to scalp the markets as I enjoy the thrill and fear factor involved with short term trading(Yes, i'm well aware it's very risky) I usually stick to the 4 hour and daily charts and I mostly look at price action and support and resistance lines for trades..

Could you please tell me where i can learn to trade the emini S&P 500 market and where you started?
I will open a demo account with lightspeed and see how that goes. Thanks.
 
moyes said:
Hi numbertea, do you think fx scalping strategies are transferable to the futures market? The biggest issue for me is trying to find a reputable broker, but I am slowly getting there. Not a easy task. I am very interested to learn to scalp the markets as I enjoy the thrill and fear factor involved with short term trading(Yes, i'm well aware it's very risky) I usually stick to the 4 hour and daily charts and I mostly look at price action and support and resistance lines for trades..

Could you please tell me where i can learn to trade the emini S&P 500 market and where you started?
I will open a demo account with lightspeed and see how that goes. Thanks.
Click to expand...

For Scalping to succeed you will need ultra low commissions. Scalping is good for exchange members or Prop firms with low commissions.

Demo account you can open from a lot of places Heres complete list -

http://www.cmegroup.com/tools-information/find-a-broker/broker-directory-na.html

Shop for low commissions and Trading Platform having less cost per month or less round turn cost if applies.

Do a comparison for cost per Round Turn .

For ex if you have to do 10000 trades with this commission and this platform and you will do this many Avg trades a day then what's the difference between the lowest one and highest one.

Ex.
No of Trades 10000
All inclusive Highest Commission - $7.2 Round Turn(RT)
All inclusive Lowest Commission - $2.82 RT

Paid Commission Highest - $72000
Paid Commission Lowest - $28200

Saving with Lowest Broker - $72000-$28200 = $43800


That's a lot of money saved in commission on 10000 trades.

Imp Advice -

1. Go for FCM Brokers which are Futures Clearing Merchants as they don't charge Clearing Fee which Introducing Brokers charge making commissions fatter.

2. If you open $10000 + account then ask for low commission and low margin. $400 Margin on ES is sufficient. and anyting below $3.7 all inclusive RT is good but you can get $2.82.


Most Important -

a. If a broker says you are new and needs a lots of advice that's why fatter commission then avoid them.

b. If their Support Team is busy or rude avoid them.

c. If they don't allow you to use your platform of choice and coerce you to use there platform and Feed then run fast from them.

Top feeds in the market no particular order - TT, CQG, CTS T4

Good Luck Trading!
 
Last edited:
Eurex said:
All inclusive Lowest Commission - $2.82 RT
Click to expand...

Just so you know RT costs are a LOT lower for larger volume prop guys. Some guys are on sub 50c RT's. $1 RT's are possible if you do 10,000 monthly volume and lease a seat for $300pm.:)
 
moyes said:
Hi numbertea, do you think fx scalping strategies are transferable to the futures market? The biggest issue for me is trying to find a reputable broker, but I am slowly getting there. Not a easy task. I am very interested to learn to scalp the markets as I enjoy the thrill and fear factor involved with short term trading(Yes, i'm well aware it's very risky) I usually stick to the 4 hour and daily charts and I mostly look at price action and support and resistance lines for trades..

Could you please tell me where i can learn to trade the emini S&P 500 market and where you started?
I will open a demo account with lightspeed and see how that goes. Thanks.
Click to expand...

For a years I was trading EOD and getting frustrated because although I could make a profit it just wasn't enough to satisfy. I started scalping Nasdaq stocks catching high volatility moves. As long as my profit targets were not too much it is possible to trade that way. Now I trade bigger moves but still intraday on the ES. I don't scalp anymore since being able to completely automate my trading.

When I did scalp the ES I used the DOM and put it up on a chart for myself to be able to see. I just can't look at those moving numbers quick enough. The Lightspeed API is very good and easy to work with for L2 data in C++.

Cheers
 
OEC gives tick data as it's highest resolution I believe. Lightspeed lets you see data at per trade resolution. If I'm wrong here about OEC I apologize. Can anyone verify OEC as posting all bid ask and closes on their feed as they occur?

Cheers
 
Trade S&P500

moyes said:
Hi numbertea, do you think fx scalping strategies are transferable to the futures market? The biggest issue for me is trying to find a reputable broker, but I am slowly getting there. Not a easy task. I am very interested to learn to scalp the markets as I enjoy the thrill and fear factor involved with short term trading(Yes, i'm well aware it's very risky) I usually stick to the 4 hour and daily charts and I mostly look at price action and support and resistance lines for trades..

Could you please tell me where i can learn to trade the emini S&P 500 market and where you started?
I will open a demo account with lightspeed and see how that goes. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I have been trading the ETF SPY (for the S&P500) with very good liquidity, minimal spread and fast execution. I use Interactive Brokers (IB), I recommend to you.

The same broker allow to trade many other instruments including the Emini SP500. I have used IB for the last couple of year with no complaints. Good service.
 
numbertea said:
OEC gives tick data as it's highest resolution I believe. Lightspeed lets you see data at per trade resolution. If I'm wrong here about OEC I apologize. Can anyone verify OEC as posting all bid ask and closes on their feed as they occur?

Cheers
Click to expand...

Yes, the OEC API has a DOM class, a Price class and Ticks class.

Check the documentation:

http://www.openecry.com/api/api/index.html

They are under the OEC.API Namespace
 
I would not recommend OEC Trading Platform having experienced its stubbornness im biased against it.

This is interesting about OEC Platform 1 year old how some guy exploited OEC platform and lost $9 Million to the Broker - http://forexmagnates.com/open-e-cry-gets-cftc-fine-for-inadequate-supervision/ - Might be tempting to someone to open an account there but it looks fixed.

I find their platform confusing and packed with lot of unnecessary things. Looks like they want to fit everything in but lacked a USP.

Disadv of OEC
1. OEC claim its free but its priced in their Higher than normal Commissions.
2. DOM you cant arrange columns and coloring of background of bid ask.
3. If you compare the volume displayed in Histogram with other softwares you will find that OEC volume lacking.
4.To create and OCO or Auto OCO you need to create a strategy. It should be a simple drop down selection. Takes a lot of time to just change an OCO.
5. Its in C# so if you compare similar platform like CTS T4 and OEC you will know whats lacking in OEC.

Adv
1. Free Charts
2. Chart Trading
3. Options Data without geeks.
4. Like the loophole mentioned earlier there might be others ;)

After OEC takeover from Gain we expected to see some enhancements.
 
Eurex said:
I would not recommend OEC Trading Platform having experienced its stubbornness im biased against it.

This is interesting about OEC Platform 1 year old how some guy exploited OEC platform and lost $9 Million to the Broker - http://forexmagnates.com/open-e-cry-gets-cftc-fine-for-inadequate-supervision/ - Might be tempting to someone to open an account there but it looks fixed.

I find their platform confusing and packed with lot of unnecessary things. Looks like they want to fit everything in but lacked a USP.

Disadv of OEC
1. OEC claim its free but its priced in their Higher than normal Commissions.
2. DOM you cant arrange columns and coloring of background of bid ask.
3. If you compare the volume displayed in Histogram with other softwares you will find that OEC volume lacking.
4.To create and OCO or Auto OCO you need to create a strategy. It should be a simple drop down selection. Takes a lot of time to just change an OCO.
5. Its in C# so if you compare similar platform like CTS T4 and OEC you will know whats lacking in OEC.

Adv
1. Free Charts
2. Chart Trading
3. Options Data without geeks.
4. Like the loophole mentioned earlier there might be others ;)

After OEC takeover from Gain we expected to see some enhancements.
Click to expand...

With the exception on point 1, all of your criticisms are with OEC Trader and not with OEC. I'm not fussed about pretty colours, I only care about price data and I have compared OEC tick data with CME group time and sales. Higher commission Vs platform fees?...I know which I prefer, but each trader is different.
 
new_trader said:
With the exception on point 1, all of your criticisms are with OEC Trader and not with OEC. I'm not fussed about pretty colours, I only care about price data and I have compared OEC tick data with CME group time and sales. Higher commission Vs platform fees?...I know which I prefer, but each trader is different.
Click to expand...

Why is that bid ask are in blue/red in most of the DOM platforms. why aren't they orangeee or yellow.

Every Tape reader gives a fuss about colors of DOM bid/ask which the watch are watching day in and out and Trading Software companies allow their customization.

Compare there DOM Tick Data then it lags with other platforms Here's a simple comparison i did a while ago in FESX Sept 2013 Contract. Look at point of control in Volume histogram its filtering the ticks 400 difference.
Looks at difference in every price level.
 

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Eurex said:
Why is that bid ask are in blue/red in most of the DOM platforms. why aren't they orangeee or yellow.

Every Tape reader gives a fuss about colors of DOM bid/ask which the watch are watching day in and out and Trading Software companies allow their customization.


Compare there DOM Tick Data then it lags with other platforms Here's a simple comparison i did a while ago in FESX Sept 2013 Contract. Look at point of control in Volume histogram its filtering the ticks 400 difference.
Looks at difference in every price level.
Click to expand...

1) I don't use DOM (You can argue with others as to whether a tape reader uses DOM, I'm not interested)
2) As I said, you are highlighting "errors" in OEC TRADER. I know there are some bugs in the software, I have pointed a few out in the past to the developers and they have promptly corrected them. I don't use OEC Trader, I have customised my own Trading App.
3) You are using the demo server not the production server.
4) Traders can customize their own look by connecting to OEC Trader with Excel, which is the easy way, or they can Customise their own App with C#, C++ or Visual Basic.

I have compared OEC tick data with CME group time & sales data and I am satisfied.
 
Futures broker

My personal favourite is Transact futures, you may also trade micro currency futures there. On the GBP/USD micro futures one tick is 0,60USD. Perfect market for newer traders. With a 20-tick stoploss, you only risk 12USD per trade.
 
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