Stocks vs. Futures

[smith8194]

Hi I've been browsing this forum for a little while and think a lot of people have good insight and opinions. so with that said I wanted to ask what you might think of intraday trading stocks versus futures.

I have a friend who intraday trades stocks and I often spend time with him to help him make good decisions in the market. I would like to day trade too but don't have the required amount of liquidating assests. Even though I can't day trade myself I still spend time learning different strategies and new types of trading. This brings me to what i said earlier. From what I gathered it seems much more logical to day trade futures and forex such as eminis and what not. Stocks seem to have a lot more variables that play into how that stock might act, while futures are more focused on what they represent. I told my friend that I thought it would be wise to buy stocks as more of a long term investment to limit taking losses. There is nothing wrong with stocks, but it would be much more beneficial to purchase a stock and hold it for a few months rather than a few minutes.

I just wanted to know what you guys think about it. Or from your experience what you thought to be more beneficial for this type of trading.

 

[robster970]

Markets and trading strategies normally have to fit with your personality. The question you're asking is a bit like asking 'Which car do you think I will like driving?'.

There are no right and wrong answers to your question and it's something you need to discover for yourself, probably by trying to trade futures and stocks and deciding what you seem to like and be best at.

I've traded stocks and currently trade futures. I stopped trading stocks because it bored me. I started trading index futures because (a) it is difficult and the intellectual challenge of finding a trading strategy to compete was attractive, (b) it requires a holistic view of world economics and news to trade it effectively IMO and (c) I found the 'personality' of the market and the way it moves, in tune with the way I wanted to trade.

 

[Rhody Trader]

Stocks seem to have a lot more variables that play into how that stock might act, while futures are more focused on what they represent.

Being derivative instruments, futures naturally follow closely their underlying market. But what that means is the same things which drive the underlying also drive the futures. Different markets have different drivers. To say that stocks have more variables than other markets really isn't true. They are just different, and generally more micro.