Trading Futures Using an IRA account

Utilizing Your IRA for Futures Trading through Futures Brokers

Learn more about trading futures using your IRA with Cannon Trading Company here.

Many individuals engaged in futures trading may not be aware of the possibility of conducting futures transactions within their IRA (Individual Retirement Account). Cannon Trading Company facilitates futures trading within your IRA, provided that your IRA is held with a qualified custodian that permits futures and commodity trading within IRA accounts.

When trading within your IRA, you can benefit from the traditional tax advantages that IRAs offer while gaining access to nontraditional markets, such as futures (consult a tax professional for guidance). These markets encompass a variety of futures and commodities, including energy markets like crude oil and heating oil, financial markets such as the 30-year bond and 10-year note, and even softs markets like cocoa and coffee futures, among many others. You can find a comprehensive list of the markets available for trading within your IRA account here:(https://www.e-futures.com/margin-requirements.php).

Before you embark on trading within your IRA account, there are several important considerations:

– Your IRA must fall under a qualified IRA type, which can include Traditional, Roth, Rollover, and SEP IRAs.

– Your IRA must be held with a custodian that permits futures trading within IRAs. Some of the custodians we collaborate with, who facilitate futures trading within IRAs, include Midland IRA, Millennium Trust Company, Equity Trust, and others. Please contact us for further information.

– You will have access to a wide array of futures markets, including currencies, energies, financials, grains, indices, meats, metals, and soft commodities.

– You have the option to select from multiple trading platforms to best suit your specific trading requirements.

– Trading futures options is also possible within your qualified IRA account.

– Standard day trading margins and initial margins apply to all IRA accounts, with no additional margin restrictions specific to IRAs.

It’s essential to recognize that trading futures within your IRA differs significantly from trading stocks and securities in a traditional IRA, which most investors are accustomed to. Notably, futures contracts have expiration dates and may require rollovers if held over an extended period, unlike traditional stocks and securities, which can be held long term without modifications or rollovers. There are numerous other distinctions between trading futures and commodities compared to stocks; feel free to reach out to us for further information.

It’s worth noting that while IRAs are traditionally a vehicle for retirement savings, futures trading is inherently more aggressive due to the substantial leverage involved. Each individual must carefully assess whether using IRA funds for futures trading aligns with their overall retirement strategy.

Should you have any inquiries concerning trading futures within your IRA account or need information about custodians that permit futures trading within IRAs, please don’t hesitate to contact Cannon Trading. Our licensed brokers are available to assist you in establishing the most suitable setup for your trading needs.

Ready to start trading futures? Call 1(800)454-9572 and speak to one of our experienced, Series-3 licensed futures brokers and start your futures trading journey with Cannon Trading Company today.

 

Disclaimer – Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  Past performance is not indicative of future results. You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.

Futures Support & Resistance Levels 7.12.2019

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When you are trading, specifically day-trading, and things are not going your way – resist that temptation to start doubling down, averaging down and all the other great ideas….force yourself to take a break for 10-15 minutes, reset and then come back to the screen.
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Good Trading

Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.

 

Futures Trading Levels

07-12-2019

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Economic Reports, source: 

bettertrader.co

ae31cdf5 dae1 41d1 845f aaee763356ea

This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell, but a current market view provided by Cannon Trading Inc. Any statement of facts here in contained are derived from sources believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed as to accuracy, nor they purport to be complete. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any such statement or with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. Readers are urged to exercise their own judgement in trading.

8 Steps for Better Trading & Levels 7-11-2019

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8 Steps for better trading
My name is Ilan Levy-Mayer and I am the Vice President and Senior Futures Broker at Cannon Trading. I came up with the following personal observations after serving online traders worldwide for more than 20 years.
The following steps are guides to progress, and are not necessarily in sequential order. Some of them are always required, but each futures trader is different and will relate to these stages in their own ways. While attempting to learn and progress, one must keep in mind that futures trading is risky and can involve significant losses.

1. Education

Hopefully if you are already trading you have completed your initial education: contract specs, trading hours, futures brokers, platforms, the opportunities as well as the risk and need to use risk capital in futures, and so on. Understanding this information is essential to futures commodities trading. The second type of education is ongoing: learning about trading techniques, the evolution of futures markets, different trading tools, and more.

2. Find a System

I am definitely not advising you to go on the web and subscribe to a “black box” system (using buy/sell triggers if don’t know why they are being generated). What I am advising is developing a trading technique: a general set of rules and a trading concept. As you progress, you may want to put the different rules and indicators into a computerized system, but the most important factor is to have a focus and a plan. Don’t just wake up in the morning and trade “blank.”

3. Survival

This is the key! Do what you need to do in order to survive this brutal business and give yourself the chance of being here down the road with more experience and a better chance of success. Survival is probably the biggest key for beginning traders. There is a saying in this business: “live to trade another day.” It is so true!

4. Money Management

While it is closely related to survival, money management can also stand alone. For your own survival, you must set trade/daily/weekly loss limits. Sound money management is closely associated with knowing your risk-reward ratio (again, per trade and per time frame).

5. Goals

You should have a game plan and established goals which will function as a road map to measure your progress and improvement. Set per-trade goals, daily goals, weekly goals, etc. Many of you who are clients are familiar with these questions: What is your daily profit goal? Where do you see yourself in a week from now.? Six months from now? A year from now? How are you planning to get there? Break it down into small steps, and you’ll always know whether or not you’re on the right track. And do not forget to continually re-evaluate your financial situation as it pertains to risk capital.

6. Experience

If you made it to this stage you’re on the right track! Just like anything else in life, the more experience you have, the greater your success is likely to be. The key is to acquire the experience without devastating your risk capital. What good is experience without risk capital in your trading account?

7. Learn your Setups, Strengths, and Weaknesses

Teach yourself to recognize different set-ups that you feel comfortable and confident with. Then attack. You cannot get to this stage without going through the previous steps. If you did not survive, develop a trading system, set goals, etc., you may recognize the right setups but lack the confidence or the cash to take advantage. I sometimes compare being the “pro” to the lion who is waiting patiently for its prey and then attacks when the time is right!

8. Trading on a Consistent Basis

This means you will continue to evolve as a trader and go through these stages over the years again and again.

In Conclusion

Don’t be discouraged by reading this. Succeeding in futures trading takes hard work and time.
Please be realistic, make sure you only try this with risk capital only and periodically check yourself and try to learn from your mistakes and successes.
Good Trading!

Disclaimer

The material contained in this letter is of opinion only and does not guarantee any profits. These are risky markets and only risk capital should be used.
Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The risk of loss in trading can be substantial, carefully consider the inherent risks of such an investment in light of your financial condition.
Day trading can be extremely risky. Day trading generally is not appropriate for someone of limited resources and limited investment or trading experience and low risk tolerance. You should be prepared to lose all of the funds that you use for day trading. And more, you should not fund day-trading activities with funds required to meet your living expenses or change your standard of living.
bdf6db09 7692 48a4 8450 9a8d7d5f2d31

Good Trading

Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.

 

Futures Trading Levels

07-11-2019

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Economic Reports, source: 

bettertrader.co

4fe9d129 22f0 4cca bc0a f9e1f66e7c48

 

This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell, but a current market view provided by Cannon Trading Inc. Any statement of facts here in contained are derived from sources believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed as to accuracy, nor they purport to be complete. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any such statement or with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. Readers are urged to exercise their own judgement in trading.

Options on Futures & Support and Resistance Levels 7.10.2019

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RECORDED WEBINAR Options 101: Adding Options as a Weapon in Your Trading Arsenal
Options on futures can be used in many different ways and as a trader you need to be aware of all the tools you can use!
View the recorded webinar INSTANTLY. During this presentation, John Thorpe, Senior Broker with Cannon Trading and an ex floor trader shared and reviewed the following :
* Difference between Futures and Futures Options
* Option as an Insurance product
* Two components that make up the value of an option.
a. Time Value
b. Intrinsic value
* Buying Options
*Selling Options
* Examples of Option Strategy recommendations
bdf6db09 7692 48a4 8450 9a8d7d5f2d31

Good Trading

Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.

 

Futures Trading Levels

07-10-2019

4bd7bd41 23e3 46df 81bc e32e30b92257

 


Economic Reports, source: 

bettertrader.co

8b68f619 549a 4eee b351 379ca604f907

 

This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell, but a current market view provided by Cannon Trading Inc. Any statement of facts here in contained are derived from sources believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed as to accuracy, nor they purport to be complete. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any such statement or with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. Readers are urged to exercise their own judgement in trading.

Futures Support & Resistance Levels 7.09.2019

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Voted #1 Blog and #1 Brokerage Services on TraderPlanet for 2016!!  

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Dear Traders,

Like us on FaceBook!
82fe4483 9731 4172 8c3e 8b6453a4f110
fe7129e4 7348 4fb5 be3b f2f3deaca45a
bdf6db09 7692 48a4 8450 9a8d7d5f2d31

Good Trading

Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.

 

Futures Trading Levels

07-09-2019

a283db26 af2e 4930 bf6b 55559a220471

 


Economic Reports, source: 

bettertrader.co

19f96d8f 7b88 4f8e a2d5 f804c1dac500

This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell, but a current market view provided by Cannon Trading Inc. Any statement of facts here in contained are derived from sources believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed as to accuracy, nor they purport to be complete. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any such statement or with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. Readers are urged to exercise their own judgement in trading.

Explore CME and other Exchanges Electronic Membership Programs & Levels 7.03.2019

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Voted #1 Blog and #1 Brokerage Services on TraderPlanet for 2016!!  

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Dear Traders,

Like us on FaceBook!
Get Real Time updates and market alerts on Twitter!
Fourth of July is this Thursday, click here to see the different market hours for Wednesday/ Thursday/ Friday.
On a different note:
Do you trade an average of 50 contracts per day or more?
Would you like to save over $1.20 per round turn?
Let a Cannon Broker help you explore some of the current exchange programs that help reduce the exchange fees you pay per trade.
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bdf6db09 7692 48a4 8450 9a8d7d5f2d31

Good Trading

Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.

 

Futures Trading Levels

07-03-2019

2fe17fbc 618e 49d8 a8e3 14851bf494c7

 


Economic Reports, source: 

bettertrader.co

b91d7790 25eb 4edb bf6e 53d875be537d

 

This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell, but a current market view provided by Cannon Trading Inc. Any statement of facts here in contained are derived from sources believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed as to accuracy, nor they purport to be complete. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any such statement or with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. Readers are urged to exercise their own judgement in trading.

Become a Trade Leader & Support and Resistance Levels 7.02.2019

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Voted #1 Blog and #1 Brokerage Services on TraderPlanet for 2016!!  

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Dear Traders,

Like us on FaceBook!
Get Real Time updates and market alerts on Twitter!
Fourth of July is this Thursday, click here to see the different market hoursfor Wednesday/ Thursday/ Friday.
On a different note:
Cannon Trading is Looking for Good traders to become “Trade Leaders” on Cannon Echo System
Are you a good trader?
STEP 1: Open a live account and trade in the “sandbox”
STEP 2: Evaluate performance with a Cannon Executive
STEP 3: Open your trading for “followers” who will pay a monthly subscription fee
Cannon Trading Co., Inc.,(CTC), now celebrating 30 years in futures trading, is currently reaching out to traders with information on its Echo Trading Platform. If you’re a good trader with a worthy track record in trading, consider this: Share your trades on the Echo Trading Platform as an Echo Leader and after you become a leader, get compensated for your trading ability. You can set a monthly charge for access to your trades and conduct your trading as you would normally. We take care of the rest. The back-end programming of the Echo Trading Platform manages all client registration and billing details, so Echo Leaders are free to focus on what really counts – their trading!
Echo Leaders who trade successfully can attract more subscribers and charge higher monthly subscription rates. And what better place for Echo Leaders to attract clients (Echo Followers) than Cannon Trading Co.? With over 30 years in business, we are one of the oldest Introducing Brokers in the United States.
165ef228 162c 4a91 b582 05344a35c0eb
bdf6db09 7692 48a4 8450 9a8d7d5f2d31

Good Trading

Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.

 

Futures Trading Levels

07-02-2019

16c9e55c 056c 4386 8209 fc5ce06528ef

 


Economic Reports, source: 

bettertrader.co

8952181b 1298 4c21 b7ae ecf9cbe24e1a

 

This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell, but a current market view provided by Cannon Trading Inc. Any statement of facts here in contained are derived from sources believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed as to accuracy, nor they purport to be complete. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any such statement or with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. Readers are urged to exercise their own judgement in trading.

Open New Micro Account with $750 & Trading Levels 6.28.2019

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Voted #1 Blog and #1 Brokerage Services on TraderPlanet for 2016!!  

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Dear Traders,

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Open a futures trading account with as little as $750!
Trade MICROS for $0.49 per side + fees!
$100 day-trading margins
Live, real-time charts
Have you been following the markets for a while now? Not able to make the switch from demo to live trading?
Well now with the MICROS contracts being 1/10 the size of the mini indices, you can start trading a LIVE account with as little as $750** using the smaller MICROS.
Account Details
  • Trade CME Micro E-Mini Futures contracts on the S&P, Dow Jones, Nasdaq100, and Russell 2000. You can learn more about the MICROS here.
  • Other futures contracts are available based on account size and margin requirements.
  • Offer is for new accounts only.
  • Existing clients, please contact your current broker to make sure MICROS are set up properly in your current account.
*Exchange fees are $0.20 per side. NFA fees are $0.02 per side. Platform fees will vary but can start from $0.1 per side.
** While the MICROS are a smaller contract, there is still large degree of risk in trading futures and futures trading is not suitable for everyone. Read disclaimer here and feel free to reach out and speak to a licensed broker at + 310 859 9572
contest logo 3
bdf6db09 7692 48a4 8450 9a8d7d5f2d31

Good Trading

Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.

 

Futures Trading Levels

06-28-2019

82256f05 2eb4 430f b5eb 71f0dd96700e

 


Economic Reports, source: 

bettertrader.co

2820940f 4f3b 47bf 9a8e 834d6cda3b8c

 

This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell, but a current market view provided by Cannon Trading Inc. Any statement of facts here in contained are derived from sources believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed as to accuracy, nor they purport to be complete. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any such statement or with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. Readers are urged to exercise their own judgement in trading.

Independence Day Futures Trading Schedule + Daily Crude Oil Chart + Levels 6.27.2019

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Voted #1 Blog and #1 Brokerage Services on TraderPlanet for 2016!!  

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Dear Traders,

Like us on FaceBook!
Get Real Time updates and market alerts on Twitter!
165ef228 162c 4a91 b582 05344a35c0eb
Daily Chart of the Crude Oil Futures for your review below:
82367de0 1047 4894 80f8 64fee444bc81
bdf6db09 7692 48a4 8450 9a8d7d5f2d31

Good Trading

Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.

 

Futures Trading Levels

06-27-2019

fbc8067c 4b58 4d63 bdde 7a73c7ba630d

 


Economic Reports, source: 

bettertrader.co

f3eddb74 8a23 4180 a6d2 a9e4f66bc598

 

This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell, but a current market view provided by Cannon Trading Inc. Any statement of facts here in contained are derived from sources believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed as to accuracy, nor they purport to be complete. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any such statement or with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. Readers are urged to exercise their own judgement in trading.

Selling Future Options Premium

Futures Options Writing

 

Have you ever wondered who sells the futures options that most people buy? These people are known as the option writers/sellers. Their sole objective is to collect the premium paid by the option buyer. Option writing can also be used for hedging purposes and reducing risk. An option writer has the exact opposite to gain as the option buyer. The writer has unlimited risk and a limited profit potential, which is the premium of the option minus commissions. When writing naked futures options your risk is unlimited, without the use of stops. This is why we recommend exiting positions once a market trades through an area you perceived as strong support or resistance. So why would anyone want to write an option? Here are a few reasons:

  1. Most futures options expire worthless and out of the money. Therefore, the option writer is collecting the premium the option buyer paid.

 

  1. There are three things that happen to the underlying price of the option: Price goes up, goes down or stays the same. If when the option expires, the market price was at or below your strike price you collect all the premium if two of those things happen Time decay is the option writer’s friend.

 

  1. The writer believes the futures contract will not reach a certain strike price by the expiration date of the option. This is known as naked option selling.

 

  • To hedge against a futures position. For example: someone who goes long cocoa at 850 can write a 900 strike price call option with about one month of time until option expiration. This allows you to collect the premium of the call option if cocoa settles below 900, based on option expiration. It also allows you to make a profit on the actual futures contract between 851 and 900. This strategy also lowers your margin on the trade, and should cocoa continue lower to 800, you at least collect some premium on the option you wrote. Risk lies if cocoa continues to decline, because you only collect a certain amount of premium and the futures contract has unlimited risk the lower it goes. So you should trade with a stop on the futures contract. You can read on different strategies using options on futures here:

 

https://www.cannontrading.com/tools/education-futures-options-trading-101

 

Cannon offers SPAN margins for options sellers.

Many brokers will restrict or increase the margins required for options sellers, or traders who like to “collect premium”, but here at Cannon we can find you the best set up utilizing the multiple clearing arrangements we have with more than a few FCMs.

How much margin is required to sell a futures option?

That is a question we get asked often. The exact number is an output of SPAN margins. SPAN deserves a post on its own, but what it stands for is: Standard Portfolio Analysis of Risk. The formula takes into consideration volatility, time value, distance of strike price from current underlying future, and more.

Outright options may be easier to “guesstimate” margin than more complex strategies and spreads, but our free platform, E-Futures Int’l (https://www.cannontrading.com/software/e-futures-international )has a margin calculator built in so you can calculate the margin you will need for different strategies.

Commission for selling options on futures?

Commissions will vary based on the following:

Are you trading online or with a broker?

Trading volume

Account size

Risk responsibility.

The rates for selling options will vary from as low as $0.25 per side + fees for HIGH VOLUME, institutional accounts to $30 per side + fees for retail, broker assisted accounts.

 

Selling options is NOT for newcomers as it involves higher risk than buying options.

However, selling options and trading option spreads may offer an edge if done with proper risk management. No guarantees are made here.

Our strength at Cannon is our ability to offer CUSTOMIZED trading solutions, so contact a broker at:

https://www.cannontrading.com/company/contact

and learn more about risks and opportunities in futures trading (https://www.cannontrading.com/riskopportunity), what software you can use, consult with a broker on margin, commissions and strategy questions and much more!

 

Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.