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Category: Future Trading Platform

A futures trading platform is a single or a group of softwares that it used for enabling Online Futures Trading. The plus point about trading futures is that it enables you as the trading party to leverage both big and small moves. With our future trading platforms you can benefit in a number of ways. Firstly, they provide you with speedy access at any given point of time.

Secondly, they aid you in figuring out which trading method you should use so as to make the best out of the trade. The outcome is that you are able to manage your money, time as well as risk better. Offering futures trading platforms like Ninja Trader, OEC Trader, Shogun Trade Executer. CQG QTrader and more, Cannon Trading can aid you when it comes to commodity and futures trading. Under this particular archive we have detailed the futures trading platforms that we offer.

What we want from you as our trusted users and readers is to read through all the links provided so as to get some idea about how these futures trading platforms function. Although we are always there to advise, being equipped with information is crucial for every person interested in trading.

New CME Fees, Futures Levels & Economic Reports 2.25.2014

Posted on February 24, 2014July 19, 2017 by Ilan

Connect with Us! Use Our Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports RSS Feed.

1. Market Commentary
2. Futures Support and Resistance Levels – S&P, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Russell 2000, Dollar Index
3. Commodities Support and Resistance Levels – Gold, Euro, Crude Oil, T-Bonds
4. Commodities Support and Resistance Levels – Corn, Wheat, Beans, Silver
5. Futures Economic Reports for Tuesday February 25, 2014

Hello Traders,

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

Voted #1 futures trading blog!

CME data fees: If you are thinking about opening a futures trading account, I recommend doing so before Feb. 28th so you don’t fall into the category of NEW CME market data subscriber. If you have an account open before Feb. 28th you will be able to avoid a minimum charge of $15 per month which the CME will impose on all NEW futures trading accounts starting March 1st 2014

feel free to contact us with any questions or open an account online

CME Market Data Fee Changes

Effective March 1, 2014

The CME Group has announced significant changes to its existing Market Data Policy and Fees. These changes will be phased in through 2016; with the first phase to be effective on March 1, 2014, as outlined below. The information below focuses on the immediate changes and further information will be distributed on the other changes in the coming months. A copy of the CME’s FAQ document on these changes is attached.

After March 1, 2014, NEW CME-market-data subscribers will begin paying monthly fees for CME data, according to the following fee schedule:

“Non-Professional Traders”

$5 per Exchange or $15 monthly bundle for all four (CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX)

“Professional Traders”

$85 per Exchange or $340 monthly for all four Exchanges (NO bundled pricing offered)

Continue reading “New CME Fees, Futures Levels & Economic Reports 2.25.2014”

How Discount Brokers Work?

Posted on February 18, 2014February 19, 2014 by Ilan

Discount Futures Brokerage is formatted to provide a more cost effective way of trading futures for experienced traders who are comfortable placing trades over the internet , using their personal computer..

Discount Futures Brokers typically offer lower service fees and take a more minimal role in daily trading decisions. What you are essentially using a broker since then, is to place orders and for representation on the exchange floor. It is true that futures trading, or any trading market for that matter, could not operate without market participants and market professionals representing those participants. With commodities markets being so risky, regardless of cost it is clear that qualified brokers are vital to the success of participants of various markets.

What’s The Difference?

The biggest difference with discount brokers is the client’s ability to be more self-directed with their trading profile. The risk associated with futures trading disclaims that there is no guarantee of profit no matter who manages your money. No matter the level of involvement, brokers still represent the interests of every client and are likewise as valuable. The need for Futures Trading Brokers will never become obsolete, so the emphasis on discount brokerage need be on discounted commissions and fees, not discounted service.

Below is a list of lesser or excluded fees associated with a discount futures brokerage:

Account Maintenance Fees
Platform Fees
DataFeed Fees (Online/E-Trading)
Low Margin Investments
Broker Support Fees

Another difference with discount brokerage is the type of platform often used for this type of futures brokerage service; online. Online Futures Trading is in some cases synonymous with a discount futures brokerage. The reason this is, is due to lower costs associated with online platforms that allow you to do most of the monitoring of real time market data. A wide selection of online futures companies provide the software you can download to use to trade and build a profile. When one places orders online, he doesn’t need to call his broker and place orders via phone. That saves the time of the broker and allow for lower, discounted fees.

Continue reading “How Discount Brokers Work?”

How to Open a Commodities Trading Account

Posted on February 11, 2014July 19, 2017 by Ilan

Considering Futures Commodities Trading?

What is FCT? When buying futures you are entering into what is called a futures contract. This contract is an agreement to buy or sell the commodities at a fixed price at a later date. The fixed price is determined by the commodity profile of the exchange upon which you are trading. The commodity profile determines what is called the contract size. By using various strategies on the exchange you can profit or lose from either a drop or an increase in the price of the underlying commodity. There are two core positions you can take when trading futures, long and short depending upon whether you think the price will rise or fall. The advantage of trading in futures is that your investment is only a percentage of the price of the value of the contract, this is buying on margin. Typically, margins are anywhere from 3-20%.

The strategy is then to gain an increase on your margin investment based upon the daily price fluctuation of the underlying commodity. In taking a long position you agree to buy the contract at a later date at the fixed price with the option to sell early in the event the price per share goes up, adding to your margin. In taking a short position you agree to sell the contract at a later date with the option to buy back the contract at its decreased value in the event the price per share goes down, again, adding to your margin investment. Traditionally, what is described here is the process of two interwoven financial instruments; options contracts and futures contracts. The two are distinguished by the obligations put on the buyers and sellers.

Whereas futures contracts obligates the buyer to buy and the seller to sell unless the holder’s position changes prior to the set delivery date, the options position holds that the buyer has the option, yet is not obligated to, buy or sell the contract at a set price at any time during the duration of the contract up until expiration. Another feature contributed by the options position is the marginal investment, also known as a performance bond. Both long and short position holders are required to contribute this security deposit to ensure their position on the contract. Depending upon the daily market fluctuation of the price of the underlying commodity, the performance bond acts as a leverage vehicle that credits and debits a trader’s account on a twice daily basis from the pre-deposited funds. A broker may also perform a margin call to the client when the margin investment account falls below predetermined performance requirements set for the contract. Singular positions on futures contracts, in and of themselves are the riskiest investments in futures trading. Certain strategies can be employed to minimize risk and maximize returns on marginal investments. Another way to hedge you against unfavorable changes in the market is by utilizing a spread. One spread is to go long a nearby month and go short a later month. Another spread is to utilize related commodities/ contracts. Long wheat, short corn or long ten year bonds, short 30 year bonds. More on commodity spreads at: https://www.cannontrading.com/community/trading-futures-spreads.

Continue reading “How to Open a Commodities Trading Account”

VIX, Futures Levels & Economic Reports 2-06-2014

Posted on February 5, 2014September 16, 2014 by Ilan

Connect with Us! Use Our Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports RSS Feed.

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) Futures Now Available.

Effective February 3, 2014: The VIX futures contract has been added to E-Futures Int’l trading platform

.The contract symbol is VX and trading hours, margin requirement, and contract specification information is available at:

https://www.cannontrading.com/tools/contract-specifications

According to CFE, trading volume in VIX futures totaled 39.9 million contracts for 2013, a fourth straight annual volume record, and surpassing the 23.8 million contracts traded in 2012 by 68 percent. Average daily volume in VIX futures was 158,508 contracts, also a fourth consecutive annual record, and up 67 percent from 2012.

Note:

The CFE exchange does not allow trials. All products are available in the development and live trading environments but are not accessible for demo trading in the simulated environment

Continue reading “VIX, Futures Levels & Economic Reports 2-06-2014”

Ninja Trader Powered by Zen Fire, Trading Levels & Economic Reports 12.20.2013

Posted on December 19, 2013September 16, 2014 by Ilan

Connect with Us! Use Our Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports RSS Feed.

For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

Ninja and Zen Fire:

A few of our clients contacted us with questions about Zen Fire and Ninja Trader.

It seems that several companies in the industry will NO longer provide Zen Fire as a data feed to Ninja clients. For example, Zen Fire will no longer be available for AMP clients as of Dec. 31st

We are actually EXCITED to announce that we will continue to provide Zen Fire as a data feed to our Ninja clients!

The enhanced ZenFire capabilities delivers the most advanced NinjaTrader user experience in the industry. This will provide our ninja clients with a powerful trading solution.

The update will provide access to new features like server side OCOs, proprietary data distribution to improve performance, seamless connectivity through firewalls, and global network expansion to enhance connectivity in Europe and Asia. More to follow next week.

If you are currently trading on ninja using Zen Fire and your broker will not support Zen Fire soon, please feel free to contact us on how you can continue with Ninja and Zen fire through the award winning service of Cannon trading.

On a different note, it is almost this time of the year! Holiday schedule for Christmas is now posted on our site:

https://www.cannontrading.com/tools/support-resistance-levels/christmas-holiday-futures-trading-schedule-2013/

Continue reading “Ninja Trader Powered by Zen Fire, Trading Levels & Economic Reports 12.20.2013”

3 Risks of Using a Discount Futures Broker

Posted on December 13, 2013September 16, 2014 by Ilan

With the advent of technology, the means to communicate clear objectives, or with any human, drives most people to ignore full-service futures brokers. Why? It is a spirit of independence. Computers have created a superhighway of trading, and accelerated the pace at which commodities, stocks, in short the financial market operates. These various methods have raised barriers between clients and full-service brokers, but given rise to- discount futures brokers. In reality, what the future of the financial markets beckons, is a direct and honest appraisal of the quick and easy model, versus the client and broker relationship. If the “Great Recession” taught us all anything, if you are not vigilant, or the means to track your investment, there is an inherent risk.

Knowledge vs. Education

Brain to Understanding is to hat on a head, both are useful, if absolutely used for maximum benefits to create larger profits to debt losses. Most experienced futures brokers understand the full scope of the financial market, and this long range vision gives insight into the behaviors of certain commodities. Conversely, when opting out of choosing a full-service futures broker, you are presented with limited tools, vision and insight.

Vision, in the entrepreneurial sense, is the act or power of anticipating what will come to be. If you are a newcomer, choosing discount futures brokers, may lead to a lack discernment or experience to sell or buy at appropriate times to gain the maximum profit, while minimizing the loss. This vital quality reigns supreme on experienced traders in the financial sector. However, the key to having a strong vision is insight.

Insight varies to vision, in that you see both near and far and eventually the end result of a business decision. Good judgment plays an integral part in evaluating leverage metrics, whether using gold as a hedge, or evident world events that will signal either a sharp decline or increase in the markets.

Overall, vision and insight, help with the learning curve in the futures market. In addition, being green in this market can cost you a great deal of time and money. Adding vision and insight to your expansive market toolbox can aid in shortening common investment mistakes, with the aid of the seasoned futures broker as your guide. Conversely, selecting a discount futures broker, they may not have the ability to reign in your decision making. Bad decisions – loss of profit. Consequently, bucking traditional wisdom, you could lose larger returns, and run into dangerous investment decisions.

Continue reading “3 Risks of Using a Discount Futures Broker”

ROLLOVER + Futures Trading Levels & Economic Reports 12.12.2013

Posted on December 11, 2013September 16, 2014 by Ilan

Connect with Us! Use Our Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports RSS Feed.

For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

Rollover Notice for Stock Index Futures

Important Notice: For those of you trading any stock index futures contracts, i.e., the E-mini S&P, E-mini NASDAQ, E-mini Dow Jones, the “Big” pit-traded S&P 500, etc., it is extremely important to remember that tomorrow, Thursday, December 12th, is rollover day.

Starting December13th, the March 2014 futures contracts will be the front month contracts. It is recommended that all new positions be placed in the March 2014 contract as of December 13th. Volume in the December 13 contracts will begin to drop off until its expiration on Friday December 20th.

The month code for March is H4.

Traders with electronic trading software should make sure that defaults reflect the proper contract as of Thursday morning.

Please close any open December Currency positions by the close on Friday the 13th.Should you have any further question please contact your broker.

Continue reading “ROLLOVER + Futures Trading Levels & Economic Reports 12.12.2013”

5 Mistakes of Commodity Trading & Futures Levels & Economic Reports 12.05.2013

Posted on December 4, 2013September 16, 2014 by Ilan

Connect with Us! Use Our Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports RSS Feed.

For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

5 Common Mistakes of Commodity Trading by Joe Easton Senior Commodity Broker with Cannon Trading

As a broker who serves different types of clients with different backgrounds, risk capital and risk appetite, I have observed the following 5 common mistakes traders make, in hopes you can learn and avoid!

Trading with lagging indicators. As a Broker, I get to see the whole range, from traders making their first trade, to traders making their last trade, and everything in between. The beginner traders almost always start along the same path. Using MACD, Williams %R, Stochastic, RSI and most other indicators you can find to predict price is a very common mistake. These indicators often follow price movement, not predict future price movement. Sure when looking at a chart in hindsight, they match up great, but in real time they are lagging. This style of trading will more than likely lead to losses.
Trading Undercapitalized. This mistake should be placed in the premarket (before opening an account) because an account shouldn’t even be opened without proper capitalization. Assuming you did open an account, trade within limits. Each Trader has different risk tolerance, but across the board, no one should be trading with funds they cannot afford to lose. When trading with limited funds or overleveraged 1 day can end your trading career before it began. Cannon offers aggressive day trading margins, as do our competitors, but by no means do we endorse taking advantage of all that leverage. In futures trading some markets are leveraged 100:1 or even more. Meaning you are controlling a lot more capital then you may think. For example: The ES is trading at 1695 right now. You are controlling 1695*50= $84,750.00 with a mere $500 or approximately 170:1 leverage. With all that leverage account balances can fluctuate rapidly. When Trader’s take losses psychology shifts, when a shift in psychology meets lack of funds or overleveraged trading decisions are affected. Trading on low balance or outside reasonable limits is a sure recipe for losses.
Overtrading. This mistake is common among beginner and advanced traders. Until it is overcame, significant profits will be lost to commissions. More importantly, your trading profit potential will be limited. Whether trading 1 lot or 1000 lots per order there is still only so many moves a market can make in a given trading period. Intraday trading typically results in three moves or less. Sure there are days that bounce between the high and the low all day, but that is one move, sideways. Other days include trend days (one direction), or 3 move days, which I believe to be most common. A 3 move day is up then down (usually a retracement) then up, or down then up then down. A two move day would be up then down or down then up. If most days fall under these formats, what reason would a 1 lot trader have to make 100 trades? Not a good one, I’ll tell you that.
Losing Days. About every Trader has losing days, it is part of the business. The key is to limit losses, similarly to trading. You should monitor your account balance like you monitor your trades. When you see it going the wrong way, you should become impatient and look to cut it short. There are infinite factors why you are having a losing day, the fact is you are and you need to know in advance where the bleeding stops. Many skilled and professional traders regularly take profits from the market day in and day out only to blow the account up the one day the market doesn’t react the way they expect. Often ego or anger can block rational thoughts and averaging in and reversing is all too easy. Having hard rules like maximum lot size and maximum daily loss can preserve your capital and prevent losing days from burying your account.
Chasing the market. There are so many mistakes, it is hard to only choose five, but chasing the market will conclude this list. Markets do not move in straight lines. Aside from major news there are very few large moves without retracements. Depending on the market a “big” move can be calculated by taking the average daily range and multiplying by 2 or 3. Market conditions are constantly changing, but in all circumstances, when a market makes a big move, it is more likely to retrace or reverse before continuing. Traders that buy the ES after 15 points up or sell gold after a $50 move down are behind the ball and more times than not will be stopped out with a loss. Wait for the retracement or play the other side, this will help limit loses by chasing.

Continue reading “5 Mistakes of Commodity Trading & Futures Levels & Economic Reports 12.05.2013”

Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports for October 17, 2013

Posted on October 16, 2013July 3, 2017 by Ilan

Connect with Us! Use Our Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports RSS Feed.

For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

A note, mostly to prospects, as I think most of our clients are already trading on the most suitable platform for their needs, but if you are not a client yet …

We now offer pretty much ANY trading platform out there, including NINJA ZEN FIRE.

So if you have a specific platform in mind OR if you are a NINJA user and would like to see what I consider superb service and added value, visit our website and specifically the NINJA page.

Continue reading “Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports for October 17, 2013”

Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports for September 26, 2013

Posted on September 25, 2013September 16, 2014 by Ilan

Connect with Us! Use Our Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports RSS Feed.

For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

Slightly different note on today’s blog:

If you are currently trading a system or developing a system and need someone to auto trade it for you, I encourage you to contact us/ reply to this email and I will be happy to share how we can help. We are experienced brokers and follow the markets every day and are very capable of executing and auto trading variety of trading systems designed with different software.

We have in house the following platforms:

CQG
NINJA
TradeStation
TransactAT
TradeNavigator
Sierra

E-futures ( OEC) and more so if you have a system you like and do NOT want to spend all day monitoring it or if you developed / developing a strong system – let us know and will be happy to assist.

Continue reading “Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports for September 26, 2013”

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Considering Futures Commodities Trading?

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) Futures Now Available.