Futures trading is done by two main parties, one of which is the hedger and the other one is the speculator. Where a speculator is there to trade for either their own accounts or that of their clients, a hedger always uses futures as a possible protection from losses. Hedgers can also be described as individuals or business owners who are more risk averse. Speculators and hedgers are likely to benefit from futures trading if the trader has a strong ability to analyze the markets and understands that future behavior. Though futures can behigh risk, they offer an equally high return and are thus very tempting.
In case you are new to futures trading you need to understand how things work. We at Cannon Trading are there to help with your understanding of all the elements of futures trading and also counsel and advise you with the same. Our knowledge base featured on our website, is a store house of information. In order to know every aspect of futures trading, you must read through these articles that have been listed in this category archive. Go through it and get better informed!
For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!
Big week ahead for stock index futures as well as other markets.
We have FOMC taking place tomorrow and Wednesday with rate announcement coming out Wednesday.
A few other reports that did not take place during the shut down are released this week. Make sure you check forexfactory.com for updated report times.
I think that stock index futures have been a little harder to trade these past few years…With the Fed injecting money using the QE program, the “normal market forces” are not in play as much as in other markets. I personally miss the days where stock index futures traded “freely” and can’t wait for what I consider normal, free market forces to determine price action. That being said, it is what it is and I guess FED action is part of the market right now and we as traders need to adjust.
What i wrote above is part of the reason i find markets like crude oil, gold, grains and even bond futures more appealing for trading. So if any of you have some what of a similar feeling to what I described above and looking for alternative markets – let me know and I can be of help by suggesting different markets and pointing out some of the characteristics for the different markets.
When it comes to investing in commodities/futures there are several different ways to do so. I’ve been a futures broker at Cannon Trading Company for about 4 years and I wanted to touch base on a few different ways I have seen clients trade and invest in futures and commodities over the years.
I have seen many investors (small and large) participate in trading ETFs or ETF funds. With ETFs you do not own the actual commodity but you are looking to track the performance on either a single commodity or commodity index containing many different commodities through either its physical storage or derivatives positions in the market.
I do not accommodate trading ETFs or ETF funds with my actual clients. I am a registered futures broker and here at Cannon Trading Company we do not accommodate ETF trading for our clients. Please keep in mind the differences when trading ETFs versus commodities and futures. With ETFs you may experience management fees where as if you have a self directed futures and commodities trading account you will not experience those types of fees. Also when trading futures, unless you have a limited power of attorney on your account where you authorize another individual to trade your account, there is not a third party making your trading decisions and trading your account on your behalf. Here, at Cannon Trading Company many futures/commodities trader have self directed accounts where he or she makes their own decisions when it comes to trading.
For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!
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Each day the program runs a market scan to look for markets that fit certain technical criteria / trade algorithm developed by LEVEX Capital management Inc. Once a market has been identified as a possible high probability set up, you will receive a trade alert with the trade idea.
Markets covered:
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Energies
Metals
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Interest rates
Pricing:
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With many economists, researchers and traders calling for the next bull market in commodities, and you have disposable risk capital to take advantage of these potential trends you may be asking yourself – How can I begin my search for a solid reliable Futures Broker? I have included 9 items below that you should be cognizant of to assist you in finding a reliable partner for your commodity trading needs.
1. The Futures Brokers history
How long has the Futures Broker been in business? What is the commodity trading brokers regulatory history? you can check here by selecting BASIC then responding to the prompts to bring up a regulatory profile of the firms or individuals that you are interested in researching. http://www.nfa.futures.org/ Many times you will be able to find a nuisance regulatory issue and other times you may find regulatory actions that would cause you to pause. If you pause, move on to another broker as all legitimate Commodity Futures Brokers must be registered with the National Futures Association (NFA). if you can’t find your broker on the NFA website, you may not be dealing with a regulated entity.
2. Trading Platform choices
You would be looking for a Discount Futures broker if platform choice is critical to your trading strategy. Opportunities to use a variety of tools and risk management software to enhance your trading experience as an online, self-directed trader will vastly improve your traders toolbox. Preferably you will want to use a Discount futures broker that can offer a wide array of trading solutions software to execute your plan. Not all Platforms and Data feeds are alike and in this day of wifi and internet , the speed and accuracy of your software will be critical to your success, not to mention the bandwidth you will be piping into your computer.
For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!
Most Common Pitfalls To Avoid When Trading Futures-Commodity Futures
500 experienced futures brokers were asked what caused most futures traders to lose money when comes to trading futures.
Their answers reflected the trading experience of more than 10,000 futures traders. Download the PDF and find out what they said.
1.) Have a Plan
Many futures traders trade without a plan. They do not define specific risk and profit objectives before trading. Even if they establish a plan, they “second guess” it and don’t stick to it, particularly if the trade is a loss. Consequently, they over trade and use their equity to the limit (are under capitalized), which puts them in a squeeze and forces them to liquidate positions. Usually, they liquidate the good trades and keep the bad ones.
2.) News Factor
Many traders don’t realize the news they hear and read has, in many cases, already been discounted by the market.
3.) Trade Objectively
After several profitable trades, many speculators become wild and non conservative. They base their trades on hunches and long shots, rather than sound fundamental and technical reasoning, or put their money into one deal that “can’t fail.”
4.) Know Your Size
Traders often try to carry too big a position with too little capital and trade too frequently for the size of the account.
5.) Don’t Get Greedy when it comes to Trading Futures
Some traders try to “beat the market” by day trading, nervous scalping, and getting greedy.
For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!
Big upside move today in stock index futures.
The big question is : is this buy the rumor, sell the fact? is this just a relief rally on news that lack much substance?
The future will answer our question but in between anyone’s speculation can be right or wrong….
I think in the shorter term we need to see which is the path of least resistance first, the 1694 area or the 1681 level. We will probably get an answer to that tomorrow. Then we need to see the wider bands and what type of price action we get….Trading is definitely NOT an easy thing but if any of you found ways to make it easier, please share and I will try to spread the word!
EP – E-Mini S&P 500, Equalized Active Daily Continuation
For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!
Short and to the point article written by my colleague, www.JimWyckoff.com
Educational Feature: Dealing With Losing Trades
(Note: This feature is a favorite of mine, and I believe all traders need to address this issue every once in a while.)A main tenet of success in futures trading is the ability to accept losing trades as part of the overall trading process. This is not an easy undertaking–especially since many futures traders tend to be of a more competitive nature in the first place. Traders certainly don’t have to enjoy losing trades, but they must accept the fact and move on. Those who can’t accept the fact that losing trades are a part of futures trading usually don’t stay in the business very long.My wife is a school teacher, and one of her favorite acronyms–ADM–can be applied to losing futures trades. “Accept” it. “Deal” with it. “Move” on. (This is a part of the important psychological aspect of trading, and deserves much more discussion than I can provide in this feature.)I had lunch with one of my trading mentors a while back. We discussed losing trades. I asked my mentor how many losing trades in a row he has had to endure during his long and successful trading career. His reply was 13 in a row. I asked him how he coped with that. He said that while it was certainly not easy, he knew that losing trades are a part of the business and that he was in the business “for the long haul,” and that his trading methodology was sound. He added, “Ninety-percent of futures trading profits are made on 10% of the trades, which means most of the other trades are either small losers or break-even-type trades.” This is an important fact for all traders to keep in mind.My lunch meeting with my mentor was good for me because, even though we made no “break-through” discoveries on the path to increased futures trading success, we did reaffirm our own philosophies on trading and markets. My passion for trading and market analysis is fed immensely every time I talk with people in my profession, or attend the quality trading seminars.For many of you, the futures trading arena can be more fulfilling (and more fun) if you have someone, or some support group, with which to share your thoughts and strategies. If you are passionate about futures trading and markets, finding someone who shares that passion is a great trading tool within itself!That’s it for now. Next time, we’ll discuss another important issue on your path to trading success.
For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!
I wrote this one before about different markets traders may want to look at for day trading or what I call “Day-Trading life outside of the mini SP”
Each market has different personality, different behavior along with different times of the day when it is most active. If you are finding that the ES is not giving you enough risk/opportunities then start monitoring a couple of other markets and perhaps explore them in demo / simulated mode.
I will try over the next few blogs to shed some light on other markets i think are suitable for day-trading along with what is unique about these markets, personality and most active trading hours.
Today I am going to start with interest rates, mostly the ten year and 30 year.
In most platforms, the symbols are ZB for 30 year bonds and ZN for 10 year notes. The current front month is December which is Z. So ZBZ3 for example.
Product Symbol
ZB
Contract Size
The unit of trading shall be U.S. Treasury Bonds having a face value at maturity of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or multiples thereof
Price Quotation
Points ($1,000) and 1/32 of a point. For example, 134-16 represents 134 16/32. Par is on the basis of 100 points.
Product Symbol
ZN
Underlying Unit
One U.S. Treasury note having a face value at maturity of $100,000.
Deliverable Grades
U.S. Treasury notes with a remaining term to maturity of at least six and a half years, but not more than 10 years, from the first day of the delivery month. The invoice price equals the futures settlement price times a conversion factor, plus accrued interest. The conversion factor is the price of the delivered note ($1 par value) to yield 6 percent.
Price Quote
Points ($1,000) and halves of 1/32 of a point. For example, 126-16 represents 126 16/32 and 126-165 represents 126 16.5/32. Par is on the basis of 100 points.
Tick Size
(minimum fluctuation)
One-half of one thirty-second (1/32) of one point ($15.625, rounded up to the nearest cent per contract), except for intermonth spreads, where the minimum price fluctuation shall be one-quarter of one thirty-second of one point ($7.8125 per contract).
Contract Months
The first five consecutive contracts in the March, June, September, and December quarterly cycle.
These contracts are often affected by many of the economic reports that come out at 8:30 Am Eastern and there is very active volume between the hours of 8 am EST and 3 PM EST
Volume on both contracts is very good. Ten years will often have 1 million contracts traded per day ( might be the second most active US futures market after the mini SP 500) and the bonds will avg. around 300,000 contracts.
These markets can experience very volatile movements during and right after different reports but then will often trade smooth or in an intraday trend the rest of the day.
Follow these two markets in demo mode for a while if you have not traded them before and get a feel for the movement, reaction to reports, execution etc.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Below is a 3 tick range bar chart of the US bond market or what i refer to as the 30 year bonds ZBZ3 from today
30 Year US T-Bonds
Would you like to have access to the DIAMOND and TOPAZ and 5T ALGOs as shown above and be able to apply for any market and any time frame on your own PC ? You can now have a three weeks free trial where the ALGO is enabled along with few studies for your own sierra/ ATcharts. The trial comes with a 23 page PDF booklet which explains the concepts, risks and methodology in more details.
“U.S.-produced oil is a substitute, in terms of volume, to non-U.S. sources, and it’s geographically safe and secure, sending a hedge into the WTI price, not into Brent,” said Richard Hastings, a macro strategist at Global Hunter Securities.
Hastings made the comments when the price spread between the crudes traded at less than $1 back in July “Brent, in turn, reflects macroeconomic weakness from around the world, something which is less meaningful to WTI pricing,” he explained. 1
WTI (West Texas Intermediate), North Sea Brent and the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) Benchmark.
What Are the Major differences between these crude oil futures contracts?:
Sulfur Content: Some Crude oils are easier, less costly to refine into gasoline than others. Low sulfur crude is also known as Sweet crude. The commonly used measure of sulfur content is API gravity, is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water. If its API gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter and floats on water; if less than 10, it is heavier and sinks. API is the American Petroleum Institute.
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.
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.
RISK DISCLOSURE: Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The risk of loss in futures trading can be substantial, carefully consider the inherent risks of such an investment in light of your financial condition.
