Introduced in the year 1982, Index futures or stock index futures are extremely popular among trading commodities today. While trading, an index future is settled in cash on the value of a certain stock market index. One of the most traded indices is the S&P500.
These are quoted on the basis of either an underlying or a spot price for an index value. There are a number of technicalities involved, most of which you should understand. However, even if you find it tough to comprehend what Index futures are, you can take assistance from the trade experts at Cannon Trading.
We at Cannon Trading want you to understand the basics and the details about Index Futures like our experts do. There are a number of blogs that we list here in our category archive. We recommend that you read these to know for yourself what Index Futures trading is all about.
Big NFP / unemployment report tomorrow an hour before the stock market opens.
This is a market moving report and indices, bonds, currencies, metals and other markets will see some large swings.
I personally like to be out before the report, wait a few minutes for the zig zag to relax and then look to re-enter.
Intraday day chart of the NQ from last month below for your review! Dec. 8th NFP report.
Over 100 points move in less than a minute!! that is approx. $2,000 per one contract of the NQ ( against you or in your favor…)
Emini Nasdaq 1 minute Chart
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 when it comes to Futures Trading.
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.
Video: Projecting possible targets when trading futures
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 when it comes to Futures Trading.
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.
Stock Index December contracts (i.e., E-mini and Micro S&P, Nasdaq, Dow Jones and Russell 2000.) expire Friday, December 15th (8:30 A.M., Central Time). At that point, trading in these contracts halts. Stock index futures are CASH SETTLED contracts. If you hold any December futures contracts through 8:30 A.M., Central Time on Friday, Dec. 15th, they will be offset with the cash settlement price, as set by the exchange.
FRONT MONTH IS NOW MARCH , the symbol is H24, example for mini SP is ESH24
Monday, December 18th is Last Trading Day for December currency futures. It is of the utmost importance for currency traders to exit all December futures contracts by Friday, December 15th and to start trading the March futures. Currency futures are DELIVERABLE contracts.
The month code for March is ‘H.’ Please consider carefully how you place orders when changing over.
US$ Daily Chart below:
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 when it comes to Futures Trading.
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.
The following are my PERSONAL OPINION on trading during FOMC days:
Reduce trading size
Be extra picky = no trade is better than a bad trade
Choose entry points wisely. Look at longer time frame support and resistance for entry. Take the approach of entering at points where you normally would have placed protective stops. Example, trader x looking to go long the mini SP at 4425.00 with a stop at 4419.00, instead “stretch the price bands” due to volatility and place an entry order to buy at 4419.75 and place a stop a few points below in this hypothetical example ( consider current volatility along with support and resistance levels).
Expect the higher volatility during and right after the announcement
Expect to see some “vacuum” ( low volume, big zigzags) right before the number.
Consider using automated stops and limits attached to your entry order as the market can move very fast at times.
Know what the market was expecting, learn what came out and observe market reaction for clues
The rate announcement comes out exactly at 1 PM central. As of this morning there is a 98% chance of no change in rates.
Traders will pay EXTRA attention to the language and the Q&A which starts at 1:30 PM Central
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 when it comes to Futures Trading.
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.
Volume in the December contracts will begin to drop off until their expiration Friday, December 15th (8:30 A.M., Central Time). At that point, trading in these contracts halts. Stock index futures are CASH SETTLED contracts. If you hold any December futures contracts through 8:30 A.M., Central Time on Friday, Dec. 15th, they will be offset with the cash settlement price, as set by the exchange.
FRONT MONTH IS NOW MARCH , the symbol is H24, example for mini SP is ESH24
Monday, December 18th is Last Trading Day for December currency futures. It is of the utmost importance for currency traders to exit all December futures contracts by Friday, December 15th and to start trading the March futures. Currency futures are DELIVERABLE contracts.
The month code for March is ‘H.’ Please consider carefully how you place orders when changing over.
Watch the video below on how to rollover your market depth and charts!
Trading Resource of the Week
Get An Edge With the Trading Psychology Course
Many experienced traders say that the stiffest challenge you’ll face in becoming a futures trader is conquering your own psyche. Why? Because losing is part of trading, and people hate to lose.
In this “Trading Psychology” Course you will learn:
How to examine your patterns and behaviors and recognize when they are holding you back
Maintaining self-confidence as a trader even in the face of inexperience
The mathematical expectation model and how it can decrease your losses
Determining the trading plan that is right for your trading personality
Understanding and using Motivation – Risk – Reward to its full advantage
Hot market of the week is provided by QT Market Center, A swiss army knife charting package that’s not just for Hedgers, Cooperatives and Farmers alike but also for Spread traders, Swing traders and shorter time frame application for intraday traders with a unique proprietary indicator that can be applied to your specific trading needs.
The March Wheat – Corn spread accelerated to its third upside PriceCount objective to the $1.52 area and is consolidating its trade. At this point, IF the chart can resume its rally with new sustained highs, we are left with the low percentage fourth count to aim for around $2.27 which would be consistent with a challenge of the summer high.
PriceCounts – Not about where we’ve been , but where we might be going next!
The PriceCount study is a tool that can help to project the distance of a move in price. The counts are not intended to be an ‘exact’ science but rather offer a target area for the four objectives which are based off the first leg of a move with each subsequent count having a smaller percentage of being achieved. It is normal for the chart to react by correcting or consolidating at an objective and then either resuming its move or reversing trend. Best utilized in conjunction with other technical tools, PriceCounts offer one more way to analyze charts and help to manage your positions and risk. Learn more at www.qtchartoftheday.com
Trading in futures, options, securities, derivatives or OTC products entails significant risks which must be understood prior to trading and may not be appropriate for all investors. Past performance of actual trades or strategies is not necessarily indicative of future results.
Broker’s Trading System of the Week
With algorithmic trading systems becoming more prevalent in portfolio diversification, the following system has been selected as the broker’s choice for this month.
The performance shown above is hypothetical in that the chart represents returns in a model account. The model account rises or falls by the average single contract profit and loss achieved by clients trading actual money pursuant to the listed system’s trading signals on the appropriate dates (client fills), or if no actual client profit or loss available – by the hypothetical single contract profit and loss of trades generated by the system’s trading signals on that day in real time (real‐time) less slippage, or if no real time profit or loss available – by the hypothetical single contract profit and loss of trades generated by running the system logic backwards on back adjusted data. Please read full disclaimer HERE.
Questions about the markets? trading? platforms? technology? trading systems? Get answers with a complimentary, confidential consultation with a Cannon Trading Company series 3 broker.
Would you like to receive daily support & resistance levels?
First Notice (FN), Last trading (LT) Days for the Week: www.mrci.com
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 herein 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 judgment in trading.
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.
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 when it comes to Futures Trading.
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.
While the Federal Reserve and its main voice Jerome Powell have been steadfast in declaring that interest rates would not be coming down unless the FOMC saw broad definitive proof that inflation was falling, traders have been pricing in that eventuality since the end of October. In just the last three weeks, the E-mini S&P 500 climbed out of correction territory and the yield on the 10-year T-note slid from the 5.00% it touched prior to the last Fed meeting down to 4.30% overnight. Never mind the CME Fed watch tool pegs the potential for a 25-basis points rate cut at the Fed’s December 13th meeting at a slim 1.1% and at 3.1% at their January 31st meeting. What likely has traders’ attention: the Fed Funds futures contract sees the probability of a 25-basis point cut at the March 20th Fed meeting at 40.6%. Don’t count on to begin to telegraph any sort of pivot until the Fed deems any signs of slowing growth as entrenched and that should take some time. The Fed will turn a cold shoulder to making quick moves as they do not want to reignite the inflation fire before it is extinguished.
Currency:
As the conversation shifts from rate hikes to cuts, the U.S. dollar is on track to hit its lowest level in months.
Metals:
In the scenario that the dollar and treasury yields continue to fall, look for precious metals like gold and silver to continue their ascent. Gold has already climbed over $200 per ounce in less than two months, from its October 5th close at $1850.80 / ounce to its second day closing above $2050 / ounce yesterday and today (basis February) – a ±$20,000 per contract move for the standard 100-oz. futures contract.
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 when it comes to Futures Trading.
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 Fundamentals is a one-stop educational resource designed to simplify and explain complex market topics. Through interactive features and rich content, the website explains the role of futures markets in everyday life and provides information on the derivatives industry.
Futures Fundamentals is the driving force in an industry-wide effort to provide risk management education to learners at all levels.
Futures Fundamentals is a fun way to learn about the markets in an interactive way, not only will you be able to easily move forward if you already know the material, you can also easily move back to review the material and in addition, you will be able to register for a trading demo as well!
This collaborative educational resource is an industry-wide effort made possible by a number of contributing organizations across the Futures Trading industry. NFA, CME Group, FIA, and the Institute for Financial Markets (IFM), have come together in an effort to provide investors with the industry’s leading tools, knowledge and resources.
Hot market of the week is provided by QT Market Center, A swiss army knife charting package that’s not just for Hedgers, Cooperatives and Farmers alike but also for Spread traders, Swing traders and shorter time frame application for intraday traders with a unique proprietary indicator that can be applied to your specific trading needs.
Feb hogs stabilized after satisfying their second downside PriceCount objective, and then activated upside counts on the correction higher. So far, sustaining strength to take on the upside targets has been a challenge. Meanwhile, the third downside objective would be in play if you can resume the slide with new sustained lows
PriceCounts – Not about where we’ve been , but where we might be going next!
The PriceCount study is a tool that can help to project the distance of a move in price. The counts are not intended to be an ‘exact’ science but rather offer a target area for the four objectives which are based off the first leg of a move with each subsequent count having a smaller percentage of being achieved. It is normal for the chart to react by correcting or consolidating at an objective and then either resuming its move or reversing trend. Best utilized in conjunction with other technical tools, PriceCounts offer one more way to analyze charts and help to manage your positions and risk. Learn more at www.qtchartoftheday.com
Trading in futures, options, securities, derivatives or OTC products entails significant risks which must be understood prior to trading and may not be appropriate for all investors. Past performance of actual trades or strategies is not necessarily indicative of future results.
Broker’s Trading System of the Week
With algorithmic trading systems becoming more prevalent in portfolio diversification, the following system has been selected as the broker’s choice for this month.
The performance shown above is hypothetical in that the chart represents returns in a model account. The model account rises or falls by the average single contract profit and loss achieved by clients trading actual money pursuant to the listed system’s trading signals on the appropriate dates (client fills), or if no actual client profit or loss available – by the hypothetical single contract profit and loss of trades generated by the system’s trading signals on that day in real time (real‐time) less slippage, or if no real time profit or loss available – by the hypothetical single contract profit and loss of trades generated by running the system logic backwards on back adjusted data. Please read full disclaimer HERE.
Questions about the markets? trading? platforms? technology? trading systems? Get answers with a complimentary, confidential consultation with a Cannon Trading Company series 3 broker.
Would you like to receive daily support & resistance levels?
First Notice (FN), Last trading (LT) Days for the Week: www.mrci.com
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 herein 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 judgment in trading.
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.
Here in the United States yesterday, stock index futures vaulted on the heels of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ release of its Consumer Price Index for October, which slowed to 3.2 percent last month on a year-over-year basis, lower than the 3.7 percent reading in September and the coolest since July. Leading the way was the Russell 2000 which climbed ±95 points, $4750 per contract move for the E-mini Russell 2000 futures contract, over a 5% uptick. Compare that to the ±86-point / $4,325 per contract move up for the E-mini S&P 500, or the ±335-point / ±$6,700 move for the E-mini Nasdaq.
Investors undoubtedly anticipated the likely end to the Federal Reserve’s historical rate hike cycle and this was followed by a wave of lower CPI data from Europe when the following day (our Tuesday night) Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy all reported below-estimate consumer price readings and well below last month’s as prices abroad continued to decelerate.
In other news, President Biden and China’s President Xi will meet south of San Francisco during afternoon US trading hours.
In a development attributed to El Niño and possibly a catalyst to rising commodities prices, Central America is experiencing drought conditions so acute, the freshwater lakes associated with the Panama Canal have declined to such low levels, it’s resulted in one of the world’s largest shipping corridors having to reduce vessel traffic. The canal sees about 5% of the world’s seaborne trade travel through it and is critical for transporting commodities with petroleum, liquefied natural gas and grains among the top shipments that pass through the waterway. Ships are now spending weeks waiting at sea, sailing around South America or the tip of Africa, or paying exorbitant amounts to jump to the front of the line. Last week, a Japanese global petroleum and metals conglomerate paid a record $3.975 million in an auction for preferential line placement for one of its ships.
In a Reuters piece earlier this week, the news wire reported that Goldman Sachs is forecasting returns of 21% on commodities over a 12-month horizon, using as its basis the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI), including gains of ±31% from energy and ±18% from industrial metals. Currently, the GSCI contains 24 commodities from all commodity sectors: six energy products, five industrial metals, eight agricultural products, three livestock products and two precious metals.
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 when it comes to Futures Trading.
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.
We have a new futures contract. It started trading on Monday. This is the Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas futures contract and corresponding options.
To quote directly from the CME Group web site, “The introduction of Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas futures and options responds directly to customer demand for a smaller, more precise instrument for managing natural gas price exposure. At one-tenth the size of the benchmark Henry Hub (NG) contract, Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas futures and options offer more granularity and smaller margin requirements with the same robust transparency and price discovery of the larger Henry Hub contracts.”
Follow the link below to the contract’s full contract specifications on the CME Group web site:
Heads up: most FCM’s / clearing firms, including the five FCM’s Cannon Trading Co. partners with, will monitor a new futures contract for sufficient liquidity before making it available to its clients. Give Cannon Trading a call to find out the availability of the contract.
Energy:
Incidentally, natural gas (basis Dec.) dropped ±50 cents (a ±$5,000 move) over the last six trading sessions to ±$3.10 /mmBtu. down to new 2-year lows on forecasts for above-normal temps. across the U.S. for the next fifteen days and continental U.S. production remaining near all-time highs,”
Financials:
Stock index futures are struggling today to extend their longest winning streak in two years – clocking seven straight daily gains – as we approach the close of trading. At this typing, the E-mini S&P 500 is trading just a few ticks either side of unchanged, while the E-mini Dow Jones and E-mini Nasdaq are slightly off.
More energy:
Crude oil extended its more than 2-week sell-off to its lowest level in over three months. From an intraday high of $89.85 per barrel on Oct. 20, the front month traded through $75.00 per barrel this morning – a ±$15.00 per barrel / $15,000 per contract move.
DAILY CHART BELOW
News pushing prices south include global demand worries, record U.S. production and ebbing supply concerns surrounding the Gaza conflict.
Given its ability to create a ripple effect, the ±15% price decline dragged U.S. pump prices down to levels not seen since March. It has also helped rein in inflation expectations and worrisome bond yields.
While this paints a picture that fears are subsiding that a wider conflict could be emerging in the Middle East and disrupt supplies, traders should remain on high alert for signs to the contrary.
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 when it comes to Futures Trading.
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.
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.
