Trade it live ... why paper trade? Thats for learning your platform.. thats about all it can do for you.
Finally we have a small product - get some skin in the game ASAP
The following 3 users say Thank You to mediaboy for this post:
AMP have already adjusted their cost calculator. The 15 cents ALL IN Micro Emini commission for accounts above 25K is not available anymore. Now 39 cents for small accounts and 37 cents for >10K accounts (SC/CQG).
Now that we use clearing for Spot FX, I would tell you that .8 is achievable on a spread. The Micros have turned out to be great for stock indices, despite my initial concerns. However, the spot FX for micro contracts on FX is better from what I see on execution.
Matt Z
Optimus Futures
There is a substantial risk of loss in futures trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Trading futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. You may lose more than your initial investment. All posts are opinions and do not claim to be facts. Please conduct your own due diligence. Use only Risk capital when trading Futures.
1 800 771 6748 local 561 367 8686 email support@OptimusFutures.com
The following user says Thank You to mattz for this post:
I started trading the MYM live Friday. Just checked my daily statement, Amp total commissions are 0.39 per side, exactly as stated in their cost calculator.
The following user says Thank You to ranger64 for this post:
Can someone confirm if the MYM requires CBOT or CME market data ? Because I see conflicting information online from broker webpages
Do you know to which exchange division the MYM belongs to ? cause I’ll soon get a CBOT exchange seat for IDEM (B-4) division to trade the YM, so wondering if it’s going to include the Emicro brother
I only subscribe to CME and CBOT top of the book level 1 data, which is 1 USD monthly each. YM and MYM are CBOT, so either 1 USD level 1 or 5 USD with market depth. Are you buying or leasing a seat? How much are you paying?
The following 2 users say Thank You to ranger64 for this post:
Trading: All Micros, especially the ones that move
Posts: 2,400 since Feb 2017
Thanks: 16,571 given,
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Hey, thought I'd post this here... I trade the currency Micros and was feeling rather jealous about the (relatively speaking) low round turn costs of the new Micros, but was pleasantly surprised to see my statement today... enough that I had to investigate, and found this:
AMP has dropped their pricing significantly; previously it was all-in $2.06/RT for currencies... now with fees and such they are about $0.66/RT all in. Cool
Just FYI. OK back to your regularly scheduled Micros programming.
The following 9 users say Thank You to Rrrracer for this post:
I just called Infinity Futures yesterday and was a bit shocked to hear the all in R/T for micro was $2.44. I'm going to be checking with Ninja Trader this morning, but I think theirs is $1.22.
The following 2 users say Thank You to techa for this post:
Trading: All Micros, especially the ones that move
Posts: 2,400 since Feb 2017
Thanks: 16,571 given,
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I hear ya. Unfortunately I've never been in a position to withdraw money LOL... when that time finally comes I will move on and support a broker who supports FIO.
Sorry for the derail guys.
The following 4 users say Thank You to Rrrracer for this post:
I'm not a fan of sim trading. It's doesn't give you feeling of losing/gaining money. I start trading MES because I don't feel comfortable with runners. Instead of making 3-4 ticks I wanna make 3-4 points. Psychology is not so easy.
The following 6 users say Thank You to AlexSobol for this post:
I noticed that daily volume on let's say MES (Micro e-mini S&P 500 futures) is almost 10 times higher than the open interest of the same future. Are you using these for day-trading or just warming up before building positions?
The following user says Thank You to robz for this post:
I'm using it as a hedging instrument when the SnP is too big. It's a way to get a more precise hedge. It might be pedantic, too precise, as in the imprecise hedge is relatively small but that's how I have been using them.
The following user says Thank You to Jason Berry for this post:
I love it after blowing a few accounts over the years 5000 aand 2500 in ES. I can now use larger stops let my entries play out. I have not placed a option trade in two weeks, no more time decay. My goal is only 50 - 100 dollars a day what i need to replace my salary. With the recent volatility I getting that using one mes contact easily.
The following 5 users say Thank You to roio for this post:
Time decay was killing me in options too. I switched to futures on paper a few months ago and made my first live trades today. I'm trying to take it slow with one contract at a time as well to get my feet wet and build my confidence. Good luck!
Micro futures have not only allowed me to be able to trade more than one contract at a time(and make more money), but it also saved my bacon yesterday when Prez Trump made his tweet about not putting a tariff on autos. I was short an E-micro and when it started shooting up, my computer decided to lock up. So, by the time I got to my second computer and got to a page I could cover my short, I was down $100. If I had been trading an E-mini, it would have been $1,000! Yes, I was being careless by not having a closer stop loss, but I was testing new routines and just got preoccupied.
Anyway, I just love these Micro Index Futures. I can hold a position much longer without feeling the severe pain I had trading E mini's. This allows my position more time to work and so far I've done better by having this option. Plus as another person said, Sim trading just doesn't have the same feel as real money.
So now I trade Micro futures every day and make or lose $20-30 over 4-6 hours and have a blast. As such, it now falls under entertainment rather than high pressure. Heck a fancy movie can cost this much and don't even talk about going out to eat. Plus I learn a lot and end up getting great ideas. And if I want, by buying more contracts, I can "graduate" to the E-mini level without having to go there.
I predict Micro Index Futures, on a volume basis, will eventually exceed that of the Mini Index Futures. This will generate a lot of nice commissions for the brokers, and isn't that why they are doing this? So, a win-win. Yee-haw!
The following 8 users say Thank You to Rural WA State for this post:
Opened an account with Tradestation this week. They are offering .50 commission on the micro minis. Pretty competitive I thought considering that includes no platform fee and free market data.
The following user says Thank You to Schultz15 for this post:
Yes, micros and any instrument can be traded from NinjaTrader Chart Trader.
Disclosure: This communication is sent to you by NinjaTrader, LLC, a software development company which owns and supports all proprietary technology relating to and including the NinjaTrader trading platform.
The following user says Thank You to NinjaTrader for this post:
Are you day trading the micros or swing trade them? I would like to try them but, living in London, are 6 hours ahead. Hey back from work about 7pm so could trade from 8pm to 11pm which is 2pm to 5pm Chicago time. Is this a good time to trade when thinking about spreads and liquidity?
fwiw... I've been a AMP Futures customer for many years. Never had any issues. Customer service has been great also, I'm always surprised by the reviews here. Not my experience.
Thanks for pointing this out, just noticed this on their web site. Finally, Tradestation being a bit more aggressive on pricing.
This is the link: https://www.tradestation.com:443/pricing/
"Single-Tier Plan
Trade futures for $1.50 per contract, per side and CME Micro e-mini index futures for $0.50 per contract, per side with no software fees, free market data and free premium tools."
The have seen the light. I still remember paying them $250/m for feed and software and plug in security dongle to verify you are a legitimate user. Moving the dongle from computer to computer was a big hassle I stopped the subscription after it broke and I couldn't pull the part out.
The following user says Thank You to cory for this post:
Real time cme futures market data is 40 bucks. Can you point me to the free market data? I can only see free stock market data. Trading stocks is 5 bucks per site. Competitive to me looks different.
Broker: Primary Advantage Futures. Also ED&F and Tradestation
Trading: Primarily Energy but also a little GE, GC, SI & Bitcoin
Posts: 4,040 since Dec 2013
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Similar situation today 57k ES spreads and only 11 MES spreads. In fact right now at 8:51 ESM9/U9 is 395/400 (57k/38k) and MESM9/U9 is 400/410 (177/200) so basically 400 choice!
Little surprised there isn't more rolling in the MES.
Random thought -- if markets continue to expand, which is what inevitably happens in a growing economy, do you see a situation in the future where the Micros overtake the Minis in terms of volume traded? The notional value of an emini is 50x the index. At today's levels this is about $150K.
Back when the ES was introduced in 1997, the notional value was about $50K. Though today's notional is only 3x what it was then, it's still quite a jump. Imagine if the S&P doubles in 10 years -- you'd be looking at a $300K notional per contract, which is getting a bit rich.
Another way of saying all this ... a 10-handle move just 10 years ago was a "normal" type of day, and I remember when a 20-handle day felt like a big move. Well, that was at ES 1200 or so, IIRC.
So, I could very well see the Micros, with their $15K notional value, nicely moving into the role of primary vehicle over the coming decade.
The following 4 users say Thank You to josh for this post:
Your theory lacks the growth that the markets have experienced not only in their index size and value but what people actually hold. For example, $401K funds are now in an all-time high; hedge funds have more funds than they ever held in history, and every person of legal age can now buy stocks on the phone. So size does matter.
As a result of this growth, the money that institutions move around is quite "heavy", and they need highly liquid contracts of high notional value to move around, and that is what ES provides. Most of the ES movements comes mainly from cash adjustments to portfolios, hedging, and algos that are also heavy in size. Since the large SP futures is non-existent practically, I think we will see sizeable growth in the ES over the years. It does not mean that there will not be periods where ES could see less volume, but as a long term trend, I see it's expansion.
BTW, the more I observe the MES, the more I conclude that the MES is just "food" for arbitrage of algorithmic traders.
Matt Z
Optimus Futures
There is a substantial risk of loss in futures trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Trading futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. You may lose more than your initial investment. All posts are opinions and do not claim to be facts. Please conduct your own due diligence. Use only Risk capital when trading Futures.
1 800 771 6748 local 561 367 8686 email support@OptimusFutures.com
If you take a look at most of the micros versus the eminis, you will notice a difference of one tick many times.
This creates an arbitrage where you can sell one contract and buy the other.
These are not retail strategies that retail can take advantage of due to latency and in-depth programming. I am not sure how retail gets affected by this, but in a perfect world, they should always be one to one. Spreads are an additional cost to overcome.
Matt Z
Optimus Futures
There is a substantial risk of loss in futures trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Trading futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. You may lose more than your initial investment. All posts are opinions and do not claim to be facts. Please conduct your own due diligence. Use only Risk capital when trading Futures.
1 800 771 6748 local 561 367 8686 email support@OptimusFutures.com
The following user says Thank You to mattz for this post:
Trading: Mini and micro US Indexes/ DAX/ FX/VIX/GOLD
Posts: 179 since Apr 2010
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Good luck, Steve. Maybe not possible to find opportunities every day? So weekly goals will be less pressure? Maybe leverage more at the beginning and use multiple entries and no stops (well, max loss stop strategy). Be flexible and let the some of the position run/ leave as a swing.
The following 2 users say Thank You to ZCars for this post:
Yes, I agree. Good observation on the daily goal. My implied true goal was a running AVERAGE of 1% per day. The spreadsheet I post in my journal has an average column across the top.
Additionally, I will start to use a second position soon and try for larger winners.
As of this moment, the leaderboard says there are 1,416 participants.
Here is the leader board after the first 20 minutes:
What caught my attention is that right out the gate is appears that most traders are wrong in their trades. Only 12 of 47 traders are profitable out the gate. That is about 25%.
Let's see how things change over the next 5 days.
My goal is to be in the top 50.
.
The following user says Thank You to sstheo for this post:
I wonder how many will trade this simulation with the full number of contracts that the sim balance of 100k will allow, rather than the much smaller size that they could trade in real life. Will the eventual winner will be someone who controls his/her risk and shoots for consistency or someone who goes for the big win and shoots for the moon. Hmmm.
Still, I hope that anyone who is in it finds some good from it in terms of experience, one way or another.
This is definitely no criticism of anyone's choice to participate. It will be a challenge that is hard to succeed at in the face of all the competition. And it may help popularize the micros, which will benefit many traders.
It will be good to follow the results, and I will applaud the winner.
Bob.
The following user says Thank You to bobwest for this post:
I think the MICROS are a great tool for learning, making the leap from simulated trading to live trading and as possible hedge when trading the regular mini sized contracts.
Volume so far is impressive.
My favorite is the MNQ ( MICRO mini) as the reg. mini nasdaq could be a bit much for traders with accounts smaller than 10k.
The same support / resistance levels we publish daily for the large contracts, apply for the MICROS as well.
PM with any questions about Cannon Trading (800) 454-9572 (310) 859-9572. Trading commodity futures, forex and options involves substantial risk of loss. The recommendations contained in this post are of opinion only and do not guarantee any profits. These are risky markets and only risk capital should be used. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
The following user says Thank You to CannonTrading for this post:
Trading: ES GC CL [4MES2ES as of 2019MAY] and [4MGC2GC as of 2021JAN]
Posts: 442 since Jul 2014
Thanks: 256 given,
371
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I am looking for a second brokerage firm and currently visiting Los Angeles... So is it possible to request an appointment for a personal tour of the firm? This Friday July 19th around 10:30 am ET?
Find the missing piece of the puzzle... Let's be amazing, be awesome in trading today!
iTS
Be happy to, please PM me and we can set it up, chat on the phone first and have you over for coffee and a visit.
PM with any questions about Cannon Trading (800) 454-9572 (310) 859-9572. Trading commodity futures, forex and options involves substantial risk of loss. The recommendations contained in this post are of opinion only and do not guarantee any profits. These are risky markets and only risk capital should be used. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
The following user says Thank You to CannonTrading for this post:
You are a humorist for sure. But the hallmark of a true comedian is the subtle truths they weave throughout the narrative. CME makes the participants watch videos about futures trading, but they don't actually promote good trading.
Why?
We are chickens in a den of foxes! LOL. They want us to take irrational risks and overtrade.
This being said, they could have done a real service to the Micro contract traders by encouraging them to "trade responsibly" (sounds like a beer commercial!) by setting up the contest like this:
Reach $3000 by the end of 5 days (just to keep them moving)
The trader with the lowest risk-adjusted return wins.
The following 2 users say Thank You to sstheo for this post:
Trading volume makes the business of exchanges and brokers pay off. This is not inherently bad, but traders should recognize where their interests lie, and hopefully there can be a meeting in the middle.
But this contest, while it will be entertaining and it may help introduce the micros, is also probably going to reward some takers of long shots and high risk. The slow-and-steady type traders, who win in real life, will likely not do as well, and some bad lessons may be taught.
Not that it won't be fun to watch, but from the sidelines, not in it (for me anyway.)
Bob.
The following user says Thank You to bobwest for this post:
Thanks. You are kind. This has taken a lot of time, but I got to discover that there are some really amazing traders out there and that I still have MUCH to learn.
The contest ends at 12 NY time tomorrow.
It will be tough, but I actually think I might be able to finish in the top 10.
Pretty awesome two Futures.io members are in top 10!. Fingers crossed I can place at least top 3 but ANYTHING can happen tomorrow and the amount of luck needed is insane. Just this morning i was in 150th place!
Yes, there is a big luck factor here since proper risk management doesn't seem to be part of the equation as we all sprint madly toward the finish line.
$2,500 may be yours tomorrow afternoon!
The following user says Thank You to sstheo for this post:
Thank you! I definitely broke some trading rules but you pretty much had to go gung-ho from the start to even think about making top 10. Overall, it was a very unique and fun experience!
The following 4 users say Thank You to Nostar123 for this post:
Instead of signing up for the CME competition I decided to participate in the futures.io journal challenge and to trade the MES (ES Micros) with a live account and journal every trade. This has been working really well and gives me a sense of how my strategy is working and as it is a live account it means allot more to me than a trade in a sim account. After identifying and live testing a successful trading strategy on the Micros I will move to the full ES contract...with the experience and confidence that trading live brings. Here is the link to the futures.io journal challenge
What can be done with a Live Futures Account with only $590?
To prove to myself the effectiveness of my strategy and process using a live funded account I will be trading the new CME Micro ES (MES) futures product.
I want to prove that I can be …
The following 3 users say Thank You to shortcreeker for this post:
Rather than ask us to run compatibility software such as 'Wine' to enable the Imac user to utilise Ninjatrader, could you not build an Imac specific Ninjatrader platform?
The underlying technology NinjaTrader is built upon (Microsoft .NET) does not run on a Mac.
Disclosure: This communication is sent to you by NinjaTrader, LLC, a software development company which owns and supports all proprietary technology relating to and including the NinjaTrader trading platform.
Aside from that, the task of porting over a large and complex program to an entirely different operating system would be something of a nightmare, even if you could throw a load of programmers at it, and if you were willing to spend a lot of time on it. (What is a "lot"? It took NT several years to get NT8 running well on Windows, in the upgrade from NT7. Porting to an entirely new environment would be a huge job.)
For a task this large, there would have to be a very large financial incentive to go to the Mac, one that would more profitable than just letting Mac users run NT using one of the usual ways to run a Windows program on the Mac. Not a decision I would make.
I don't speak for NT, of course. I'm just a guy typing on a web forum.
I don't think you're going to see this conversion, though. That's a pity, because being able to run something as native code on any machine just by recompiling has long been a sought-for goal, but one that isn't here yet.
Bob.
The following 4 users say Thank You to bobwest for this post:
It's really straightforward IMO: if you want to run trading software, you must run Windows. Bottom line. I don't like it either.. I ran Sierra Chart in a VM for some time on my linux machine, and eventually got tired of the limitations inherent with that, and just set up two machines, one Windows for trading only, and my work/everything workstation running Linux. Throw in my work MBP and I'm running all 3 major OSes most every day
Porting anything that is so heavily UI-centric like trading software is not really so much a port as a total rewrite. Native applications are themselves a bit of a dying breed--the web (and mobile, by extension) became the new platform of choice for modern applications several years ago. Just look at the new TT web -- TT took on a multi year project to rebirth X Trader as a web platform.
The following 4 users say Thank You to josh for this post:
Can you help us push the Micro-CL contract on CME/NYMEX by voting in this poll? I started pushing the micro indices back in 2012 and it took too long to get it done. We want to show them that there is demand for micro-energies.
Vote here:
I will be meeting with directors at CME later this week.
