FX Futures

[Quinn]

This is my second post. I was just curious if anybody here is trading any of the FX Futures? I see that there's a section for mini futures and this spot FX. I currently day trade the Euro FX and the Japanese Yen futures on the CME. I've tried to running the search function and didn't find any entries on these.

Is there a way to create a new section for these or are these to be included in the FX section? Sorry for the odd question I'm new here just purchased the software and am just trying to figure things out.

Thanks

[jtrade]

This is my second post. I was just curious if anybody here is trading any of the FX Futures? I see that there's a section for mini futures and this spot FX. I currently day trade the Euro FX and the Japanese Yen futures on the CME. I've tried to running the search function and didn't find any entries on these.

Is there a way to create a new section for these or are these to be included in the FX section? Sorry for the odd question I'm new here just purchased the software and am just trying to figure things out.

Thanks


Hi, Quinn,

I'd suggest posting here : it's Foreign Exchange whether trading cash/spot or futures.

I use futures to trade the faster intraday charts, as this works better in DOM type entry platforms, such as the TradeStation matrix. Forex cash lots don't really work in most DOMs, with the exception of Button Trader, who appear to have sorted it out. I have not tried BT, but there is an excellent article on their website on the merits of forex cash vs. futures : (oops, just looked and could not find it, I will fish it out & post it later today).

J.

[jtrade]

I will attempt to attach the article I mentioned in my post above. It's a Word document and whilst it is written around the Button Trader interface - which I neither use, nor have even tried - it has some excellent information on this subject, especially section 3.

J.


PS. File too big and regret I don't know how to increase the zip compression sufficiently to fit...so this is the route : http://www.buttontrader.com/ (http://http://www.buttontrader.com/) > Documentation > in part 3 of diagram, click on "Forex Trading" yellow box in 3rd column > download ForexTrading_V01.zip

Hope someone finds it worth the effort !

[Quinn]

Hi J,

Thanks for the reply. I was just curious as I previously traded the 6E and 6J FX futures before joining MTPredictor. I use NinjaTrader as my platform for order entry. Thanks though for the link to button trader I'll take a look at it.

I take it not too many members here trade the FX Futures on smaller time frames? I'm just trying to get an idea how others have been doing regarding the smaller time frames (i.e. 3 & 5 Min). 3 Min is what I used before MTP any feedback would be appreciated.


Q.

[Steve Griffiths]

Hi Guys,

I am new to these particular contracts, so could some poeple who have traded these a lot perhaps let us know the good time frames to trade.

At a quick look, I see the very short-term charts (eg 5min) are very thin and spotty, so as an initial guess I would think you need to look at longer time frames, similiar to standard FOREX trading.

I did see this nice TS1 long trade that is currently unfolding on the 6J contract though.... :)

Steve

[prh]

Hi Steve

The Globex FX futures contract are very liquid and they move in tandem with FX. The best time frame depends on the currency. The 6J tends to move in the Tokyo time frame more at times than during the US session. Hope this helps. Liquidity is very good overall.

Best regards,

Philippe

[Matt Bowen]

No guarantee. If a forex broker does go out of business, you could lose all your money. There are no guarantees and no one standing behind it. Futures brokers are required to mark to market at the end of every session every day. They have to put up cash to cover every open trade on their books. Futures brokers have gone broke, but no futures customer has ever lost one cent of the money in his trading account because of a failed broker. Nor have they had to wait for their money. It is immediately available.

You can get exactly the same action in the euro fx futures as you get in the "Euro" forex. Commissions are as low as one tenth per round turn depending on volume, through a regulated broker, trading electronically at an exchange where you know the true price of the currency.

Leaning. Brokers say they are charging you a 3 pip spread to trade the popular currency pairs. But in reality a broker may be making as much or more than 10 pips on your trades. He does this by skewing prices. Since you are not trading at an exchange, the broker can feed you any price he wants to feed you. He can buy at the bank for perhaps 7 pips less than he sells to you. He then charges you 3 pips for the privilege of being ripped off for a total of 10 pips.

What is the true price? A forex broker can only give you the price of a currency as quoted to him by the bank through which he trades. Banks have differing prices for a currency. You never know what the real price is because there is no central exchange through which all prices flow. Besides not knowing the true price from the bank, you can also be deceived by "leaning" or "skewing" of the real price at the bank. Forex brokers commonly lean the prices.

Forex brokers are not necessarily truthful. They lure people in with hype and false advertising: "No commissions!" "Guaranteed fills." "24 hour trading:" Who in their right mind is going to trade in the middle of the night unless they have a special need such as import and export (and even then smart companies trade the fx futures for Guaranteed prices) While it is true that total forex volume is greater than in the futures, futures, volume at the exchange is greater than the volume at your broker for the most popularly traded currencies.

Trust me, there are many more differences on the fx futures vs. the Forex (most of which you Really don't want to know) :eek:

[jtrade]

To follow up on Matt's post, I would not worry too much about spreads trading longer intraday & daily timeframes via a reputable broker, but would completely agree that for short-term timeframes, especially 5 minutes and faster, fx futures are the only way to go (although the markets with sufficient, current liquidity for this are probably limited to EC and, to a lesser extent, BP). I know one discretionary trader doing very well tading up to 10 EC lots on a 120 tick chart, roughly equivalent to a 1 minute chart in busy periods !

There was an announcement a few months back that cme and reuters are teaming up to offer the first centralized spot fx marketplace, using globex technology. This would/will be an amazing solution.

J.

[Quinn]

I figured I would add to Jtrade's comments regarding the combined efforts of both the CME and Reuters to help centralize the spot FX markets. More info can be found here at this link.

http://fxmarketspace.com/news/newsletter.html

Quinn

[pbb]

From the website:


Q: Will FXMarketSpace be available to retail investors?

A: FXMarketSpace will be an institutional trading platform, not open to "retail" participants. In general, market participants would have to meet the FSA definition of a "Market Counterparty". Individuals would have to be sophisticated investors, typically with a net worth over $20 million

Not all pairs that we see at this forum can be traded using futures. There are some brokers that have ecn-like platforms for spot-currency. I guess that it's more important to find a reliable broker then to choose beteen futures and spot. Also, futures and options on futures are mostly not covered, stocks; stockoptions; cash etc are. A good broker will remove Cash that is not needed for margin from your trading account to a sperate account.