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e-mini DOW volume numbers are available at the CBOT website. I think they do several thousand per day. e-mini NQ and ES volumne numbers are available at the CME website. The NQ does a couple hundred thousand per day and the ES does .5 to 1.0 million per day. No time frame for Eurex to...

A short term solution is to switch to the mini-Dow. The CBOT has waived all fees through the end of the year. Interactive Brokers and FFasttrade (and I'm sure there are others) are passing on the savings to customers. A long term solution will come from Eurex. Since disbanding their a/c/e...

*laugh* *comfort profitseer*

Thanks for the article link, Avaturk. I'm specifically interested in what instruments you use to sell volatility. Do you use OEX options like Vulture?

Thanks, Vulture. How do you sell volatility, Avaturk?

What would you recommend as the best way to go long or short volatility? Long or short QQQ option straddles? OEX option straddles? S&P future straddles? Maybe something other than a straddle? I'm looking for something liquid with minimal transaction costs (bid/asked spread).

I had no problems converting either of my accounts to universal accounts. They were done over the weekend without any interuption in trading. Btw, the universal account is really an excellent product. The top three reasons I like Interactive Brokers: 1. low commissions 2. universal...

I agree. Successful trading is like bricklaying. You just keep doing the same thing over and over and over.

An LLC whose primary business is trading is a hedge fund. There is no such thing as a "hedge fund structure" as an alternative to an LLC or limited partnership. "Hedge fund" is the business and LLC is the business entity. Just like for Walmart, "retailer" is the business and corporation...

An LLC that has fewer than 100 shareholders and whose purpose is investing is a hedge fund. The LLC or limited partnership is the business structure used for hedge funds. Just like law firms are structured as partnerships -- "hedge fund" is the type of business and "LLC" is the business...

The indices are still free and realtime at quote.com: $indu, $spx $ndx, $compx. So if you are just watching the charts to see what the market is doing, they are still sufficient. By arbitrage the futures will track the indices pretty closely.

People by nature are optimistic about their ability, even when there is no reason to be. For example, most people think they are better than average drivers. Similarly, most people think they are better than average traders, even before they start trading! And if you weren't optimistic and...

I have always used fixed fractional position sizing. No matter whether it is my money or Schindler Fund money. Trade size = Porfolio value x fraction of the portfolio I've got assigned to this strategy x fraction of the portfolio I've got assigned to this contract / desired equity per...

I've found that putting on big trades is easy, because I am always optimistic at trade inception. And taking profits on big trades is fun and easy. But watching big trades go sour is much more painful than watching small trades go sour. And especially so when it is other peoples money. I'd...

"Regular trading hours" is a term the CME made up to distinguish the open outcry session hours from the overnight Globex session hours for the contracts that trade in both, like the big SP, big ND, Eurodollars, etc. The e-minis only trade on Globex so they don't have "regular trading hours"...

Yes. When you are compounding your return across "breakpoints" you will use the %performance for each period. You'll have a breakpoint whenever there is an inflow or outflow. And then you'll also have a breakpoint at the beginning and end of your period. For example, the Schindler Fund has a...

If you are in the US then your futures broker must be registered with the CFTC and a member of the NFA. It's not optional. All the firms you are considering are probably NFA members, whether they prominently tell you so on their website or not. Look them up on BASIC (the member database)...

Thanks for the book recommendation, Tony01. It looks very interesting.

Eeek! That's the last time I tip a male waiter! I don't want him coming home with me. Seriously, though, good point about treating others well, Aphie.

Better strategy for what? Winning money? In a game with a negative expectancy the optimal strategy is to not play. I'm defining "optimal" to mean the strategy that results in the highest resulting net worth. If you choose to play a negative expectancy game, don't fool yourself that you are...