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Thinkorswim allows futures trading within IRA account without going through external trust companies. There are several futures trading firms that allow IRA account if you establish through a trust like Millennium Trust.

This appears to be correct. I'm chatting with IB now

That's weird, I have 4 open futures positions in my IRA with IB right now....

I get the concern and that's definitely on my radar screen as well. That's why I am a fan of account diversification, although it can be a pain in the ass at times. IB looks solid enough for me to have roughly 25% of my trading funds there. They keep fairly conservative on margin requirements...

Vanguard's trading platform is horrendous, but if it's just for buy & hold with occasional rebalanced, that shouldn't be too big of a deal. Scottrade is pretty good and their stock trades are $7, however they do have a huge list of NTF mutual funds as well. Many of which are very low cost...

The Euro can't really vanish. There would have to be a plan in place to replace it with the previously held currencies that precluded the Euro, in which case I would assume calculations would be fairly easily made to convert Euro denominated assets. That isn't to say the value of a Euro...

If the court keeps ruling in his favor, he will own this insurance company in a few short years.

Basically this guy has a one week crystal ball. Pretty amazing. Lucky for him....

But if the two partners, bring increased value that will result in increased revenues/profit, then it could be worth looking at. Partnerships usually end badly though.

First, this is a great thread that so far has stayed on topic and been active. Kudos Gambit. Secondly always hear the oft repeated saying that "spreads trend better than outrights". Is there any evidence to back that up? I have traded spreads and outrights, and cannot tell any difference in...

I follow Gary on another site. He's a really great guy. I've conversed with him briefly over the years on that forum. He still trades a low seven-figure amount ($2-4m IIRC). He mostly trades bond funds (junk, high yield munis, etc) due to their low volatility and propensity to trend. Not a...

Commissions are almost non-existent for non-HFT or non-day traders and yet still very few people win. In fact, most would argue that less people are successful today than were successful when a futures cost $50/round turn. Fear, greed and money management are the stumbling blocks for the 95%...

Intuitively it seems if "it grows" (or is highly cyclical such as energy), that spreads would be far more reliable, but I haven't done enough research to say that is actually the case.

I don't think it's very possible to become a good day trader and work a full time job. I tried that several years ago, and even though I didn't lose, I mainly treaded water. My trading improved greatly once I switched to longer term trading. That isn't so say you have to be a Warren Buffett...

Right now lean hogs are in free fall mode, so as long as that trend continues, I would think that spread would perform well. With the drop in energy prices, you could make the case that food will continue to fall for some time to come.

Yep. Done. His profile says he's 45, which is sad that he's still trolling at that age.

You're a total moron. If you start with $1mm, you don't need to try to make 20%/month. You increase your odds because you only need to make 10%/pa to have a six figure income. Regardless, it sounds like you don't think it's possible to trade profitably so why are you here? As for me being...

"Modest" is a relative term, but the simple fact remains, the more capital you start with, the longer you can survive, which has to equate to a higher success rate. Starting with $10k and making a good living is probably squarely in lottery territory. Starting with $100k gives you better odds...

ExperiencedJoe it's clear that you are a bitter, losing trader.

I have a distant relative who traded ag futures successfully into a low 8 figure amount. He was a farmer as well, but most of his wealth was made via trading. Of course, he was not a day trader, trying to churn out 20%/wk using 400-to-1 leverage on a small amount in order to pay his bills. He...