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If you're doing small trades, the easiest thing to do is to look at the margin breaks the exchange gives you. The alternative is to find the CTD, compute the DV01, and then adjust frequently. CTD isn't easily available, unless you're paying for Bloomberg. If you're in the hundreds of...

I do, and it's worked well for me. Wheat last fall hurt, but bonds and ES worked out great. If I had just been trading Wheat (which had great IVs, but then when limit up for several days in a row), I'd have ended the year down. Still, I risk a *very* small portion of my trading account on...

I write options, but the EuroFx (CME futures contract) has had the IV sucked out of it and so I've been sitting on the sidelines. Bonds were even worse--4% annual IV when 1% daily moves were frequent.

I find this unlikely unless you're an exchange member or doing an *INSANE* volume. CBOT's fee alone is $3.50 round trip on ag futures. I find it hard to believe open ecry will clear you, place your trades, and let you hold for $.15 each way.

What commodities are you trading? IB has great rates, but only supports a limited set of pit contracts (no NYBOT, for example).

Really? I've got to think this is purely a "protect the locals" move. Electronic equity options trading is super active with very tight spreads. Electronic futures options trading is doubling in volume each year--ES, ER, US, TY, TN, ED are all pretty tight. I've traded both pit options (CBOE...

I'm not sure what this means--the AD has stayed strong, but the CD looks to have found a bottom, amazingly enough. I entered this trade March 1st and have been pretty happy. We'll see going forward, though. :-)

Previous polls for "IB work on fixing bugs first" have already been marked as "Complete" by IB.

No, but you can play KFC as a proxy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su0U37w2tws

This gives me no information on whether Lean Hogs will rally from here. What a rip.

Has anyone else noticed IB has gotten really far behind with their tech support tickets? I now have tickets more than a month old that still haven't gotten a "first response". Simple inquiries I've made over chat were redirected to the ticket system where they've sat for weeks.

Apparently it is a carry trade (buy conversions/reversals for a credit equivalent to the risk free rate). I pointed this out on the blog. He believes the new margin rules would allow you to own 1000 shares of google for $18k.

The cheapest issue and it's basis would be useful. Certainly figuring out when a new CTD is likely to occur would be valuable. At the moment, I can get pricing through Schwab for individual treasuries, stuff them in a spreadsheet with the conversion factors, and see what comes out, but that...

I've always found an interesting test of any market is how it reacts to news. Nikkei currently down 2.6%, Hang Seng currently down 3.3% (at their lunch break). Russell down 1.2% after hours tonight.

The mini contracts have VERY wide bid/ask spreads. The full-sized have very narrow bid/asks spreads and more depth. Narrower spreads + more depth = "better liquidity"

Neither platform will give you much in the way of real-time treasury data that you may be used to. CTD is not available, nor are quotes on any individual bonds. Yield is only available by the TYX, TNX tickers--otherwise you've got to plug numbers into your own spreadsheet. Otherwise, it can...

As SideShowBob said, what is your system? Your ideas result in a system, not a win or loss. On your bad days, it doesn't mean your ideas are bad, just that you need to refine them. Trading ideas can come from anywhere---your investigation of them can result in a trade action. I don't trade...

Hi TB, I've got to say I'm confused. You've posted that you were looking for a stock mentor, a futures mentor, and now a crude oil mentor. At the same time, you also posted: "After reading this, I have very important steps for you to take if you want to make it big in the market like I...

Really?! And you're not raising hell with your broker? I've traded electronic corn, wheat, soy, and soy meal and have *never* gotten a fill outside of my limit. If I did, Interactive Brokers would be hearing about it. With ECBOT, this seems pretty unlikely. It's not like the computer is...

Are they displaying average cost as opposed to average price? I don't know what their commissions are, but a limit buy at 7.85 that gets filled at 7.87 would be reasonable if you're paying a $100 commission. In any case, if you're getting a fill above your limit, something is seriously wrong.