alternative to SPY

[loyek590]

Hi,
loyek 590: I guess my question was not clear enough as masterjaz_99 said. Basically, I want to trade S&P 500, and the only ETF I know that represents S&P 500 is the "SPY". the minimum share size I am allowed to buy/sell through my broker is 100 shares. So, once I place an order I am investing into $20, 700 and I dislike this. (Yes, I have enough buying power to buy or sell more than 100 shares, but instead of trading a $207 stock, i would rather look for some other etf with a lower price. )I am wondering if there is another ETF that is like SPY , but with a lower price. Hope this is a better explanation. Thank you for the answers

gotcha, yes I was mostly kidding, barosan posted a good answer for you. You will need a futures account, and you want to trade the S&P e mini, goes by the symbol es. Do some research at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange or CME. ES is exactly the same as SPY, it is just a futures contract on the S&P index. Your costs will be much lower than trading an ETF. You can hold a few seconds, or a few days or a few months or even a few years. 5 or 10k is all you need to cover one ES contract.

ES is traded electronically on the GLOBEX exchange, and it is a very good deal for a small retail trader. Nobody, not Goldman or JP Morgan can get filled before you if you are first in line, regardless of size. I suppose now a days everything trades electronically, but when they invented GLOBEX that was not the case. The e mini S&P is widely traded, everybody trades it. If they don't trade SPY, they trade ES. When I saw what a good deal globex was, I quit trading ags and switched to interactive brokers and traded ES exclusively.

otherwise, as SPY goes everything goes, DIA, QQQ, or any of the SPIDERS like xlk or xle. Just avoid any ETF that is actively managed or they will get you on the management fees.

 

[Visaria]

Hi,
loyek 590: I guess my question was not clear enough as masterjaz_99 said. Basically, I want to trade S&P 500, and the only ETF I know that represents S&P 500 is the "SPY". the minimum share size I am allowed to buy/sell through my broker is 100 shares. So, once I place an order I am investing into $20, 700 and I dislike this. (Yes, I have enough buying power to buy or sell more than 100 shares, but instead of trading a $207 stock, i would rather look for some other etf with a lower price. )I am wondering if there is another ETF that is like SPY , but with a lower price. Hope this is a better explanation. Thank you for the answers

You need to shop around and find a broker that willl let you buy 1 share of SPY.

Don't go near the ES future...if you can't handle 100 shares of SPY ($20k), how are you going to manage $100k of ES?

 

[loyek590]

You need to shop around and find a broker that willl let you buy 1 share of SPY.

Don't go near the ES future...if you can't handle 100 shares of SPY ($20k), how are you going to manage $100k of ES?

yes, that's probably better advice. What kind of broker has a 100 share minimum? Gets a little expensive on some high priced stocks.

 

[newwurldmn]

Hi,
loyek 590: I guess my question was not clear enough as masterjaz_99 said. Basically, I want to trade S&P 500, and the only ETF I know that represents S&P 500 is the "SPY". the minimum share size I am allowed to buy/sell through my broker is 100 shares. So, once I place an order I am investing into $20, 700 and I dislike this. (Yes, I have enough buying power to buy or sell more than 100 shares, but instead of trading a $207 stock, i would rather look for some other etf with a lower price. )I am wondering if there is another ETF that is like SPY , but with a lower price. Hope this is a better explanation. Thank you for the answers

Switch brokers that will let you trade less than 100 shares.

 

[darwin666]

btw. SPY liquidity is the best.. look at this PUT chains for next week.( its old now.. the puts have jumped 10X) but look at the bid ask.. so nice.. 1 cent increment. very transparent.. what ever is your riisk reward appetite. it will get fulfilled.... I wanted to do something with VOO.. the darn is so illiquid.
SPY and its options .is the best for liquidity..
also. if I am not mistaken. buying or selling one ES mini future. holds the same risk as 500 shares of spy and u need like 5K margin.. so the OP... could get tremendous leverage if that is what he is asking.
also.. there are option chain for SPY. where u can do 10 shares. instead of 100.. called mini options or something.

 

[drcha]

Why don't you buy a deep in the money call or a synthetic. The price (or the margin) will be about a tenth that of SPY. The slippage on the call is greater than on the synthetic, but you do not have to worry about getting the SPY put to you if the market drops.

 

[eurusdzn]

So I like to post charts. Three year weekly chart of long SPY and short RSX(Russia etf).
As drcha informed you, deep in the money(90ish delta) options of liquid ETF's wouldn't take much capital
and you have lots of volatility. Chart is of the underlyings.

 

[Sergio77]

Anyway you do it they will get you at the end. Same sharks that move SPY also move ES through arbitrage. When they have get enough speculators in either direction they increase volatility and shake them out.

 

[galvinlee888]

Go to bucket shop. They will allow you to trade SPY with even a $100 capital.
However, I would rather spend this $100 for a good night out.