Current Margin requirements

J

John9999

In my search for a new brokerage I need to know Margin requirements for Futures and Options. It is a pain to call around and ask, so I thought I would ask here

so far I have found for intraday trades on Index Futures

Etrade = NQ & ES $3200, YM $2915

Ameritrade = NQ & ES $6380 , YM $5830 (same as overnight margin)

I don't need $500,,,that is too tight anyway and can lead to trading too many contracts.... the Etrade seems reasonable and forces me not to leverage too much...

anyway,,,, if you know these numbers at different houses please comment
 
Looks like Ameritrade has the proper margins in place.

My broker offers insanely-low margins for daytrading, but since I was always ready to turn a bad daytrade into a swing, I used the CME init margins as a buffer, so with every daytrade I entered I treated it like it WAS a swing trade.

So while I had enough money in the account to daytrade 100 contracts at a clip, I would assume every trade is a failure during the day and would have to hold for a swing.

In doing the math, I found that with just one or two contracts trying to daytrade I could comfortably try to daytrade it, but hold if necessary for a few days/weeks. So you go from the thought of 100 daytrade contracts to 1 or 2 swing contracts. Yes, that is the effect of the contrast between trying to trade on daytrade margin vs. exchange margin. Tread lightly.

If you think along those lines, just calculate how many contracts you could trade on full margin during the day.

If you have $10K in your trading account, you would be safe with daytrading just one contract in those markets, period. Just 1. Yep.

That covers you for the full margin req, plus a buffer. No need to get near a margin call with something like that.
 
John9999 said:
In my search for a new brokerage I need to know Margin requirements for Futures and Options. It is a pain to call around and ask, so I thought I would ask here
More...
since you need 100% accurate information if it is important enough to you contact the firm.
 
Agreeed. So far E trade looks good.
Funny, when I called fidelity they could not answer the question. Plus they are $4.95 per side! Plus the exchange fees.
 
We can set you on a futures trading platform and help you set up a margin appropriate for your trading.
For example, we can set up 50% for day trading, so you do not over trade. You can choose a web-based execution or a downloadable product.
 
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