Daytrading in Europe

Quote from mtg2:

Don-

This was from another thread. Thought this might apply to this thread. Do you know of any prop. firms in U.S. that trade equities in overseas markets?

I would really like to know what the reason to do that would be. I live in Europe and I want to trade US equities. I even made an account in dollars.
Why would you like to go the other way?
 
Quote from tradin33:

The proprietary daytrading environment in Europe seems to be most derivatives and currencies, instead of equities like it is here in North America. I was wondering if there are traders out there that can shed some light on this topic from the view of a high frequency daytrader, not swing traders. Is this because of fees, lack of volatility, regulation etc. Any help would be appreciated.

prop groups in europe largely grew out of the demise of the floors - when the floors closed, the locals went to the screens at these firms to trade the same or similar markets to what they traded on the floor - bund, cable, calendars etc.

Most prop groups will be focused on derivatives, but all the arcades and prop groups offer access to the equity markets - both via market access and via CFD's since CFD's are traded here much more widely than the underlying equity, for stamp duty reasons.
 
Quote from andread:

I would really like to know what the reason to do that would be. I live in Europe and I want to trade US equities. I even made an account in dollars.
Why would you like to go the other way?

That's pretty much our opinion as well. We have a few who trade overseas markets, a bit of a hassle and very expensive when all is said and done. Primarily, we are not the "professionals" in those markets, local traders are, and regulatory issues are another factor.

Don
 
Quote from Don Bright:

That's pretty much our opinion as well. We have a few who trade overseas markets, a bit of a hassle and very expensive when all is said and done. Primarily, we are not the "professionals" in those markets, local traders are, and regulatory issues are another factor.

Don

And they trade equities? Did they give a reason for that? If they are trading in Europe for them it would also mean to trade at night. Is your office open 24 hours? Hope they are trading Asian/Australian markets.
Sounds a bit weird
 
I realize that it’s a different environment over there and it’s harder to find an “edge”, but some people that I have talked to recently, seem to think that the LSE is the tough market and that there are much better opportunities on the Frankfurt and Stockholm Stock exchanges………..does anyone have a second opinion on this…..are there any others that anyone likes?
 
Quote from Quiet1:

It's odd but actually the LSE has a higher turnover as a % of market cap than the US exchanges. LSE trading has grown massively in recent years because although only member firms do not have to pay stamp tax on purchases (0.5%) they have in turn offered contract-for-difference OTC derivatives to their clients (including the small guy). So that lots of people effectively trade directly on the order book but it is wrapped up as a CFD where the "broker" places an auto-hedge in the market for the exact amounts you trade.

As for being behind the US - how many European exchanges are still open-outcry versus electronic compared to the US. Hmmmmmm...
:p
Q1

does this mean that member firms are against the elimination of the stamp tax.
 
Hi guys,

I used to trade EURONEXT equities.

The reason why european stocks aren't interesting. Is because they simply don't move. 99% of the stocks on euronext move like msft qqqq siri etc...
There's not a lot of volume, except of royal dutch and a few others (but then again, they don't move either).
There are no ECN's. There are market makers of course as there are in ANY market. But they don't have an ID like in NASDAQ stocks for example.

The orderbook looks like:
20.21 9821 x 20.22 7236

Technical analysis doesn't work at all. Except on timeframes longer than the Daily.

A 5 point move, which is normal on a lot of stocks intraday on the NASDAQ/NYSE, you'll only see on the daily or weekly chart on 99,999% of the EURONEXT stocks.

There's a boat load of options volume on many stocks though. I know some guys who make a market in options and they make serious money on a daily basis.

And then, if you wanna have a good, fast and reliable system. Costs are way higher then a broker in the US.
I used prop trading software. The monthly fee was 1500 EURO (about 1875 USD).
Commissions were 3EUR per trade. Whether you took out 100 shares or 20,000.

I don't know of any broker, prop firm in the US asking 1875 per month for the trading platform only.
In europe you do get the direct connection to the exchange.
But 90% of the brokers in the US have these direct connections to the exchanges and offer it for free.

Just my 2c,

-SL

PS.: Stamp tax is only in the U.K.
 
Maybe once the American exchanges take control of euronext and LSE and pay off some of the piliticians, things might change, like getting rid of stamp duty in the UK. With that accomplished and lower commissions, THEN it might be a viable daytrading market(s).


Quote from ScreenLocal:

Hi guys,

I used to trade EURONEXT equities.

The reason why european stocks aren't interesting. Is because they simply don't move. 99% of the stocks on euronext move like msft qqqq siri etc...
There's not a lot of volume, except of royal dutch and a few others (but then again, they don't move either).
There are no ECN's. There are market makers of course as there are in ANY market. But they don't have an ID like in NASDAQ stocks for example.

The orderbook looks like:
20.21 9821 x 20.22 7236

Technical analysis doesn't work at all. Except on timeframes longer than the Daily.

A 5 point move, which is normal on a lot of stocks intraday on the NASDAQ/NYSE, you'll only see on the daily or weekly chart on 99,999% of the EURONEXT stocks.

There's a boat load of options volume on many stocks though. I know some guys who make a market in options and they make serious money on a daily basis.

And then, if you wanna have a good, fast and reliable system. Costs are way higher then a broker in the US.
I used prop trading software. The monthly fee was 1500 EURO (about 1875 USD).
Commissions were 3EUR per trade. Whether you took out 100 shares or 20,000.

I don't know of any broker, prop firm in the US asking 1875 per month for the trading platform only.
In europe you do get the direct connection to the exchange.
But 90% of the brokers in the US have these direct connections to the exchanges and offer it for free.

Just my 2c,

-SL

PS.: Stamp tax is only in the U.K.
 
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