Finding the most liquid market?

J

J-S

I've got a list of 26 different markets that I'm looking to trade or at least follow & I'm a bit stuck - I want to be looking at the most active exchanges based on volume / open interest.

Is there an easy way to find out which markets are the most liquid? It would be a nightmare to have to search for each one individually amoungst all exchanges!!!

I've listed the markets that I'm following below

1. British Libor
2. British Pound
3. Canadian Dollar
4. Coffee
5. Copper
6. Corn
7. Cotton
8. Crude-Oil
9. Euro
10. EuroDollar
11. Gold
12. Japanese Yen
13. Live Cattle
14. Lumber
15. NYSE Composite Index
16. Orange Juice
17. Palladium
18. Pork Bellies
19. S&P 500 Index
20. Soybean Oil
21. Swiss Franc
22. T-Bills
23. T-Bonds
24. T-Notes
25. Unleaded Gasoline
26. Wheat

thanks if anyone can help!

J-S
 
Im guessing you are swing trading these commodities so your complete question really is "which ones are liquid and also trend". I used to do this (until I got fed up of being screwed on the NY exchanges) so:

1. British Libor - No.
2. British Pound - OK, but choppy. Trade Euro/Yen/Franc instead
3. Canadian Dollar - Yes
4. Coffee - Yes but beware strong limit moves & gaps
5. Copper - OK - better to follow gold/silver though
6. Corn - Good, very small contract size
7. Cotton - Very Good
8. Crude-Oil - Good. Be careful of API report days though
9. Euro - Very good
10. EuroDollar - Very liquid, boring most of the time, but can be a
strong trender
11. Gold - Historically a little difficult, but probably best contract to have your metals section covered
12. Japanese Yen - very good
13. Live Cattle - OK, a bit seasonal
14. Lumber - Does trend but can do nothing for long periods
15. NYSE Composite Index - I would stay clear of stock indicies for commodity trend trading. They exhibit too much random behaviour
16. Orange Juice - I didnt really get on with the old juice.
17. Palladium. Not liquid. For the suicidal (or Russians with inside info!)
18. Pork Bellies. The classic. I have had some good moves on it. Fairly liquid but chops sometimes.
19. S&P 500 Index. Forget it, as above.
20. Soybean Oil. Good, small contract size. But no point trading all 3 of the soybean complexes unless you are spreading.
21. Swiss Franc - Very good
22. T-Bills - Illiquid
23. T-Bonds - Very good
24. T-Notes - Very good
25. Unleaded Gasoline - Hmm, stick to crude oil. However look for leadership from this contract for the kick off of "summer driving season"
26. Wheat - Good. Can be a little choppy.
 
Originally posted by Funster
Im guessing you are swing trading these commodities so your complete question really is "which ones are liquid and also trend". I used to do this (until I got fed up of being screwed on the NY exchanges) so:

1. British Libor - No.
2. British Pound - OK, but choppy. Trade Euro/Yen/Franc instead
3. Canadian Dollar - Yes
4. Coffee - Yes but beware strong limit moves & gaps
5. Copper - OK - better to follow gold/silver though
6. Corn - Good, very small contract size
7. Cotton - Very Good
8. Crude-Oil - Good. Be careful of API report days though
9. Euro - Very good
10. EuroDollar - Very liquid, boring most of the time, but can be a
strong trender
11. Gold - Historically a little difficult, but probably best contract to have your metals section covered
12. Japanese Yen - very good
13. Live Cattle - OK, a bit seasonal
14. Lumber - Does trend but can do nothing for long periods
15. NYSE Composite Index - I would stay clear of stock indicies for commodity trend trading. They exhibit too much random behaviour
16. Orange Juice - I didnt really get on with the old juice.
17. Palladium. Not liquid. For the suicidal (or Russians with inside info!)
18. Pork Bellies. The classic. I have had some good moves on it. Fairly liquid but chops sometimes.
19. S&P 500 Index. Forget it, as above.
20. Soybean Oil. Good, small contract size. But no point trading all 3 of the soybean complexes unless you are spreading.
21. Swiss Franc - Very good
22. T-Bills - Illiquid
23. T-Bonds - Very good
24. T-Notes - Very good
25. Unleaded Gasoline - Hmm, stick to crude oil. However look for leadership from this contract for the kick off of "summer driving season"
26. Wheat - Good. Can be a little choppy.
More...

Funster, your really are a funster. How did I know you would say that pork bellies chops sometimes.:p
 
"15. NYSE Composite Index - I would stay clear of stock indicies for commodity trend trading. They exhibit too much random behaviour"

I disagree - trade the minis. The trend is very real. 11000->8000
on the dow. choppy but more to come on the downside (IMHO).
 
Originally posted by J-S


Is there an easy way to find out which markets are the most liquid?


J-S
More...


Oh. This is an easy one...

8. Crude-0il
16. Orange Juice
20. Soybean Oil
25. Unleaded Gasoline


These are the only ones which have liquid in them. Jeez, and
everyone thought I was dumb... :D
 
That's an excellent help & gives me some good ideas about what to focus on. I've noticed that some of the markets are traded on more than one exchange - Is there anywhere that gives info on which exchanges are the more liquid for the markets I listed?

Thanks again, I really appreciate it

J-S
 
As far as I know, EUREX / LIFFE are the best ones!!!

So, have you started trading those markets already? (Crude oil, coffee, soybeans...etc)

Best Regards,

Raphael
 
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