Forex, Futures or Equities?

F

frank7

Hello Every1,

Let's say you are a complete beginner and find trading really interesting. Which one would you choose to focus on and master, forex, futures or equities and why? And when i say master i just mean to reach a level where trading becomes second nature, kind of effortless, because to reach a level of mastery here imo is impossible as the markets are always changing and there is a need for continuous learning. Also i would like to mention here that the preferred method of trading would be day trading and not hold any overnight positions. Also no i am not open to long term trading, doesn't fit my personality. I like that instant gratification, if i lose then i lose, call it a day, reset my mind and prepare for another day of trading. I tried swing trading, long term and is not for me, i find it very very boring. I need action....
 
frank7 said:
Hello Every1,

Let's say you are a complete beginner and find trading really interesting. Which one would you choose to focus on and master, forex, futures or equities and why? And when i say master i just mean to reach a level where trading becomes second nature, kind of effortless, because to reach a level of mastery here imo is impossible as the markets are always changing and there is a need for continuous learning. Also i would like to mention here that the preferred method of trading would be day trading and not hold any overnight positions. Also no i am not open to long term trading, doesn't fit my personality. I like that instant gratification, if i lose then i lose, call it a day, reset my mind and prepare for another day of trading. I tried swing trading, long term and is not for me, i find it very very boring. I need action....
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There's not a one answer fits all. It really depends on your situation, size of your account , what you're trying to accomplish, how long you have to trade and etc.

If the scenario is you can afford to day trade live and learn without needing to make "x" amount per month to cover living expenses and your account is 28ishk+(enough room to PDT without feeling like you will go below the threshold), if it was me I would personally trade equities with a broker that has no commissions.

This allows you to trade extremely small position sizing and you can trade things like QQQ, SPY, TQQQ, QLD and etc. Yes, the classic textbook answer "trade futures for tax benefits and leverage". I could be wrong, but I doubt you want to use high leverage if you're a beginner. Also, taxes will be irrelevant if you can't be profitable and find a consistent, repeatable method. It's not that difficult to switch from equities to futures account, once you KNOW you're ready. Not think, but have actual statistics from your equities account showing proof of concept, that you have some type of edge. Of course you'd have to factor in commissions into your strategy, once you switched to futures.

Generally, it's best to have some type of base risk management. Meaning you risk "x" to make "x" or upon a signal you place a stop some points below a low or something. Once you have that basis down you can expand on things, but without that basis even if you're incredibly accurate it's only going to take one rogue trade to make you lose a lot of your profits or put you in the red.


This is just how I personally would handle it, if I was a new trader. So, just my opinion and I don't know your entire situation, so it may not be the right move for you.


EDIT:

To clarify if you're paper trading, than futures (micro and/or real) would be fine. If you mean't you'll be trading live money, I'd go the other route so you can get experience trading live money, plus scale up as slowly as you want.
 
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Hello guys money to start here is not the problem. I have enough to bypass the PDT rule but what worries me about equities is that there are so many, i would have to run scans every night or morning and so much to focus on whereas if i decide to go into futures i would just have one thing to focus on for example s&P futures and just try to master that. Also another thing that worries me about equities is, imagine having to do all that research and you ready to pull the trigger on something but the broker cant locate any shares to borrow....that would suck...and then also taking into considerations so many other things to pay for when it comes to trading equities. idk to complicate things further, trading random tickers each day with a variable bias, each symbol with liquidity/ATR/float as a variable. idk just so many variables here when it comes to equities that makes me think the odds of long term success would be low for someone off the street. But i see tons of people on twitter claiming to be doing just fine trading equities example smb capital guys, 7 points capital or investorsunderground (nathan michaud and his team). Idk i am torn between these options.
 
frank7 said:
Hello guys money to start here is not the problem. I have enough to bypass the PDT rule but what worries me about equities is that there are so many, i would have to run scans every night or morning and so much to focus on whereas if i decide to go into futures i would just have one thing to focus on for example s&P futures and just try to master that. Also another thing that worries me about equities is, imagine having to do all that research and you ready to pull the trigger on something but the broker cant locate any shares to borrow....that would suck...and then also taking into considerations so many other things to pay for when it comes to trading equities. idk to complicate things further, trading random tickers each day with a variable bias, each symbol with liquidity/ATR/float as a variable. idk just so many variables here when it comes to equities that makes me think the odds of long term success would be low for someone off the street. But i see tons of people on twitter claiming to be doing just fine trading equities example smb capital guys, 7 points capital or investorsunderground (nathan michaud and his team). Idk i am torn between these options.
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But you can trade QQQ and SPY and also other intra-day ETF's that provide a little more leverage, that track NQ / ES futures extremely closely.

For example 500 shares of SPY = 1 ES futures contract. Only with SPY you can buy as small as 1 share or up to as many as you want (obviously only up to your account size though).

Every 10 cents of spy = 1 ES point. 800 Shares of QQQ = 1 NQ contract. Every 2.5 cents of QQQ = 1 pt NQ.


But you would also have the option of trading stocks if you wanted. You mentioned focusing on one thing though, so that's why I'd recommend NQ and/or ES if you're going to learn one instrument. The only reason I am saying if it was me personally I'd go with equities is because it allows you to intra-day trade those markets with smaller size.
 
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frank7 said:
Thanks for your recommendation.
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No problem, that's just what I would personally do, to avoid having emotions take over. Unless you're really wealthy or have nerves of steel, as a new trader it's going to be hard to learn and make informative decisions if you're seeing potentially $100.00-$200.00+ swings in your account in a matter of seconds sometimes. You'll be way to focused on your PnL to even have a chance to learn.
 
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