Futures with under $2000

...you have to specify the contract expiration month and year. However IMO you are missing one preliminary step, and that is having a rigid mechanical system. Index futures volatility will eat you alive if you don't have one. I think you will serve yourself better by first subscribing to a strategy development and backtesting service like E-Signal and spending a few hundred bucks over a few months developing a system that suits your personality.
 
Very true hypo

I have an idea of what my system will do, but i need to grasp an understanding of what the Futures markets are like in reality.

For example:
1) Does gain of 1 point on a NS or NQ future equate to a gain of 1 dollar on the contract?
2) Are there times where you are forced to hold the contract through?
3) Is buying futures much like buying stocks? Ie. enter the symbol, # of contracts, price... and press buy?
 
...you are infinitely more knowledgeable than I am, but are you jiving this newbie for fun just because he's so naive by recommending a $500 margin broker? He has no business trading futures if he is willing to accept a $2100 drawdown. IMO that's about 5X too big if he plans to trade NQ. If this is a comedy thread and I don't get the joke, please advise.
 
...I assume you are perfectly serious with the basic questions. If not, it's not nice to make fun of an old man. Take NQ for an example. It pays off 20 to 1 for every NQ point rise. Alas, it also taketh away 20 to one. If you have ever traded QQQ, one NQ is equivalent to swinging 800 QQQ's. IMO NQ is where you should start. It trends, and all things considered it pays out better than ES. The intraday initial margin is $1125 per contract. I think the intraday maintence margin is $900. After 14:00 EST the overnight margin rules kick in, 2X for any position going into an overnight hold. You definitely want to stick to intraday starting out IMO. Also stick to the first hour of trading. Something almost always happens 3 days out of 4. I was dead serious about system development. Park your ego for 6 months to a year and go develop one.
 
 
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