Some brokers will let you trade intraday with only $300 initial margin. Others, $500. TS is apparently more conservative than those. Interactive Brokers often goes the other way... requiring MORE than exchange minimums in margin.
How to ramp up quickly? Trading 1000 lots with $100k margin
- Thread starter pinetboltz
- Start date
Some brokers will let you trade intraday with only $300 initial margin. Others, $500. TS is apparently more conservative than those. Interactive Brokers often goes the other way... requiring MORE than exchange minimums in margin.
thanks, this actually helps -- i guess the trick is to not get to stuck on finding brokers with low overnight margins, bc like you said, they don't have much control there, but rather to focus on brokers w/ very low intraday margins, where they have more discretion to be lenient
You and I are on the same page, same paragraph. BUT in the 70's, 100K (if it was account value) for trading spec futures garnered respect, and taken seriously in negotiations with FCM's and brokers. Today, 100K account value is MOR (middle of the road), maybe. Plus the margin requirements were certainly different. We don't know what the factual infrastructure numbers were.
As an aside, Im pretty sure some of the mini or micro contracts available today can be traded intraday with about $100!... But those intraday margins aren't usually good for more than 50 cars or so. LOL. Have to have a different plan for trading 1000 cars. LOL. But still, only about $100!!
There are no "low overnight margin" brokers. All players are required to conform to the Exchange's "minimum maintenance/overnight margin". Currently, $5,800/contract for the ES.
"Low intraday margins" are an entirely different animal. Brokers offering such can more or less "do what they want", but there is a risk to them for possibly being too lenient with margin.... after all, they are immediately on the hook for losses in excess of the equity in your account.. not to mention the fact that with low margins you're more likely to wipe your account out... and worse.
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Found in my archives: I traded in the 90's 20 contracts at $250 a points S&P (equivalent of 100 contracts ES) with a $60,000 account. So that would be $600 for 1 contract ES nowadays.
That was very funny
heheVery cool and interesting. Thanks!
And adds another difference... contract specs. When were (big)S&P futures first introduced anyway?. Gives a different perspective on the current day $500 intraday margins offered too! Are they really low in comparison?
Trade On!
From Wikipedia...
"S&P 500 futures contracts were first introduced by the CME in 1982. The CME added the e-mini option in 1997."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S&P_futures
*Pssst* Scat, you missed the memo. Effective today at 6PM ET...
E-MINI S&P 500 FUTURES (ES)
Spec Increase USD old init 6,380 old maint 5,800 new init 6,600 new maint 6,000
Top of page 4 of the doc. Also note the NQ and YM increases as well at bottom of page 3...Knowledge is power! ( I usually post the relevant updates when I get them, but wasn't in the mood this go around. But it IS important info. Sorry for slacking.)
https://www.cmegroup.com/content/dam/cmegroup/notices/clearing/2018/09/Chadv18-374.pdf