IB for futures

[DAEtrader]

Hey traders,I was wondering if there were traders here that trade the S&P Emini thru IB and what there thoughts were? as far as effectiveness,speed and such.

thanks for any feedback,
dae

 

[Dustin]

I just started trading nasdaq 100 e-minis through IB last week. I'm very impressed so far. No connection problems or errors to date. I get market order fills in about 1-2 seconds, and figure that s&p eminis would be faster if anything.

 

[HawaiianTrader]

Hi Dustin,

who are you using for charts ? And if Q-charts what server are you using ? Are you daytrading the e-minis ?

I'm still having missing data with the Nasdaq mini's using 1min' charts. Guess I'll call them again and see what they can do.

Thank's again, Andy

 

[Dustin]

I run CyberTrader (daytrade stock), IB (daytrade eminis), and Qcharts for charting. Qcharts always has data problems, but for the most part it works. I use 2 and 5 min charts in Qcharts...1 min is too choppy for me. I'm using the snyvale-r01 server right now.

 

[HawaiianTrader]

Thanks Dustin,

it's a shame Elite doesn't have chat anymore

Andy

 

[Dustin]

I'm on AIM during most trading days. My nick is dust247. IM me anytime.

 

[warlad]

Hi, does anyone here know how to see the dept of the futures market using IB Java trader workstation ?

 

[andrasnm]

Hi there, what is the margin or account size optimal to
1-2 emini contracts ? If daytrade ????

 

[def]

warlad,
the market depth is not yet available on the java version. it should be available soon. on tws 3.0 order depth is available.

andrasm,
E-Mini S&P 500 (ES) current margin is $4,313 and maint margin is $3,450.

E-Mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) current margin is $6,750 with maintenance at $5,400.

In the end how much you need to put in above the initial margin probably depends on how disciplined you'd be in cutting losses and how bothered you'll be if you get liquidated in the event of a sudden move. As long as you're closing out positions each day and thus are not subject to overnight risk, initial margin should be enough under normal circumstances. However, with the current volatility and swift moves, that may not be enough. IB requires 6575 to open a futures only account, and 20K for a futures/options account.

BTW, if any of you are looking for a fairly volatile market to trade after US hours you may want to look at the HSI (Hong Kong) futures.

 

[Dustin]

def,

I tried to get the HSI futures in TWS but got the error that "the security "HSI" is not available for this account". I have a futures only account. What am I doing wrong?