Quote from Dominic:
Thinking about opening an account either with CyberTrader or IB to trade E Minis; anyone have any input as to the better firm for futures?
Thanks
Dominic
Quote from biologymajor:
Neither one. Bad deals. I think cybertrader has around 3000.00 margins. They don't have discounted margins like their competitors.
It's been a while since I checked into their margin fee's, so I could be wrong. But that's what cybertrader use to charge when they first started offering emini's.
Plenty of brokers offerering 500.00 competitive margins. Not sure why other brokers are charging more than their competition for contracts. Seems silly to me. But maybe there is a reason to charge more than 500.00.
Quote from def:
A strong argument can be made that firms allowing only $500 margins to cover volatile futures contracts are potentially allowing for over leverage and anyone who can only afford to place $500 in margin shouldn't be trading futures.
IB offers 50% of exchange margin, virtually 24 hour trading a stable platform, excellent fills, interest on funds etc etc. It also doesn't hurt that the firm's capital base is very strong.
Quote from def:
A strong argument can be made that firms allowing only $500 margins to cover volatile futures contracts are potentially allowing for over leverage and anyone who can only afford to place $500 in margin shouldn't be trading futures.

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
IB is pretty much the gold standard around here, certainly for electronically trade futures.
I don't think it is an advantage for your broker to offer $500 intraday margin for ES. You might be tempted to use it one day. Also, it ramps up the chances of the firm blowing out and leaving your funds in limbo. There is no SIPC for futures.
Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
IB is pretty much the gold standard around here, certainly for electronically trade futures.
I don't think it is an advantage for your broker to offer $500 intraday margin for ES. You might be tempted to use it one day. Also, it ramps up the chances of the firm blowing out and leaving your funds in limbo. There is no SIPC for futures.