I agree completely with Dustin ----- in most cases, NQ leads the COMPQ by up to a full minute, as it takes that long to calculate the new value of COMPQ based on what the individual stocks in it are doing. The futures ----- NQ and ES ----are amazingly accurate leading indicators of where the indexes are going, and in day trading, you can't afford to surrender the advantage of the 10-60 seconds lead time the futures give you.