Starter Account Size for Emini S&P?

[austinp]

<i>"1 contract per $50k"</i>

Totally meaningless. If you have the developed skills to make money in emini trading, $2,000 initial balance is more than enough. If you lack the developed skills to aptly trade, $1 million initial balance will never go one penny higher.

The only thing that matters is your ability to make money in real time with real money. If you are just starting out to learn the ropes, you will blow out that account or one several times bigger.

One never, ever "learns while they earn". Instead, you will surely "learn while you burn" if starting with real money.

Papertrades and sim come first.

 

[therandbman]

Quote from CollegeTrader:

My feeling is if you can trade you can start with 1,000. Sounds crazy but why risk 20,000 if your just starting out in futures. I have heard of many who have succeded with less money more frequently than those who did. How so? with little money you cant afford to screw around and take those lets see what happens trades. Secondly if and when you grow your account to 20+ thousand you did so by trading and learning, not by funding. And if your going to blow up im sure it hurts more to lose 20 k rather than a few thousand. There are many cases where people stared with nothing and grew there account modestly over time. Best advice i can give is get on a demo and treat it as you would with only a few thousand dollars trading 1 contract. The goal is to limit your exposure while looking for trades that offer the best opportunity. Asking how much to start with varies. Some people have the talent and eat breath and sleep this stuff and to those people who take trading with a failure is not an option approach can probably do fine with less than 5k starting. while others may need the comfort of 20+ thousand. I might get attacked for this post but i can care less. Best trading to you.

 

[osorico]

Quote from EminitraderDM:

My Plan

5k Starting Balance
(1 point stops, 5point daily profit target net)

Add: 1 contract for every 5k net accumulated up to 5 Contracts

Add: 6th Contract when 60k net operating capital has been acheived. 1 contract per 10k up to 10 contracts and 100k.

Then maybe 20 contracts when 200k has been achieved, who knows...

Your plan will not work.

If you need to ask why you have already failed. But I will give you a clue... You do not have the discipline and you are focused on the wrong side of your expectation. It is not about the account size. As someone else alluded, $500 or $500,000, if you can trade, you can trade.

Osorico

 

[EminitraderDM]

Quote from austinp:

<i>"1 contract per $50k"</i>

Totally meaningless. If you have the developed skills to make money in emini trading, $2,000 initial balance is more than enough. If you lack the developed skills to aptly trade, $1 million initial balance will never go one penny higher.

The only thing that matters is your ability to make money in real time with real money. If you are just starting out to learn the ropes, you will blow out that account or one several times bigger.

One never, ever "learns while they earn". Instead, you will surely "learn while you burn" if starting with real money.

Papertrades and sim come first.

I definatley agree with that.

 

[EminitraderDM]

Quote from osorico:

Your plan will not work.

If you need to ask why you have already failed. But I will give you a clue... You do not have the discipline and you are focused on the wrong side of your expectation. It is not about the account size. As someone else alluded, $500 or $500,000, if you can trade, you can trade.

Osorico

Thanks for the reply...im no more enlightened then before you posted. Try explaining the reason for your objection...

 

[Wayne Gibbous]

Quote from EminitraderDM:

My Plan

5k Starting Balance
(1 point stops, 5point daily profit target net)

Add: 1 contract for every 5k net accumulated up to 5 Contracts

Add: 6th Contract when 60k net operating capital has been acheived. 1 contract per 10k up to 10 contracts and 100k.

Then maybe 20 contracts when 200k has been achieved, who knows...

Who's your broker? Because this won't work with IB (currently):

GLOBEX ES E-mini S&P 500 ES - initial:6188, overnight maint: 4950 USD

 

[EminitraderDM]

Quote from Wayne Gibbous:

Who's your broker? Because this won't work with IB (currently):

GLOBEX ES E-mini S&P 500 ES - initial:6188, overnight maint: 4950 USD

There are so many brokers still offering 400 and 500 dollar margins. You guys need to dump the gold digger girlfriends (so to speak) and find some one new.

AMP Futures
http://www.ampfutures.com/margins_ninjazen.html (just got off the phone with these guys, Emini S&P 500, $400 intraday)

Velocity Futures
http://www.velocityfutures.com/products_traded.html

 

[marketsurfer]

As little as possible. lessons learned from refco, et al should have been learned!

 

[Wayne Gibbous]

Maybe, but there are also some brokers/clearing biz's going under. And more to come.

You might get a fraction back after the litigation. Stick with a real broker like IB.

You're welcome.

 

[marketsurfer]

Quote from austinp:

<i>"1 contract per $50k"</i>

Totally meaningless. If you have the developed skills to make money in emini trading, $2,000 initial balance is more than enough. If you lack the developed skills to aptly trade, $1 million initial balance will never go one penny higher.

The only thing that matters is your ability to make money in real time with real money. If you are just starting out to learn the ropes, you will blow out that account or one several times bigger.

One never, ever "learns while they earn". Instead, you will surely "learn while you burn" if starting with real money.

Papertrades and sim come first.

100% correct. the only ones who push you to fill the account are the brokers thenselves, the very ones who stand to profit most from your churning--more money, more commissions for them.

wake up!

surf