thoughts on commissions in futures

C

coolweb

Whats your thoughts on the commission collected on futures?

$4.50 round trip

10 contracts $4.50 per round trip
Controls $150,000

100 contracts $450 per round trip
Controls $1.5 mil


Do they effect your game plan, do you feel its a bit more then usual, If you had more capital

Would you trade SPY /QQQQ on 4x margin?

I believe the commissions are generally payment for the margin, Whats your thoughts on the commission scheme.


My opinion of Benefits of futures:
1) Low slippage
2) Instant shorts
3) Good for small capital

Non Benefits:
1) $45 per round trip for 10 contracts
$450 per round trip for 100 contracts

2) Leading the pack

Not really a non-benefit considering the margin you have

but I'd like to hear your thoughts on using both instruments if you have any :)
 
As far as commissions are concerned, it is always a question of what and how much. Will you only trade ES/NQ? How many turns per month (not sides... turns)? Have you considered other products? Are you swinging or scalping?
 
Hi Futurestrader,

Yes, I will only be trading NQ (no es) because thats the only place where I have some kind of edge of short term market prediction.

I usually intradaytrade , So I get around 4-5 signals a day.
Although I'm doing this as a full time job, I could take on as a scalper in the future.


I do around 4-5 round trips a day.
100-150 round trips a month
 
If you volume is really high, try CQG. You pay only the exchange fee per rt. I haven't used it yet.

There are 2 versions of CQG: CQG NET and CQG Trader

CQG NET- $545 monthly fee. Full charting and execution platform. No extra cost per contract. Can be used to track pit markets also, but there are additional exchange fees for the pits:

CME (Includes S&P, Emini, Meats, Futures Currencies, etc. no grains): $36.00
CBOT (Includes Grains, Bonds, etc.): $40.00
NYBOT (Includes Softs, Coffee, Sugar, Cocoa, OJ, etc.): $94.00
NYMEX (Includes Energies, Crude, Heating Oil, Nat Gas, etc.): $55.00

CQG Trader- $0.26 per round turn contract fee. No charting. Only used for electronic markets. $300 max monthly fee.
 
Quote from CoolTrader:


CQG Trader- $0.26 per round turn contract fee. No charting. Only used for electronic markets. $300 max monthly fee.
More...


I am on pace to do at the very least 5,000 RTs on YM per month. Currently I pay $ 4.82 per RT, and I know it is a bit high. Let me get this straight, by switching to CQG Trader, I would only have to pay $0.26 per RT?
 
Quote from Ripley:

I am on pace to do at the very least 5,000 RTs on YM per month. Currently I pay $ 4.82 per RT, and I know it is a bit high. Let me get this straight, by switching to CQG Trader, I would only have to pay $0.26 per RT?
More...

$0.26 is the commission, you have to pay the exch. fees. With the other plan, there is even no commission per rt.
 
Do you still have to use a broker? If so, who is the cheapest to use with CQG? I am thinking about using CQG Net. I thought CQG was just the platform and trading interface but you still must go through a broker and also pay the broker's fees. Please clarify.

Thanks so much!
Dina
 
Quote from coolweb:

Whats your thoughts on the commission collected on futures?

$4.50 round trip

10 contracts $4.50 per round trip
Controls $150,000

)
More...

Or try currencies. 1 contract is $125,000. So that would be 4.50 per turn for a pretty good hunk.

I mainly trade indices and I find commish a non issue. Commish is less than 1 tic, spread is always 1 tic. Much more important to focus on execution.


Might want to add tax advantages as another benny for futures. The main thing though is volatility and liquidity. Lack of market makers is pretty big too.

Jay
 
Quote from coolweb:

Whats your thoughts on the commission collected on futures?

$4.50 round trip

10 contracts $4.50 per round trip
Controls $150,000

100 contracts $450 per round trip
Controls $1.5 mil


Do they effect your game plan, do you feel its a bit more then usual, If you had more capital

Would you trade SPY /QQQQ on 4x margin?

I believe the commissions are generally payment for the margin, Whats your thoughts on the commission scheme.


My opinion of Benefits of futures:
1) Low slippage
2) Instant shorts
3) Good for small capital

Non Benefits:
1) $45 per round trip for 10 contracts
$450 per round trip for 100 contracts

2) Leading the pack

Not really a non-benefit considering the margin you have

but I'd like to hear your thoughts on using both instruments if you have any :)
More...

How did you arrive at "controls $150K"? Contract size of the NQ currently is approximately $30K, meaning 10 contracts would be $300K. $45 relative to $300K is low in my opinion.

That said, if I were you I'd be looking at the typical trade I might make, the profit generated on a gross basis, then comparing that to the commission cost to generate this profit over a period of time. I think the movement of the contract is more important than the size of the contract.

By the way, you forgot what I think is a significant advantage: there is a tax benefit to trading futures over stocks.

I'm still wondering too what "leading the pack" means in terms of a disadvantage.

CAzzaro
 
Quote from Ripley:

I am on pace to do at the very least 5,000 RTs on YM per month. ..
More...
No you don't.

Speaking out loud, why do you suppose there are so many people with fantasies on ET? Does seeing their own incredibly stupid posts on an internet forum somehow a turn on? What is the attraction to making an ass out of themselves? Do they do it for fun or for profit or, gawd, I am at a loss...

It is probably the same person over and over again that insits on coming back as the idiot with a new handle. Maybe it is Marketsurfer?

nitro :confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top