Trading Future for a living

Can some one tell me what will be a good broker for trading the futures as i am doing it for a living and I need to have the Best Software possible to scalp
I think X trader ( velocity futures ) is good and i checked out their web site the have 1 with $5000 free xtrader 1 with 10K and $650 exchange fess and the other one is like $20K with $1250 for all echange
Any one has expierence with them
 
sounds ike a plan that will create a learning experience.

Why not find a job to cover expenses and swing trade till you have about 300 - 500k.

It is much easier to make money when you are not scared of volatility. U have to be able to risk it to make it. grinding it will make your brokers living and most likely by a huge % cost you yours. best luck.
 
Which E-mini contract to trade should not be determined by anecdotal classification of the relative difficulty trading them but by the trader's style of trading, which hopefully relates to the nature of the price fluctuations of the particular contract.

NQ and ER2 are broad based and less likely to be distorted on the VST like the YM is pushed around at times.

The pulse of the market is in the ER2 and NQ and out of the two the ER2 is the best to trade because it oscillates rapidly.

I have not made a formal study of this but in my observation ER2 makes 8-10x as many $50 swings per day then the ES, NQ or YM (in fact I am trading ER for $40/moves at a clip).

For a VST trader trading ES is like watching paint dry . Huge numbers at bid ask limit the potential temporary surges and dips that provide the opportunities of profiting from frequent swings. Very often I am out of the trade in ER2 by the time the offer is lifted on ES.

If one was a swing trader any of the contracts would be suitable because the bid/ask is a very small percentage of the move.

While I prefer ER to the others what I find interesting about the YM is that because of the small tick value it has far more data points to build a tick or minute chart. For some people that could be an advantage.
 
gurucandidate

can you explain what you mean by this?

"If one was a swing trader any of the contracts would be suitable because the bid/ask is a very small percentage of the move."

sorry im just a newb trying to learn :D
 
the trading costs, which includes the spread, will be relatively small relative to the fluxuations the trader is attempting to capture. Or, you could say in swing trading, the average profit is large relative to costs. This makes it relatively easier to profit swing trading relative to day trading.
 
Well guy i have decided to open a account with $10K as lot of my friend who are traders say to start small cause sometime when u have a lot of money in your traing account you get very aggressive and might end up loosing a lot
i think stradgey runner is good for now to start with.
hopefully the market look,s good (bull market ) so let see what happen in a month till i start in feb
 
Hi Astrologer,

First congrats on taking the plunge!

I've been trading full time for the past year having quit my job.

Basically, I picked a firm which gave me really low day trade margins on the e-mini contracts ($500) and a reasonable margin on Dax contracts ($2000), in addition to reasonable RT commission costs. I like leverage!

My advice to you is not to risk more than 3% of your account size on any single trade. If a trade set up occurs and requires you to put your stop at a level in excess of 3%, then skip the trade or reduce the no. of contracts.

Also, I strongly suggest that you continue to research new trade set ups and paper trade them to see which suit you. The same goes for charting software and indicators. Sign up for lots of free trials and keep an open mind, but remember:-

THERE IS NO HOLY GRAIL

when it comes to trading indicators/systems.

Good Luck!
 
Always plan and prepare for the day. Do not roll your ass out of your bed put on a cup of coffee and start trading. This is a business, treat it as such. Set a MAX daily loss and stick to it. Write your plan down on paper and read it before you trade EVERY day. Post stickies on your monitors reminding you of your plan...... It sounds stupid, but you and your bank account will thank me later.
 
Quote from Walther:

My advice was to papertrade NQ,YM and ER first and when profitable then move to ES . I should have write it more clearly .
More...

Dont touch ER2. Trade YM till you're good at it.
 
Sorry to be the realist here, but if you've never traded before, and you're starting with $10k, expecting to make a living out of day trading, you're almost certainly going to lose the lot.

Unfortunately that is just how most people learn to trade, by losing money. Me, I only learned my lessons when it cost me dear.

One can barely exercise good risk control on such a small account, which is imperative to your survival.

Again, I'm not trying to piss on your bonfire, but don't beat yourself up too much if you can't turn $10k in to $100,000 within your first year.

Good luck.
 
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