Trading Index Futures via MetaTrader 4

[expiated]

Having fully developed a system which enables me to buy and sell foreign currency pairs for daily profits, I recently turned my attention to applying the same methodology to purchasing Nadex 20-minute in-the-money binary option contracts—again with a very positive outcome.

So, if I am able to duplicate in my live account results similar to what I have been experiencing in my demo account, I am likely to eventually want to expand my activity to include additional financial instruments, which is why I am now interested in determining how much money I would need to trade index futures via a MetaTrader 4 platform, as well as answering such questions as... How much money would I make (or lose) for each unit of change in the various U.S. and foreign indices? Etc.

Hence, this journal is where I plan to record the answers to such questions as I figure them out, not to mention any other related details that insert themselves in the process.

 

[expiated]

Tuesday / February 22, 2022 / 7:20 AM PST

My original plan was to get the following information after putting on one trade, but I forgot to go back and get the figures until I had already sold both the SPX500 and the US30 using 0.01 Volume in both instances.

So at that point, my account balance had dropped from $1190.99 to $1172.18, a difference of $18.81. I forgot to check to see where Equity stood at the time, but Free Margin fell from $1190.99 to $626.43, a difference of $470.56.

I sold US30 @ 34003.42 and exited at 33959, a difference of 44.36, and the payout was $44.36, so the platform was giving me $1.00 per each (whole) unit.

I sold SPX500 @ 4358.39 and exited at 4347.6, a difference of 10.79, and my return was $10.79, so again, MT4 gave me $1.00 per each whole unit.


UPDATE:

I just sold US30 a second time, and in this instance, the balance has not changed for some reason. It was $1227.23 both before and after I executed the trade.

Margin is at $169.77, so I am going to very roughly estimate that each position I enter will require approximately $200 Free Margin, which changes as I am in a trade and is currently fluctuating around $1062.14. Of course, Equity is fluctuating as well, and I assume this is taking place in the amount of $1.00 per (whole) unit.

 

[rb7]

Tuesday / February 22, 2022 / 7:20 AM PST

My original plan was to get the following information after putting on one trade, but I forgot to go back and get the figures until I had already sold both the SPX500 and the US30 using 0.01 Volume in both instances.

So at that point, my account balance had dropped from $1190.99 to $1172.18, a difference of $18.81. I forgot to check to see where Equity stood at the time, but Free Margin fell from $1190.99 to $626.43, a difference of $470.56.

I sold US30 @ 34003.42 and exited at 33959, a difference of 44.36, and the payout was $44.36, so the platform was giving me $1.00 per each (whole) unit.

I sold SPX500 @ 4358.39 and exited at 4347.6, a difference of 10.79, and my return was $10.79, so again, MT4 gave me $1.00 per each whole unit.

What trading instrument are you referring to?
SPX500 is the index, but it doesn't trade by itself.

 

[expiated]

What trading instrument are you referring to?
SPX500 is the index, but it doesn't trade by itself.

All I know is that I am trading via the MetaTrader 4 platform provided by my broker, and under the "Market Watch" menu, it offers the Symbol SPX500 (for the S&P 500 Index) from inside the "Indices" file.

 

[tiddlywinks]

All I know is that I am trading via the MetaTrader 4 platform provided by my broker. Under the "Market Watch" menu, it offers the Symbol SPX500 (for the S&P 500 Index) from inside the "Indices" file.

I have seen/heard symbols SPX500 and US30 used with CFD's.

Shame on you for not knowing/understanding what the hell you are doing!!

 

[expiated]

Shame on you for not knowing/understanding what the hell you are doing!!

That's what this thread is all about. However, I don't need your negativity, so you are now on my ignore list.

 

[expiated]

In finance, a contract for difference (CFD) is a contract between two parties, typically described as "buyer" and "seller," stipulating that the buyer will pay to the seller the difference between the current value of an asset and its value at contract time.

A contract for differences (CFD) is a financial contract that pays the differences in the settlement price between the open and closing trades. CFDs essentially allow investors to trade the direction of securities over the very short-term and are especially popular in FX and commodities products.

 

[rb7]

In finance, a contract for difference (CFD) is a contract between two parties, typically described as "buyer" and "seller," stipulating that the buyer will pay to the seller the difference between the current value of an asset and its value at contract time.

A contract for differences (CFD) is a financial contract that pays the differences in the settlement price between the open and closing trades. CFDs essentially allow investors to trade the direction of securities over the very short-term and are especially popular in FX and commodities products.

Ok fair enough.
The title thread is a bit misleading then.
I have no idea about the differences in trading futures vs CFD (hope you do!).

If you're trading CFDs and want to learn about trading futures, not sure if that will get you there.

I have personally no interest in CFDs. So I'll just stop following this thread.

I wish you best of luck.

 

[expiated]

For anyone who, like rb7, finds the title of this journal misleading and does not understand why I would trade CFDs if I want to learn about trading index futures, let me explain...

When I trade Forex, or index, or commodity binary options at NADEX (the North American Derivative Exchange), I am not trading the actual currency pairs, indices, or precious metals. Rather, I am trading their derivatives.

Derivatives are instruments for trading whose price is based on the price movement of some other market. That market may be a futures contract, a forex pair, an economic number, or a price index. Derivatives can even be based on intangible numbers like the weather (temperature, precipitation, storms), the price of real estate or mortgages.

Consequently, when I trade Forex binary options through Nadex, I use my MT4 charts, where I rely on my own custom-designed proprietary indicators to interpret market activity, because the Forex derivatives essentially copy the exact same price action as observed in the actual Forex market.

At this point, I do not know at all, but I suspect that CDFs function in a similar manner. Note that the title of this journal is Trading Index Futures via MetaTrader 4. So, the reason that, from my perspective, trading SPX500, NAS100, US30, JPN225, GER30 or UK100 is tantamount to trading an index future is because these CFDs exhibit the exact same price action (more-or-less) as the future indices themselves.

Therefore, if any of the ET moderators want to change the title of this journal to "Trading Replicas of Index Futures," that would be fine by me.

 

[Overnight]

...and does not understand why I would trade CFDs if I want to learn about trading index futures, let me explain...
...trading SPX500, NAS100, US30, JPN225, GER30 or UK100 is tantamount to trading an index future is because these CFDs exhibit the exact same price action (more-or-less) as the future indices themselves...

If the price action is a direct replica of the futures themselves, then why not just trade the futures themselves?