Variance Futures

I find it amazing that you look at the margin requirement to decide whether you should trade it or not. I mean, this would be the last (well, ok not exactly the last) thing I would look at. The more important thing for me is whether there's an opportunity in a particular instrument or not, but that's just me...
 
I don't get it when you mean opportunity, there are always opportunities when trading any instrument, I just would prefer the e mini sp. Mainly because i'm been trading the XSP weeklys.
 
Sure there are, but that doesn't mean I can see it. In other words, if I see an opportunity then I'll trade it, and if I don't see it then I won't trade it.

Maybe opportunity is not the right word, but the point is that the margin requirement shouldn't be high on the list of things to consider before trading a new instrument.
 
i agree with you, however i may be trading a new instrument, but I'm still trading the same index, and trading the XSP weeklys is pretty damn risky considering you have to hold trades longer because of the larger spreads. If i see an opportunity to trade the E mini sp, it's not physically possible to open an account to trade futures quick enough to participate in whatever move I'm predicting.

Today I bought XSP at .80 and sold at 1.40, thats almost 100% gain, the spx went from 1403 to 1419, thats 16 points. With a margin of 500 I could of made about a 150% return. Not only that but with options i have to hold onto my trades to make up for the high spreads caused by lower liquidity.

So I'm sure you can see why I would see e mini's more appealing

And i may sound like some cocky kid who thinks he wants to make fast money, but i've been trading for 2 years, went to homeschool so i could trade, watched the market everyday, and lost a lot of money earned at $7.50 dollars an hour. In the past two months i started trading the weeklys, and it's been the best decision i've made yet... until of course I start trading futures
 
Osorico first-glance checklist...

1) IB for Pension/GHCO

2) fairly deep product offering

3) low intraday margins

4) 1 ES RT all-in costs $4.30 - $6.15 dependant on monthly volume, not including platform fees.

5) Night trading desk fee

6) Maintenance fee for low account balance and/or monthly trading activity.

7) Low account minimum. Account value determines market access and platform choices.


My opinion... WAY too expensive! But a nice web site.

Osorico
 
MTE, is there a way to trade variance swaps over an exchange? thought this was strictly an otc type thing that banks and hedgies enter into. just curious, not interested in trading em!
 
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