WHY FUTURES AT S&P500?
As is known, a futures contract is a contract on supply of any commodity with maturity. A contractââ¬â¢s parameters are determined on an exchange. Futures contracts first existed historically on a commodity exchange (soy-beans, sugar, gold, oil etc)
As the futures market adapted to financial instruments in 1970s, this resulted in reversal of opinions on futures trade. In 1982 exchange trade of futures started on the basis of a stock index. The trade developed most successfully on the basis of ëStandard & Poor's 500û index, which is quite logical as the index itself has been one of the key tools of market situation analysis (market ëbarometerû) and at which all the players in the market have been focused. And when it transformed from an analysis tool into a speculation tool, all the trained attendance actively participated in tenders. Therefore, trade in futures contracts attracts not only hedgers but numerous profiteers tempted by small initial margin as percentage (about 5-10% of the current value of a contract), and, consequently, by an opportunity to use a large ëlegû.
Thus, a great number of profiteers using that instrument ensure three main qualities of the instrument:volatility, liquidity, forecastability which in turn determine our interest to S&P500 and e-mini S&P.
Contract specification for e-mini S&P:
Futures contracts at S&P index are traded by contracts: December, March, June and September. A contract lasts for 3 months.
Official dates of S&P contracts expiry: Mar 20/3, Jun 20/6, Sep 19/9, Dec 19/12
A process of a contract replacement starts a week before the official date; it is not recommended to trade.
Marginal security for e-mini S&P contracts: from 2 250$ to 4 500$ per 1 contract. 3500$ on the average.
Tick level is 0.25, tick cost is 12.5 dollars. Thus, a cost of market movement at a position size is determined as 1 lot:
For example: change in price from 880 to 890 is 10 dollars (figure), which is 40 ticks and 500 dollars accordingly.
Some conclusions of observation practice and conducting of trade operations
1. Contracts are the best traded within the first 2 months: regular deals are practically conducted every day. More complicated deals with pass of 2-3$ are conducted within the last month. During that period it is recommended to trade especially cautiously as a lot of rating prices are formed at the end of a contract.
2. When the volume of a contract achieves over 300 000 lots, a price benchmark is levels of volumes registered within the last week and the week before last.
3. Transition to a new contract occurs within the last week of a contract, so it is not recommended to trade during this period. It is not recommended to trade on news days, namely when news from Federal Reserve and unemployment reports are published.
4. Following the trade within an ëimpulseû (with strong movement) hour, it is necessary to make a break of 2-3 hours. As a rule, a day more ââ¬Åinertââ¬Â, accumulating or corrective follows after a trend day.
Platform tools used to analyze a market situation:
counters: All prices, volume search, aggregate, daily minutes
diagrams: Bar chart ( 60 min, 10 min, 1 min) cluster chart ( 60 min, 30 min, 5 min), combo bar ( week, day, time),
Action algorithm when it is analyzed a situation before tenders:
1.Determine rating price levels (i.e. levels of significant volume indicators; usually, the first 5 prices in rating ââ¬ÅAll pricesââ¬Â) with using volume counters at different time spans. (Study the last month period, two weeks, the last week, the last two days from the beginning of a week). Numerical values of volume indicators are also a subject of the analysis.
2.Plot significant levels on a Bar chart. (Analyze charts for a day, 60 min, 10 min) and Combo bar (week, day)
3.Analyze a response of the market to key levels in the past and determine presence (absence) of a trend, its development degree.
4.According to item 3, determine actions priority for a forthcoming tender period.
5.Set price levels, probable entry points and targets.
Any decisions are made on the basis of analysis which purpose is to estimate probabilities and to determine the point with probability of occurrence of the event planned by us of not less than 80%. You have already familiarized with the brief action algorithm above. Now we will consider in details all the parameters of systemic analytical approach.
There are several basic levels in the systemic approach to an analysis of any financial instrument, and in particular, to S&P500 index:
1.Time (analyze behavior, nature of trades, price ranges, volume indicators and other parameters within different time periods, starting from the background in the case of speculative deals: 3-6 months, and ending with short time periods: 1 hour, 30, 15 minutes).
2.Trend (presence/absence, arising, extinction of a trend within any time period)
3.Outlining of action priority (buying/sale).
4.Price benchmarks (to enter into a deal, forecast of target, fixing of a deal)
Having analyzed the market situation for each of the levels, we sum up the data and get that entry point with a large probability value (up to 90%) of the event planned by us.
We will consider in details in this course titled ëdevelopment of trade strategies for S&P500û the peculiarities of analysis, planning and conducting of trade operations using this instrument in the contents of operation procedure on the basis of data for volumes. (We will consider as the theory of operation with volume indicators integrates in the systemic analytical approach, enriches it and places on a new level, which enables to optimize a trading process). How to find an entry point with the larger probability of an expected event with using the functions and advantages of VOLFIX platform. All academic schemes and theoretical postulates of the method would be visually confirmed with some examples of actual trade cases.
Before we move to the detailed consideration of that how volume indicators are analyzed, treated and used at each of the systemic levels (i.e., operation at relations: volumes-time, volumesââ¬âdirection, volumes-action priorities, volumes-price benchmarks), we will repeat the fundamentals of procedure for working on the basis of data pertaining to volumes, with which you are familiar from the initial training course (should you not be familiar with this course, it will be necessary to be trained under it before you start with the given course):
First fundamental:a volume indicator reflects a degree of intensity or strength of price policy, a risk degree in this or that price range for market players. An increase in volume evidences of rising of the pressure on prices, which forces them to change.
Second fundamental:adecrease in pressure due to buyers/sellers is first detected with volume indicators before it directly reflects in a price tendency (hence, forecast significance of volume indicators). Thus, the scheme ââ¬Åvolume-priceââ¬Â works.
Third fundamental: those the most interesting in terms of analysis are maximal volume indicators forming the very levels of support/resistance, well known from the concepts of technical analysis. The market moves from one level of maximal volumes to the other one, and this rule is held for various time periods.
Should those fundamentals have been realized and tested by you, then we will move to consideration of development of trade strategies for S&P500. THUS:
çVOLUMES-TIME (work with volume indicators at different time intervals):
Time is a key parameter when a situation is analyzed and a decision is made. The market axiom exists not without reason: ëit is important not what to buy or sell but WHEN to buy or sell.û
Time determines the market rhythm (impulse-pauseââ¬âimpulse).
When operating with futures in general and particularly with S&P futures, time is extremely important as the tool is volatile enough and there is ââ¬Åleverage effectââ¬Â here as for all futures instruments. Therefore, selection of RIGHT TIME to conclude a deal is extremely necessary (and is critically important for deposits of less than 100ÃÅ¡). Having become familiar with the rules and key principles of operation at relation ëvolumesââ¬â timeû, you will be able to avoid mistakes when entering into deals and considerably optimize your trade system.