Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Are You A Futures Trader? (Part II)

By Ahmad Hassam

Futures trading is done by most of the people like you and me who are interested in making money in the markets. Trading E-mini futures has become popular with many individual investors apart from professional traders and speculators who also trade other futures contracts. Buy low and sell high, is the basic premise in futures trading as it is in stock trading. You try to go long when the prices are low and go short when the prices are high.

What is different from stock trading is that you can trade futures with leverage on either long or the short positions. This introduces an additional element of risk not present in the stock market.

Another major difference that you need to know between futures trading and stock trading is that there is no uptick rule in futures trading. This means that you can easily enter into a position to capture a downward move in prices with no restriction unlike that in the stock market where you cannot short every stock. Thus, it is as easy to sell short as it is to buy long.

Even when you are not particularly good at it, how do you manage to survive at futures trading? The answer is simple. You should have the money first to open a margin account. Then you should have the ability to develop a trading plan that enables you to keep making money in the market long enough to capitalize your next big move. How do you become good at futures trading? By learning technical analysis!

So you wont last long in the market if you dont have a good trading plan. And you wont be able to trade futures if you dont have enough money. The chances are your money will quickly disappear if you start with a small trade size.

You must know this thing that 95% of the people trading futures lose money consistently. In order to start trading futures, you need to have at least $25,000 in your account. Off course, $5,000 is the minimum with which you can start trading futures.

When you start trading futures make sure that you understand the risks involved and that you go into trading futures contracts with realistic expectations. You can take advantage of the managed futures accounts if you are not sure how to handle the risk involved in futures trading.

Trading futures contracts is truly a hybrid that uses both fundamental and technical analysis. You need money, patience, knowledge and technology to be able to trade futures contracts successful. Only proceed ahead if you these skills in abundance.

The fundamental side of futures trading involves getting to know the industry in which you are making trades and the futures contract specifications and seasonal tendencies of the markets. You should also know the important report that you need to keep an eye on.

You will need to develop your own trading style whether it is momentum trading, scalping or swing trading. The technical side of futures trading tells you what the market will do in response to the fundamentals.

Once you know your trading goals, establish a trading plan for getting there. Dont try to conquer every type of analysis at once. Instead, focus on mastering one item at a time"maybe concentrating only on chart patterns such as bull and bear flags, for instance. - 22871

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