HG, ask a lot of questions. I don't have near the experience that so many do on this thread but have been trading equities and options online for more then 5 years and futures online for more then a year. What had started out as browser based access to place futures trades, and having little or no advantage over a phone call, has now matured to where todays technology can be an edge for a smaller trader.
I have scanned this thread for sometime and will say that SE is right about the LFG executions into Globex. With the mini, in which I trade much of the time, executions with confirmations are around 3-10 seconds. The large contract is not as fast, but still faster then a phone call for me. I have yet to trade the Dow contract, so have no experience there. I'm sure other IB's with competitive access software may be great trading platforms as well.
I know the debate will continue about the cost of comish trading the mini vs the large contract, but in my limited experience I have found the slippage in the large contract to be a factor as well for a small contract trader. I will add, my level of comish charged through my introducing broker into LFG is less then those mentioned here. This may be due to volume as I am an active trader in the mini. Commission has always been a negotiable item in all my trading acts fwiw. One other thought of mine that applies to my trading- if the comish is the difference between success and failure, maybe I should pursue another vocation!! <g>
I have held two futures acts in the event I were to ever have to offset due to the unknown, but have become very confident with my most active act and this I/B. Also, I have one broker in Chicago, and one in CA, and the locations of their offices have made no difference at all for me. I'm a long way from both! Perhaps with a large act needing access to the floor arbs, this would be an issue. That is not an issue for me.
As a newer futures trader, the support and access to help and questions has value. It may be a question of stop placement of a contract never traded, or an explanation of order routing. Or even systems questions that a firm may support of have knowledge in. For me, its the continued education that will allow for successful and sustainable trading over a lifetime that is important.
Tom has a great thread here and I have found it be a very valuable resource. Thank you all.
Good luck!
nextrade! |
