"...Am I missing what the stock traders see or have they just not found futures yet?"
I think for the majority, trading stocks is psychologically easier, since one can envision owning a position in a company, one that has prospects for the future, etc., much like betting on a horse. If the timing is not exact, that is OK, for one can always change the time horizon from "trade" to "investment" and not have to admit defeat, rationalizing that "in the long run, the market always goes up", notwithstanding the fact that the S&P is not representative of the "long-run market", since the losers are routinely dropped from the index, and winners are inserted in their place. One cannot do this with futures. There is no psychological comfort, no hope.
Also, most people who trade stocks are only there during hot markets when it's a fad, and therefore, do not learn about shorting, and perhaps never learn any trading techniques in general for all I know. Futures traders simply see a short sale as an upside down flipped up chart. It's a much different mind set. I noticed in my career at the firm, that clients were always hot in hot markets, since the uptrend bailed them out of every error, but when the market was not hot, the fingers were always pointed at the broker, the market, "the boys", the market makers, the politicians, the company, etc.
I could go on and on, but I am sure I'll be shot for this one.
:0)
Teresa |
