Newbie Needs Help

[mechmanuk]

Hello, please help me out here as im a little confused and thick,lol

Basically what i want to know is can i buy and sell futures? like the dow, nasdaq, dax & the ftse. I think these are called Indices?
But i want to buy or sell them at the realtime price (not spreadbetting) but i dont know if i can do this online? if i can where do i start looking for the best broker (i have the charts so thats not a prob)

Any advise would be greatly appreciated to help me get started.

 

[DepthTangent]

Try typing into google "emini futures" or "ftse futures" or "e mini futures"

You will find a list of many brokers with start up costs of as little as 500$ for account deposits.

Also there is ofcourse the Chicago Mercantile Exchange www.cme.com

 

[dcarrigan]

Hello, please help me out here as im a little confused and thick,lol

Basically what i want to know is can i buy and sell futures? like the dow, nasdaq, dax & the ftse. I think these are called Indices?
But i want to buy or sell them at the realtime price (not spreadbetting) but i dont know if i can do this online? if i can where do i start looking for the best broker (i have the charts so thats not a prob)

Any advise would be greatly appreciated to help me get started.

to trade the dow mini $5 you would need $2437 per contract + $1950 maintenance in account.
i was quoted approx £10,000 to start trading. can find ones with less for daytrading. was tempted by go futures. good platform but not sure about giving £10,000 to a usa company.

 

[mechmanuk]

thanks guys, can i assume then with these emini? futures i can trade with the realtime prices and not get stung with the spreads on the spreadbetting platforms?

 

[dcarrigan]

thanks guys, can i assume then with these emini? futures i can trade with the realtime prices and not get stung with the spreads on the spreadbetting platforms?

yes real prices. may be worth looking at futures betting as they give you live prices but add a bit to the spread for there com.downside is£5,000 deposit. they only trade 6.30am to 10pm mon to fri. butit is spread betting so no tax. think futures from usa are taxable.

 

[DepthTangent]

Yes account deposit is closer to 3000$ + dependent on who you decide to trade with, my apologies.

500$ is generally the lowest level of margin required to daytrade.

If the US economy crashes, like many people seem to think will happen in the not too distant future, then its possible that account balances with some US based brokerages will disapeer down the swanny aswell. Although this is only my personal opinion.

 

[dcarrigan]

Yes account deposit is closer to 3000$ + dependent on who you decide to trade with, my apologies.

500$ is generally the lowest level of margin required to daytrade.

If the US economy crashes, like many people seem to think will happen in the not too distant future, then its possible that account balances with some US based brokerages will disapeer down the swanny aswell. Although this is only my personal opinion.

i have a account, not with a usa company, my dollar profits seem to be in a differant account and even though i havent traded the past week its £ value keeps falling with the dollar .about £25 has vanished this week.

 

[mechmanuk]

thanks guys, ill do a little more reading now lol. The funds arnt the problem i just dont know which way to go? which company etc etc. thanks again

 

[rog1111]

mechmanuk

You are right to consider futures, a far better route IMO, try http://www.interactivebrokers.com

rog1111

thanks guys, ill do a little more reading now lol. The funds arnt the problem i just dont know which way to go? which company etc etc. thanks again