Thought i'd pose the question to all paper panzies out there... What the hell are Feb 2013 (G13) Gold Futures? and could you pls make sense of the name for me? like is there something called Mar 2013 Gold Futures? and what would the code be? G14? :lol:
Gold futures are annotated with a code, i.e, GCG13, which is the current CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) code for Feb 2013. The actual current futures contract (GCZ12) is still traded but by now most futures traders have moved over to the higher volume Feb 13 contract. March is GCH13. They are traded globally over a 24 hour period with a couple of small breaks to let the computers balance everything up. They don't trade at weekends but do open on a Sunday at about 6PM Chicago time. To chart gold (or any other future, you can also use an @GC symbol, which is what's called a continuous contract. You can't actually trade that, you still need the correct GCxxx code. Other similar futures contracts that you may have heard of are ES (S&P500), NQ (Nasdaq), CL (Oil), etc. Unless you specialise in a particular commodity, ES, NQ or maybe GC are the most liquid, especially during US stockmarket open hours. I trade gold and the S&P at the moment via futures. You could use CFDs but spreads are a bit silly in Aus, but still doable. Check out http://www.cmegroup.com and if you want to start trading http://www.tradestation.com/ will take some beating.
thanks jparrie. I figured I may as well also enjoy some gambling investing on the sideline with futures contracts etc.. i've been saving me lunch money up for such a special occasion, so that when i lose it i wont have to explain anything to my boss wife :lol:
You'll need a bit more than your lunch money Yip! You'll need iron guts too, if Futures trading doesn't scare you you ain't human.
+1 for iron guts. One year when I was heavily trading the SPI I turned over $6M worth of contracts on a $10K account. Made a bomb, had a lot of fun, but you are tied to the markets constantly watching - and in those days there were no internet trading platforms, so it felt like I was constantly on the phone to my broker. These days, CFD's on an internet platform make trading much easier and a lot more relaxing & enjoyable.
Did you say you made millions of 10k?? I have no idea when it comes to this sort of stuff, I probably read it wrong. But that sounds amazing
No, not made millions from $10K - turned over $M's. But I made multiples of my $10K account. With the right strategy and risk management, it is very achievable - but it takes a bit of effort.
Don't know how you managed without a proper platform, you must be a very talented trader. How long did you hold a trade for on average? Have you seen today's platforms? Ninja and Tradestation are unreal (plus many others). The thing I like about futures is you know pretty much instantly if you are right or wrong, most trades of mine last only a few minutes, so for me it is purely day trading. I haven't been able to find even a half decent broker in Aus though. CMC aren't too bad but their spreads still don't compete with o/s spreads. It would be nice to find a bunch of people who were into this in Aus, any company promoting Futures here I've found has just been full of BS and hype.
Not talented - merely disciplined, and prepared with a fairly strict strategy and risk management plan that I stuck to. On average I would hold my positions for 1-2 days. Although I had Metastock, I would chart the markets I actively traded by hand with pencil on A3 1mm graph paper - every single day. It is amazing how much of a "feel" you get for the character of each market when you chart by hand. Every single morning and night (at a minimum) I'd call my broker to lodge orders or to move stops - you would get to know him pretty well. Nowadays I find CFD's really convenient and haven't looked at futures since I started with CFD's. I don't think the spreads are too bad - but I tend to trade on a longer time-frame than yourself, so they are less significant.
I've been pondering your statement for a while now...do you know what the fail rate is for traders? Apparently it's huge, people blow their entire accounts quite regularly. That's why I reckon you must be far better than you think. To make several hundred percent on your account is pretty rare. I bet you have a military background. I think the problem is that most people either don't have any strategy or risk management in place before they start or they break their own rules which eventually leads to a catastrophic loss. Clearly you don't suffer from this disability. I spent months on a sim before I started for real. I know sims aren't 'real' in the sense that slippage and order execution can severely affect the actual outcome of a trade (for very short-term trades), but it taught me very valuable lessons in risk management that I've successfully taken into real world trading. Another thing I've learned is to ignore just about every price-following indicator there is and concentrate on price action and volume. That way I can see what the professionals and amateurs are doing at any point by looking at average trade size. That is a great indicator of a possible change in trend and can be very profitable. The amateurs get it wrong most of the time, while the pros set the trend. Follow the pros!
You are exactly right. If you have an effective strategy/system and solid risk management method that you stick to unequivocally, you can't blow up your account - simple as that. If your account blows up, then you either lacked an effective strategy, risk management, or discipline to stick to your own rules. Anyone who tells you any different does not really understand effective trading. Lots of failures will be blamed on market manipulation, playing against professionals, unforeseen events, leverage risk, blah, blah, blah, etc. but in the end, I can guarantee the problem will have been one of the above 3 points. I was lucky I had a great mentor when I started trading who pounded into me the importance of discipline and risk management. I had a few "tutorial fees" (losses) early on, but learned quickly. I still analyse and scrutinise my own trades today to keep myself on the straight and narrow, ensure my system is still valid, and ensure my trades are still inline with my system. Btw I have never been military, but engineering tends to lend itself well to meticulously analysing trading results and systems
