Commodities Brokers

[Trembling Hand]

If futures have a higher margin requirement, that means more of the account is set aside for margin requirements.

But why does that matter when you have to have more than the minimum margin to cover an adverse move without being stopped out.

Show us how you position size a trade, if you cannot see why margin doesn't matter I will then show you why.

Dont people prefer lower commissions?

Oh dear!! CFDs do not have lower commissions. They have extremely high hidden commissions

[tom82]

Cant see why they would be hidden.

Most brokers have a list of their cfds with their respective commissions on their website and they have available any other information regarding fees and charges and any formulas that may be required.

They also have PDS and FSG.

Oh dear!! CFDs do not have lower commissions. They have extremely high hidden commissions

[Trembling Hand]

Cant see why they would be hidden.

Most brokers have a list of their cfds with their respective

Ok mate. go ahead. we just seem to be going in circles here. Go off and trade gold for "free" and pay 50 cent spread and I'll stick to gold futs paying 1 tick of commission and 1 cent spread.

LOL!!

[sinner]

Ok mate. go ahead. we just seem to be going in circles here. Go off and trade gold for "free" and pay 50 cent spread and I'll stick to gold futs paying 1 tick of commission and 1 cent spread.

LOL!!

For the record TH, and I'm not saying this to dispute the useful advice you've given, I read on Bron S (from Perth Mint) recently stating that in the OTC bullion bank market, the spread is in fact 50c, a fact I found rather interesting.

[tom82]

That is a contradiction.

It can not be free and pay 50 cents for spread, something is either free or it is not.
In this case the spread is the fee.

Ok mate. go ahead. we just seem to be going in circles here. Go off and trade gold for "free" and pay 50 cent spread and I'll stick to gold futs paying 1 tick of commission and 1 cent spread.

LOL!!

[tom82]

What useful advice? I haven't seen any.

For the record TH, and I'm not saying this to dispute the useful advice you've given, I read on Bron S (from Perth Mint) recently stating that in the OTC bullion bank market, the spread is in fact 50c, a fact I found rather interesting.

[Trembling Hand]

That is a contradiction.

It can not be free and pay 50 cents for spread, something is either free or it is not.
In this case the spread is the fee.

FFS!! So you prefer a 50 cent spread which you have to cross twice with CFds to a total cost of 3 cents for futs (1-2 cent spread and 1 cent commission)

Thats some useful advice

[tom82]

If you go long then the spread is payed when you enter, if you go short it is payed when you exit.

I never said I prefered a 0.50 spread.

FFS!! So you prefer a 50 cent spread which you have to cross twice with CFds to a total cost of 3 cents for futs (1-2 cent spread and 1 cent commission)

Thats some useful advice

[tom82]

What futures brokers can you reccomend so I can do more research?

[Trembling Hand]

I never said I prefered a 0.50 spread.

Well buddy which one do you prefer? 50 cent cost or 3 cent cost?

try,

https://www.interactivebrokers.com/ibg/main.php

[sinner]

If you go long then the spread is payed when you enter, if you go short it is payed when you exit.

I'm pretty sure this is wrong?

You can never cross the bid/ask so you always exit disadvantageously. No matter what your entry, it takes N+1 ticks movement in your direction to exit advantageously, where N is the spread.

If you trade an exchange traded market like futures, stocks, even forex ECN you can often exit advantageously on entry, 0 or 1 ticks movement required. The mechanics of this are precisely what's hidden by CFD brokers. Sometimes this is ok, sometimes not. It undeniably detracts from your edge by increasing trade cost.

[skyQuake]

Just to make it absolutely clear, with a cfd provider, YOU are ALWAYS PAYING the spread

[Trembling Hand]

Just to make it absolutely clear, with a cfd provider, YOU are ALWAYS PAYING the spread

Unfortunately newbies just have no idea that their is an alternative let along the cost of crossing a large spread.

[Starcraftmazter]

I might as well chuck a somewhat related question in here.

I like the asx200 cfds, which have a spread of 1 point 10-4, and between 3 and 5 overnight.

How would the SPI futures compare to this? I can understand there being less liquidity in the evening and night, but is it better if you want to trade during evening and night hours?

Obviously one can trade the euro markets instead, but say you already have open positions with our index and you might want to either close or increase them depending on overnight action, etc.

[Pager]

What futures brokers can you reccomend so I can do more research?

A few reply’s here and the consensus is to use futures and I would agree, stay well clear of CFD,s, you could also look at ETF,s particularly those traded in the USA they seem to have gained popularity and there are some that are commodity specific, like Gold, Crude Oil, Natural Gas etc but IMO still the best vehicle is futures but you need to be well capitalised to trade a basket of markets, at least $50K.

For brokers, I use Macquarie here in Sydney but on a no advice basis, its execution only and have found them very good, cover a huge range of exchanges globally with good reporting, service and a 24 hour desk, not as cheap as IB but unless your an experienced high frequency trader I would steer well clear of IB, yes there rates are low but you are well and truly on your own particularly if there’s a problem even if its not your fault, dealing with IB and there desk is very frustrating and for the sake of a few dollars cheaper commission per contract it really isn’t worth the hassle unless your trading VERY frequently, im not and hold positions for months sometimes, also with futures you need to be aware of first notice days and if in a position you need to roll from one contract to another, in this regard and IMO the full service broker is a better broker to use, they will let you know if a position is about to enter the first notice day period and you can leave instruction to roll positions at the open/close or in the roll market without having to be online trying to do it yourself, your broker probably does it very regularly so will be far more experienced doing a favourable roll for you.

Other brokers here in Australia are Halifax or Bell Potter to name 2 and have also heard RJ Obrien are pretty competitive with rates and good service but there US/Canadian based.