
Many thanks in anticipation.

How much should I have in my account?
Leverage?
What broker?

I use IG index but have found their spread to be expensive, are there any brokers out there that are cheaper for day trading the Forex and eminis russell 2000 and other index’s?
kind regards
David

The brokerage business is highly competitive and rates are usually subject to negotiation. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts. Use the internet and search for “Futures Broker” or “Forex broker” and compare the prices of 10 brokers. This will give you a feeling for the lower prices possible.
When comparing prices, make sure that they are “all inclusive”, i.e. inclusing exchange and NFA/SEC fees and any other fees that might apply. Sometimes brokers lure you in with “Trade the e-minis for $0.50″ and then you will see that they add all kinds of fees and you end up paying $5 - $6 per round turn.
When trading futures, you can expect to pay $4 - $5 per round turn with a discount broker and $5 - $8 if you need some service. Full service brokers usually charge $10 - $15 per round turn.
Right now you might consider trading the e-mini S&P Midcap. The CME Group and Infinity Futures Brokerage run a promotion until the end of the year: You can trade this contract for $1.50 per round turn ALL INCLUSIVE. I think that’s a heck of a deal.
The e-mini Midcap (Symbol EMD) is comparable to the e-mini Russell (ER).
Regarding Forex: I don’t trade Forex at all. I prefer trading the currencies as futures contracts at the CME. This has there advantages:
1.) Lower spread. The spread is usually 1 tick and not 2-5 pips.
2.) Better leverage: 1 tick in the futures is worth $12.50 and not $10 like in the forex. That’s 25% more!
3.) It’s regulated, and you are trading against other traders and NOT against the house.
Hope that helps.
Markus
PS: Below is the link for the EMD promo I talked about.

So I am curious whether I can make some money with Forex trading, by starting with relatively few amount of money.
As far as I see the trends are small and for a 3 days period from Dec-15 to Dec-18 was the GBP/USD with +0.4% trend of the GBP.
Well…I am not into this business so I have no idea what kind of money you need to start….but seeing the change rate above this means that if I buy GPB with 500USD and resell it 3 days later in the best possible case I will end up with 0.4 percents more? That of course will be funny money…
So what you will advise me to do?


there are plenty of other books but you need to first figure out what you're going to specialize in - I trade mostly forex, but you might try futures or some people are even still trading stocks nowadays

Another way to make consistent profits in stocks in "swing trading," going for small moves of several days to several weeks in stocks or stock options. I use Japanese candlestick charts to swing trade, and have been averaging 8% to 12% a month, using some leverage. Instead of buying stocks, I buy deep-in-the-money options, going both long and short. Doing this, even a small account of $100,000 can make you $8,000 to $12,000 a month, an amount many people would consider a very comfortable living. Get a book on Japanese candlestick trading, paper-trade for a while (just make "pretend" trades, tracking the results in Yahoo Finance) until you become proficient at recognizing and acting on the signals.

Also, I don't think technical analysis is designed to be applied to the extremely short time intervals involved in day trading. Head and shoulders formations mean nothing in the span of 4 minutes.
Go read "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Burton G. Malkiel. It will put the stuff you learn in finance class in a real world perspective that will keep you from doing silly stuff like day trading.

send an email if you like and I will give you names of a couple of these that are worth investigation. I don't sell any of them and have no affiliation with the companies. Good Luck, Good Fortune, and Keep those very wary eyes WIDE OPEN!!



