Before you get started Futures trading or Commodities Trading, make sure you educate yourself, learn an online futures trading platform, and get to a know commodites broker. Download a free trading platform from Cannon Trading.
So you’ve come this far. You’ve evaluated different vehicles of investment, and you have
decided to expand your portfolio to include commodity futures, Now
what? You are going to need a few tools at your disposal: a knowledgeable commodity
broker that is quick on their feet, a reliable, efficient platform that will get
you the information you require and executes your trades on a timely basis, and perhaps most
imporantly a plan.
Let’s begin with the most important requirement: because futures are so highly
leveraged (if you are holding one contract of the E-Mini S&P 500, the notional value of the contract is
50x the current index price), there’s no doubt it can be a very risky asset class and
you should only be trading with “risk capital”, or money that
you can stand to lose and won’t affect your lifestyle if you do. Once you’ve
accumulated your risk capital and you’ve come to terms with the nature of trading
futures, you can take matters a step further by doing research on what kind of trader you
want to be.
Our future brokerage firm has been in the same location in Beverly Hills, California since 1988 and has the experience and tools to help you achieve your goals. We offer most of the platforms available in the industry today and it affords us the opportunity to provide an objective, comprehensive point-of-view when helping you choose your execution platform. Whether it is the user-friendly nature and execution of the Firetip platform , the indicator-specific trading of the NinjaTrader platform, or the automated risk management feature of TransAct AT, we can assist you figure out what it is that you need to help you increase your chance of success.
Every platform is different, even if they look similar. Depth of Market (DoM) trading has many subtle differences between platforms, and we’re more than happy to share which ones we think are best. Also, the markets you’re trading are very important to the platform you are going to be executing on; for example, some platforms we offer are not capable of trading Options on Futures or forex, while some platforms we carry can handle it all. Some platforms are capable of trading Asian markets, while some platforms deal only with a handful of markets. Again, this is where talking to one of our brokers comes in handy.
Navigating the futures markets is not understood overnight. It can often take years of preparation and research, and you can never learn enough patience when you’re trading live. Just as paramount as any other prerequisite for trading futures is a proper trading psychology: one that will allow you to determine the difference between pain tolerance and denial, between responsible targets and greed, and a mindset that won’t force you to keep trading when it’s time to step away from the computer.
Call us. We’re here to help you get started in the commodity futures markets and to begin futures trading a live account, whether that’s self-directed, broker-assisted or managed.
Disclaimers:
* Please note that the information contained in this letter is intended for clients, prospective clients, and audiences who have a basic understanding, familiarity, and interest in the futures markets.
** The material contained in this letter is of opinion only and does not guarantee any profits. These are risky markets and only risk capital should be used. Past performances are not necessarily indicative of future results.
*** This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell, but a current market view provided by Cannon Trading Inc. Any statement of facts herein contained are derived from sources believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed as to accuracy, nor they purport to be complete. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any such statement or with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. Readers are urged to exercise their own judgment in trading!
