CBOT Metals

Metals Trade in Chicago?

The COMEX and CBOT futures markets share four common metals contracts: gold, silver, mini-gold, and mini-silver. Besides the four gold and silver contracts, the COMEX/NYMEX also offers metals futures contracts for copper, aluminum, platinum, palladium, uranium and steel. In comparing the gold and silver contracts for COMEX and CBOT futures, there are some similarities, as well as differences.

If you are planning on trading open outcry metals Chicago is not the place for you. CBOT futures for metals are only traded electronically while COMEX gold and silver are traded both electronically and in the pit; open outcry hours are from 8:20 to 1:30 ET for gold and 8:25 to 1:25 ET for silver. The electronic hours offered by the CBOT differ from those offered by the COMEX. COMEX first introduced 24-hour metals trading on its GLOBEX platform in December of 2007. COMEX electronic trading starts at 6:00 P.M. ET on Sunday and goes until 5:15 P.M ET on Sunday, with a break in trading from 5:15 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. ET, Monday through Thursday. CBOT futures electronic trading hours for gold and silver are from 6:16 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. CT, Sunday through Friday.

CBOT futures ticker symbols are ZG for gold and ZI for silver. For the COMEX metals, the gold ticker symbol is GC and the silver ticker symbol is SI. The contract months for the gold and silver futures contracts traded on the COMEX and CBOT are the same. Gold futures contract months are the current month, next two months, February, April, August, and October – within a 23-month period – and June, December within a 60-month period. For silver, the contract months are the current month, next two months, January, March, May, and September – within a 23-month period – and July, December within a 60-month period.

The gold and silver contracts offered for COMEX and CBOT futures have the exact same specifications relating to size. The gold contract equals 100 troy ounces and the silver contract equals 5,000 troy ounces. The minimum tick value for the gold contracts is also equivalent. Although the contract size is the same for both silver contracts, the minimum tick values differ. The smallest tick a COMEX silver contract can move is .005 cents/ounce or $25/contract. The minimum tick for the CBOT futures silver contract is .001 cents/ounce or $5/contract. Looking at the contract differences as well as discrepancies in volume, open interest, and volatility between the COMEX and CBOT futures contracts is essential in finding the right market for you.

Trading in futures and options involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Economic Analysis 29.06.2009

Secrets to becoming a Samurai Trader DVD workshop

Larry Levin Blog : Warren Buffet

Larry Levin is one of well know traders. Therefore, learn forex trading is made easy by his programs. you will find out the best forex trading tips and strategies on this forex blog.

Four Advantages of Futures Spread Trading

Advantage 1: Easy to trade

Do you see how nicely this spread starts trending in mid February? Whether you are a beginner or an experienced trader, whether you use chart formations or indicators, the existence of a trend is obvious. Spreads tend to trend much more dramatically than outright futures contracts. They trend without the interference and noise caused by computerized trading, scalpers, and market movers.

Advantage 2: Low Margin requirements

Many spreads have reduced margin requirements, which means that you can afford to put on more positions. While the margin on an outright futures position in corn is $540, a spread trade in corn requires only $135 -- 25% as much. That's a great advantage for traders with a small account. With a $10,000 trading account risking 8% of your account, you can enter 6 corn spreads, instead of only 1-2 outright corn futures trade. How's that for leverage?

Advantage 3: Higher return on margin

Each point in the spread carries the same value ($50) as each point in the outright futures ($50). That means that on a 3 point favorable move in corn futures or a 3 point favorable move in the spread, you would earn $150. However, the difference in return on margin is extraordinary:
Corn futures - $150/$540 = 27.8% return
Corn spread - $150/$135 = 111% return
And keep in mind that you can trade 6 times as many spread contracts as you can outright futures contracts. In our example you would achieve a 24 times higher return on you margin.

Advantage 4: Low time requirements

You don't have to watch a spread all day long. You do not need real-time data. The most effective way to trade spreads is using end-of-day data. Therefore, spread trading is the best way to trade if you do not want to watch or cannot watch your computer all day long (i.e. because you have a daytime job). And you can save all the money you would have had to spend for real-time data systems (up to $600 per month).
So where is the catch?
If futures spread trading is so fantastic, why does it seems that hardly anybody trades spreads? Well, it is not true that hardly anybody trades spreads: the professional traders do, every day. But either by accident or design, the whole truth of spread trading has been hidden from the public over the years.
The purpose of this website is to inform you about futures spread trading. In the following we will answer the four frequently asked questions:

• What is a spread?
• Why trade spreads?
• What can you expect when trading spreads

by Joe Ross

HOW TO BECOME A FOREX TRADER

The path to success in forex trading is based on one central idea: consistency. The first thing most people who consider forex think about is money. How much money they can make. This leads to a desire for quick profits. That leads to almost certain failure. There is another way to think about how to become a forex trader. An alternative mind-set is to think of yourself as becoming a ‘pip’ manufacturer. Here is what I mean.

Like any manufacturing firm, being a pip manufacturer means you produce every month a certain output of pips. A small factory would produce perhaps a smaller output of 300 pips. A larger factory could produce 500 and more pips. But its not the amount of pips that is important. It is the consistency of the production. Think of being so confident in your production of pips that you can bet that it will be 96% of the time within a 30 pip range. So someone producing 300 pips on the average would be really producing 96% of the time between 270 and 330 pips. This ability to be confident about your production is profoundly important. It is the first major goal of any training.

How does one achieve the goal of consistent trading? In the Secrets of Forex coaching it works by a continuing coaching process. We begin by looking at live charts together on the desktop, one-on-one. As coach I will demonstrate an important technique a trader should know. The student will then put on about 20 trades. We track the results. 20 trades is enough to identify weaknesses and errors of strategy or tactics. The second step is a review of the trades and in a follow-on tutorial we focus on correcting the weaknesses. This process is iterative and keeps going on.

The result is that the person training to become a trader has identified the sources of mistakes he has made, and can demonstrate progress in correcting the mistakes. Along the way new strategies and tactics are taught.

Becoming a forex trader is a process. It is not taking a lot of material and reading it. It is not sitting in a class and then forgetting what one has learned. In small frequent steps- everyone can learn to become a forex trader!

source: Secretofforextrader.com

Forex Trading Secrets - Q&A

1) Can the US Dollar Actually Go Up during this crises and soon?

A: Yes indeed! The fact that traders should realize is that this is a global crises. Its a contraction of confidence around the world. Just look at the GBP and the EUR and how its behaving. Britain and the Eurozone have their own problems as well! The DXY ( US Dollar Index is actually right in the middle at .78 2 points off its Sept 15th low and 2 points off the 9/11 high of .80. Thats telling you something.

2. What other signs are there that are dollar positive?

A: Well, its the fact that its bad everywhere. A: New Zealand is in a recession. Australia is slowed down. Asian markets are down fearing global slowdown. So its a set up soon for a rebound.

3. With all of this dollar turbulence is there a way to trade the currencies that we should know?

A: Actually, its a great time to look at Crosspairs. Look at the EURGBP in particular.With both the EUROZONE AND THE POUND STERLING facing major pressures, one of the best trading currencies is the EURGBP cross pair. It is in a great sideways range and bounce trades off Resistance and Support is now a high probability trade.

4. What is the best pair to trade in response to FEAR in the US markets.

A: I have stated that the USDJPY is behaving incredibly in sync with the S&P. Also look at the GBPJPY pair.

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