S&C Magazine Current Contents Q & A Futures For You
Futures For You
Inside The Futures World
Want to find out how the futures markets really work? DeCarley Trading senior analyst and broker Carley Garner responds to your questions about today’s futures markets. To submit a question, post your question at http://Message-Boards.Traders.com. Answers will be posted there, and selected questions will appear in a future issue of S&C. Visit Garner at www.DeCarleyTrading.com. Her books, Commodity Options and A Trader’s First Book On Commodities, are available from FT Press.
LIMITS TO LIMIT ORDERS
- Details
- Parent Category: Q & A
- Category: Futures For You
- Written by Carley Garner
When is it appropriate to use a limit order to enter a market, and when should they be avoided?
As a reminder, a limit order is one in which execution is permissible only if it can be done at a price named by the trader, or at a better price. You might hear this order type referred to as an “or better” order.
WHAT’S A TYPICAL COMMISSION?
- Details
- Parent Category: Q & A
- Category: Futures For You
- Written by Carley Garner
What kind of commission is typically charged to trade futures and options online or with a broker?
Before you can look at commission rates objectively, you must understand the background of the futures industry. In recent years, advances in technology have brought the futures and options markets closer to the average retail trader. Because of electronic trading, futures brokerage firms now implement tighter risk management techniques in their quest to prevent traders from losing more money than they have on deposit. Not only that, brokers are now willing to accept clients with much smaller account balances; charge less commission for their services; and offer market access with less interference from risk management teams.
COT, REPORTABLE OR NON
- Details
- Parent Category: Q & A
- Category: Futures For You
- Written by Carley Garner
How do I read the CFTC’s COT report and should I be following the commercial or nonreportable groups?
In the “Futures For You” column in the December 2011 issue, we learned that the CFTC’sCommitment of Traders (COT) report displays the net long and short positions of large speculators, hedgers, and small speculators. This time, let’s look at how this information might be useful to traders regardless of the overall strategy.
READING THE COT REPORT
- Details
- Parent Category: Q & A
- Category: Futures For You
- Written by Carley Garner
How do I read the Cftc’s Cot report and should I be following the commercial or speculator groups?
You should be following the manner in which equity traders refer to Sec filings to determine the outlook of corporate officers in relation to their company stock. Commodity traders look to the Commitments of Traders (Cot) report for insight into who is buying and selling futures and options. The Cot report, which is released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Cftc) at the end of each week, is a potentially valuable tool in determining market sentiment. Not only will this report reveal the level of bullishness or bearishness, but unlike other sentiment readings, it depicts traders actually putting their money where their mouths are!
PROFIT FROM INTERVENTION?
- Details
- Parent Category: Q & A
- Category: Futures For You
- Written by Carley Garner
Now more than ever, currency traders have been affected by government intervention. Is there a way to profit?
The term “intervention” is used to describe a scenario in which a person or entity interferes with a situation in an attempt to alter or hinder the natural development of circumstances. As far as some central banks are concerned, currency traders are not unlike some types of addicts; they find a substance or action that provides short-term gratification without regard to the big picture or the long-term effects of their actions.
