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Have you thought about opening a FOREX account? Almost all of them provide a charting package with free data for both real accounts and demo (simulated trading).
If you believe that a chart is a chart, then you can use the currencies to test and build your strategies. Of course, if you ultimately want to scalp the e-mini for a tick or two, this would not be the best way to build a strategy to do that. But if you are a swing/position trader, it should do.
I hate that I am going to say this, but if you're undercapitalized the Forex market is a great way to get started. The standard Euro contract is $10.00 a pip. Some brokers have mini contracts that are as little as $1.00 per pip. You could open an account for $200. All your data would be free, you charting free and you could still have a "real world" experience.
Before I get my head bitten off, I know the number one reason new traders fail is undercapitalization. But I am not going to tell someone they have to have $50,000 to start to follow their dream. It's their dream, and where they are at presently is where they are at. Far be it from me, a dreamer myself, to stamp on another's dream.
With that said, Some FOREX demo accounts never expire so you could test things out while you saved up money to trade for real. |
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Actually, the number one reason why traders fail, new or otherwise, is that they don't know what they're doing. If he wants to trade FX, it won't matter whether the cost is $10 or $1 or ten cents. Knowing what he's trading and how to trade it is paramount.
If he wants to trade index futures, on the other hand, a cheap way to do it is to analyze and take signals from the emini and enter the trade on the ETF, whether DIA or SPY or QQQQ.