[Gabe2004]

Could someone tell me which of the following contracts is more advantageous to trade.
ZF or ZN?

Thank you

Gabe

[ochie]

ZN has a larger tick size of 15.625 compared to 7.8125 for ZF. Daily Volume for the ZN is higher since it follows the cash Benchmark but the ZF is never thin. Larger range is usually seen for the ZN but the swing patterns will be virtually identical imo. For me, a trade consideration is based on which one sets up better at that point in time. Because of the smaller tick size, ZF may offer you a little more flexibility in trade management.

[brownsfan019]

Originally Posted by Gabe2004 »

Could someone tell me which of the following contracts is more advantageous to trade.
ZF or ZN?

Thank you

Gabe

While there are 3 main bond futures, they each have their own little tendencies. I'll do my best to explain here but nothing is a substitute for chart time. That is one thing I love about OEC - I can just pull up any chart I might be interested in without any costs or calling up a data vendor and paying more fees.

Here's how I view the bond futures:

ZB - king of tick value now that it's $31.25 PER TICK=1 PT. Yep, that's not a typo. It now moves in full point increments which is a recent change. It usually is the 'least' liquid of the 3 but that's all relative. I traded the ZB for a while when the tick value was $15.625/tick. It has good moves overall.

ZN - most liquid and has good moves as well. Tick value is $15.625 here so it's lower than the ZB and provides nice moves.

ZF - is more 'spikey' IMO. If you put these charts side-by-side, I think you'll see the ZF spike more when the other 2 aren't doing as much. If you want more volatile and quicker moves, then the ZF is a good choice. I would strongly recommend having resting profit target orders out there as it's very common to see it spike and then quickly retrace. If you hold out for a big move, it may not happen.

With all that said, I've been focusing my early morning trades on oil and bypassing the bonds for now. I can't argue with the results I'm seeing on oil, so I've put my focus there instead of bonds.

[Dinerotrader]

We are near a pretty reactive S/R level coming into the 10 year auction today. I haven't yet sunk my teeth into the ZN so I am hoping to watch it at 1:00 ET to see what happens.

[bobajob]

I am trying to see if bonds are 'not sexy - but worth a look'.

Anyone got any 1 minute ZN (10 year) data that they would be willing to donate.

If anyone is interested I plan to turn it into Market Profile graphs intraday.

Thanks