[Lopen]

I am interested in learning how to trade the eminis. I do like the leverage futures provide unlike stocks.

My questions is: for a beginner emini trader, what contract should I start with?

[ES]

Some good action in the ES, S&P 500 emini. Thats what I began with and still do till this day. Others may think differently though.

[Soultrader]

I recommend the YM or mini-sized dow futures. The ES is also good but you may need to use a wider stop compared to the YM. I think its traders preference.

Obviously the ES is more liquid. Its like the YM on speed.

I personally find the NQ to be useless. I wrote an article before for a different forum on "Why the NQ sucks"

[Lopen]

How about the Russell? Is it any good?

[ES]

Originally Posted by Lopen »

How about the Russell? Is it any good?

No clue. I don't trade it.

[hanz]

ym u need 2 tick to b in profit while es u only need 1 tick

what's the recommended starting account for newbie?

[Nick1984]

Personall I found that stock trading was good for learning before starting in futures because of the leverage effect of futures u can blow up your account faster in futures than in stocks where u can trade off your own equity.

That being said the YM is a bit more beginner friendly. I've only started on the YM for about 2 months. The Russel is based on micro cap stocks which I don't like but thats a personal thing.

The ES seems to be the big boys league and there is a lot more liquidity than on the YM but I think you are also open to a lot more automated systems there as well.

Question to anyone who actually trades the ES on a regular basis: What is you definition of a big player on the ES in terms of number of contracts traded on any one position? On the YM you look for the 10+ contracts but what about on the ES? 30+?

[torero]

It's best to start with YM. ER2 is very volatile. ES has too many pros in there, it's good if you trade large lots.