[newguy]

Hi i just started researching into futures daytrade, YM specifically. It looks to be easier to learn/focus than keep track of dozen of stocks. Looking for help on a couple questions thanks!

My setup is ninjatrader, connected to zen-fire feed from mirusfutures.com using their demo login/password.

1) Which YM month contract do people usually trade? is it always the current contract month? in this case - march 08? Does time decay affect futures the same way it affects options? is that something daytraders need to worry about.

2) What basic setup do you need to trade index futures such as YM? You got the charts, T&S window, order window. Any other core component i am missing? For example in stocks you would definitly want the level2 window + market depth etc..

3) What's a good broker / zen-fire datafeed provider? Is mirusfutures.com considered good for execution timing/fills?
thanks!

[swansjr]

I've been only trading futures (YM) for 2.5 months now. Like you I wanted to focus in on a specific market instead of chasing so many stocks. So far, I really enjoy it.

1) I think most trade the current contract, which is YMH08. No, there is no time decay like options.

2) YM is like any market. It's liquid and thus, tradable. So you can use whatever setup you like.

3) I use tradestation just because they seemed to be most popular and I wanted access to the largest community so TS seemed the way to go. TS has limitations so do some homework. I'm sure other people can point you in the right direction.

[OAC]

My setup is ninjatrader, connected to zen-fire feed from mirusfutures.com using their demo login/password.

What you have is excellent set-up as far as speed and execution goes.
Now all you need is may be 2+ years of screen time.

[newguy]

Thanks guys, yeah once i get the basics down going to start the grind of screen time. That's why i love ninjatrader so much, i just leave my pc on the entire day while at work, then come home and replay the day's action tick by tick and paper trade it.

Plan to do that for a while until i can consisitently take a 2-4 points a day, then switch to real money doing 1 contracts. Yep it's a long road ahead, but i love it.

About the setup, i know everyone has their prefernce in term of charts etc..but my question was is there any core / important windows that's specific to futures one should have on their monitor? For example when i first started in stocks, i didnt know about the level 2 window until a bit later.

[stanlyd]

Newguy
You might want to add some internals in your radar. $trin, $adv, $tick, can be very useful with direction with the index's. Any questions on how to use these just ask and I will be happy to give what I can.

[feb2865]

Ninja trader with zenfire is a superb combination, I had it for a while. The reason I left is because I don't like ninja's pivot points

About YM, be careful with slippage and make sure you use sensible stops based on current market volatility.

[newguy]

Thanks guys, my first day paper trading think i kind lost it. Made about 34 trades (enter/exit executions) in the first 50 mins. Held onto each open position for less than 60 sec at most. Then i stopped trading for the day when up about 20 points and just watched the market. All i did was enter when i see the wave is moving in a direction on the 1sec and 1 min charts, then exit if it goes against me for a few points or take profit at first sign it is about to reverse. Ninjatrader's superDOM is excellent for this.

Anyway although i was green first day, i dont think that's how you suppoes to trade YM, the commission was killing me - almost cost 1 point just to pay comission (ouch! why is YM so expensive to trade?). Still trying to figure this out, what i want is to place maybe 5-10 high probability trades a day and let it ride, instead of this 30 trades/hour crazy

[feb2865]

Newguy

Are you a scalper or you're just drive-testing the platform??

what version of ninja are you using??