I speak with many beginning futures traders and a lot are overwhelmed in getting started trading futures and options.
At Insignia Futures & Options, we specialize in assisting beginning futures traders with education and resources to get them comfortable when starting out trading futures.
I’ve prepared a checklist of 4 tips I give to the futures traders I works with. I hope you find them useful and informative…
- You must have a basic understanding of investing and a general knowledge of the commodity futures markets before investing any money. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group), the worlds largest futures exchange, offers an excellent education section on commodity futures trading on their website. Of course, I’m available to provide the necessary general information as well.
- Proper account capitalization is essential in trading futures & options. I have many clients who want to start trading with only $500. Although this is possible, it’s very, very difficult to begin with such a small account size. Due to the leverage in futures trading, small price moves can equate to large gains or losses. Depending on the commodity futures contracts you want to trade, I typically recommend a minimum of $2,000 – $4,000 as a bare minimum to get started trading. Feel free to contact me to discuss the futures contracts you are interested in and I’ll provide you with what I feel is a minimum required capital amount to get started.
- Choose a futures broker who accommodates beginning traders and those traders who need advice and/or assistance. Now a days, many of the on-line futures brokers are geared towards the experienced futures trader. Most of the ‘super cheap’ discount futures brokerage firms offer very little in the way of customer service. Their business model is to simply provide their clients with a trading platform and that’s it. Some of these futures brokers, I’ve heard, will even charge their clients a fee if they call in for customer service. At Insignia Futures & Options, we welcome the beginning futures trader and are happy to work one-on-one with them so they feel comfortable trading their hard earned money.
- Choose a futures broker who offers a simple to use, yet powerful trading platform. I’ve been trading futures since 1991 and have seen countless numbers of futures trading platforms. Although I’m biased as to our Firetip / InsigniaTrader platform, many that I’ve used or seen were way too complicated, even for an experienced futures trader. As a beginning futures trader, you have enough on your plate in learning the mechanics of the futures markets and trading them. You certainly don’t want to tack on the added learning curve of a complicated trading platform. Our Firetip / InsigniaTrader platform has been around for years and is designed to be very simple to use. In fact, we get compliments on how simple it is to use from many of our clients who’ve tried other trading platforms. I invite you to check out a free demo of our futures trading platform. It has $50,000 of ‘play’ money in it so you can get a feel for real trading. Of course, any piece of software will have somewhat of a learning curve to it, especially if you are a beginning futures trader. I’m available to give you a personal walk through of our platform, either by phone, screen share or both. Request your free Firetip / InsigniaTrader futures demo account by clicking here (will open in a new window).
I hope these tips give you the head start you need in trading futures & options. It’s always in your best interest to study any subject before jumping in blindly. Again, feel free to contact me to discuss futures trading education, a trading plan or any other questions you may have.
Insignia Futures & Options is currently accepting new futures trading accounts. If you don’t already have your own Insignia Futures & Options trading account, I invite you to open yours today…
Best Wishes,
Joe Fallico
Principal Futures Broker
Series 3 & Series 30 Registered
Phone: 1-847-379-5000
Toll Free: 1-866-892-2030
Insignia Futures & Options, Inc.
