NerdWallet's Best Online Brokers for Futures Trading and Commodities of May 2021
Best Brokers for Futures Trading 2021
To trade options you need a margin approved brokerage account with access to options and futures trading. Options on futures quotes are available from the CME (CME) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), where options and futures trade.
Key Takeaways. Futures and options are both commonly-used derivatives contracts that both hedgers and speculators use on a variety of underlying securities. Futures have several advantages over options in the sense that they are often easier to understand and value, have greater margin use, and are often more liquid.
When choosing a futures broker, don't just look for the lowest margins and highest leverage available. Ask you broker how they manage risk, how they monitor leverage, and what is the maximum leverage you should be using.
The lowest opening balance for a futures broker account is around $2,500. Most commodity futures brokers require new account holders to deposit a minimum of $5,000 to $10,000. A new trader should compare the requirements of several brokers along with the other costs and services provided.
Choosing a trading platform
With a TD Ameritrade account, you'll have access to thinkorswim, a powerful trading platform for futures trading, as well as other investments.
Futures trading is especially common with commodities. For example, if someone buys a July crude oil futures contract (CL), they are saying they will buy 1,000 barrels of oil from the agreed price upon the July expiration, regardless of the market price at that time.
Those are the bad news, at least for stock and options traders. The good news is that the Pattern Day Trading Rule does not apply to futures traders. Futures traders can have less than $25,000 in your account and still day trade to your heart's content. (Subject to your rigorous market analysis, of course.)
You can—in the futures options market. Yup, 24 hours a day, 5.5 days a week, you can trade E-mini S&P and E-mini Nasdaq, as well as crude oil, gold, corn, the euro currency, and many more.
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