FTSE 100 - May

[mully]

Splasher,

been elsewhere.

Why watch cash, but trade future?

Simple, IMHO

Cash has far less noise, very few spikes to catch those stops.
So easier to see trends, support/resistance levels

Trade futures 'cause expensive to trade cash (100 stocks)


Anyway whatever float your boat etc..

 

[bracke]

barjon

A little to tenuous for my taste. I'm looking across the water to usa and the becalmed ftse appears to be doing the same thing.

I get the impression that its the calm before the storm but as mully says "Trade what you see(markets), Not what you think(opinions)"

Regards

bracke

 

[bracke]

john joachim

I know you are there.

What do you trade and how?

Regards
bracke

 

[splasher]

I'm not convinced there is a right and wong answer but personally watch and trade the future as there you see what the money is actually doing. ie you can see the big buyeres and sellers coming in and battling at certain levels and the size above and below. Whilst this in itself doesn't give direction clues, it is useful to remember these levels and can assist in exiting trades.
Agree on the noise point if you are looking at minute charts but it seems to get filtered out in 5 and 15 min ones.
Does anyone know where you can get a chart of the premium of futures to cash for the FTSE which currently seems to be 4/5 points

PS For the cash i meant doing a daily cash bet rather than the whole 100 stocks, i assume however that you can probably do cash in other ways, CFD's maybe?

 

[Hooya]

"you see what the money is actually doing" in what way is it different ?

 

[splasher]

If you watch the cash how do you see the buyers and sellers?

If you watch futures you will see buyers and sellers coming in and trading and the size they trade
eg ftse fut is 4412 -13 and there are 50 on the bid 100 on the offer, it trdes up to 13-14 in small clips of 5-10 lots and goes 13 bid for 17 lots which then trade and 83 apppear offred at 13, this may happen several times as a big trader offloads size at 13 in clips of 100.
By watching activity you get a picture of levels where activity occurs,
It is similar but not as good as floor traders watching for Goldmans to start coming in and buying large clips of a futures contract as you never know who the counterparty is

 

[mully]

Is FTSE building up steam to attempt a breakout.

MACD has been rising from oversold all day

 

[john joachim]

ftse 100 may

john joachim

I know you are there.

What do you trade and how?

Regards
bracke

Hi BRACKE
I trade the futures I did only one trade at 9.27 long at support and closed it at 9.58 not a good day moving on a narrow band.

Regards

JOE

 

[bracke]

mully

Not so much steam but flatulence?

Slightly surprised to see you referring to macd, thought you were a kiss advocate!

If you are going down the indicator route I thought that we ought to show the rsi as well, which does not appear to be signalling the same as macd.

Regards

bracke

 

[bracke]

john joachim

Is that the june mothly future?

Do you use SB to trade?

What method do you use. price,support/resistance. averages, fundamentals, indicators?

Regards

bracke

 

[mully]

Of course I should point out that there appears two converging S/R lines.

1) the falling 1 day SMA
2) The zero line on the MACD.

Both of these may pose problems for FTSE to overcome.


see chart

also we have latest US consumer confidence at 15.00.

Otherwise Market feeling the impact of the heavyweight stocks

Vodafone -6.3%
BP +2.4%
Shell +1.8%

 

[john joachim]

Ftse 100 May

john joachim

Is that the june mothly future?

Do you use SB to trade?

What method do you use. price,support/resistance. averages, fundamentals, indicators?

Regards

bracke

Hi Bracke,

June Fut. I use TEFORE satallite data feed and my brokers are INFINITY FUTURES INC.

Regards
Joe

 

[Hooya]

ahh Splasher you are talking about level 2 type stuff...actually seeing the oreders. I thought you were talking about what you saw on a chart. Good points though.

 

[bracke]

john joachim

Do I correctly deduce that you are one of our colonial brethren?

How long do you usually hold the trade for and if you are trading the monthly futures why do you need a data feed?

Regards

bracke

 

[peterpr]

First post

High all - First post

hooya - i thought cash came from some algorythm associated with the futures?

I guess it depends where you are getting your index cash quote from but it's likely to be peculiar to that provider - based on the index calculation from the LSE but modified real-time according to the providers internal algorithms which will include a host of variables including LIFFE prices.

I have spent a lot of time watching the IG FTSE100 cash quote in the recent past (trading CFD's) and comparing it to my real-time Sharescope feed. It often takes 5-10 minutes from exchange open for the IG quote to get more-or less in sync with the the RT feed from its pre-opening values. During that time it can be as much a 10 points adrift. Also, through the day, especially when the market is nervous and looking for direction (am today is a good example), or when prices move rapidly, it can get out of sync by 3-5 points. My guess is that IG factor in a whole host of real-time variables - especially the US daily futures prices, plus others dictated by the need to hedge its own operating positions etc etc. During exchange hours the actual index is my main reference for trying to predict movements since that appears to approximate most closely to the instrument being traded - not perfect though.

 

[Hooya]

"It often takes 5-10 minutes from exchange open for the IG quote to get more-or less in sync with the the RT feed from its pre-opening values"

IG's quote is lan sbs quote so its fixed to the futures......thus it is likely to be out at the open asthe futures often gap further than the cash at the open..


edit now I get what Bonsai meant Barjon..he was talking about the sb cash quote not the cash index quote.....the penny drops doh

 

[mully]

That's annoying the breakout apparently confirmed after hours.

I thought I would post the FTSE100/250 comparison over the last 10 days.

I think it is informative, given the negative influence of Vodafone on FTSE100.

Once again the FTSE250 appears to be holding its gains better than its bigger brother.

 

[stevecartwright]

Following on from my previous email on European options for the FTSE which I must admit threw me a little I would like to share with you a trade that I have placed this morning. My current status is that I can't watch the prices all day, and probably don't want to, and that I am probably quite risk averse. I have therefore, for many years, actually been looking for low risk strategy which I can leave from time to time and which is not going to slaughter me if I get it really wrong. Now on to my position:

FTSE100 European style options June contract
Short 4475 CALLS & 4425 PUTS
Long 4575 CALLS & 4325 PUTS
This gives me a maximum profit approx after costs of £490 and a total possible loss of £460 numbers approximate. Also I now have this money in my account.

Risk exposure is: Break even low side 4370 High side 4530

My intention would be to hedge using CFD's t protect some profit if I was around to monitor prices.

Anyone want to pick this about and help me improve it. I am looking to use this as the basic method of making some cash.

 

[stevecartwright]

I hope I have attached the strategy payoff diagram here that corresponds to my previous email
Steve

PS Not sure how to do thumbnails. I am sure someone will tell me though

 

[stevecartwright]

Got it this time
Steve