Futures Trading Then
Here's how it once was: only wealthy, well-connected fat cats got to participate in the lucrative game of futures trading.
Not anymore.
Futures Trading Now
With the advent of online discount futures trading, you're just a few clicks away from trading futures contracts for only a couple of bucks a trade. And in contrast to other types of investing, futures traders only have to invest a small percentage of the price of the futures contract — sometimes less than 10%!
Futures Trading Applied
Let's put it this way: you've just invested $1,000 into a $10,000 futures contract (a 10% down payment as margin, and hardly uncommon). Due to speculation in the market, your contract then gains 50% in value and you sell it for $15,000. You just made yourself $5,000 with an initial investment of $1,000. Not a bad rate of return, right? And since you've used a discount futures trading broker, your only expense is a buck or two in fees.
Why Futures Trading Wins
Let's take a look at some of the other reasons discount futures trading can be more profitable than other investment strategies.
- The futures trading market is fairer and more open than the stock market. In the stock market, insider information rules the day, meaning that folks like you and me are at a guaranteed disadvantage. In the futures market, everybody's on the same level playing field.
- Since futures tend to change in value much more often than other investment instruments, it's possible to make money faster. Greater risk = greater reward.
- Transactions happen quickly in the futures market. Have you ever placed a stock trade, only to discover that the stock's value has changed significantly by the time the trade is executed? That's far less likely with futures trading.
So, what are you waiting for? Let's make some money trading futures!