Transition from Spot FX/Forex to Futures Trader

Optimus Futures Trading Account
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Hello Optimus Futures and traders,

Just recently I am thinking of moving from fx to futures. However, I completely don’t understand some points. I have the following questions:

I’m long term trader leaving my positions overnight. In fx there are SWAP fees, which became very difficult to bear with. Are there overnight charges in futures markets? Planning on trading Micro British Pound and/or Micro SP500

Rollovers. Do I have to watch out to rollover to another month, or can it be automated, or can the broker do that for me if I inform them that I request to always rollover. Are there fees for it?

Besides commission, what other fees should I expect? Let’s use Micro GBP as an example.

What is the leverage for Micro GBP and Micro SP00?

Finally, a question that bothers me the most. How do I calculate risk correctly? I used online calculator of IW, and it gives me possibility of fractional contracts, i.e. 1.20. If possible, please answer the following calculation, because it seems completely different that in fx. I need it for my excel sheet to test and trade.

British Pound Micro (M6)
Account size: USD 15,000.
Entry Long: 1.2470
Stop Loss: 1.2280
Contracts: 1 micro
Potential Loss: -118.75 USD

Risking 3 % or USD 300
the calculator on Insider Week shows me I could trade 2.53.
That is very comfortable.
However, calculators on other websites, show me different results.

So is it possible to trade actually: 2.53 micro or 2.5 micro or only 2 micro contracts?

This calculation is very crucial for me in deciding if I can afford trading futures of GBP and SP500 with wide stops in 1 account. Please, solve it for me, I would be very appreciated.

Do I have to put stop loss order every day, or is it valid till cancelled?

Spreads. Are they get wider during market close, or at other times?

Sometimes after entering a trade I get an opposite signal. Since I don’t want to exit the original trade, in fx I can execute a hedge. I am aware it is not possible in futures. However, cold I have a sub-account? One account for longs, another for shorts?

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Hello @Paul and welcome to the Optimus Futures community!

We had to remove some of your questions as they weren’t quite suitable for our site, but we are more than happy to address them directly with you.

As you transition from Spot FX to Futures, there are several key differences to consider. We hope the following information helps clarify your questions:

  1. Futures Contracts and Swaps: Unlike Spot FX, futures contracts do not involve swaps; all costs are integrated into the pricing model. There are no overnight swap charges like those in Spot FX.

  2. Rollover Process: Traders must manually roll over contracts before expiration, as we do not offer automatic rollovers. However, we can provide you with all the necessary rollover dates upon request.

  3. Additional Costs: Beyond commissions, there are exchange fees, regulatory fees, and potentially routing fees (technology fees) depending on the platform you use.

  4. Leverage and Margins: In Futures, leverage is standardized by contract. The relevant questions would be about day trading margins and overnight margins. Depending on your account size, you can determine the number of contracts to trade. You can find more details on Day Trading Margins.

  5. Contract Sizes: Only full futures contracts can be traded; fractional contracts are not available. Proper risk management requires understanding the tick value of each contract, and you can start a new thread if you have questions about tick values.

  6. Order Types: Stop orders can be set as either day orders or GTC (good-till-canceled).

  7. Spreads: The spreads on different futures contracts can vary based on volatility, liquidity, and other market factors. Optimus Futures is not a market maker and does not add any markup to spreads, unlike some Spot FX/CFD brokers. All trades are routed to regulated exchanges.

  8. Regulatory Restrictions: You cannot hold both long and short positions on the same instrument in different accounts due to U.S. regulations prohibiting “hedging.”

We hope this answers your questions, but please feel free to reach out with any other queries you may have!

Best regards,
Matt Z

Optimus Futures

There is a substantial risk of loss in futures trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

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Thank you, Matt, for answering these questions.
Hopefully we will be able to talk or write directly about some of my other concerns.

Bst regards,

Paul

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