Futures Trading Education, Articles & Strategies | Optimus Futures Blog

Why Futures Traders Should Not Hold Day Trading Positions Overnight

 

This article on overnight futures trading is the opinion of Optimus Futures

Holding Positions Overnight

What Is an Overnight Position?

An overnight position is simply any position held beyond the market close. Later today, for example, the ES will stop trading at 5pm EDT. But “tomorrow’s” trading day begins an hour after close, at 6pm EDT. Confusing? It can be. There is no “overnight” close. The ES trades around the clock from Sunday 6pm to Friday at 5pm with one hour close at the end of each weekday. “Overnight” is a misleading term, simply because most commodities trade around the clock (24-hours) five days a week.

Many day traders, particularly new ones, make the mistake of holding positions overnight. Sometimes the mistake is unintentional, and other times it is

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How to Use Moving Averages to Analyze and Trade Futures

 
 

This article on Moving Average Strategy is the opinion of Optimus Futures

If you’re not familiar with moving averages, here’s a quick demonstration. Let’s imagine that a (hypothetical) commodity ends the day closing at the price of 20.00. The next day, it closes at 22.00. If you average the two prices, you get 21.00 as the 2-day moving average. On the third day, it closes at 25.00. If you average the last three days (20+22+25 divided by 3), you get a simple 3-day moving average of 22.33. It’s an “average” that “moves” as prices change.

So, how can this help you trade futures? A moving average strategy can help

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Learning How to Trade Futures | Why Chasing Perfection is a Costly Mistake

 
 

This article on Learning How to Trade Futures is the opinion of Optimus Futures

Learning How to Trade Futures - Why Chasing Perfection is a Costly Mistake

For anyone learning how to trade futures, not settling for anything less than perfection sounds very appealing. The quest for the ultimate trading system, the hunt for the perfect trade management solution, the search for the flawless broker, the need for consistent winners – these are all healthy objectives that will keep a trader on their toes, always pushing to be better. However, take it a little too far and you are perhaps flirting more with danger and detriment than anything else. Let

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Pre-Trade Checklist | Using Scoresheets to Prepare for Your Next Futures Trade

 
 

This article on Pre-Trade Checklist is the opinion of Optimus Futures

Pre-Trade Checklist

When given the choice between trading objectively and trading solely “from the gut,” chances are that an objective approach might suit you better. Elite traders (as we covered in a previous article) may be able to combine both, trading intuitively or, as the cliché goes, “in the zone.” But rarely would they rely solely on one or the other, as intuitive decision-making often relies on both capacities combined–that is, being able to harmoniously fuse objective and subjective approaches.

One simple but effective way to make objective decisions while trading is to keep a pre-trade checklist

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Futures Trading Technical Analysis |  Conduct a DIY Technical Trading Audit with These 10 Questions

 
 

This article on Futures Trading Technical Analysis is the opinion of Optimus Futures

Futures Trading Technical Analysis- DIY Audit

Even if you are not a technical trader, you can still ask the right questions – and use the right tools to answer them – to uncover issues with your trading approach.

Futures Trading Technical Analysis – How Much Do I Need to Know?

As any successful futures trader might tell you, both technical and fundamental analyses are concepts that can serve as tools to help you better understand markets, identify trading opportunities, and place trades based on a reasonable market thesis.

Anyone can acquire a sophisticated understanding of either discipline,

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