WHAT IS A FUTURE'S SPECULATOR?
For every seller (the commodity producer) there has to be a buyer. Oftentimes the buyer doesn't want to buy when the seller wants to sell. Oftentimes the seller wants to sell before the commodity is available to sell. Somebody has to step into the gap or commerce falls apart. This is where future's speculators come in. Read more about it on the “What Is a Futures Speculator?” page.
RESOURCES
Commodities markets are less regulated than the stock markets. There are two sides to this coin. Positively there are more opportunities to make money for those who are well prepared. Negatively, there are more opportunities for scams for those out for a quick buck. I do not recommend anyone getting involved in commodities markets without someone to mentor them. For me, it was my brother Marc, who had been doing this for ten years and had learned some of these lessons the hard way.
There are some good free commodities resources out there. The best one stop shop, in my opinion, is Future Source.
Every trader needs a broker. I have used three different brokers over time. Traders Network is a full service brokerage in Loveland, CO, that focuses on the agricultural markets, but I am able to trade all markets through Traders. Their technology for the electronically traded markets is pretty out of date, so it's not a good platform to trade currencies or index funds. One of the better platforms for that is the J-Trader platform, which is available through Infinity Brokerage. I think the platform may be available from other brokerage houses, but I'm not positive. I've also used a discount broker. They are excellent if you need no help at all from a broker, but can be a disaster if you make a mistake (such as placing a limit order instead of a stop order. Those can be $1,000 mistakes and that money covers a lot of full service brokerage fees. The discount broker I use is Lind-Waldock. Their floor broker used to be Refco, but Refco was just bought out by Man Financial. The switchover has been a disaster and the company currently appears to be in a shambles.
A trader also needs charting tools to follow the markets. I use Gecko's charting service called Track 'n Trade Pro. Lan Turner, the CEO, wants to work with actual commodities traders to create the most usable software possible. I think he's done a good job.
Beyond this, trading can get pretty esoteric. I make heavy use of resources from Elliott Wave International, Robert Prechter's education and information service. I have used Prechter's analysis of stock markets for a number of years. Glen Ring is a long-term cycles guru that sounds pretty strange at times but has a remarkable track record.
TRADING AND TRUCKING
I was a commodity trader for three years and hadn't begun to turn a regular profit. At that point I tried trucking for a while. I injured my arm and was off work for several months. We also bought a high maintenance house and I discovered that trucking and home ownership don't go together real well, so I'm back to full-time trading for now. While I was trucking I left the trading section of the web site dormant, but it's up and running again.
Track 'n Trade Pro now provides First Notice Dates and Last Trading Days, so I have no personal need to update that page and have removed it from the system.
Copyright © 2006 James E. Nelson (Just Another Jim). All Rights Reserved.
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