Most traders start out their trading career trading shares of stocks. Stocks are an easy way to start to learn the basics of how to read a chart and most people feel comfortable starting out trading shares of companies they know or have heard of. Most traders eventually take the next step and start to learn about trading index futures called the e minis. Here are some of the advantages the e Minis have over trading individual companies stock shares. Very liquid there is always enough buyers and sellers to get filled at the best possible price. (800,000 + contracts traded daily!) Long or short some stocks you can not short or have very little shares that are short able. Leveraged You must only have a small amount of MARGIN or money in your account to trade 1 contract. You can open a futures account with as little as $1,500 dollars. Stock accounts on average require a minimum of $25,000 dollars to day trade. News Risk What I mean by this is when you trade an individual stock you are at the risk of a isolated news event related to the specific stock you are trading. When you trade the index futures e mini contracts your news risk is spread out over the whole entire market or sector. Research It is easier to focus on trading 1 or 2 e mini futures contracts than constantly scanning individual stocks for trading set-up’s. I believe it is better to master trading 1 or 2 indexes than getting overwhelmed with so many stocks and constantly flipping through charts to find the ideal trade set-up. Order Entry Now that the futures industry is getting so widely traded there are very good platforms for order entry and trade execution. The futures trading platforms have user friendly features than most stocks trading platforms do not have. Example’s: Bracket orders, auto trailing stops, multiple exits that automatically get you out of the market, one click trade management. Pyramiding Grow your account faster by adding more contracts with profits meaning; once you make $1,000 in profits you can add 1 more contract to trade. Trading stocks you must make much more profits to trade more shares taking you longer to pyramid your profits into more shares. Patterns When day trading you must master chart patterns and know how to use technical indicators to confirm buy and sell zones. Since the futures are so widely trade the chart patterns tend to play out much clearer and more reliable that individual stocks meaning; futures are easier to predict the up coming move. Leverage is a key component of trading the futures markets and while this can work for you it can also work against you. The futures markets move fast and for that reason you must have a solid trading system you can trust and the proper discipline to exit the loosing trades quickly. This is where having a bracket order in place to limit your downside risk is crucial in your trading success. Since you are trading with very little upfront money in your account you must keep your losses small and be disciplined enough not to over trade your account. You must have a solid trading plan and follow your plan. The financial futures contracts are the most widely traded futures contracts. Here is a list of the futures contracts that are traded. ES - S&P 500 (basket of 500 stocks)  There are 4 ticks to equal 1.00 point. Each tick is worth $12.50 OR 1.00 full point is worth $50.00  YM - DOW (basket of the Dow 30 stocks) The YM trades in ticks with each tick being worth $5.00. For every 1.00 full S&P point the DOW will move 10 ticks. NQ - NASDAQ (Tracks 100 stocks on the NASDAQ exchange) There are 4 ticks to equal 1.00 point. Each tick is worth $5.00 making a 1.00 full point move $20.00 AB - RUSSELL 20000 (Tracks mid-cap tech stocks) There are 10 ticks to equal 1.00 full point. Each tick is worth $10.00 OR 1.00 full point is worth $100.00.  Starting today get a profitable new outlook on the markets that will change your life forever. e Mini school is dedicated to your trading success.