Options Trading Tutorial - I want to learn to trade ES contracts any suggestions?

I want to learn to trade ES contracts any suggestions?

I currently trade options using Interactive Brokers, I know they are an ok options broker but not good for ES. The problem is that I am not sure who is good for ES and most importantly I want to know the best. I also want to find the best course for trading the mini S&P. Best answer with facts and citations will get the maximum stars. Also, will take suggestions on platforms, software, data vendors, charting software, etc. Thanks for your help. I appreciate those answers, but neither of you answered my questions. I asked for an answer with citations, with facts cited. Someone please point me in the right direction. To answer the comment about IB, IB does not give you any relevant information to help you trade daily. I guess I want professional answers not people doing the same thing I am doing. Any pros trading out there please help me and point me in the right direction.

Public Comments

Based on what criteria did you determine that IB is "not good for ES"? ES is the same no matter where you trade, or with whom you trade. If you were talking about commissions, IB charges about $1 or less per contract for high volume traders. One tick in ES alone is $12.50. So, I don't see how saving 10 cents on commission with another broker will somehow let you get ahead... ... Besides isn't it better to keep all your trading activities in one consolidated account like you could with IB... ...
I like OptionsXpress for trading in all vehicles - Futures, Futures Options, Options, etc. Free real-time quotes and streaming charts. I don't have a specific course recommendation, other than the school of hard knocks. I've been trading futures for 26 years, and have learned a lot through reading books and studying charts. In my opinion, the most important things to learn are how to manage your risk, and how to implement a disciplined, non-emotional trading plan. I have a lot of suggestions that I can provide, if you want to follow-up separately.
If you want to successfully trade the S&P or the Emini you need to know that Program Trading is over 60% of the volume every day traded on the NYSE and it is normally over 70% of the ES. It is normally a strategy used by large institutional firms like Goldman Sachs & Co, Morgan Stanley, SG America's Securities, Barclays Capital Management. http://online.barrons.com/public/page/9_0210-nysepgtd.html First Program trading is a generic term used to describe a type of trading in securities, usually consisting of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange and their corresponding options traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange and/or the American Stock Exchange; and, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index commodity contract traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The trading of these items is based purely on their price in relation to each other on a predetermined basis; and not, on any fundamental reason such as an individual company's earnings, dividends, or growth prospects; or, on any overall economic reasons such as interest rate movements, currency fluctuations, or governmental or political actions. There are different types of program trading that we will describe later along with how you can benefit from the different types. According to the New York Stock Exchange, program trading accounts for about 45 - 90% of the trading volume on that exchange every day. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/07/program_trading.asp The "premium" (PREM) or "spread" is the difference between the most active S&P 500 Stock Index Futures Contract (the spoos) minus the actual S&P 500 Stock Index (cash). That difference, which usually ranges between $5.00 to $-5.00, and slowly decays or rises as we reach the S&P 500 Futures Contract expiration, is what program trading is based on. When the PREM difference rises to a certain execution level, "buy" programs kick in. Large institutional traders then buy the stocks in the S&P 500 Stock Index on the New York Stock Exchange and sell the S&P 500 Stock Index Futures Contract against those positions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. When the PREM difference drops to a certain execution level, "sell" programs kick in and large institutional traders do the exact opposite. Here is a link the only source of accurate buy/sell levels according to Investopedia and the Wall Street Journal. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/07/program_trading.asp In that same article HL Camp and Company are referenced they are the leaders in Program Trading Research and information. They are the firm that trained the most successful program trading desks today GSCO, First Boston, Morgan Stanley to name a few. These transactions have extremely low risks because of the abnormal market differences in the PREM as traders capture those few points of profit before the PREM returns to normal and/or Fair Value. http://www.programtrading.com/fvalue.htm This type of program trading is called index arbitrage and is very common. But it usually accounts for less than 10% of all program trading activity done each day. http://online.barrons.com/public/page/9_0210-nysepgtd.html Here is an article from the Wall Street Journal where HL Camp is quoted at using his statistical program trading analysis to accurately predict the Superbowl winner. The article is from the Friday before the game as you see on the Wall Street Journal website very interesting stuff these guys do. http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2010/02/05/can-the-stock-market-predict-the-super-bowl-winner/ I suggest you contact them and do what I did. I took the time and money to learn their trading methods and today I am doing very well. Having their research reports tells me the odds of trading, I know the night before if I am looking at a good or bad trading day. I find myself living very happily from this, I am not stressed. I don't spend countless hours looking at charts. I trade better and things make sense. Trading is like any profession you have to learn from someone who has traded successfully and has a proven system. You wouldn't learn medicine without practicing on a cadaver. Books don't teach you how to trade. Trust me. I learned from finding a practical and logical method that taught me how to use Program Trading to my advantage. I move with Goldman Sachs rather than against them. Program Trading does drive the market, and if you are an active trader, you need to know it for sure. This changed my life. Regarding clearing and platforms there are a lot of choices. Most professional traders clear MF Global as they are the largest clearing member of the CME, they are not cheap like Open E, IB, Tradestation, to name a few. Most professionals use Mtrade Pro clearing MF Global. Regarding data vendors you need a good data feed that runs the premium and TIKI correctly, but again you need to learn how to read that, that is something that you can learn with HL Camp & Co. Here is more information on clearing from the CFTC http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@financialdataforfcms/documents/file/fcmdata0110.pdf The number you need to be aware of is the Customer Segregated Funds or CSF. If that number is low you are looking at a pretty low quality outfit. Compare GSCO, MF Global, with someone like Global Futures or Open E Cry. Regarding your comments about IB you are correct they are the best broker for options. For ES they are on the wrong exchange which will delay your order entry, mess up your fills. With brokers you get what you pay for its that simple. Thank you for taking the time to read the answer. I hope this helps anyone wanting to learn to trade the ES. They changed my life I trade happily knowing in advance when I need to enter knowing the odds, and reading the correct indicators, there are a million out there and only very very few that work. J Jaramillo