A few colleagues and I were chatting after their return from a recent trader’s expo, and the topic of Futures versus Forex came up.
This seems to have been a hot topic from the event and the subject of numerous debates between the various traders in attendance. The forex traders argued in favor of their ability to trade day and night, without the time constraints futures traders’ experience. Futures traders contested that their wide variety of trading opportunities, ranging from currencies, energies, and metals to index futures gave them the upper hand. While listening to the various pros and cons put forward by both sides, I wondered, “Why not trade both?” That way, the trader could experience variety by day and accessibility by night.
CHOCOLATE VERSUS VANILLA
Rather than dissect each point and counterpoint of every well or ill-conceived argument, take a detour with me. Set aside, for a moment, futures vs. forex. Consider that there may be a third option. Whether human nature or cultural trend we often feel the need to choose sides: chocolate vs. vanilla, West Coast vs. East Coast, Star Trek vs. Star Wars. All worthy opponents, but their rivalries may be unnecessary. Their dissonance can often result in amazing inventions such as the hot fudge sundae and peanut butter and jelly.
Throw out the concept that a trader must choose between futures and forex. Today’s software allows active traders to utilize single click Chart Trader order execution and fully automated strategies to trade futures by day and forex by night, or simultaneously, as demonstrated in the image below.
This image demonstrates the ease with which traders can trade futures and forex simultaneously. The above NinjaTrader Market Analyzer is used to load forex and futures lists to scan the market for price action and trade alert setups. Adding the color coded window linking tool to connect the Market Analyzer with the Chart allows the trader to easily navigate and update their charts by clicking on the different instruments listed. The Market Analyzer’s foundation is built with standard Ask, Bid and Last Price data, and further strengthened with the RSI and VOL to keep an eye on the liquidity of the market. From there, traders can leverage the liquidity and flexibility of forex, and the volume transparency of futures.
This well rounded combination of market data is further enhanced with a new NinjaTrader exclusive feature. NinjaTrader has teamed up with a few select brokers to provide the ability to trade futures and forex at the same price you would normally trade just one of these markets. Feel free to send NinjaTrader a note to find out more about receiving a free live forex license.
[Editor’s note: All of the tools in NinjaTrader are free for market analytics, and simulated trading.]
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