Thanks for the information, guys. I wonder what the downsides are, then, since it appears to be the much better option. I suppose that there are no daily limits or anything, right? There is some kind of monthly fee for using AMP Futures?
My, my. ;->
Best to all.
The only downside is the protection of funds issue, however as offshore traders weāre already used to that lol. There are no monthly costs. They have several free platforms available, I personally use MT5 due to familiarity.
What do you mean by daily limits?
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Amp futures has a good review history on Trustpilot. They have had some spotty customer service issues in the past. They seemed to have addressed those issues. Personally I havenāt experienced any problems.
Futures.io is a great forum to familiarize yourself in the world of futures.
Optimus Futures is another great futures broker with excellent customer service. They are a little more expensive. I know at one time they were IB for Amp and was preferred for their superior customer service.
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I just mean, daily limits in terms of number of trades and so forth. I suspect not, I guess.
Thanks, again.
You suspect correctly. The limit is the margin requirements against your account size.
Futures Margin Calculator | AMP Futures
Just know that in high volatility events, its common for them to increase margin requirements. Elections, Brexit news, etc. Youāll get an email letting you know when it happens, and when it expires.
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Thanks. When you say that they increase margin requirements, what does that mean, exactly? Just that the leverage is lowered, or something else?
Letās say margin was $400 per contract to day trade the S&P 500 back in Jan 2020, and then market volatility massively spiked when the US completely shut down in Feb 2020. Margin then increases to letās say $700 per contractā¦ so yes, that lowers leverage. Itās temporary until things calm down. In dead markets the opposite also happens, margins decrease due to lack of volatility which increases leverage.
Margins are set by the exchanges (NYMEX, CME, CBOT, COMEX, ICE ect.) similar to the Fed with short term interest rates. The brokers use those rates as a benchmark and then set their own individual margin rates, similar to how banks use the prime rate as a benchmark to set their own individual interest rates.
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Thanks. Sorry for my ignorance on this topic, but is AMP Futures acting as a broker, or are trades taking place directly on the exchange?
According to their website, AMP Global is based in the US and is regulated. Does this mean that licensing is required to trade futures with these guys? Do they have any requirements other than deposit minimums and KYC?
It was mentioned that US citizens cannot work with AMP Global, but can trade via AMP Futures. I guess I would like to understand what the difference is. I am looking through their FAQ now. I will continue reading.
Thanks.
no problemā¦
is AMP Futures acting as a broker, or are trades taking place directly on the exchange?
AMP like all other futures brokers allow market access to the centralized exchanges, just like etrade & fidelity allow market access to NYSE, AMEX & Nasdaq stock exchanges. When you see the orderbook for Euro futures @ TDAmeritrade, itās the exact same order book you see @ AMP (showed in previous post) & any other futures broker. Youāre getting a snapshot of the combined trading volume of all market participants in that particular market.
According to their website, AMP Global is based in the US and is regulated. Does this mean that licensing is required to trade futures with these guys? Do they have any requirements other than deposit minimums and KYC?
No licensing is required on the customerās part unless you professionally manage money for others. Other than that particular circumstance, cash + KYC docs is all that is required to trade.
It was mentioned that US citizens cannot work with AMP Global, but can trade via AMP Futures. I guess I would like to understand what the difference is. I am looking through their FAQ now. I will continue reading.
Thereās a difference in tradeable marketsā¦ Customers of AMP global have access to US futures, Spot FX & CFDs (banned in US), whereas AMP US only has access to the US futures markets. AMP Global is located in Europe, so the DOD Frank regulations are a road block for US citizens that are not eligible contract participants (ECP).
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Thanks a lot for writing this out. I appreciate it.
I wonder why this isnāt talked about as much. Iām guessing that most people may just not be aware.
I wonder if any of the remote prop firms are offering this, or if they can. Seems like it could be beneficial.
There are a handful of prop firms that do Futures only. TopStep is the oldest.
Itās a different world then FX and can be intimidating for many. Plus there is a barrier to entry that exclude a lot of people. Itās not for the faint of heart.
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Futures trading is what I started with when spot FX trading was just an over the counter Institutional thing <2005. Back then I traded everything including Cotton, Coffee, Wheat, Corn, Gasoline, Lumber, Orange Juice, Lean Hogs & Soybean oil, If a market had trends, I was there lol. It was way more popular with retail traders back then since it was the only option to trade highly leveraged markets, A lot of the 90s to early 2000 get rich quick trading courses were on futures trading.
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-Thanks. Can you please expand on this? What is intimidating about it, and what kind of barrier-to-entry are you referring to? I am just guessing here, but is the intimidation/faint of heart comment relating to market movement?
I started trading with crypto, which, at the time, moved very fast. Now, I only trade indices, specifically NAS these days. I scalp the lowest time-frames, so I am very comfortable with fast-paced trading.
I am a technical trader, and indices tend to respond extremely well to indicators. Is this the same for futures, or does the market move differently? I suppose commodities probably move better on fundamentals?
A question, as Iāve been following the animated AMP discussion.
Since AMP Global will not deal with U.S. traders then the brokerage under discussion is U.S. onshore, yes?
Correct, AMP Futures is a registered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) with the CFTC.
Overall, there are way more futures brokers to choose from here in the US than FX brokers. I went with AMP due to lowest commissions, lowest margins for day trading, free real time data (they cover the exchange data costs, other broker may only have 15m delayed data for free) & tons of trading platforms to choose from.
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-I noticed this. I have never seen so many options before. Is the futures market bigger than forex, then? And if it is, then why isnāt it talked about more? Because FX brokers usually only offer one or two different options, and thatās it.
I understand that many FX brokers force clients to use Metatrader because they can use plugins to manipulate things in their favor.
Some of the options that are available on that futures website, I have never even heard of before. There are surely many options on there that are impossible to manipulate. That seems promising.
Would be curious what most people are using, then, since I find it hard to believe that most will still opt to use Metatrader unless they have an EA or something that they cannot use otherwise.
The forex market is bigger than everything, but for some reason the entire retail forex market has coalesced around 1 trading platform. That is not the case in stocks or futures.
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Ok guys, hereās the EURUSD, JPYUSD & S&P 500 e-mini futures orderbooks <1 hour into the Asian session, which is the lowest liquidity & widest spread period.
JPYUSD 1 level deep = 34 contracts @ ask ($425 per pip) & 48 contracts @ bid ($600 per pip)
EURUSD 1 level deep = 36 contracts @ ask ($450 per pip) & 41 contracts @ bid ($512 per pip)
S&P 500 mini 1 level deep = 41 contracts @ ask ($2050 per point) & 60 contracts @ bid ($3000 per point)
As you can see, the spreads are great for <1 hour from market open. Liquidity will also be significantly higher during UK/US sessions,
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Right, then would this AMP discussion be more appropriately posted in a different forum than this one āGoing offshore to escape the CFTCā ?
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