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Why Is Trend Following One Of The Ideal Futures Trading Strategies?

Author: Francisco Mandelbaum
by Francisco Mandelbaum
Posted: Mar 15, 2014

When using strategies like channel breakouts, current market price calculation and moving averages the goal of futures traders is not to predict specific price levels, but to ride a trend. Various traders may use different techniques and time frames to pick trends.

Futures contracts can offer endless trading opportunities. There are plenty of futures trading strategies that can serve as a starting point for traders interested in using them. However, the strategies that can prove to be the best for a futures trader depends on their futures trading objectives, their knowledge of the futures market and their risk-carrying ability. Nonetheless, here is one strategy that is worth considering as a starting point.

Trend Following For Futures Trading

Trend following is a strategy that can be implemented by futures traders, which involves the technical analysis of futures market prices. In futures markets, traders who use a trend following strategy share the belief that over time, prices either move up or down. They observe the current direction to attempt and take advantage of these market trends and base their decision of whether to buy or sell on this.

There are numerous different calculations, techniques and time-frames they futures traders may use to determine the market’s general direction to generate a trade signal. These include channel breakouts, current market price calculation and moving averages. When this strategy is employed, the goal of futures traders is not to forecast specific price levels, rather they aim to just jump and ride a trend. Since trend following futures traders have so many different techniques and time frames to pinpoint trends, these traders are not always correlated to each other as a group.

Things To Consider When Following Trends

Price: Emphasizing primarily on the price is among the very first rules that should be followed by futures traders when following a trend. Although other indicators can be used, traders should disregard them. The only thing that futures traders should worry about is what their futures market is doing, rather than being concerned about what that market might do in the future. To learn this they must emphasize only on the current price.

Money management: When it comes to following trends, another factor that is quite decisive is to decide how much to trade while following a trend, rather than emphasizing on the indicator or the timing of the trade.

Risk control: When following trends, futures traders should do their best to cut their losses. This means that during periods when futures markets are highly volatile, they should reduce their trading size. During losing periods, they should reduce their positions and cut back on their trade size. They should be aiming for preserving capital until they notice more positive price trends.

Rules: Even when following trends, futures traders should remain systematic. Price and time are always pivotal. This technique is not based on analyzing fundamental factors related to supply and demand.

Diversification: When following trends at a professional futures trading level, an essential thing that traders must consider is diversification.

The bottom line is that as a starting point, trend following is what one the ideal futures trading strategies. Here is an online trading resource for traders wanting to learn day trading. It gives them the opportunity to take advantage of medium, long and short-term moves that tend to play out in the futures markets.>Click here to know more about futures trading strategies. Even if the market begins moving contrary to the trend, futures traders can always exit and wait until this new trend has established and can start following it instead.

Author of this article enjoys listening to the CFRN Emini Futures Live Market Commentary each day and also watching the CFRN Professional Emini Traders place live trades in their Live Emini Trading Room.

Website: http://eminitradingsystems.com/

About the Author

Author of this article enjoys listening to the Cfrn Emini Futures Live Market Commentary each day and also watching the Cfrn Professional Emini Traders place live trades in their Live Emini Trading Room. Website: http://eminitradingsystems.com/

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Author: Francisco Mandelbaum

Francisco Mandelbaum

Member since: Feb 12, 2014
Published articles: 2

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