Intraday Trading

[freeindeed59]

Hi I am new here but have question hopefully someone can answer. I want to trade futures Intraday because the margins are smaller. The issue I have is when I attempt to put on a trade I am told I do not meet the initial margin requirements, ($8800) etc etc. These margins are much more than what I have in my account so how do I work around this to trade with an intraday margin, or is it not possible.

[szayedoud]

I believe your account must still be funded with at least the initial margin amount. And from that, your account must stay above the intraday margin requirement, and you must exit 15 minutes before session close. To carry a position overnight, it must stay above the maintenance margin.

[szayedoud]

I may be wrong about the initial funding being at least the initial margin amount. This article does not state that https://ninjatrader.com/blog/futures...night-trading/

What are you trading and how many contracts? If you don't mind me asking - how much is your excess initial margin showing in the Control Panel (under accounts)

[freeindeed59]

Thanks for answering, seems you need lots of money to trade even small contracts. Thought it was different. So as long as I finish trading 15 minutes before close the initial margin doesn't matter just intraday margin going forward. But I would still need to fund the initial margin. Stupid rule though.
Thank you.

[freeindeed59]

I would only be trading 1 contract initially, but it may have to do with the instruments chosen. I want to trade ES, CL YM RTY etc which all have different margin levels. My control panel doesn't show any margin levels as my broker is Interactive Brokers. Don't know why they are not visible though.

[freeindeed59]

Looking at that link you sent me it states: Intraday margin is the per-contract minimum amount of money required in your account to hold a position during regular trading hours. And initial margin is how is needed to hold positions overnight. Still don't understand the logic here.

[szayedoud]

I think i was wrong about the initial margin requirement. My first funding was $5000, less than initial margin amount. The low intraday rates make us think we need less initial capital than we actually do. One method of risk management is only risking 1-2% of your capital on each trade. You need enough equity to sustain losses, especially when first funding the account. If you don't fund the account adequately, you have a higher chance of wiping out your account. Your account needs to be able to sustain losses, but you also can't have too tight stops, especially if the market you're trading moves fast and is very volatile. Getting stopped out too quickly because your total equity is small is not a good start.

I thought that Ninja Trader brokerage had lower intraday rates. https://ninjatrader.com/PDF/ninjatra...ct_details.pdf

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello freeindeed59,

Thank you for your inquiry.

A breakdown of how margins work can be found at the link below;

https://ninjatrader.com/blog/understanding-margin-in-futures-trading/

With that said, the support forum is more so for technical platform items. If you have any questions about margins or a specific rejection on your account, you'd want to contact your broker directly. If you are a client with NinjaTrader Brokerage and would like us to look into a specific rejection that you received, please contact brokeragesupport(at)ninjatrader(dot)com, and we'd be happy to look into it and explain why it occurred.

Please let us know if we may assist you any further.

[tarundx]

When you trade futures, you must pay a margin amount since futures trading involves risk because the price movement could go against you. However, if you choose to trade futures intraday, the margin amount you have to pay is less. To know why that is the case, you need to understand what is intraday trading. When you trade futures contracts intraday, you take your position and square off your positions on the same day. However, in either case, you must at least have the margin amount in your account. If you want to receive intraday trading tips, consider opening a Demat account with IIFL Securities.