Commodity Trading Strategies FAQ's

1. What do I receive when I purchase one of your commodity trading strategies?

We offer our strategies exclusively through annual subscriptions that are traded by our preferred brokers.

This allows for seamless integration of our strategies, in real world trading.

2. What will be the total cost to trade the strategy per year?

The total cost to run the commodity trading strategies is the price of the strategy plus slippage and commission per trade minus T-bill yield and plus/minus any foreign currency change.

Our real-life, incurred costs are on the Commodity Index Strategy page in the Real Time Results section.

3. Are the commodity trading strategies only for the small size trader?

No. We recommend trading the strategy with between 60–80k USD, depending on your level of risk.

For larger account sizes, trade 1 lot for each 80–100k USD. The reason for the higher recommended collateral for multiple lots is that in trading you want to decrease your risk as your account grows.

An example is to trade the first lot at 65k, add a second lot at 150k and add a third lot at 240k. Don’t forget that if you are trading only one of our commodity trading strategies, you can also add to your units by trading our other strategy.

4. My broker recommended that I trade two contracts per signal. What do you think?

See the above question for our recommendation in adding lots. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you decrease your exposure as your account grows, not increase it.

5. You make several references to trading strategies. Is this the same as a trading system?

A trading system is just a component of a trading strategy. A trading strategy consists of the system, portfolio selection, and most importantly, a money management component.

A trading system on its own is incomplete. Two traders can trade the same system and one can make money, while the other loses money due to the money management that they use or fail to use.

6. Why can’t I just buy the strategy?

We decided it would be too difficult for the average client to run our commodity trading strategies. The subscription method also allows us to offer our strategies for less than the cost of the global data and the trading platforms required to run them.

Our trading strategies run on specialized, high-cost, trading platforms. They also trade many markets on several worldwide exchanges. This makes managing the data extremely difficult.

We also feel that executing the strategies over many time zones may be too time consuming for the majority of our clients. This is why our strategies are only offered through our preferred brokers.

7. What broker should I use?

We recommend using our preferred broker Angus Jackson Inc.

Our strategies are set up on their computers and run out of their offices as well as ours.

Our accounts are traded with Angus Jackson using the signals generated from their side. Every day we check the account fills and open positions against the signals generated from our side. This ensures a duplication process that can immediately pick up any discrepancies.

8. How do I purchase the strategy?

View our ordering information page for details.

9. Can I use T-bills to collateralize my account?

Yes. We recommend that you keep 20k in your account for margin requirements. The rest can be kept in T-bills or foreign currencies.

10. How does collateralizing your account with T-bills work?

The excess equity in your account can be kept in T-bills. This will generate extra returns for your account.

T-bills are purchased through your broker. Most Future Commission Merchants (FCM’s) will collateralize your T-bills at 95%. This is standard practice.

When you are reading your account statement divide the T-bill value (securities on deposit) by 0.95. This will give you the fully collateralized value of your T-bills.

11. Do I have to keep my account in dollars?

The majority of liquid futures contracts are priced in dollars. You will need to keep enough dollars in your account to cover margin requirements.

We recommend that you keep 20k in your account for margin requirements. The rest of the equity can be kept in foreign currencies or T-bills.

Check with your broker. You do not want to run deficits in a currency or break T-bills because the FCM’s will charge you additional fees.

12. I have been receiving the signals for about 3 weeks and there haven’t been any new trades yet. Is something wrong?

This occurs when the markets are overvalued. Remember, we only take trades when there is value and a high opportunity for profit in the trade.

Please do not let this discourage you. It is often the trades that you don’t take that are your best trades. The famous trader, Jesse Livermore, said what made him the most money was knowing when to sit tight.

Our commodity trading strategies are scanning the markets every day and the trades will come soon enough!

13. Is there a way to keep up to date with the real-time performance of your commodity trading strategies?

Yes, sign up for our monthly real-time performance updates.

CFTC REQUIRED RISK DISCLOSURE
Futures and options trading involve substantial risk. The valuation of futures and options may fluctuate, and as a result, clients may lose more than their original investment. In no event should the content of this website be construed as an express or an implied promise, guarantee or implication by or from our company that you will profit or that losses can or will be limited in any manner whatsoever. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Information provided on this website is intended solely for informative purposes and is obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Information is in no way guaranteed. No guarantee of any kind is implied or possible where projections of future conditions are attempted.