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Introduction: The Boom and Bust Cycles of Commodities…and Now Brokerage Firms | |
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What Has Changed? | |
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The Speculator's Role in Volatility | |
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Commodity Volatility Leads to Fortunes Made and Lost | |
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Commodity Brokers Boom and Bust Too | |
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How to Protect Yourself from Another MF Global or PFGBEST | |
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What Regulators Are Doing to Protect Clients | |
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Conclusion | |
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A Crash Course in Commodities | |
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How It All Began | |
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The CME Group | |
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Evolution of the Forward Contract into a Futures Contract | |
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Cash Market Versus Futures Market | |
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Contract Expiration | |
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The Mechanics of Futures Contracts | |
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Futures Spreads | |
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A Brief Introduction to Commodity Options | |
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Hedging Versus Speculating | |
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Commodity Hedgers | |
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Commodity Speculators | |
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The Organized Chaos of Open Outcry and the Advent of Electronic Trading | |
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The Pit | |
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Electronically Traded Markets | |
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Side by Side | |
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Account Access, Trading Platforms, and Quote Vendors | |
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Commodity Quotes Can Be Costly, But They Don't Have to Be | |
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Open Outcry Quote Reporting and Access | |
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Electronic Quote Transmission | |
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Subscribing to Quotes | |
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Charting | |
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Free Trading Platforms and Market Access | |
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Paid Trading Platforms | |
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Auto Approval Versus Manual Approval | |
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Multiple Order-Entry Methods | |
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Popular Premium Trading Platforms | |
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Order Desk ("The Desk") | |
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Is It Worth Paying Platform Fees or Subscribing to Quotes? | |
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Choosing a Brokerage Firm | |
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Introducing Brokers, Futures Commission Merchants, and Broker/Dealers | |
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Fill Quality | |
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Behind the Scenes of Transaction Costs | |
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Discount Brokerage or Full-Service Specialization | |
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What You Should Know About Commission Structure: Blanket or Variable Rates? | |
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Market Access | |
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Beyond Your Broker | |
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Conclusion | |
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Finding a Broker That Fits and Choosing a Service Level | |
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Understand Your Broker's Business | |
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Get to Know Your Futures Broker | |
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Full-Service Broker or Self-Directed Online? | |
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Why Using a Broker May Be a Good Idea | |
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Conclusion | |
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Order Types and How to Use Them | |
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Order Types | |
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Placing a Trade with Your Broker | |
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Placing a Trade Online | |
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Making Cents of Commodity Quotes | |
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Quoting Grain Futures | |
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Not All Grains Are Created Equal | |
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The Meats | |
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Foods and Fiber | |
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Precious Metals Futures | |
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Gold, Platinum, and Palladium Futures | |
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The Other Metal Futures | |
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The Energies | |
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Figuring in Financial Futures-Stock Indices, Interest Rates, and Currencies | |
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The Boring But Necessary Basics | |
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Stock Index Futures | |
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Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures | |
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NASDAQ 100 Futures | |
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S&P 500 Futures | |
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Russell 2000 Futures | |
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Interest Rate Futures | |
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Treasury Bond and Note Futures | |
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Eurodollar Futures | |
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Currency Futures | |
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Conclusion | |
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Coping with Margin Calls | |
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What Is Margin? | |
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Day Trading Margin Versus Overnight Margin | |
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What Are Margin Calls? | |
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How to Handle a Margin Call | |
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The Margin Call Countdown | |
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Accepting Margin Calls | |
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The Only Magic in Trading-Emotional Stability | |
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Three Emotions in Trading: Fear, Greed, Frustration | |
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Vengeful Trading Is Counterproductive | |
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Capital Preservation, a.k.a. Risk Management | |
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Trading Is a Business-Have a Plan | |
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The Trading Game Plan | |
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A Trading System Alone Isn't a "Business Plan" | |
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Constructing a Business Plan in Trading | |
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Price Speculation (Ideally, Prediction) | |
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Choosing a Trading Vehicle | |
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Risk Management | |
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Why You Should Speculate in Futures | |
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Speculating in Futures Versus Speculating in Equities | |
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Risk Capital Only | |
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Conclusion | |
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Futures Slang and Terminology | |
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Bull Versus Bear | |
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Spread | |
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Contract Month Slang | |
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Red Months | |
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Fill | |
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Blow Out | |
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Blow Up | |
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Keypunch Error | |
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Busted Trade or Moved Trade | |
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Fat Finger Error | |
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Net Liq | |
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Equity | |
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Customer Segregated Funds Account | |
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Beans | |
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Commodity Currency | |
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Dead Cat Bounce | |
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Bottom Fishing | |
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Chasing the Market | |
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Limit Moves | |
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The Tape | |
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Trading Solution and Front-End Platform | |
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Proprietary Trading | |
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Running Stops | |
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Short Squeeze | |
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Babysitting | |
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Scalp | |
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Slippage | |
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Working Order | |
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Unable | |
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Handle | |
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Overbought/Oversold | |
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Debit/Account Debit | |
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Round-Turns | |
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Trading Environment | |
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Index | |