There ain’t no such thang. 1X is not leverage. My mistake.
I think the points by cooperthedog are very good, and this is how I learn so much on this forum.
Our education and ability to make money in the financial markets definitely progresses stage by stage. I’m at an early stage where I look towards futures as a valuable tool I need to understand, because this year I’m painfully aware of the limitations of my current toolkit. For example, I cannot trade after hours which obviously makes for huge risks when I hold lots volatility-sensitive positions overnight! I’ve been watching the futures trade after hours and thinking, “I need to learn how to trade futures, and trade them in ways that manage the risk associated with futures. That way I can also better manage the risks of events that hit the finanical markets in the after hours/overnight hours”
In a way I at least already passively use the behavior of overnight futures to help me anticipate the next day’s market. I always get up early in CA so I can check the futures before the markets open in NYC. I feel as if I’m going to the party blind, unless I have a clear picture of the index futures before the US markets open.
