Finding a good futures broker will give you the right to buy or sell a commodity or financial instrument at a specified time in the future at a specified price. Finding the right futures broker means finding futures brokers that will allow you to trade with a team of technically accredited dealers 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. Futures brokers will differ on the minimum deposit to open an account, monthly account fees (if any) as well as brokerage to buy and sell. Many futures brokers base commissions on the volume and frequency of trades made, with a minimum commission per trade.
Futures are based on commodities or financial instruments. When trading futures become familiar with the commodity of the financial instrument you are trading as this will give you an edge in your trading. Your broker should have access to information pertaining to that commodity. For example, if you are trading futures in pork bellies, cattle or soy, you would want your broker to have access to information such as climate, farm news, and overseas economic decisions. This will affect your choice of the type of contract you buy or sell. A full-service, accredited broker can give you this information and advise you on the likely outcome of price movements.
Likewise, a full-service broker that deals with financial instruments will be aware of likely trends and movements within that instrument because they have up-to-date information on price movements and likely outcomes. Unless you specialize in a particular commodity or instrument it would be wiser to utilize the specialized services of a fully accredited full-service futures broker. To find the best full-service futures broker for your needs, you should compare costs and trading platforms. Many futures brokers can be found on the internet and within their pages, you will find information on what they offer. Some have free trials and software that you can download to trial their services.
Most full-service brokers are able to offer a managed fund to their clients. These can be helpful when you are not confident in your trading abilities and wish to park your money into a fund where all the trades are managed for you. This can be an excellent way to participate in the market and not have to worry about the daily trading activities needed to maximize your profits. A good full-service futures broker can advise you on this.