For stock market traders who want to take the global view the stock indices are of course the first choice. There are ETFs like the QQQQ, but for people wanting to squeeze more out of their capital, futures like the E-Mini with their margins are preferable. You just need the right system, trading futures is not easy.

Trading futures without the risk

A working system is for trading futures especially important. Not that the lack of a system or at least some sort of thoughtful preparation is recommended in any market, but let beginners start with futures and the outcome is almost always overtrading. Using a system for trading futures should at least mean applying the right money management.

For professionals it can be can be very lucrative to trade futures, but one has to make sure that it is not only luck plus too aggressive position sizes what makes the first big gains, as the fortunes will quickly turn around. The same holds true for option traders. Exactly that is the reason why even so many pros went bankrupt more than once during their career. If you find that your trading style is prone to taking too big positions, trading stocks, of course without using margin, may be the better choice for you. Even Forex accounts have often a built in security, as they can't go below zero. Futures accounts can - beware.