almacdee

A good commodity Broker would tell you to trade the December '06 contract. ---

You really don't want to be trading the 2012 Futures contract. The furthest out contracts are much too 'thin' to trade. If the price goes against you, you want to be able to exit your trade sharpish, and the best way to do that is to trade only very heavily traded markets/contracts. Ordinarily, any Futures trades should be on the nearest contracts because they are the most heavily traded. Stick with them and you have a better chance of getting out in a panic sell-off. You will also get far quicker and more accurate 'fills'. Every cent movement in one Crude Oil Future contract is worth $10. Using your $64.00 as an example price, if Crude drops to $59.00 you will have lost your $5000. However, in the event that you only have a $5000 account balance, your broker will exit your trade on your behalf if the price drops to $62.50 anyway(150cents X $10 = $1,500), because the maintenance margin on Crude Oil is $3450. You will have more success if you learn how to trade Options, believe me. Trading Futures is difficult. For example, if you feel bullish it might be better to buy a Call Option. That way, the most money you can lose is the price of the Option. If you feel Bearish you can buy a Put Option instead. As of today, an 'at-the-money' December Crude Oil Call Option will cost you around $2000, and it will have 27 trading days before it expires. That means you will have another 27 trading days for your Call Option to trade 'in-the-money', ie, above your entry price, thereby giving you your profit ...and even if the price of Crude drops to zero, you will only lose your $2000 Option premium. ---