How much does it cost to trade futures and options?
Payments for transactions can be divided into several parts. The first is the actual, brokerage fee. Usually it does not exceed $5 per contract in one direction, in active trading (more than 1000 contracts per month) can be reduced to $3.
The second is. Exchange and regulatory fees, they are $0.3 to $2 per contract, depending on the particular exchange and contract. Brokers usually do not include these fees in the published commission. The third is. point-of-sale paymentup to $1 per contract for a transaction through the terminal, or a fixed amount per month, from $25 and above.
All deductions will be made from your trading account automatically, without requiring you to do anything else. In total, the purchase or sale of one futures contract should not cost you more than $8, more often about $6. Considering that the minimum tick on most futures is equivalent to $10-$15, all transaction costs are recouped in 1-2 ticks. Commissions and fees are regularly reported on the account.
Some brokers also have the practice of inactivity fee (for example, if the trading account is not used during the quarter) - you need to find out about this separately. In addition, banks charge one-time payments for sending funds to the U.S. and back, it would take up to $50.