Pretty Green, Plz help me understand something?

Hi Guy's

I'm pretty green to futures trading and I'm trying to get my head around the basics.

I'm here is Australia looking at


I know what Symbol, Description, Exc are.

But don't really understand the Contract Size? Lets say I wanted 2 contracts of CL.
Does this mean I have to buy 2 x 1,000 bbl contract if I want to trade CL and if Crude Oil is trading at $90bbl do I need $180K to get 2 contracts?

Could someone help me understand the mechanics of this stuff?

As you can tell I am a long, long way from making my first trade...

It depends on the broker you use. They will require a good faith deposit called margin probably around $1500.00 for CL the broker holds this in a margin account, sort of like a savings account that the firm makes interest on. So if you have a $5,000 account and you go long on 2 CL contracts the broker will hold onto $3000 leaving $2,000 in your account....if your account drops below $2,000 (2points) you will get a margin call. A bit of advice you should start with something other than Crude....CL is the most violent of all futures. most of Its volume is pit traders who have more tools, more experience, and more money than you and its very news/supply demand/weather affected influenced instrument. Most start with NQ, or ZN and then move to the ES, and CL when/if they are profitable.

Thanks Charter Joe

That really helped. Now it's starting to make a tiny bit of sense.

OK New Question

In the picture above CL "sticking with CL for this example" Months = All Months. Does this mean that I could take out a 3 month contract or would it be governed by monthly close outs???

Imagine I'm thinking CL was going to be $150 in 3 months time "just an example"

Because there's a contract expiring in each month of the year it means that you can, as in your example, "take out" a 3 month contract in the CL. Most contracts, however, are not held until expiration and are closed out before then. So you could buy/sell a contract that expires in 6-months time and then buy/sell it after 3 months.

Thanks Day trading

Believe it or not I have been searching for info on this stuff for a few days now and haven't really found any clear answers until asking on this forum.

Maybe it's my search terminology that's letting me down?

But it seems to be difficult to find answers on google, however there are loads of youtube vids showing different strategies and tech ind's that seem to work... "with that particular trade of course"

Thanks Guys, your help is much appreciated.

Meant to ask'

Does anyone know of a good book or website where I can learn the fundamentals?

http://www.gotrade.us/forms/intro_futures_com.htm

Thanks Immensely!