What are the requirements for opening a futures account?

Opening a futures account can be divided into two types, one is opening a commodity futures account and the other is opening a stock index futures account. There is no capital threshold for opening a commodity futures account and no capital verification is required. Just like stocks, adults over the age of 18 can open an account. There are capital requirements for opening a stock index futures account. You need to place 500,000 in the commodity futures account for 5 trading days before you can open an account. More than 99% of the futures clients I have seen are doing commodity futures, and a very small number of them are doing stock index futures. Commodity futures are relatively cheap. You can trade more than a dozen futures varieties for 5,000 yuan. For example, thread futures can be bought and sold for more than 2,000 yuan per lot, methanol futures can be bought and sold for 1,500 yuan per lot, and soybean meal can be bought and sold for 1,300 yuan per lot. Moreover, the profit or loss of most futures varieties is only 10 yuan per fluctuation, which is very cheap and acceptable to most investors, so you can open an account without capital verification.

Next, I will introduce to you the specific process and precautions for opening a futures account.

1. Introduction to the futures account opening process

You can open a futures account online or at the sales department of a futures company. The Internet is now very developed, and more than 95% of futures customers open accounts online. The online account opening process is very simple. If you open an account by computer, fill in your basic personal information on the futures company's official website, then hold your ID card and watch the customer service video. It is estimated that the entire account opening process will be completed in 20-30 minutes. If you are opening an account on a mobile phone, download a futures account opening cloud app of the China Securities Regulatory Commission or an app of a futures company, fill in your personal information and follow the video to complete. Previously, a customer went to the sales department to open an account. When he arrived at the site, the on-site account opening staff taught him to use the futures company's app to open an account online, which was exactly the same as opening an account directly online at home.

2. Things to note when opening a futures account

1. First of all, you must ensure that the futures company you open an account with is formal, so that your funds are safe. You can check it through the futures company directory on the official website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission below,

Futures Company Directory (December 2019) www.csrc.gov.cn

If the futures company you opened an account with is not In the list of futures companies above, it must be a fake futures company. Do not open one. The account given to you by such a fake futures company is essentially a simulated trading account. Once the money goes in, it cannot come out. In addition, there are many fake companies now, pretending to be regular futures companies to deceive people. In this case, it is definitely not enough to just check the directory above. Several methods are needed to determine:

(1) Whether it is possible to log in to formal trading software such as Wenhua Finance and Boyi Master. These formal trading software only work with Cooperate with formal futures companies.

(2) Whether the account number and password of the monitoring center are guaranteed.

(3) Whether it is possible to open an account on the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s futures account opening cloud app. All 149 regular futures companies can open an account on this app.

If any of the above three points is met, you can basically be sure that it is a regular futures company.

2. Pay attention to the handling fees and margin standards provided by the futures company. The default handling fees and margins given by most futures companies are very high. Generally, the handling fees are 2-5 times the minimum handling fee, and the margin is 1.5-2 times the minimum margin.

The actual handling fee charged by our trading account = the fixed handling fee of the exchange + the additional handling fee charged by the futures company.

For example, the exchange stipulates that the minimum opening fee for methanol is 2 yuan, and the margin is 1,413 yuan. The default opening fee of futures companies is generally 4-10 yuan, and the margin is about 2,000-3,000 yuan, which is still very high in the long run. Not a good deal. Therefore, please note that before opening an account, you must negotiate with the account manager of the futures company and ask for the minimum handling fee and minimum margin before opening an account. If unfortunately you have already opened an account with high handling fees, you can ask them to lower it. If negotiation fails, you can open a new futures account. A person can open countless futures accounts in different futures companies, but be careful to negotiate the handling fees and margins before opening an account. Negotiate after opening the account. Futures companies are basically unwilling to lower them. The exchange’s minimum handling fee standards can be viewed on the official websites of the three major exchanges, or you can view the exchange handling fee table summarized below.

3. Pay attention to the additional services of futures companies. The servers of futures companies are all rented from exchanges, and the speed is the same. In other words, the hardware strength is actually the same for everyone, so we must pay attention to the soft power of futures companies.

Soft power is mainly reflected in customer service training and customer service. The first is the basic knowledge of futures trading. Companies with perfect customer service will prepare futures basic learning videos and simulation software for novices. Novices can basically simulate for one or two hours and become familiar with futures. Buy and sell operations to help customers get started efficiently. It may take a few days for a novice to figure it out on his own. And it is very likely that the transaction will be affected by ignoring some important information. On the other hand, what is more important is the training of futures trading analysis techniques. The futures market is a gambling market. Some people make profits and some people lose money. However, there are rules in the futures market. It is difficult for a novice who has just entered the market and knows nothing to defeat a veteran who has already mastered the rules of the market, so learning becomes very important. A futures company with perfect services will provide you with complete learning materials on futures analysis techniques. Some companies will even provide online or offline training. These can help you learn many important methods and concepts, such as how to scientifically set stop limits. Profit and stop loss levels, how to manage positions, how to establish your own stable and profitable trading system, etc. can help you avoid many detours.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that futures, like stocks, are risky. In other words, the futures market is a market where opportunities and risks coexist. Whether it is futures account opening or futures trading, it is recommended that everyone learn relevant knowledge first before starting operations. If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools!