Traders' Roundtable

I am finding that my trading strategy is often unable to take futures positions in the energy complex (i.e Crude, Nat Gas, Gasoline etc) because the risk to stop is too large for my account to handle.
Trading the miNY energy contracts may offer a solution for me.
So the question is;
Do any forum members have experience trading in these smaller energy contracts w.r.t liquidity issues, fills, bid/ask spreads, slipp on stoporders etc

I have already done a bit of google detective work on this topic but without much satisfaction
I’m more curious in personal experiences rather than definitions and contract sizes.
A blox forum search reveals a useful post by user ‘klatt_attack’ from 2010 which mentions that miNY’s can be very illiquid.
Perhaps the ETF's USO, UGA & UNG could be a better option?

Anyhow, would very much like to hear any and all 2011 opinions on these miNY contracts w.r.t. trading

I think they're worth trading. Slippage might be a little greater, and spreads are bit wider but you shouldn't have any problem moving in and out of these markets. The added diversification is worth it.

Thanks for the tip Shane.

I tried trading mini crude oil futures many years ago, only to discover they did not accept stop orders. Only limit and market orders.
Oops.
I don't see anything on the exchange website, have things changed?
How about GTC orders, can they be used? Kind of a hassle entering orders every afternoon, when I am busy at the salt mine!

Yes, you can use stops and GTC orders in Emini (and NY) contracts.