@rvm - Some of the reasons I like minis over CFD,s - guaranteed stop means you cant lose more than your outlay - They trade on seats in the transparent market and you can trade them through any of the retail broker platforms ( I use ANZ iress the old power Etrade ) as long as you sign the initial disclaimer that you understand the risks with leveraged products.
they move 1 cent per point with the index - a 100 point move will change a $2 mini to $3 or $1 depending if you get it right or wrong - They suit my trading as I am sitting in front of the screen and can have a sell window open ready to pull the trigger - The guaranteed stop is really a backstop for a fat finger or black swan move or for overnight holds - there is no flexibility to implementing trailing stops automatically so CFD,s are probably better for that
Another point to know on the XJO. minis they dont stop out on the overnight night SPI market they only stop on the day market - EG you had a mini long with a stop at 5000 and overnight SPI traded from 5050 to 4950 and back to close at 5050 the stop would not be triggered -
The GSL minis offer higher leverage but when the stop is hit they are dead - with normal minis - after a stop is hit the market maker will post a market the next trading day after 2 pm and you can sell them back to close out
Eg - a 4800 mini long with a stop at 5000 would be $ 3 at 5100- market moves to 5400 mini goes from $3 to $6.
In the stop scenario 5100 falls to 5000 and the stop kicks in - next day market maker posts a market and you can sell them back for theoretically $2.00 less the 2 or 3 c spread.
it works differently on the stock minis where your are more likely to get the VWAP price after the stop as the M.M unwinds the stock position - on individual stocks the minis move cent for cent with the underlying stock price. They also have them on some base metals oil and other indexes.
Anyway that s a broad overview all the fine print is on the website.
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