Hi....

I'd be glad to help. There are no minimums. I just chose 5 contracts, as the move would be more profitable than just 1 contract. You can trade just 1 contract if you wanted.

The margin for Canola is $177/$131 at my broker. Check with your broker for the margin there. I believe this margin was in US Dollars, as it fluctuates with the exchange rate. As for the fills, on entry I had only a 1 tick slip, and on the sell, was dead on. Even though it gapped down 5 ticks below my sell on opening, I was still out at my sell point. And that was right at the open. When my active chart started up, the Expresstrade Fill window popped up immediately. So I didn't even have seconds. And Canola is Electronic, and yes, you still can have slippage with Electronic. So my opinion on Canola, pretty good entries and exits, very little slippage if any, good fills. I've done a few trades in it so far, and liking it. And believe it or not, for scalping, I prefer it over Corn. Don't know why, but I just get better fills.

I have no experience with Barley. I can't trade it at Expresstrade. At least I can't find it in the list of Commodities traded in the Symbol Search. Plus the volume is so low, probably wouldn't get very good fills.

Yes, the exchange rate is interesting. I kind of got it figured out, looking at my statement. I also thought it was 98/contract loss, but that's in CD. Plus some fees are in USD and some in CD. So that, multiplied by 5 contracts, was my difference.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to post. We enjoy having you here.