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I think your understanding of risk is so rudimentary that you shouldn't be trading either.

First off the other poster who said that your risk in futures market is limited to the premium paid doesn't know the very most basic facts about what a futures contract is, has never traded even a single contract, and I can't imagine why he would answwer a question about it. Your potential losses in trading futures contracts can be unlimited.

Anyway, risk is about potential losses and volatility. Many commodities trading in futures markets are more volatile than most currencies (and certainly all major currencies). For example, natural gas has gone through long periods in which its volatility is 40%/month while major currencies have volatilities of about 8%/year. But the risk in the trade is not just the volatility of the underlier, but the leverage you are using to trade. There are some FX places that will give you 500:1 leverage and you will never get that in futures markets because exchanges just won't allow that.

Anyway, the risk on both can be controlled and you need to learn how to do that before you trade either. I've made lots of money for myself and other people traidng in both and at any minute I could tell you a whole raft of risk figures including VaR numbers, scenario analyses, factor decompositions, etc..

any recommendations?

I'm looking to invest my money in stocks. For the past 2 years I've had my money invested in real estate but want to try something new. I plan on investing about $350,000 and my friends all tell me to invest in gold, futures, or currency. I agree that these are good if bought at the right time. I just want to know where other people are looking.

Answer
It depends on your objectives. I'm sketchy about gold and I think the Forex is FAR too dangerous for individual investors despite what those advertisements for different trading platforms suggest.

I'd look for energy growth stocks -- companies that are bound to be snapped up by bigger players. Without going into specifics, there are some natural gas companies that are growing like mad and probably getting eyed up by the bigger names.

Don't listen to your friends. Do your own research or hire a pro.