I am with ValueSnark. I think stocks are a LOT more risky than futures (futures are not just commodities). Futures got a reputation for being risky due to the leverage involved which most people don't know how to handle. Stocks can open at half their value; futures don't do that (except on extremely rare occasions.)

However, risk is not really defined by the market, it's defined by how one trades the market.

To answer another question, I wouldn't attempt to trade futures with less than $5,000 - $10,000. And with that small of an account I would stay with only mini-contracts (even though you could afford the margin on a full size contract, you would be taking on way too much risk). Actually, it's not until I had a total trading account of over $50,000 did I really start actively trading futures (again).

I liquidated a Sugar #11 short position last week and I am currently long OJ futures.

Jason