Trading Futures vs. Stocks

No Broker or Counterparty Risk
The National Futures Association and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission require that Futures Commission Merchants, also known as futures brokers, hold client funds in an account segregated from their own capital. This is unlike a stock firm that accepts a client deposit and, aside from stating that it belongs to the client on a statement, is free to put the money to use as it sees fit. Assuming that futures brokers follow the rules, their bankruptcy will not have an impact on funds deposited by the client. Despite some government-funded insurances, this might not always be the case for equity traders.

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Favorable Tax Treatment and Ease of Reporting
Here is the nail in the coffin regarding the equity argument. Futures traders—assuming that they are speculating profitably—face much less tax burden than stock and ETF traders. In futures, there is no distinction between long-term and short-term capital gains. Instead, all trades are taxed at a 40%-60% blend between long and short term. Even the profit on a trade that has a time span of a minute will be taxed 40% at the preferable long-term gains rate. This is, of course, presuming that at the end of the year, the cumulative results are positive