I plan to do daytrading US stock. At the beginning, I'm gonna scalping BAC, but not gonna make hundreds trades per day. I prefer looking for small trends, perhaps making about ten trades a day. Since the profit target is only several cents per share, I would like to find brokers with proper platform(eg. Sterling Pro) that charge very low commission fee. Any recommendations? By the way, does any body happen to know that if there are prop firms like Title, Swift(Day Trade the World) in Toronto, Mississauga, or other cities in Canada today? I emailed both of them, however did not get any response. When I searched for the threads about prop firm like them, all I have got are something posted several years ago. All those prop traders seems having disappeared recently. Any body knows why?
Hi, for this type of strategy you may be better off opening a personal account at IB. This way you won't have to pass any exams and IB's commissions are competitive. The down-side of IB is not having access to firm's capital, but do you really need it? You can get started with 10k at IB and intra-day margin if necessary. Trade and build up a history of your strategy's performance, then use it to negotiate a better rate in case if you decide to join a prop. I traded at Bright from their Canadian office in Langley, BC and would definitely recommend them, however their capital requirement is much higher than IB's and you'll need to pass Series 56. I also have traders from First New York and T3 as my clients, all of whom trade remotely, so check those firms out as well. Hope this helps!
Much appreciated for the information. I actually have contacted IB. It's embarrassing since the best commission rate they charge I believe could be 1 cent per share which usually is my profit target, and have to trade many many shares, otherwise the commission could be 5 times more. But at the beginning, I planed to trade only 100 share, and may gradually size up later if I could make money consistently. So opening an account at IB seems not to work for me for now. Although initially I don't need much capital to trade, but I need a place that charge very low commission fee, and better provide ECN rebate. I will check with Bright's Canadian office. Thanks again!
Yes. Scalping. I was told that scalping is the easiest way to make money, and takes only 3 to 6 months to learn how to do it. I don't know if that's true, but I will try. At least, I won't get hurt badly.
Guessing your Canadian like myself? Thing to consider now and opening an account is the exchange right now. The U.S dollar has come down a bit but is still quite a bit above its historical average on the loonie. Just something to consider at this time since most brokers have an option to hold U.S funds but this leaves you exposed to currency risk or you go in and out and get charged exchange rates per trip, and depending on broker, the spreads are pretty big on the exchange both ways. Another thing is I think it be hard to find anyone who would think scalping for a few cents is easy. Your entering the world of algorithms in such small moves like a few cents. Also with such small volume as in your example of a few round trips of 100 shares, 1.00 per trade is probably the cheapest you'll find and by a long shot. This is where IB beats everyone in pricing, lower volume/small size trades. I don't know of anyone who offers a trade for less then a dollar. If your interested in trading, there are way more profitable ways then getting chopped up in the scalping world. But I would expect to take more then 3/6 months being self taught. But hey, I don't want to be " that guy" that bashes an honest question , I'm just throwing some suggestions and ideas and stuff to think about. If you get some time, check out chatwithtraders.com. It's also on iTunes podcast. Good interviews with a wide range of traders. Get a feel for some of their techniques, maybe one resonates with your ideas and you can search some of their material. Most share their pitfalls, struggles, how they learned, how they trade now, etc.
Ok. Well if it works for you then I can't really argue . I would go for a bit bigger $ run myself. Most experienced traders will talk to you about the trading range during the day. This is because you should get a fair idea of what is a good $ you should target. I could see you changeing this strategy relativly quickly tho. With a bigger target in mind. You'l probably find ur way onto the S&P 500 index future (ES) contract. Its really popular with scalpers. Best of luck.
Hi Metamega, Thanks very much for your information, and your advice! I know what's your mean, I really appreciate that! After many years being involved in market as part time, I was beat hardly, but the battle also make me realize that I have a passion of trading because no matter I make or lose money, I just want to do it. I decided recently to work as full time trader, and try to develop strategy suited to my personality. I choose to scalp BAC to start because the loss wont's be big and I could be able to survive longer before I lose all the money while I stay in the market. As you advised, I checked chatwithtraders.com. I'm really inspired by one of interviewer since I have similar previous experience, and he is so successful now! I'm Canadian, and live in Toronto area. I'm glad to meet you and I wish to chart with you on Elitetrader while I am working toward a successful trader. Best Regards
Thanks for the suggestion of trading ES. That's where I planed to go later once I can make money consistently on BAC. I don't dare to touch it right now, I'm afraid I will be finished very fast before I get any sense of the market. I'm not profitable trader yet. My current goal is making it even after all the cost (commission, ECN fee, etc.). Although I plan to grasp small trend of several cents run, I would rather set a lower expectation in order not to get disappointed and discouraged to keep trying. I wish some day I could go for a bit bigger $ run.