Thought I would put my two cents worth. I trade with them and have found them ok. They charge no commissions but have wider spreads on stocks and futures eg. es has two tick spread and stocks have 5 cent spread. Margins are 3%. Hope this helps.
Yes CFD'S are highly leveraged but I wouldnt recommend using the full margin available,margin is a double edged sword.
If deal4free arent taking new accounts there are a few different companys that trade CFD'S- GNI,MAN FIN,IG,ETRADE
You raise a very interesting question. As I understand the PDT rule, it specifically states "four round trips in any five business day period". I'll make a few calls since I would like to confirm this for myself as well.
Here is their answer: 'Dear Trader, Day trading refers to buying then selling or selling short then buying the same security on the same day. Just purchasing a security, without selling it later that same day, would not be considered a day trade. So, buying a stock or option today, then selling it the following day would not affect the Day Trades Left count, nor would establishing a pttern of this behavior.' Hope this helps.