Just from what I have seen from private message questions and inquiries, I would opine that day trading anything has morphed into a very, very difficult endeavor. My sincere props to anyone who can do it for a living with a point-and-click mouse. I know that there are traders who can do it. If you are a new trader and insist upon day trading, I think the best product to trade is whatever is cheapest to capitalize, has the lowest volatility, and that "behaves" and models the best for you. Because you have to develop a competent trading system and learn how to survive before you could even entertain the notion of profiting. Initial margin on CL is $3,740 per today's CME SPAN run. Initial margin on a May-June CL Calendar Spread is $385. Initial margin on a CL Jun-Jul-Aug-Sep Condor Spread is $198. There is another thread on ET from a prop trader who has observed that the top 3 traders at his firm are spreaders. And I am sure that they trade for size. Common Chicago prop strategy theme, btw and my personal fave. If you don't want to spread, quite honestly my sincere advice would be to day trade very small size ETFs until you get some positive momentum going, and then lever from there. Just be smart about this. You can burn through ALOT of money screwing around with CL or ES or 6E one-lot futures. If you don't have a system, if you are not well organized and disciplined, if have already opened an account and you think that you will develop a system organically along the way as you "read the tape" and "trade order flows" - then good luck with things.
I am a profitable trader trading outrights. Specifically I trade ES successfully However for new traders, I will like to give +1 to the advice of bone.
Bone is being way too kind. The era of point click day traders is long gone ---yet like lottery believers and slot machine dreamers --some just don't get it. They hang onto the lies of the charlatans and sometimes become self deluded. Or worse become the charlatan.