I want to start trading with a 2k account and I wanted to open a cash account on IB. Suppose i make a buy and a sell on monday using my 2k, so the question is can i make another trade on tuesday ? is my cash available right away??? I will appreciate any comments.
If it's a cash account, I think you have to wait 3 business days until the trade transaction settles before making a new trade. Also, make sure you wire your money in. Never write checks because it takes 2 weeks to deposit.
You have to wait three days for the cash from sale of stock to be available again in your cash account. The number of trades you make is not itself restricted, but how much cash you have available in the account determines whether you can make any new trades at any point. If you open a margin account instead, you will be limited by the daytrader rule, but with a margin account cash from sales would be available to use again immediately. Better to open a margin account, in my opinion. Also, if you decide to trade Single Stock Futures instead of stocks, you wouldn't have to worry about any of this. here's more about Single Stock Futures if you're interested: www.nqlx.com www.onechicago.com