Hi guys, I have started trading in the simulator about 2 months ago. I am German, am currently doing my Master's in South Africa, and am considering to become a full time day trader. 9 days ago, while still practising in a simulator, I feel like it just clicked (way earlier than I had expected, even though I have been practicing all day long for the last 2 months) and I have been high in the green since then, after a fairly bumpy start, which I am sure all of you had. I am planning to apply for an actual account with a broker once I hit 20 consecutive green days with a max of 2-3 red days. So now I am at the point where I am researching brokers and trying to figure out, which one suits my trading style best. I have started with Warrior Trading's momentum strategy, which I am now profitable with. However, after having builing a cushion in the morning I make most of my money through short selling the same ~2-10$ stocks. Now these two approaches make me think that when choosing a broker I will need direct market access, for very fast order execution, mainly for my momentum strategy, as well as a broker that has many low-cap stocks available for shorting. I have already gotten myself a demo for the Lightspeed Trader, which would be one of the obvious choices for fast execution. While I don't really have a point of comparison, from what I have read and seen in the demo, the amount of shortable stocks is fairly limited and fees for borrowing are quite high. Also, I am not a big fan of the charts in Lightspeed. After doing some additional research I stumbled over mainly 3 other brokers, which have direct market access, and which are often suggested specifically for short sellers, being: Cobra Trading, Centerpoint Security and Speedtrader. I have just gotten into contact with Cobra Trading and am hoping to get a demo soon, but I'd like to ask the experienced traders amongst you about what broker you would suggest me to look into, considering my trading needs. I appreciate any tips and suggestions. Looking forward to hearing from you. PS: I am aware that for serious short sellers it is best to have accounts with several brokers. However, for a start I'd like to stick with only one until I can proof the same profitability in the real market environment. I feel like otherwise all the fees would put too much pressure on me at such an early stage.
As you are German, trading in South Africa, I can't answer your question regarding a brokerage. However, as regards your recent successes, I strongly caution you against making the same mistake that befalls many new traders. You are presently trading in unusual and very favorable market conditions. This WILL end. Don't get yourself caught giving up your education or career until you've first experienced other market environments. Be smart, and good luck.
I will still be doing my Master's for another year. This gives me enough time to practice a lot more, start it slowly and see if this career path is for me or not. I am not sure about the troubles it might cause that I am living in South Africa at the moment. I will see when applying for an account. Anyway, let's imagine I was a German living in Germany. Could you give me any suggestions then?
I am not sure about their borrowing rates or the ability to short a lot of $2-$10 stocks, but Interactive Brokers is always a very solid choice. Possibly the largest retail broker in the world and definitely the largest international retail broker in the world. Even when you go way beyond average retail size you will be set at IB. If you don't like the software they offer there are plenty of options to combine IB with some other software, like Tradestation with Tradestation Global for example. If you are planning on making an initial deposit of less than $25K you will need to look for a broker that doesn't apply the PDT rule, so the broker cannot be located in the USA. The only experience i have with brokers outside the USA is with Tradezero.
Thanks already for taking the effort and reading my overly long post. I am planning to deposit the 25'000$ needed for the PDT rule, so most US brokers would be available to me. I have read a little about Interactive Brokers having terrible fills at times though. That is what has kept me from contacting them so far. Have you had any similar experiences?
I feel that you need to get the real experience of live trading because the conditions you have traded in so far will end soon. Learn and practice as much as you can. As long as it is about choosing a broker, you should go for an offshore broker such as AvaTrade or FxView that allows you to make payments in your own currency.