If a prop firm will give you 20:1 leverage at low interest, why can't 5k be enough to start daytrading with stocks?
I've been banned from talking about prop firms because I am too stupid. But go over on the prop forum and I'm sure you can find somebody to take your 5k.
Now I feel stupid - what prop forum? And I was really just pushing the objections to the original poster of this thread.
best deal today with 5k is forex. You can trade small enough to keep everything in perspective. Margin is at a minimum 40 to 1 and depending on how scumbaggy the market maker is it can go all the way up to 500 to 1. the market maker bets against you, so if you can break even or even make a small profit you are on your way. I don't know that much about stocks, so I shouldn't say it is impossible to trade them with 5k, but in the sense tradings is usually discussed it would be difficult. Buying a 100 share or so and holding for a while would be possible. Maybe 4 or 5 trades a year. You'd need to be lucky to overcome the spread and commissions. options however are the $2 window, and if you like stocks that would be a way to go.
I don't know how it is with kids today, but when I started out building up to that first 5k was a big deal. That's why I don't like it when losers ridicule beginners who don't have a big wad. I started with less than 1k. it's also why I laugh at people who state trading has nothing to do with luck. by the way, I lived more than 13 years on that first account supporting a stay at home mom and 3 kids before I blew up without a penny to my name.
They won't give you that leverage unless you have 95 grand laying in an account they can access real quick. One bad trade involving 100 shares of apple at $45,000 will clean you out. Besides you can't learn money management using leverage. I started last year with $3241 and it has worked for trading options. You can learn the strategies playing 1 contract at a time cheaper than 10 contracts at a time. Big commissions and a few losing drawdowns will teach tight money management in a hurry. BTDT You will need a lot of experience and know how to successfully use leverage as it is not a learning tool. Oldtimer's $1K is probably the same as $5K today.
At least one firm will give 20:1 daytrading leverage for stocks and stock options, with 10:1 overnight. The only security is the minimum that you put down. (And if you want to know which firm I have in mind, I guess that you should contact me privately.) Yes, I know about the risks of using big leverage. I thought that the CW was that daytraders love leverage, the more the better. But maybe they didn't mean quite that much. Still, it's available, with relatively few restrictions, for whoever wants it. I think that I basically agree with you and Oldtimer. I was responding to posters who criticized original querant who wanted to trade with 5k. If you really think that you need 100k to trade, well, 5k can be as effective as 100k (or nearly so) with that kind of leverage. Or at least, that's what I was asking.