hello, i am new to trading so please bear with me in my ignorant request. i am familiar with the margin ($25,000) requirement for pattern day traders with stocks and options, but how does this work with futures? ie, does future trading require a similar balance, with the trader not holding any futures at the end of each trading session/day? where the trade(s) are only made daytime and then exited. and assuming that the trader makes multiple purchases and exits on the same day. many thanks for your collective wisdom...
I was a noob myself and had to read through lots of confusing crap until I decided to just find a broker and ask them about it, but here you go... No minimum account balance day-trading margin rule. Minimum starting balance depends on broker (mine's was 5K but I haggled it to 4). Commission per contract depends on broker (mine 5$ per RT). Margin per contract depends on broker and product (obviously the lower the better). No one-day settlement bullshit like with options and stocks (and hence no minimum 25K balance rule). Profit or less is instantly credited to your account. What that means is, if you have 5K, bought 10 ES contracts with it (considering a $500 margin per contract), then sold it for 10 point profit (at $50 / point), now you have 10K, and could immediately go and trade again with all that 10K. There is no hold on your money due to settlement like with options or stocks. Overnight positions (4PM-6PM for ES) require a higher margin per contract. Otherwise, as long as there is liquidity you could trade at whatever time you wish.
1) The "better" firms may demand that you start with atleast $25,000 in your account. 2) If the market gets "crazy" during September and October, you may lose your ability to trade with intra-day margin. Initial margins may also increase rapidly possibly leaving you too undercapitalized to trade anything.
.....And this one sentence represents a complete book on how freakin' corrupt and stupid your good government is.
BSAM, whats corrupt about that you idiot! Just bcuz you dont know how to exponentially grow your own portfolio...LOL\ You make an ass of yourself by the ignorant remark you just made.... My i put some of my extra cash on your back for you to carry Mr. Donkey?
I'm thinking you may have misunderstood my post. I am against the PDT rule for stocks. I see something wrong with how they restricted stock traders, but allowed anybody with a few bucks to trade the futures. Something's mighty fishy, no?