Nobody really gave you a real answer so here you go... They are referring to pre-margin deposit. It sounds like you are going to do the retail option giving you $120k to trade with (30k*4). This is enough to test the waters and find your niche, but not enough to make a living in most cases. If you really want to trade full time and make a career of this you will need to go prop to get anywhere from 10:1 to 100:1 or more. Leverage is underrated...it's only a poison if abused.
Dustin, Which are some prop firms in the US that allow 10:1 for trading equities ? What do they get in return - just commissions alone or a split of the profits as well ? Thanks
Yeah they just get comm's. Brokers are in the commodity business these days. You can get low rates and a lot of leverage if you are profitable and/or do a lot of volume.
I think one of the best strategies for a smaller account is going naked a straddle on TBonds. You short both an out of the money call and out of the money put. You can always shift it if it comes close to going in the money. I did this alot back when I had a $25,000 account and actually made enough to live off of for a couple years in my 20s when jobs were hard to come by. Granted my living expenses were low but I self supported my own apartment etc.