https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/buying-stocks/margin-account-vs-cash-account/ Quoted from the link: "Futures trading requires the use of margin, so you typically can't trade futures in a cash account. Options trading is available, but it's more difficult to write options contracts. To write options, your positions would need to be covered with shares of the stock in question or enough cash to cover your obligations if the options are exercised. These situations are where the choice between a margin account vs. cash account can be very important."
I believe Motley is talking about is trying to trade futures from a stock-trading account. In my futures account, there is nothing but CASH. It is a CASH account. Maybe look-up their definition of a CASH account. Other than that, you are reading a site called "fool.com". Don't be one, and learn to read between the lines.
I just wanted to give you something that you can understand, how about this one? https://therobusttrader.com/can-you-trade-futures-without-margin/
Come on, admit you don't know! In a cash account you can do these shortings: - Covered Call means Long Stock & Short Call - Covered Put (aka Cash-Covered Put) means Short Put & Enough Cash to cover the strike. In both of these "Covered" cases the credit received from the short sale is accounted for, ie. reduces your cash requirement. Plus all the usual Longs: ie. Long Call, Long Put, Long Stock. Ie. so called "naked shorting" is not possible in a cash account; it rather must be a "covered" trade as shown above.
You posted nothing I do not already know. But you posted that you do not know... "Apparently you can't trade Futures or Options with a cash account. I don't really know, I don't have one..." So if you want to argue about the semantics, we need to define what people talk about when they type "cash account".
Who are you talking to boy? You are the one being happy because your small account is not going to be flagged for day trading on a broker that is well known for newbies.
PDT is strictly to protect the small inexperienced retailer(s) from blowing up faaast and also possibly taking a retail broker down.
And how do we get protection from experienced hedge fund / banks that blow up with absurd leverage...oh wait we don't we just pay their losses. If i want to blow up my account it should be my right. even if its only $5000.00