So I tried to open an account at IB today. I've been trading for about 6 months now and have been doing fairly well lately. So now after two years at Scottrade and three before that at TD I see that I could use more sophisticated tools and lower commissions. However, midway through the app it says I need to be over 21 to apply. So now I'm thinking about my second choice E-trade but I'm not sure. Tradestation was another thought but I dont meet the minimum liquidity requirements. Should I wait out the 8 months until I'm 21 or go to E-trade or another broker that someone can suggest. Thanks, -Jamaal
Well last time I checked 18 was the age of consent so I wouldn't really be a minor. But why am I playing a losing game?
'coz that's a reality: the real pro are making a fortune while the average joe is going broke and the remaining 'above average' are barely breaking even.
Oh okay well I've heard that enough. I thought he meant specifically because I'm 20. Really I'm not looking to get rich off this or even replace my day job. My dad had been suggesting swing trading to me for a while and over the past few months I've been moving more into day trading. I'm a college student with lots of time on my hands to sit and monitor the market so this seems like a good way to pick up some profitable skills. At my lowest I had lost 3,000 for my money over 2 months but now I've made that back and I'm profitable now. I really just needed to see that I need to set targets and respect my stops. The problem is never not knowing what to do it's not doing what you know you should. Thats me but the problem remains of needing a good brokerage. I'm thinking just wait for may then move to IB and stick with scottrade and get my plan down first.
Jack--I do think here you will find much good advice but that you will be able to learn a lot of useful things to apply to your trading that you already do not know, won't be the case. If I can give you a tip, stay away from day trading or limit it to a small part of your account. Put the big slice of your leverage to work into position/swing trading. This way you'll be able to already have a hedge for your daytrading first steps with a second source of money: of course you need to get it right with position trading before venturing in more risky strategies. Another 2c
lol I understand you think you're "getting better" or "being profitable" but you're not. Like someone said, what you're doing is paying off someone that actually knows what they're doing