Whats a good paper trade software to learn how to place trades? I have no clue how to place an order. Thanks A lot.
www.utropix.com/jmowery/PropFirms.html Most if not all those firms offer a trial/demo of their software's which has real-time data and simulates orders. Firms with Laser and Sterling are probably the most easily accessible. Although you might only get it for a week to a month or so. http://www.realfasttrader.com/simulator.html I had tried awhile ago, it had Das Trader Pro, and the demo carried over positions held overnight and such and it lasted a good while. Should be enough to allow you to test for a few months until you go live. If you are new to trading completely, it might be a good idea to pickup a book that goes over how markets work and how ecn's work and all that. You might only read it once and may go back to it once or twice, but could be worth it. If you already know how all that works then, just get some demo's and try it out until you go live. Maybe if you ask nicely, a firm will keep the demo for you for a while longer if you ask.
I'm actually 20 now. I made this name when I was 19. Ill be turning 21 in January. Do you trade live?
I'm 19. I've been trading live, but currently getting ready to move to a new firm, which I have finally settled on and will be back to trading live by the end of next week HOPEFULLY because I'm losing my mind since I'm not trading live now. I'm just trying to make "demo trading" exciting again and when you make $1,000 a day on a demo for the past 2 weeks it really starts messing with your mind and gets you excited for the wrong reasons because I only wish I could do that consistently I've been trading for a little over a year now, and been trading equities for around 5 - 6 months. EDIT: You thinking about day-trading or swing trading for a living?
Leverage and Rates. I'm going to be getting an extremely low per-ticket deal under $1.00 and a very large amount of leverage. It's one of the main reasons people trade at prop firms. Newbies go there so they can maybe put down 2k and get 20 to 1 leverage and have $40,000 to work with to trade and not be limited by the PDT rule, and I'd never want to keep 25k in an account (be scared to lose it, especially after the experiences I had at my first retail firm, Etrade). Plus, it's nice to day-trade with $2,000 in an account and not have to worry about having enough money to afford to trade stocks. I'm going to essentially have unlimited B/P as I need it at my new firm. So, it's a nice thing. It's not for everybody, but if you join the right firm, it can be a great way to learn how to trade.
So if you trade with a firm then you can get around the PDT rule? What kind of qualifications do you have to have to be able to work with a firm?
Some firms like EchoTrade and Bright Trading require a series 7, that usually takes about 3 months to study for and the firm has to sponsor you to take it. Other firms, like almost all of them that I have listed on my page, do not require a series 7, and as long as you put up a "security deposit" you can trade with them. Barriers to start trading are very low. You can learn how to trade if you join a good firm, by just trading small and taking your time, and don't abuse buying power and try your best to learn and stay dedicated. You could probably get set-up at a firm in less than 2 weeks (although lately it's taking me so long to get negotiations going between firms) It's risky to trade at a prop firm though. If you have 20 to 1 buying power and you lose 20k on that trade, you will be responsible for it. So that is why you have to be able to stay in control of yoruself when you day-trade at a firm. Just think of prop firms this way: They loan you money to trade equities. You are required to put up a security deposit incase you lose money of theirs. All profits you make (at most firms) you will keep. Losses will come out of your security deposit. The firm will send you a check at the end of the month for all the profits you made. And you do it over and over again basically. If I'm trading 500 shares of a stock, I'm aiming to not let it go against me 5 cents or $25. But aiming for the stock to go maybe 10 cents in my favor or gain $50. Stuff like that. You control your risk. If you join a prop firm you set a limit to how much you can lose in a day before you stop (some firms have this ability set into the software to cut you off if you are performing badly) and you trade. No PDT rule to deal with. It does have it's risks, but a good amount of the successful traders on ET are probably at firms trading. That's why I ask what style of trading do you think you'd want to do. Would you want to place a trade once a day and essentially swing trade. Hold equities overnight? Or would you be making a few trades a day, more intra-day swing style . Or would you be making many trades a day and want to keep your risk low but make more trades to try and gain profits. Cy Group Trading has advertised that they don't really care how often you trade, plus I have a friend that trades their, and the firm seems awesome, because they cover the software fees as well. I don't personally have any experience with them, but I think it's a pretty safe firm to join. But there are a ton of options, and it just depends on your style, how often you want to trade, and if you are willing to take the risk and accept the fact that it is estimated that 90% or more that attempt to day-trade for a living just can not do it. So it's probably better to trade at a prop firm and lose 1 or 2k instead of funding a 30k account and blowing all that instead. Although losing the 30k might have a better lesson behind it, the financial blow might not be worth it