that's not da case: u can only dyatrade [more than 3 transaction opened'n'closed in da same day for week] with a margin acct. if u acct is less than $25k'n'u trade options without usin' margins, i.e buyin' premium, u will be subjected to pdt as well'n'won't be able to daytrade.
... I did with Ameritrade. I also have a friend that did it with etrade, before I left their brokerage. I don't know what the law is, but they told me I could day-trade all I want with a cash only account. Day-trade I did. I'm not arguing about the rule or anything, I don't understand it regardless and think it is stupid. But I did day-trade and brokerages will allow you to do it with cash only. I'm just saying, I did, and that is what both brokerages told me. I'm sure I could ask scottrade as well and they'd say the same thing.
da law is not clear 'bout da cash acct. but now almost all da brokers require at least $25k in u acct to daytrade even if is in cash. www.daytradingworld.com/day_trading_rules.html
Brokers breaking laws now... hmm, interesting. I day-traded AAPL on my Ameritrade account last week because I was locked out my system the first 4 days last week. At my prop firm. So, I guess the brokers is allowing illegal activity. Stupid brokers Owell, the rule is dumb anyways, I don't really care.
^well, it's not that they breakin' anythin'...law doesn't clearly state if it is allowed or not allowed therefore u might find some brokers that let u daytrade but majority won't'n'that's more da case for i.e with ib.
I dont think it's illegal..... A broker at OptionsXpress told me also that PDT does not apply to cash account. If it's different practice from broker to broker, then perhaps ask first.
The way a prop firm works when you put your own money up is... You desposit $X (normally 5k). You are buying Class B shares in an LLC. The LLC itself adheres to the PDT Rules and is capitalized in accordance with those standards. The Class A share holders make money off of commission markups (above the base cost), which is still much lower than retail commish. You can trade remotely at many firms. In fact, if you are only trading part-time and are, hence, doing low volume relative to a full-time trader, it's likely you'd be required to do so. I'm going to pre-empt all those who say, "You better have good risk management because if anyone else is that pooled partnership blows up, you're screwed." Yes, this is correct - though rare - and can be mitigated by frequently swiping your profits. Also, as a Class B shareholder, you have no real incentive to blow up. So, there is - to some degree- self-policing since everyone has thier own money in it. In any case, I don't know of any firms that cater to options traders, but I'm sure they exist.