About 7 weeks ago, my account equity dropped below $25k. I used to trade QQQ and SPY, but now I have been forced to switch to the e-minis. Previously, my typical position size in SPY, for example, was 200-300 shares. Now, the minimum position size I can take is one ES contract, which is roughly equivilent to 500 shares of SPY. So the PDT rules are actually making me take MORE risk, not less.
as a non US resident I have no probs daytrading with accounts less than 25K. Can't you guys just open accounts with a foreign broker?
Interesting. You said "resident", but are you a US citizen? Also, are you able to trade US securities in those accounts?
Daytrading is incredibly difficult, i think many will find short term trading much simpler and more profitable(myself included). You can generally clear 2K a month with a small account and as your account size increases so will your profits. Time is on your side rather than working against you and if you start with small share lots you can average in and out of longs and shorts. What we need from the government is a national sales tax, no more income tax, gov gets as much $ , wealthy pay tax on yatchs and expensive trinkets, and everyone has way less paperwork.
... since they re-invented Single Stock Futures (SSF). Instead of trading 100 MSFT three times per day you can trade 1 MSFT SSF as often as you want.
sry, bad choice of words: should have been "non US citizen" as to the other question: yes, no probs daytrading US securities with less than $25K.
This is a relatively recent phenomenon and has less to do with democracy than it does with the explosive growth of litigation. When I was growing up, if somebody fell off a ladder or tripped on the sidewalk in front of somebody's house, everyone - including the klutz - would simple think of it as clumsiness or carelessness and let it go at that. Nowadays, even when items are covered with warning labels, people can still sue when they misuse those products and win their lawsuits. The safety concerns, then, often have less to do with a concern for the individual and more with the legal vulnerabilities. --Db
Azzie is right. If we can open an account with a foreign broker, if they are not a member of NASD, we should be unrestricted by the NASD regulations. Any suggestions for a low-commission non-US online broker?
In other words, it is now a democracy of lawyers and not of citizens. Even if lawyers would probably consider themselves citizens, I think this would be a joke as they really only prey on citizens. The law is tailored by the lawyers for the lawyers because they benefit from it in the first place and sometimes exclusively. And so no wonder it's so screwed up.