I'm in Canada and wondering - to open my own trading account (stocks - NYSE, NSDQ) for daytrading, I need $25k minimum to fund the account, is this correct? Should the account balance go below $25k is the account closed? Just wondering... Also, if I exclusively wanted to trade TSX stocks, does the $25k minimum still apply?
You need 25k to qualify for day trading status. If you go below 25k your account will remain open but your day trading activities are restricted. Google "Pattern Day Trader Rule"
Depends on your style, trading activity, average number of shares per trade etc. Questrade, TD Waterhouse (Active trader if you qualify), Interactive Brokers Canada, ThinkorSwim Canada (they don't offer Canadian equities or options though)...plenty of choices.
Daytrading, probably 50 trades a day, starting small but then moving 1000 share lots... Offhand do you know who has the cheapest per share price for the style described above?
Interactive Brokers. For Cnd shares they charge 1 cent per share and US shares it's half a cent per share I believe (bundled). TD has $7 flat unlimited shares once you hit 150 trades per quarter, and Quest has $4.95 up to 495 shares or $9.99 flat. ThinkorSwim is at 1.5 cents per share.
but i think IB still enforce the PDT rule even for candian citizens. Questrade is proably your best bet.
I have both margin and cash accounts at TDAmeritrade with balances under $25,000. When I once closed out two identical day trades made within both accounts, I saw in red letters that I had used up 1 out of 5 allowable PDT trades in my margin account but I did not see this in the cash account. This leads me to believe that the PDT rule only applies to margin account.