it saved so many investors from losing money. a great example is a guy who is actually a good trader but only has 10 grand due to the fact that he is young and just starting to save money after graduationg college. even though he has been trading for 5 years the pattern day trade rule prohibits him from daytrading without at least 25k. thank god! i mean the guy has experience so he is sprobably likely to lose money unless he has 25k. 25k means you are automatically deemed a good trader by the sec no matter what your experience level is. it really helps out traders. in fact,an 18 year old kid just out of high school can take all his graduation money and savings and start daytrading with no experience because the sec thinks he has more experience. its a great rule.
That they are, i have seen so many get whipped out in a day or a bad week or month who thought they was good and then BAM. You need to build some capital if you want to play this game the right way. 100k is not alot of money in this business so 10k 25 k is peanuts. We all have to start somewhere(not knocking the little guy) but to live on the edge like that is very risky. One thing i will say is if you feel you don't have it anymore don't leave broke or with debt. One bad trade can ruin a year/life savings. Never lose more than 10% of your acct size in a day and you will be fine.
To clarify the 25k rule, it means you have the capital to risk in the markets. If 25k is all you have and you are risking it in the market and happen to lose it all, hence the law suits that came in the early 2000 era. IMO they are protecting the people from themselves is how i see it.
It is never a good thing when the government, unnecessarily, gets in the way of your liberty, justice and pursuit of happinesses... Whether its drawn out or rapid fire quick in blowing out your account... you have to learn discipline the hard way in the markets... <img src="http://www.enflow.com/p.gif">
i see your point but how is that protection when some jewish kid who just turned 18 can use his bahmitzafa(spelling) money to trade when a 26 year old guy with some experience can't. thats my point. if you have 5k or 100k,if you can't trade,its gonna go quick regardless. sec respomded to shottings at daytrade firms in the 90's.
I also see your point. Their are ways around the rule and to be smart if you are good and have responsibility mortgage etc that the jewish kid doesn't the llc or you can trade another persons acct with a power of attorney. When i started it was with 10k and in my 3rd month i had a 30k month with 50k bp trading fmkt,sdli,webm and stocks like that wfii and twpt game in that stock was also great back then. My point is i was also in that group. To sum it up the sour grape group who lost money then sued made things the way they are right now. But ways around it are still out there. The All-tech shooting in Atl you just brought back memories of.