You keep saying that, yet Jim Cramer is your avatar. I doubt we are speaking to each other, as you perspective is far removed from my own.
Of that there is no doubt. So take your $3,000, and start trading 1 lot of an equity future. Let's see how you fare?
"Sufficient to support the risks"....basically they want you to have enough money so that you lose money that you have, and don't get margin called. Could have been fixed by forbidding margin on small accounts, so that even $3000 "supports the risk".
That is exactly why I do not buy the sttaed reason for the PDT rule. You could simply have a rule that cuts someoneoff from margin if they day trade using 4X day trade margin x many times in a 5 day perio I think @Robert Morse's proposal would have been more in keeping with the stated purpose. The actual purpose was that brokers did not want the costs involved in settling out small accounts, imo.
If you have 4 family members or 4 good friends each with another $5k then maybe you could put $25k into play. Assuming they trust you to earn with their money. If nobody trusts you to do that, maybe you should be more cautious about trusting yourself, too. The average American who is working full time should be able to scrape up $25k in a year or two. Just sayin. I know I can because that's what I am doing right now, ALONG with fitting out a new to me, mostly complete 14 ton sloop. Sometimes you got to live really poor to make bigger things happen. I am far from privileged, never even finished high school, and have had to work my ass off for every penny and I am still doing it. I bet you can, too, if you REALLY try and make it your single priority. How much does a new car cost, anyway? Don't forget insurance. Most people think nothing of signing a note on a new car, when a $600 heap bought with cash money would probably get them to work every morning just as well. I am amazed at how many folks who complain about not having money will cheerfully spend $20k/year on cigarettes, booze, and drugs. Gambling, Eating out. Flat screen TV. DVDs. Music CDs. Trendy clothes and shoes. $700 cell phones. No, a free cell phone is not free. You are paying for it every month. Maybe you don't go in for any of those things, but there is SOMETHING that you could cut from your budget, and won't. I am the same way. There are things that I refuse to quit spending money on, and yet on some things that I once or usually regard as necessary for my happiness, I have cut out of the equation. We regard a lot of material things and high priced consumables as necessities today that just aren't. Not when you have a goal of putting a stake together for something you really really want or need. Not saying I agree with the PDT rule, cause I actually think it kinda sucks, too. I also think it should be possible to day trade stocks with a U.S. broker with a more reasonable minimum account, with a restriction on margin trading, maybe. Then again if I had a net worth of a few mil, I might want to keep trading a bit more exclusive. I don't know. But I do know that the $25k thing is not going to stop me, just slow me down a bit getting started. Sometimes a few extra months thinking about the practicality of something, and researching ways to increase the chances of it working out, is a good thing, anyway. I know if I could have jumped into equity trading on a PDT basis with only $5k I wouldn't have given it much thought. I would have jumped in unprepared. And then did it again a few weeks later after blowing the first account. It's only $5k, right? 5x that amount and yeah, you will (or I would) be more careful. Only advice I can give, I guess. Don't be a negative nancy. Instead of looking at this as a blockade, look at it as a pothole you have to deal with if you want to go down that road. You can't change the rule. All the members here together couldn't change it if they wanted to. Simply ranting about it is unproductive and won't get your foot in the door. Raise the money and then find a place at the table. You can do this, if you want to badly enough.
I agree, PDT is an obstacle, but not a permanent roadblock. Despite my complaints, I am actually about to start with Interactive Brokers thanks to some people who have put trust in me, so wish me luck. And good luck to you.