I'm a total newbie and have a full time eng. job, but when opening a thinkorswim account I was asked several times to confirm that I'm a non-professional trader. Why does a broker care whether one is professional or not? If I were a professional, what would be different vs. for a non-professional?
There are different exchange fees for professional and non-professional. They will ask you for every exchange you sign for.
Because you might be held to different standards... It's sorta like getting wholesale pricing and using it for yourself instead of for resale...in reverse ES
Under NFA you have to meet regulation requirements. See section 206. The way regulation works is that your IB is responsible for periodically determining your professional/amateur status. There is a key personal factor that you need to consider as well. Reporting is that factor. Amateurs can shield themselves from public view since they have fewer reporting requirements. Pros have to provide sufficient info so that swift public observers of their reports can assess their trading techniques. Regardless of your status and your reporting it is possible for others in your trading environment to coattail you. This has a couple of benefits. The nicest is the attention you get related to your goals. If you have a big IB or a boutique IB, then you also get the benefit of being pushed since many others will be coattailing you. My orientation is to trade ahead of smart money by using leading indicators of price. I also take the offer segment by segment using a hold/reversal strategy. Most people wish to be secretive about their trading. If you consider it further, you may want to be positioned so that other traders trade just after you so you are "pushed". To stay amateur just means you can only trade a few accounts with limits on capital. This turns out okay and the broker can spread the results by doing bunch trades for you for your accounts. Fees are a negligible aspect of trading. I'm not current on SOS but a few years back the CEO was one heck of a guy.