"What account size is needed?" is a very valid question, though it's tough to answer. It depends on which strategies you want to trade, as well as what markets you want to trade, and even which broker you use. That's because different strategies require different approaches, and stocks vary in price, as do commodities (futures). Requirements for margins and commissions vary from broker to broker. E.g., NinjaTrader 8 has cheaper commissions on some products if trading futures, TradeStation offers zero commissions and data for first responders (last we checked), and more.
U.S. traders have a restriction on how many same-day trades can be taken within a 5-day period if you have an account that's under $25K. Traders who hold for more than a day are not limited by this "Pattern Day Trader (PDT)" rule. There are other ways to avoid that as well, such as using a non-margin account, though there are some considerations there as well.
Ideally, traders benefit from having a hefty $25K+ of capital in their account, but many traders start out with much less than that. And our instructors will sometimes start with a smaller account just to show how it's done. A great way to start might be trading micro Futures on NinjaTrader, as they have lower margin, low commissions, and aren't susceptible to the PDT rule. We don't want to discourage you from starting with any size account. You can concentrate on trading only the best of the best setups until you have enough in your account to do whatever trades you like. This way, there's a greater likelihood that your trades will be successful as you start to trade. And as you grow your account, you can paper trade whatever strategies you want so that when you do have more resources, you already have foundational experience to get moving on it once the funds become available.
The key thing is to just get started.
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