19 and counting...

I must strongly suggest that you put in maybe 5k at max in an account.... maybe a little bit more and swing trade.

This is the only thing you can do right now.

I like eSignal. But you will pay will pay the price, but I believe it is worth it.

But if you get tradestation, you won't have to worry about that, but tradestation is only for active traders, which you are not.

So eSignal with Interactive Brokers seems like a good combo for you.


Start with the bigger stocks, and then get a feel for stuff. Do your research, and again, not sure if you are aiming to do this fulltime, or just as a hobby type deal, but if you are aiming for full-time, then realize that you are going to need more capital to trade stocks.
 
Dump stocks and go Forex and 'trade' like you would play a Computer Game.
No Stress
No Fear
No Greed
No Revenge

Only Fun and Profitability,
or if you like
tokens and levels up to immortality
or if you like
to financial independence.

Enjoy your game.

:D
 
From personal opinion....... stay away from forex, it felt like i was getting screwed by my broker way too much. I was not successful in Forex.

Suckers market I'd say, but that is only my opinion.

Not to say that you can't be profitable... but I'd wait before jumping in, and if you do happen to do so, get a mini-account with a respectable broker.
 
Been at this for 5 years. Lost money first 2..flat the 3rd and up nicely the last 2.

Before you trade one share read Van K Tharp`s "trade your way to financial freedom".

Software, style and your broker mean diddly if you don't have a viable strategy with positive expectancy and good money management. At this point in my trading I do believe I could trade using EOD quotes from the WSJ if I had to...and I owe it to Dr Tharp.

For what its worth I think only well disciplined established traders should daytrade. For newbies the urge to overtrade and churn is very real sitting in front of your system all day.


Good luck.
 
Quote from JMowery1987:

From personal opinion....... stay away from forex, it felt like i was getting screwed by my broker way too much. I was not successful in Forex.

Suckers market I'd say, but that is only my opinion.

Not to say that you can't be profitable... but I'd wait before jumping in, and if you do happen to do so, get a mini-account with a respectable broker.
More...
You are absolutely right.

That is: If someone who is unable to ride even a donkey how can s/he expects to ride a tiger?
Now, riding a tiger is much, much more fun than riding a donkey.
Only problem is : if you are greedy you will be eaten alive!

It certainly is wise to accept that if there are those who can't ride a tiger it doesn't mean that everybody has to ride a donkey!

Good riding for everyone, whether riding a donkey or a tiger.

:D
 
Quote from JMowery1987:

Ok, I'm 18, and about to turn 19.

First off, anything less than 30 to 40k, you are not going to be able to do trading of stocks.

There are too many disadvantages.

First off, you have to have 25k to daytrade. One rule that prevented me from being a stock trader. Second off, taxes on stocks are insane. Commissions on stocks are also somewhat harsh unless you have a good broker.

Instead, a strong suggestion is to go to Futures.

With Futures, you could open an account with as little as 2k, and you can trade to your hearts content.

YM for example, each tick is worth 5 dollars.

It's good if you can trade, it'll kill you quickly if you can't manage risk or control emotions.

But unless you have 25k, you can not day-trade stocks, and I wouldn't even bother without 25k, unless you are specifically doing trades that are longer than a day each.

Just my advice, but hey, I'm only 18, so what do I know?

EDIT:
Using a Direct Access Broker is pointless, again because you don't have 25k, and therefore, can not do the required volume to keep the platform free, so it is very possible you'd be losing money.

Again, either save up so you have around 40 to 50k to trade stocks, or start out with 2k, in a futures account.

I'd recommend www.greenstreet.com. 4.30 commissions, and hidden fees or anything.

If you are going to be daytrading, your only option is Futures, or Forex.... maybe Options, I don't know anything about those though.

So do your research, and realize, that there is a chance you will lose all of that money, so only be sure to get started if you are willing to accept the fact that you can lose all that money, and the markets can prove you are not trader material.

EDIT: If you do decide to trade stocks, you will be swing trading, and don't get a Direct Access Broker. Do not go to E-Trade, they WILL screw you over just like me and many many others.

Scottrade maybe. I have Ameritrade, but not happy with the platform. Genesis Securities is the one I have been looking at, you should call them up and see how that works, but again, they may require day-trading to avoid platform fees or whatever it is they got.

Just letting you know all of this from personal experience. I have lost money, so hopefully I can help you not lose money, but the best education you can get about trading the markets, is just going out and doing it. I was very fortunate to get a full-time mentor and he teaches me and a few others for free, and not many people will ever have that chance, so keep that in mind as well.



But here are a few questions for you, so maybe others, or myself can help you:

1. What do you want to trade? (Stocks, Futures, Forex.... anything)
2. How often are you going to trade? (Every day, all day long, part of the day, any restrictions)
3. Are you going to day-trade, and if so, you do realize that for stocks is 25k requirement?
4. What is your main goal from trading? (Looking to do this as a career, or just something as a side job or what)
5. Any previous experience in any trading market?


I think if you answer those, that others can help pinpoint what would be good for you. I again, must suggest futures, but realize that the reward is far greater than trading stocks, but the risk is also many times higher as well.

Do your research, and read about the markets.
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jm makes some excellent points. I will add:

-Use Interactive brokers. You get a rich-client with decent charting and GREAT options modeling. Low commissions.

-DO NOT DAYTRADE. You are smart to start out swing trading. track 25-30 stocks and watch them day in and day out. learn how they move.

-start with one instrument(stocks, options, futures) and get consistent with it before moving to something else.

I made many mistakes early this year _not_ doing the above - cost me 6 figures. Learn from me.


good luck.
 
SethArb wrote "if you wish you can daytrade stocks using single stock futures .. .but this might require a learning
curve on your part ... plus the liquidity is nowhere near as good as in the underlying equities."

I traded SSF in the past - I didnt have the 25k to day-trade let alone I liked the increased risk/reward so ...

anyways ... Seth is right the spread is higher on SSF then on stocks let alone you are dealing with futures so I think the leverage could be as high as 5/1 (ie I think you need 20% down of the underlying to trade SSF).

SSF might be a way to day-trade if you dont have 25k and you like stocks that have decent moves to them. But again you got a decent spread and higher leverage.

http://onechicago.com/030000_products/oc_030101.html

is the website that lists all the SSF you can trade; harder to make money with little moves but medium sized moves worked out well for me in the past.

So who else trades SSF and likes them and why? or maybe why dont you like them
 
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