New Trader Picking a Broker

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teagueAMX

New here and just about to get my feet wet with day trading.

I want advice on picking a broker to start with. The Elite Trader broker page has a 65 percent thumbs up for MB Trading, but there were some harsh comments as well, although some of those date back to 2009. Barron’s 2011 review gives them a pretty good rating.

I’m currently employed but will retire Sept 2012 and figure a year out is good timing to put some things in place. Starting out modest and patient, reading books, paper trade, hanging out here and few other places. My goal is to ramp up and then go full time by 9/12 for extra cash.

I plan to start off cash day trading with $1,500 and build from there. It will be tough at first with the 3 day settlement rule.
 
Scottrade will allows accounts but when I met with their broker and he demo'd their basic platform, it looked like there about fifteen steps required each you made a trade.

It looks like they are geared toward investors.


I looked over the Speedtrade site and it seems Ok, but appears I'll have to get in touch with to find out what their total fee structure is.
 
Your post didn't explicitly state it but it sounds like you're trading futures? I recently posted a review about Cannon Trading that you can read if you'd like, they're a solid brokerage that's been around for a while and do a good job.. IMO it's key that a brokerage has been through the gauntlets (Y2K, 2008, August this year) so that they know how to make sure you get what you need when the markets are extremely volatile.

They specialize in futures and options on futures though, if you're trading equities you'd need to look elsewhere obviously and I couldn't help with that.

Whomever you pick I wish you the best of luck! You're about to embark on a journey =). Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help.

Edit: link - https://www.cannontrading.com
 
Thanks Profitmagnet or the advice.

To start off, I will be trading equities, and based on fixedgrin88's advice I took a look at Speedtrader and pretty much decided to kick things off with them.

Cannon's got a great site with a lot of info.
 
teagueAMX,

I think you'll find MBT more than adequate for swing trading equities with a small account. IMO, their main strength is their customer service and their main weakness is their trading platform and datafeed. In your case, I think the strength should outweigh the weakness.
 
@brownsfan019

My goal is to start part time and ramp up to full time by my Sept 2012 retirement date. You're right, ability to buy shares is limited so I'll may increase to at least $2500.

Yes, the PDT is pain but I assumed I'd start with a cash account and build. The issue there is the 3 day settlement period before I can use the funds again.

I've heard talk about futures but hadn't looked at them yet. Will now though! ;)

I'll also look at those other brokers.
 
Quote from MrPowerBallad:

teagueAMX,

I think you'll find MBT more than adequate for swing trading equities with a small account. IMO, their main strength is their customer service and their main weakness is their trading platform and datafeed. In your case, I think the strength should outweigh the weakness.
More...


I looked at them first and they look pretty good.

Some suggested SpeedTrader and their fees are very reasonable. But the support issue is another thing I have to seriously consider.

Thanks for the advise.
 
Quote from teagueAMX:

@brownsfan019

My goal is to start part time and ramp up to full time by my Sept 2012 retirement date. You're right, ability to buy shares is limited so I'll may increase to at least $2500.

Yes, the PDT is pain but I assumed I'd start with a cash account and build. The issue there is the 3 day settlement period before I can use the funds again.

I've heard talk about futures but hadn't looked at them yet. Will now though! ;)

I'll also look at those other brokers.
More...

Just do your homework as futures and forex are leveraged products. There is also no PDT w/ futures and forex so that is attractive.

You can burn $1500 or $2500 on futures in a day if not careful so make sure you know what you're getting into.

http://www.cmegroup.com/education/index.html

Start there to get some idea of how futures work. That's straight from the exchange.
 
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