About 7 weeks ago, my account equity dropped below $25k. I used to trade QQQ and SPY, but now I have been forced to switch to the e-minis. Previously, my typical position size in SPY, for example, was 200-300 shares. Now, the minimum position size I can take is one ES contract, which is roughly equivilent to 500 shares of SPY. So the PDT rules are actually making me take MORE risk, not less.
