What is the best Day Trading Brokerage?

K

Kat-Man-Do

Hello to all! New to the forum, so I hope this question is in the right forum. I did a quick search and could not really find an answer.

I am trying to find a broker that is friendly to day trading. I will trade in and out of 2 stocks 2-6 times per day (meaning 4-12 buy/sell), depending on the market direction. I am currently making 1-2% per day after trading fees so I am happy with that return.

But large name brokers (for some reason) want to limit the number of trades. (they don't want to make money I guess) They say have a $25k account for Day Trading, so I put in $30k. Then they say, oh you are a pattern day trader, so out of $30k, they only let you trade with $7k.

What Brokerage would I sign up with that is willing to let me go at it the way I want, that has reasonable fees? Or am I just dreaming?

Thanks,

Kat
 
Quote from Kat-Man-Do:

But large name brokers (for some reason) want to limit the number of trades. (they don't want to make money I guess) They say have a $25k account for Day Trading, so I put in $30k. Then they say, oh you are a pattern day trader, so out of $30k, they only let you trade with $7k.

What Brokerage would I sign up with that is willing to let me go at it the way I want, that has reasonable fees? Or am I just dreaming?

Thanks,

Kat
More...

When you're designated a pattern day trader, you should have around 4x your account value to trade in and out all day long with nothing tying up your margin unless you hold a position overnight. That means your 30K account gives you around 120K to work with, as many trades as you want.

The brokers that I know handle it this way are Ameritrade, Etrade, IB and Scottrade.

Who is this "they" you're referring to?
 
it sounds like your new to trading ? all brokerage firms are open to active traders. try.. Interactive brokers very popular broker.
 
My broker is Trade King. I believe this has to do with a large position held overnight, so that the morning cash balance was low. For some reason, I guess they only look at the morning balance which doesn't quite make sense to me. I sold the stock this morning which means the cash is back in my account, so I should be allowed to trade with the entire amount in my opionion. I see no difference of when the cash came back in, day trades vs. an overnight position.
 
Quote from Kat-Man-Do:

Hello to all! New to the forum, so I hope this question is in the right forum. I did a quick search and could not really find an answer.

I am trying to find a broker that is friendly to day trading. I will trade in and out of 2 stocks 2-6 times per day (meaning 4-12 buy/sell), depending on the market direction. I am currently making 1-2% per day after trading fees so I am happy with that return.

But large name brokers (for some reason) want to limit the number of trades. (they don't want to make money I guess) They say have a $25k account for Day Trading, so I put in $30k. Then they say, oh you are a pattern day trader, so out of $30k, they only let you trade with $7k.

What Brokerage would I sign up with that is willing to let me go at it the way I want, that has reasonable fees? Or am I just dreaming?

Thanks,

Kat
More...

If you have over 25K, and your broker still puts you in pattern daytrader list, buy a Nike running shoes and run away from that broker as fast as you can. Then buy a dart and put the broker's name on it and practice :)

And if by "kind to daytraders " you mean you need attention and will call your broker around the clock and flood them with lots of basic questions, maybe good brokers will also get annoyed. Go with IB and you won't regret.
 
I am waiting until the morning to see if it just had to do with the overnight trade, and the starting morning account balance. I will post an update.
 
It depends on what your day trading style is (e.g., market orders vs. limit orders), how many shares you trade per position, whether or not you scale into/out of positions, and whether you want to self-route your orders.
 
This morning all is well. The account shows fully available. It all had to do with a position held overnight, and some sort of "morning balance" thing they have. It doesn't make sense to me why they would do that. It is like they won't let you trade with the increased profit of the day either. Only what is on the books each morning.
 
Quote from hajimow:

If you have over 25K, and your broker still puts you in pattern daytrader list, buy a Nike running shoes and run away from that broker as fast as you can. Then buy a dart and put the broker's name on it and practice :)

And if by "kind to daytraders " you mean you need attention and will call your broker around the clock and flood them with lots of basic questions, maybe good brokers will also get annoyed. Go with IB and you won't regret.
More...

Even if you have the required 25k minimum for equity trading, you are still labeled PDT - the only difference is your account equity meets the FINRA required minimum and you are not subject to trading restrictions.

http://www.finra.org/investors/smartinvesting/advancedinvesting/daytrading/p005906
 
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