I have always followed stocks since a young teenager as a hobby; never really got into trading. but now as a young adult, there are just times when i know a stock is going to move (i.e. official release of iphone boosted apple's stock nine dollars that day but we all knew it was coming). that's a lot of money over a hundred or thousand shares. but how do you get into the actual day trading process? as a college kid, you can already assume i have next to nothing in cash. are there ways to buy and sell stock within a week with practically no bankroll? or am i just doomed and need the money to make some
Ah the lure of daytrading! The funny thing about watching the market is that you always remember the trade you should have made. There is something professionals say all the time when someone starts discussing a trade they wanted to make you will be interrupted with "shoulda, coulda, woulda".
Unfortunately you are right, you do need money to day trade and as a previous writer noted you need $25k for a broker to allow you to consistently day trade. I believe that is a Fed Reserve requirement not SEC. Note that I say consistent though. The broker can't prevent you from selling a position you recently bought but if they identify you as a daytrader you will have to bring your equity up to $25 before they let you do it again.
Try the top 10 trader thing below or any kind of honest papertrading. And while your at it try a long term paper portfolio for kicks. I'll bet in a year you'll wish you really invested the long term ideas – its amazing!
Unfortunately you are right, you do need money to day trade and as a previous writer noted you need $25k for a broker to allow you to consistently day trade. I believe that is a Fed Reserve requirement not SEC. Note that I say consistent though. The broker can't prevent you from selling a position you recently bought but if they identify you as a daytrader you will have to bring your equity up to $25 before they let you do it again.
Try the top 10 trader thing below or any kind of honest papertrading. And while your at it try a long term paper portfolio for kicks. I'll bet in a year you'll wish you really invested the long term ideas – its amazing!
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