thanx
Tax-wise… that depends on what country you're trading from and you should obviously discuss the matter with your local authority.
Recently I made a trade and lost money which reduced me under the 25,000 min to have day trade status-
Si no big deal I was given 5 busness days to meet the requirments and transfer money but when I called the etrade dept they told me that even if I transfer the money over within the 5 buisiness days I will be restricted to a cash only account reguardless which means I will have no day trade status even though I would deposit an additional $30,000.
I do not understand this- has anyone else had problems with Etrade and customer service?
Etrade is very nasty and argue on the phone all the time with me, which is terrible considering in 3 weeks I sent over $6,000
in commission trades alone-
Did you trade during that time? Day trade restrictions are sticky, but usually the rep can remove them on a one-time basis. If its the first time there should be no problem at all. Did you speak to a manager? Thats a day trade call-similar to a margin call but generally much lesser priority. Once you bring the account back up, at most brokers, everything should be roses.
If you are generating that kind of commission any of the other discount houses would be glad to have you. There is no sense in going with such a no frills broker if you are treated like that.
There is an alternative. BUT, I wouldn't recommend it.
You could engage in a Carry Trade. Again!! I do not recommend you do this for Day-Trading options or stocks!
You short a currency (the JPY is pretty popular). Just like shorting a stock, you get a credit. Since Forex is not regulated by the same Margin Rules as Equities, you can get 50K for a simply $500 account. With that credit, rather than buying Bonds with a higher interest rate than the rate of the shorted currency (Fed rate is 4.25, so you could get a bond around that rate, which JPY rate is .5%..you profit from the difference) you put that money into your options account. You need to be careful that you leave some room in your Forex account, as you do not want a Margin Call on this. And you need to make sure you monitor the currency market to make sure that the JPY's flat…although if it is dropping, you have the added bonus of making money there too.
I am not suggesting you do this, but just saying that there are possibilities out there. Just don't use this one, as it you need to be aware of what you are doing.
