day tradingsoftwareday traderstock day trading
I recently started trading stocks. I started buying and selling stocks using stocktrade almost every other day. Is there anything I need to know regarding taxes (Is there a limit on how long should i keep the shares etc). I am new to all this.
Day trading


Without knowing what you already know, it's hard to know what to tell you. What I will do is give you a link to great site for explaining the tax implications of trading stocks.

http://www.fairmark.com/capgain/

You can choose how much of the material you want to read, but I suggest you be sure to read the section on "wash sale" rules given the way you described your trading.

I am new to all this. Where can I learn the basics?
How do I find a cheap, easy to use broker? There are SO MANY - how do I chose? The ones I've heard about include Ameritrade, eTrade, Sharebuilder, TDWaterhouse, ScotTrade, Fidelity, the list goes on! What makes them all different?

What I know: I'd like do invest relatively conservatively (IE - no day-trading). I'd like to invest in ethanol. I'd like to invest for down the line…

The only resource I'm using now are
http://www.investingonline.org/index.html
Yahoo! Finance.

HELP!
Update:
I'm probably looking to invest a few thousand for now. That may increase but I dont foresee investing more than 5-10K.
As far as where I was planning to put my money - mostly in stocks in NYSE or Nasdaq. Prob not smallcaps/penny stocks, but I did have my eye on an IPO or two. BTW what are franchise stocks?

I was actually thinking about Sharebuilder - it comes highly acclaimed. Why is touted so much? Advantages / Disadvantages?

Day trading


You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks, as individual stocks are too risky. With a few thousand dollars, this means buying mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low cost funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money conservatively, in money market funds and bond funds, and part aggressively in stock funds. Vanguard.com has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea how aggressive you want to be.

Investing in a mutual fund IRA for retirement may give you an income tax break. Talk to your tax adviser. You may also be able to invest in a stock mutual fund via a 401K plan at work.

Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.

Does selling a stock that you've owned for awhile (weeks or months or whatever) then buying it back that day at a lower price, count aginst your 3 'day trades' in a 5 day period? If so…well…then that blows….
Day trading


The situation you describe is not "day trading."

According to the NYSE definition of "day trading" the sale of an existing position from the previous day is a liquidation. The repurchase of that position is the establishment of a new position. It is not subject to day trading margin requirements.

If you are using a cash account, settlement rules would still apply.

I have 10,000 dollars in my brokerage account.

If I buy stocks worth of 10K today and sell them off later in the day, making a profit just say of $10,500 and I want to trade the next day using those funds…will I be able to use tht money? or do I have to wait like 3 business days?-I am not on margin or options.

Thanks.
even if i buy the same stock?
like if i buy and sell apple today..can i buy apple tomorrow using those funds?

Day trading


As long as the money stays in the account you can use it.
Ways To Take a Leveraged Short Position on China
Many people have asked me how to get short the Chinese market using maximum leverage and the only products I can think of are these:

FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Futures & Options
Hang Seng China H - Financials Index Futures
Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (H-Shares) Index Futures & Options
You can see from the average daily volume numbers (April 2007) that the liquidity is nothing to write home about, except maybe for the H-shares Index Futures (the H - Financials Index Futures just started trading on April 16 - early days).

If you have an account at Interactive Brokers, you should have access to these products. I’m not recommending you take a leveraged short position in any of these markets, just as I don’t recommend standing in front of a loaded freight train going 100 miles per hour.

Anyone have any brighter ideas than these?

Day trading


Really you want to short the retail (domestic) A-shares. I think this is more difficult but you might be able to get an over-the-counter swap with an investment bank. That's about the only bright idea I have beyond what you suggested, and not really executable except at the institutional level.
Day trading


DO NOT DAY TRADE THINKING YOU'LL GET RICH QUICK.

It is true that 80% of all day traders eventually lose all their money. Then again, about 60% of the remaining 20% make enough to live off of or at least provide a second income. The remaining 40% steadily lose money.

The keys to success in day trading (% of importance):

1) money management - knowing how much to bet on each stock, when to take profits, and when to cut losses (40%)

2) emotional control - patience, not acting out of greed or fear, never averaging down, only buying high probability set-ups, etc. (35%)

3) a good system - knowing when to enter and when to exit (25%)

You'll notice that the system is the least important factor for success. Almost any system is profitable (although some much more than others), but the real important part is whether you can actually use it correctly or not. It might not match your personality, for example. Also, if you don't manage your money correctly, you can go bankrupt on even the best system in the world.

Unless you have amazing emotional control, have a natural inborn talent for trading (I've never met anyone like this, though), or have a brilliantly flexible mind that adapts quickly, you will most likely steadily lose money day trading for at least the first few months.

The worst part about getting started in day trading is that there's very little way to tell if you'd be successful before you actually start buying stocks and losing (or making) money. Paper trading is not even close to the same as real trading, because there's no emotion involved, or commissions or slippage.

On the other hand, once you have reached the right point, the rewards can be substantial. It took me 15 months of swing trading and staring at computer screens all day long and three months of day trading (losing 50% of my entire equity in the process) before I turned the corner. Now, I can quite conservatively double my money each year (but notice it took me a year to recover from the first year and a half). That's probably a typical story. If you read about Stock Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager, you'll notice that almost every master trader went bankrupt at one point or another.

Most people quit before they reach this point, and I'd be the first to agree that day trading is not for everyone, or even for most people.

Also, remember this: any person with a truly successful and profitable day trading system would never sell or share it. You can make much more money using a winning system than selling it. Okay, maybe 10% of the systems out there are legitimate, but you'll never know which 10% until you've bought it and lost lots of money on it.

Be careful when looking for winning systems, and always look for a money-back guarantee.

The key to success is not the system the person uses so much as it is the person using the system.

One last word of advice: Unless you're willing to sacrifice thousands of hours in front of the computer and thousands of dollars, and able to stand the emotional and financial pain you will endure, then don't even start.

I am new to trading stocks…never have but know a little bit about it. I really can’t find the time to read a book by William O’neal I purchased and I am trying to find some time to finish it. My wife’s uncle who is a dentist makes about $2000 per day trading. I want to start with $1000 that I have in my newly opened scottrade account. Is it a good idea to pay about $20 per aided stockbroker trade? I am really wanting to make some money to move out of my parents home and help them out as well.
Day trading


I would not recommend you to jump into day trading. It’s not for beginners, and you could potentially lose a ton of money in a matter of minutes. In addition, day trading would require a lot of money, and trading with $1,000 would definitely not be enough to cover for the commission costs.

You will need a broker to make stock trades for you but different types of brokers will charge different amounts. Full-service brokers will provide you with a lot of advice. However, their commission rates are much higher than the ones from discount brokers, who only make the transaction of the trade. Personally, I prefer discount brokers because they are cheaper and they allow me to make my own decisions.

I currently use Firstrade ( http://www.firstrade.com/ ). I prefer them over Scottrade because they offer free dividend reinvestment (DRIPs), which is essential for long term investments. They also have slightly cheaper commission rates and much lower commission rates when compparing to ther big name brokers such as Etrade, Ameritrade, and Schwab. Their customer service and website are great as well. I would definitely recommend that you check them out.

If you aren’t comfortable with your invest skills, instead of getting a full-service broker, I would suggest that you try mutual funds. Mutual funds are diversified, thereby less risky. They are also professionally managed so you don’t have to worry about what to buy or sell. To learn more about mutual funds, you could visit Investopedia ( http://www.investopedia.com/ ).

Im planning on trying my luck doing a little day trading. i will be using bank of america brokerage and will get the commission free trading. any suggestions on stock I should take a look at. stocks that are some what volatile that I could buy low sell for a small profit and do it again the next day.
dont worry people i am a long term investor. 90 percent of my money is tied up in index funds and some quality stocks like garmin for long term.
to common sense:
you wrote "With BOA you get 30 free trades a month. But it costs you the difference of earning 5.30% (like www.GMACBank.com) vs. their very small rate"

I put the 25,000$ you need to get free trades in one of bank of america's high yield cds which i locked in at 5.34 percent.
The cds count towards eligibility for commission free trades.
to everyone else who said that I shouldnt do this because day trading is very hard and i am doomed to fail:

I will be placing limit order trades and just set the limits for the highs and lows that I want to buy and sell at.
I feel that is somewhat safer. I will try to buy on a down day and place a limit order sell for like a dollar or 2 above the price i bought it for depending on the stock price of course. The gains wont be too big but at least ill have no commssions eating away my gains.
what do u guys think of that?? still bad idea?

Day trading


Picking a trend in just one day is almost impossible. You don't want to hear this, but starting out daytrading like this, you are like a little league football player lining up against the pros.

When you spread your time frame out a bit, you even the odds a little more and give yourself a better chance. It's still not easy, but why start off against impossible odds?

Here's some ideas that might help you manage risk a little better and actually have a chance: http://www.srsfinance.com/Smart_Money_Principle.html

Sorry if I'm raining on your parade. I don't mean to. GRMN, BTW, looks great. Just make sure you keep a stop loss under $95 and trail that up higher as the price moves higher. Nothing worse than letting a winner turn into a loser.

Best of luck

I'm interested ideally (not required) in one which I can keep my checking, etc., all there to manage using my Quicken software. Moving money between accounts is ideal. If it doesnt require fees to use Quicken's Direct Connect, so much the better.

I'm interested in learning day trading. Is TD Ameritrade the best? Can I open a $100 account to try it out?

Day trading


The only broker I know that doesn't have a minimum account balance is OptioonsXpress. Scottrade has the lowest at $500. OptionsXpress' commissions are slightly higher at $15 a trade but it's worth it as the service is really good.
Hi

I use IG index but have found their spread to be expensive, are there any brokers out there that are cheaper for day trading the Forex and eminis russell 2000 and other index’s?

kind regards

David

Day trading


Hi David,

The brokerage business is highly competitive and rates are usually subject to negotiation. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts. Use the internet and search for “Futures Broker” or “Forex broker” and compare the prices of 10 brokers. This will give you a feeling for the lower prices possible.

When comparing prices, make sure that they are “all inclusive”, i.e. inclusing exchange and NFA/SEC fees and any other fees that might apply. Sometimes brokers lure you in with “Trade the e-minis for $0.50″ and then you will see that they add all kinds of fees and you end up paying $5 - $6 per round turn.

When trading futures, you can expect to pay $4 - $5 per round turn with a discount broker and $5 - $8 if you need some service. Full service brokers usually charge $10 - $15 per round turn.

Right now you might consider trading the e-mini S&P Midcap. The CME Group and Infinity Futures Brokerage run a promotion until the end of the year: You can trade this contract for $1.50 per round turn ALL INCLUSIVE. I think that’s a heck of a deal.

The e-mini Midcap (Symbol EMD) is comparable to the e-mini Russell (ER).

Regarding Forex: I don’t trade Forex at all. I prefer trading the currencies as futures contracts at the CME. This has there advantages:

1.) Lower spread. The spread is usually 1 tick and not 2-5 pips.
2.) Better leverage: 1 tick in the futures is worth $12.50 and not $10 like in the forex. That’s 25% more!
3.) It’s regulated, and you are trading against other traders and NOT against the house.

Hope that helps.

Markus

PS: Below is the link for the EMD promo I talked about.