Day Trading Account

I've been using Scottrade for 10 years for daytrading purposes. Trades are cheap and they have local offices everywhere if you need to yell at someone. The trade platform is pretty good.

Biggest drawback is you can only trade securities on US exchanges. I have used another broker for trading on foreign exchanges but I don't daytrade foreign securities. When I daytrade, I am buying and selling securities the same day. Sometimes I buy and sell the same security twice in the same day.

I am not sure why you'd even consider a broker based "on some island" if all you want to do is daytrade. If a promoter has told you to use a revocable, foreign-based trust for asset protection, then that is not a compelling reason in light of Affordable Media and other cases. See a tax attorney if you are trying to do something other than make some quick bank through your trading.

MENNI said:

Thanks for the info, The only thing for me is I would like to start with a 5k and try to get as much buying power possible 1:10 (intraday). I traded with questrade before but commissions killed me (5$ per trade). I'm trading gaps and never keep anything over night. I'm profitable with a very good money management plan. I was thinking to go with a prop company , but there is no way im sharing my profits. hope someone can help

Thanks

Menni

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This has disater written all over it

JohnLarue said:

This has disater written all over it

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I agree its easiest way to lose money, but 5k is not much to start with.
Day trading is just a form of gambling.
I trade in commodities on long term basis, and have acquired trading experience over number of years, and therefore make respectable profit.

Day Trading is NOT gambling if you go ahead and learn how to manage risk! It takes time, hard work, discipline, huge amounts of self reflection and humility to succeed. Just like any other endeavor. For newbies DON'T even think about just reading a few books (even if you ever go that far) and just plunk some money down with some online trading firm and hope for the best which most folks do. That is why they lose. If you have $5,000 to spare I say find a respectable and reputable intraday trading firm and go there and learn from them.

Plus if you decide to go with firms like Scottrade, E-Trade or TD Waterhouse (Canada)/TD Ameritrade (US) you are already losing out and have your money "stolen" with their high commissions and working your order so they can rape you a few pennies on the dollar with each trade. It may not sound like much but over the long term it is a big deal. Just like to let you know these firms are not direct access firms. They charge by trade and not per share basis.

MENNI said:

I have been trading for almost 6 years, Day Trading is Gambling if you have no clue what you're doing. Kaempferrand , I agree 200% with what you wrote and now if you can help me find the right place to trade with ;-) .
I know of many Montreal based prop firms - not interested. Nothing in Toronto ? That doesn't make sense. Few option I am checking in the US. I have an offer for 1 cent per share with 1:4 buying power intraday, but I really need 1:10 minimum.

Hope you can help

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I can say that prop up in Canada was respectable at one time but not anymore. Especially in Montreal. Blackboxes/HFT and extremely low transaction costs plus the financial meltdown of the past few years did away with many traders/firms even the ones that make great money. It is a very different kind of playing field nowadays. To be good at day trading you can't do it alone. You have to go back to school. For that you have to find the best and most ethical of the bunch who really want to teach and want you to succeed. Not just wanting to force you to trade to generate commissions.

I hate to say it but if you want to be a trader and hopefully make a good living and control your destiny, you have to move to the U.S (NYC or Chicago)

Here is a list of respectable firms as I have no affiliations with them. I have colleagues/friends at these firms as they once worked for the big investment banks but got fired/laidoff/lost job because firm went under.

www.stocktrading.com ---- the Bright brothers. Located in Las Vegas.
www.smbcapital.com ---- Mike Bellafiore and Steve Spencer are two great mentors. Check out the book One Good Trade by Bella. I met Bella once when he was running a public seminar on how to shorten the steep learning curve. He is one tough direct arrogant SOB but he is honest and you will learn.
www.t3live.com/www.t3capital.com --- SMB Capital is aligned with them and they also run a very thorough and honest trading/training program.
www.trilliumtrading.com --- very tough to get in.
www.avatartrading.com

With SMB Capital you are going to have to pay to learn. It would costs you upwards of $7,000 and you get to spend the whole month in their main office. Is it worth it? Don't know but I am sure you will be better off using this money to learn than to blow it blindly in the markets. With SMB I think it is .006 per share and your buying power starts at 4:1. Then as you get better they will increase your leverage.

Here is list of firms you may want to contact and find out if it is the right fit for you. http://www.traderslog.com/proprietarytradingfirms/

I have not been in a prop firm as now I trade at home with LightSpeed plus I realized all the training/experience I received could be applied to the baccarat tables in Vegas so I spend my time there. Plus I got sick of sitting there looking at the screen and now I have a faster turnover.

Good luck!

MENNI said:

THANK YOU ! Thank you for posting the links (few firms I know from your list), I will make some phone calls this week. It's just amazing that is not company based in Canada. I really appreciate your help. Have a great week

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Uhhh... you're welcome. Hope you find what you are looking for. And looking for a penny per share is too much. Yet if you are in the learning stages don't worry about that focus on the quality of the training and having great mentors.

It is tough to start any prop trading operation in Canada. The Canadian financial authority is very conservative, cautious and doesn't really like U.S. penetration of any sort into its markets. Yet they welcome the trading of U.S. financial instruments as the Canadian markets are at times illiquid. Prior to the year 2000, there were tons of American affiliated extensions up in Canada. After the tech bust Canada doesn't allow Canadian having U.S. accounts unless they have a physical U.S. address and vice versa. That restriction alone caused many headaches and many U.S. players retreated.

MENNI said:

I have been trading for almost 6 years, Day Trading is Gambling if you have no clue what you're doing. Kaempferrand , I agree 200% with what you wrote and now if you can help me find the right place to trade with ;-) .
I know of many Montreal based prop firms - not interested. Nothing in Toronto ? That doesn't make sense. Few option I am checking in the US. I have an offer for 1 cent per share with 1:4 buying power intraday, but I really need 1:10 minimum.

Hope you can help

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1:10 leverage and you say you know what you are doing?
If you had a dollar for every day trader who said that, you would not need to day trade.

Again this has disaster wriiten all over it, only now the disaster is leveraged up 1:10.
I have yet to meet a sucessful day trader who can consistantly make a living day trading in both bull and bear markets
For the most part they exagerate thier winners and keep quite about the losers.
However, I wish you luck. (Your gonna need it)

MENNI said:

It's just doesn't make sense that I can't find a Canadian solution to my problem.

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Hello MENNI, I can definitely understand your situation. There is a way to work around your Canadian problem. Question is do you have a physical U.S. address or do you know someone you trust who resides in the U.S.? If the answer is "Yes" you can use the U.S. address and still stay in Canada to trade. Just that there will be tax implications where you will have to consult a tax professional to see if this would be a good fit for you. I mean you have been at this for six years so that means you are doing pretty well.

MENNI said:

Thanks for the info, The only thing for me is I would like to start with a 5k and try to get as much buying power possible 1:10 (intraday). I traded with questrade before but commissions killed me (5$ per trade). I'm trading gaps and never keep anything over night. I'm profitable with a very good money management plan. I was thinking to go with a prop company , but there is no way im sharing my profits. hope someone can help

Thanks

Menni

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It appears risk is not an issue for you and I'll take you at your word on profitability. To reduce commissions you may wish to assume more risk and trade options purchasing the equivalent on the stocks. Personally I just used the CDN Banks even though I know the fees are higher. While I'm at CIBC I have seen the TD platform and it seems good and for Banks the fees seem OK. Royal Bank no way I would use it and BNS I have no idea.

On the option front, well with this bull starting in Oct/11 (may have been earlier, but I noticed it here) I loaded up on Apple, Priceline, Bank of America and JP Morgan ... I'm now out of these with a healthy profit for the year and now I've taken half of my after tax profits and am using it for out of the money credit spreads (call or put, depending on the volatility) So far it's working great but this week is giving me stress as my 610Apr13put to 605 credit spread on AAPL is under pressure as AAPL continues to drop before earnings, something I didn't think would happen lol (gotta hate the US Justice Department here). Well only one day to go ... here's to AAPL not going under 610, wish me luck.

mcKaos said:

It appears risk is not an issue for you and I'll take you at your word on profitability. To reduce commissions you may wish to assume more risk and trade options purchasing the equivalent on the stocks. Personally I just used the CDN Banks even though I know the fees are higher. While I'm at CIBC I have seen the TD platform and it seems good and for Banks the fees seem OK. Royal Bank no way I would use it and BNS I have no idea.

On the option front, well with this bull starting in Oct/11 (may have been earlier, but I noticed it here) I loaded up on Apple, Priceline, Bank of America and JP Morgan ... I'm now out of these with a healthy profit for the year and now I've taken half of my after tax profits and am using it for out of the money credit spreads (call or put, depending on the volatility) So far it's working great but this week is giving me stress as my 610Apr13put to 605 credit spread on AAPL is under pressure as AAPL continues to drop before earnings, something I didn't think would happen lol (gotta hate the US Justice Department here). Well only one day to go ... here's to AAPL not going under 610, wish me luck.

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Aw hell Apple closed at 605... not to worry though, being a good risk manager I did notice the high volume of put sales across the board and bought half the number of contracts on the spread at 615 when Apple broke 620. Closed everything when the stock crossed 610 for a profit ... that and the revenue I received at the beginning of the week made for a great week ... I will say lucky that I wasn't busy with something else. I do have to admit it was a close call that could have backfired in a big way. Good illustration on how well you need to understand markets/risk and that this kind of trade needs a great deal experience and knowledge before attempting.

Anyways, after watching this market do it's thing today, I think something is wrong at this point and I can't put my finger on it exactly. Seems to me that a lot of people are selling the high flyers and parking them in cash since bonds are not moving that much. Europe is a known quantity, China's slowing is anticipated ... so since I can't come up with a good reason, I'm putting my day trading money to cash and wait until I do figure it out.

kaempferrand said:

Hello MENNI, I can definitely understand your situation. There is a way to work around your Canadian problem. Question is do you have a physical U.S. address or do you know someone you trust who resides in the U.S.? If the answer is "Yes" you can use the U.S. address and still stay in Canada to trade. Just that there will be tax implications where you will have to consult a tax professional to see if this would be a good fit for you. I mean you have been at this for six years so that means you are doing pretty well.

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Unfortunately it is illegal both in States and Canada to do this and on top of that I thought they started blocking non US IPs for trading accounts in the US. I think you can still call but that would defeat the point for lower comm. I'm not 100% sure on it, only that I heard it from someone so you may want to check into that before opening the account.

MENNI said:

update
I contact BSI www.bsicglobal.com and asked for a representative in Canada, got this website www.g6trading.com. Will make the call tomorrow and will let you know

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Hmmm.. 10:1 with .005 a share. Not bad. Hope this works out for you and gets you set up.

Hope this gets you where you want to go and be.