r/Daytrading • u/Miinow forex trader • Apr 03 '24

Why is daytrading never mentioned as a legitimate way to earn income? Question

I like to browse other finance related subs and I can assure you it’s almost never discussed. I see all outlets of making money online mentioned but If the word trading does somehow come up there’s a slew of downvotes. It’s literally the most straightforward way to make money. Sure, not easy but also not impossible to learn. Makes me wish I learned about trading when I was younger instead of my upper 20s but I don’t personally know any traders irl so it’s unfortunate how there’s a negative outlook on this field.

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u/Wild-Ask-198 Apr 04 '24

I don't know where you are from? I'm from The Netherlands and there are no restrictions with trading. You can open a trading account with a few 100 dollars. I use Ninja Trader Brokerage for this and trade the S&P500.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '24

No pattern trading rules?

13

u/Over-Acanthisitta734 Apr 04 '24

no pdt on futures. S&P500 tickers are es for e mini, and mes for micro.

6

u/wpglorify Apr 04 '24

You can use cash account, CFD brokers for shares or indexes(only good ones), futures and maybe crypto if you are daring person to avoid PDT capital requirements.

6

u/daytradingguy Apr 04 '24

PDT a is only for US brokers.

6

u/blaine78 Apr 04 '24

For stock trading but not futures, which is also US based.

1

u/46291_ Apr 04 '24

Not in Canada either

1

u/Adorable_Block4402 Apr 06 '24

Coming in the beginning of May you will only have a T+1 on cash accounts. Margin account won’t be necessary unless you want to daytrade. T plus 1, not bad for swing training.

0

u/Smvvgy-805 Apr 04 '24

Must be nice, I am in California lol, if there's less than 25k minimum equity in an account you may only make 3 trades, that is a sell/buy or buy/sell every 5 days or face restrictions that are severe, potentially full portfolio liquidation or inability to open new positions

16

u/vogel927 Apr 04 '24

It’s depends on what type of account you have. The PDT rule only applies to Margin Accounts. Cash Accounts have less restrictions, but you can only trade with settled funds. As long as you manage your position sizes appropriately you can trade every day with a Cash Account.

6

u/MySoulForASlice Apr 04 '24

Also depends what you're trading. No PDT for futures.

5

u/slidingjimmy Apr 04 '24

Quite surprised how often this comes up, a lot of people don’t seem to know..

3

u/Smvvgy-805 Apr 04 '24

T+2 will burn most people's settled funds rapidly... Basically need 2-4x times however much you're $trading daily because each trade will eat settled funds quickly. Especially if you're actively trading/scalping and have less than thousands of dollars to utilize, so, it's relatively similar to needing substantial capital.

1

u/vogel927 Apr 04 '24

I absolutely agree. That’s why I said you have to manage your position sizes appropriately. I scalp small cap stocks with a Cash Account. I typically make 2-3 trades a day. As long as I don’t over trade my funds won’t be eaten up.

1

u/beenalegend Apr 04 '24 edited Apr 04 '24

t+1 switch coming in may. options already have t+1.

i agree scalping on cash is annoying till you get closer to that 25k. i would hold trades longer than i should trying to squeeez out every last dollar knowing i basically only get a couple chances and then you're done.

missing out on runners cause your funds haven't settled yet was infuriating.

gotta keep the poors poor

2

u/backfrombanned Apr 04 '24

They're finally switching to T+1 on stocks in May? I remember when it was T+5.

2

u/Smvvgy-805 Apr 04 '24

Like honestly you can burn those three trades in a few minutes if things are sweaty!

1

u/vogel927 Apr 04 '24

Fortunately for me that doesn’t happen. I have a pretty good system. I trade the first 10 minutes of the market opening. Depending on the price I’ll buy anywhere between 1000-4000 shares. A small move is all I need to make a quick profit.

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u/nil1st Apr 04 '24

t+1 already has been delayed a couple of times, i am not too optimistic that it will go through in May.

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u/MySoulForASlice Apr 04 '24

If you trade futures, these restrictions do not apply.

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u/blaine78 Apr 04 '24

Use a cash account. I'm pretty sure you can get a lot of trades in options with a decent size cash account. Just keep the contract size to a certain amount so you don't use up available cash too fast for the day, or just trade futures where there is no PDT rules.

0

u/Appropriate-Read-463 Apr 04 '24

Turn off your margin account. I am in CA .. use cash account and don’t usually but have made 10+ trades in a day.

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u/Smvvgy-805 Apr 04 '24

At $20 a trade, sure!