[MomofMany]

Have you ever tried your hand at day trading? I've heard people say that interested parties should trade "on paper" to start instead of with real money, to kind of get a feel for it. Is it worth the time?

[Nick]

As a minimum I would recommend that you pick a few stocks you are interested in, follow them daily for awhile and gather some analyst opinions for the outlook. Trading on paper is a good idea too. None of this would be a waste of time.

[jason]

Most places now require a hefty safety deposit. Usually around $20k-$25k from what I've seen. So I am out. I would do the paper trading first, to get a hang of it.

[MomofMany]

WOW. There's no way I could come up with $20k-$25k for a safety deposit, so I guess I'm out, too. It does seem like it could be interesting, if one had the money to get started!

[Penny]

I've had a trading account for a long time. Is the $20-$25K thing something new? You can start an account as an IRA and invest in anything you want to, including stocks.

[jason]

It is for day trading, as of February 27, 2001.
The main rule is that in order to engage in pattern day trading you must maintain an equity balance of at least $25,000 in a margin account. The required minimum equity must be in the account prior to any daytrading activities.
Pattern day trader - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

*note* it says this is rule is not for cash accounts, but check with your brokerage firm to check.

[Spareadime]

It depends on how you want to trade stocks. If you want to invest in the stock itself then I wouldn't day trade at all, I would buy some of the shares and just reinvest any dividends. If it is the price itself then I would get a spread account and just bet on the price going up or down.

[onmars]

Day trading also takes a very hands on approach. A friend of mine had a meeting and because he wasn't able to get out on a day trade lost a good bit, that was just yesterday, so be careful.

[Frugality]

The daytrading 25k is no joke. But you don't have to go that route. Just pick good companies that you think will go up in a short period of time, such as a week or two. If you buy it and it goes up the same day, sell it. You can daytrade a stock up to 3 times in a 5 business day period without the minimum 25k rule applying. If you go to 4, they will suspend your account, but you have control over it and they tell you how many daytrades you have made in the period so you know.