< by your own account, you need a small fortune to start daytrading>
I would say, $50,000 is rock-bottom to have decent odds. $75 is OK, $100K is a good number - not to big, not too small. Even with $50, you'd have to be extremely cautious. Not to say that it can't be done - I've read account of successes starting with as little as $5k.
I've day-traded and swing-traded $25 and $50k accounts, at times in the past myself.
Below $25k, I'd recommend instead of trying to day-trade swing-trading positions to build up the account, not day-trading. It CAN be done! You just have to be really cautious, since there is less margin for error.
What I would do with $25K, is position-trade (swing-trade) it up very carefully (buying pullbacks on reversals upwards with ~3% stops, ONLY when the market is trending - not now), getting familiar with 3-4 of the strongest stocks in the strongest sectors. Do that for a 50% gain. Then go into daytrading business with %50K, when there is enough capital to shift the odds in your favor more. For some reason, what people seem to want to do (with $25K) instead, is trade the "junk" stocks looking for a big gain - a.k.a. the 36-year old in USA Today article.
Good trading -Steve |
