<OT>t2K - unless you intend to daytrade very intensively (5-10 or more roundtrips per day), there is absolutely NO advantage to being with a daytrading broker. There are *dis*advantages. Yes, you can get LII separately without going through a daytrading broker.
I know you'll dismiss it, but I won't feel right not having made an effort, so please take the following in the spirit it was intended.
1)Daytrading is *extremely* difficult, time-consuming, nerve-wracking.
2)*Most* daytraders lose money. Of the tiny minority who do make money, most would have made more just buying and holding solid stocks. Now take the tiny tiny minority of those who make more money daytrading than through buy and hold - of that tiny minority of a tiny minority fewer yet make more money after counting taxes, trading inefficiencies (spread), and commishions.
3)Even if you are one of the extremely rare individuals who can make more money daytrading, even after extra taxes, commishions and costs of trading than buy and hold, you still have a learning curve, during which you'll probably lose money, or at best break even. In my first year of daytrading, I started out with 120K cash. I ended the year with 110K cash, but my broker ended up with 30K in commishions. Had I just bought, say MSFT with the 120K, I'd have almost doubled my money, paid ONE commishion, and if I held - no taxes. Now you may think I was an unusually slow learner, but actually I did extremely well compared to most. Finally after a year of full-time trading did I develop enough skills to make it truly profitable. But it's never easy for me, even now. And I had the good sense to be an investor for years before attempting daytrading, and thanks to that, I have a decent long-term portfolio which I don't trade.
I don't know what your plan is, but given the drift of your questions, I figured I'd throw this in. Hope you don't mind, and my apologies if I offended you.
Good luck.
Morgan |
