[SixCoins]

Hi guys.

My name is Steve, and I'll try to keep this simple. I want to day trade. I have been researching on it, and I just keep coming up with more questions. I have a lot to learn, alot to read, and a lot to practice, but before I go any further, I just have to ask ...

Is it even possible to truly start day trading with limited means? If I put in 1k, 2k, 3k.... Is that just setting myself up to fail?

From what I've learned, it needs to be done in volume to work well.. I'm thinking if my buying power is 2k, I'd barely make the commissions on each trade.

I really would like to study more on this, practice, papertrade.... I want to give it a shot. I'm really interested in it. I know that the stock market is out of the question, as I'd need 25K... But is there any other possibility? Forex? Futures? Seems like I'm at a disadvantage, but I have to ask the people who know.

Also, one thing I'd hope to get answered is on Margins.... If I want to trade where a margin is 5K..... does that mean I'd have to have 5K in my account during my trading? I guess I'm asking - Will I need to provide an Initial Margin, AND extra money to use on trading, or do I just need the margin to be in the account before I START trading.

I've got a lot of questions, and alot to research, but before I do, I just gotta know if it's even possible to do this with a small account.

Best Regards,

Steve.

[Marubozu]

Hey,

Welcome... Well it depends what you mean by day trade. So for instance if you need to support your self, pay rent, pay for food, etc etc, it will be impossible.

If you dont have any expenses on a month to month basis, then yes you could day trade a bare minimum of $3k. But dont expect huge returns...

Imagine you start with $3k, in my opinion if in one year you had $6k in your account I would say you have done really really really well because you have achieved a 100% ROI.

If you research investors and fund managers often they offer returns of 10-30% per year if they are quite good at their job. Some people (the worlds best traders) manage to double their account every single year, but they are the worlds best. Others boast a 50% yearly return or even a 40% yearly return. To achieve a 40% ROI year on year means your pretty awesome at the game.

I think if you have realistic expectations then yes you can day trade $3k as long as you don't expect to live of the returns.

I would start with some goals that are not about money success, for instance having goals like:

To always update my stop according to my trading plan.
To achieve a 55% win ratio.
To win 30 pips per trading day.
To read a new trading education book each month.
To Learn a new trading term each day.
To spend sunday afternoons studying the market instead of watching football.

Goals like these are achievable and will help you grow into who you want to be.

Hope that helps.

[SixCoins]

Originally Posted by Marubozu »

Hey,

Welcome... Well it depends what you mean by day trade. So for instance if you need to support your self, pay rent, pay for food, etc etc, it will be impossible.

If you dont have any expenses on a month to month basis, then yes you could day trade a bare minimum of $3k. But dont expect huge returns...

Imagine you start with $3k, in my opinion if in one year you had $6k in your account I would say you have done really really really well because you have achieved a 100% ROI.

If you research investors and fund managers often they offer returns of 10-30% per year if they are quite good at their job. Some people (the worlds best traders) manage to double their account every single year, but they are the worlds best. Others boast a 50% yearly return or even a 40% yearly return. To achieve a 40% ROI year on year means your pretty awesome at the game.

I think if you have realistic expectations then yes you can day trade $3k as long as you don't expect to live of the returns.

I would start with some goals that are not about money success, for instance having goals like:

To always update my stop according to my trading plan.
To achieve a 55% win ratio.
To win 30 pips per trading day.
To read a new trading education book each month.
To Learn a new trading term each day.
To spend sunday afternoons studying the market instead of watching football.

Goals like these are achievable and will help you grow into who you want to be.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Maru,

I'm not really interested in making enough money to live off of (Yet.). I just want to start and be able to earn money if I do well. My labor would be all about building up to a point where I could make enough money to live, (if I'm successful) while also learning if the business is for me.

Can you provide me with any research areas to learn more about day trading in my situation? Any particular market I should study on?

[raul]

Steve,

There are brokerages where you only need $500 for daily futures margin but that's cutting it close, you will need at least $2500 to open an account. You could try micro lot Forex at fxcm to get your feet wet. But paper trade until you are consistently profitable. You can start with as little as $50 to open an account but don't trade the account. I think the demo accounts are only good for 30 days but they may let you keep the demo account longer if you fund an account.

Raul

[Obsidian]

You can check trading resource section on the forum. There are book recommendations, reviews which would be very useful for you. After learning the basics, you can start trading on a demo account to see how things really work. Watch, observe and apply what you have learned.

[2012trader]

Hey everyone,

Quick question here, what's your favorite type of Forex trading system?? Automated EA, Daily Live Trades, Signal Service Or Other?? Thanks In Advance For Responses!

[henryduncan12]

Daily Live Trades is my favorite forex trading system. As I like to manual trading.

[Obsidian]

Manual trading...especially when market is in a cautious stance...even rumors can cause 50-60 pips volatility these days..