And do you want just any trading tools? No, you want the best value options. Not always expensive is good, often expensive tools and software’s are too much for what you need and a bad investment for your trading.
Brokers
How To Choose The Right Broker For Active Trading
What Day Trading Tools, Software, Brokers Should You Use?
Brokers
Top Brokerage Accounts
Right now, you can choose from dozens and dozens of potential brokerage accounts out there. But how do you chose?
Well, first and foremost, it’s about execution speed.
Your brokerage firm is your vehicle to trade and they execute your orders. Yet, if you have a bad broker that fills your order late, you lose money, even if you are trading properly and accurately.
The second characteristic of a top broker is their commission structure.
Any brokerage asks a certain amount of money in return for executing each of your orders. This varies from broker to broker and can make or break your trading profits – especially if you’re trading in small accounts. In these 2 respects – execution speed and commission – many brokers are either terrible or expensive or both.
How To Avoid Pattern Day Trader Status?
The pattern day trader (PDT) rule, stipulated by the U.S. Government, states that all U.S. based brokerage accounts will need a minimum of $25,000 in order to place more than 4 trades within 5 business days. And to give some context here: most day traders would place more than 4 trades on a single day. Therefore, all U.S-based brokers are legally obliged to enforce the pattern day trader rule for all U.S. residents.
But not to fear: you can day trade with less than $25,000 in your account and many people do. You only have to use a non-U.S. based broker such as CMEG: Capital Elite Market Groups.
Interactive Brokers
IB clients enjoy one of the lowest cost access to stocks, options, futures and forex from a single account. Traders can choose a service level aligned with their needs and switch between plans at any time. IB offers two service plans for traders, but we recommend that you only use IBKR Pro.
IBKR Lite
Designed for swing traders or long term position holders who do not have a need for powerful trading platforms or execution; it’s free of commissions and account or platform fees.
$0 Commissions on US exchange-listed stocks and ETFs.
Free streaming of market data for US exchange-listed stocks and ETFs (not including Nasdaq Level 2 or market depth).
Default Platform: Web-based Client Portal and IBKR Mobile trading platforms. No access to DAS Trader Pro or TWS. Not suitable for active trading.
No activity fees or required minimum balances but account under $25,000 are limited to 3 trades per week for US-based traders.
PDT restriction: Yes for IB US (minimum $25,000 for active trading, otherwise 3 trades per week maximum) No for IB Canada. For IB UK and other countries please check with IB website here.
Margin: Offering a 4:1 margin only. That means that you may trade stocks worth 4 times more than you have in your account. A $10,000 account can have up to maximum $40,000 buying power for trading. Brokers can limit margin on some volatile stocks.
IBKR Pro
Designed for active traders such as day traders who need excellent execution and powerful platforms; therefore, there are fees associated such as commissions, market data and platform fees.
$0 Commissions on US exchange-listed stocks and ETFs.
Default Platform: Traders WorkStation (TWS) and other powerful trading platforms such DAS Trader Pro.
Margin: Offering a 4:1 margin only. That means that you may trade stocks worth 4 times more than you have in your account. A $10,000 account can have up to maximum $40,000 buying power for trading. Brokers can limit margin on some volatile stocks.
Commisison: $0.0035 per share (minimum $0.35 per ticket) plus routing and regulatory fees.*
Financing rates as low as 3.40% for a $100,000 margin loan.. Interest paid on idle cash among the highest in the industry at 1.40%.
PDT restriction: Yes for IB US (minimum $25,000 for active trading, otherwise 3 trades per week maximum) No for IB Canada. For IB UK and other countries please check with IB website here.
IMPORTANT: To use DAS Trader Pro for your IBKR Pro trading account, you need an additional subscription directly with DAS Trader. Check the DAS Trader Website to see subscription prices for Interactive Brokers accounts which ranges between $150 to $200 per month. DAS Trader Pro has offered members of the Bear Bull Traders community an exclusive deal on data for use with their platform for IB users. You will now have access to the following data as part of your normal $150/month data fee (with no additional cost to you). Click here for more info.
* Please note: Commissions are at the broker’s discretion and subject to change. Check brokers commission agreement at the time of sign up.
CMEG: Capital Markets Elite Group
Capital Markets Elite Group is a relatively new broker located in Trinidad and Tobago. The good thing about this is that they aren’t bound by the pattern day trader rule.
Margin: Offering a 6:1 margin for account with over $2,500. That means that you may trade stocks worth 6 times more than you have in your account. A $10,000 account can have up to $60,000 buying power for trading.
DAS platform fee: $125 per month but free DAS Pro platform for active traders (with generating over $650 commisison per month). Free DAS Pro simulator with your live account
Discounted commission: Flat $2.95/trade commission including all ECN routing and regulatory fees. This is an astonishing low rate for traders who have less than $25,000 for trading.
Note: CMEG does not accept Canadian traders. Canadian traders should use Interactive Brokers Canada.
No PDT restriction: US traders can day trade with less than $25,000. Any trader in the world can day trade with less than $25,000
* Please note: Commissions are at the broker’s discretion and subject to change. Check brokers commission agreement at the time of sign up.