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Investing and stock trading can be great ways of generating an extra source of income for yourself, but if you don’t approach your investments with a certain amount of knowledge and intelligence, it’s also a good way to ruin yourself financially.
There is a lot that goes into being a smart investor. You have to do a lot of research so that you can understand how to effectively predict market fluctuations, keep consistent tabs on how stocks are behaving, and be patient when you actually make an investment.
It’s also about knowing what the most appropriate kind of investing is for you, because there are actually several different types. You’ve got everything from stocks to commodities to cryptocurrencies and a few others.
While many people like to make big investments which build over the course of months and years, there is another, more immediate option, known as ‘day trading’.
What is Day Trading?
This is a more active approach which involves buying and selling stocks over a very short period of time. We’re talking a matter of minutes, or even seconds if the timing is right. It’s all about watching the market during the working hours and reacting to it in real time.
A market price of one particular stock can change on the fly and if you see the opportunity to make a profit from said change, then you make the transaction. All of the patience that goes into regular investing kind of has to go out the window with day trading.
It’s a specific skill in and of itself, which involves strategy, quick-thinking and a bit of risk taking too. It can be especially difficult to ensure that you don’t overdo it with the amount of transactions you conduct.
You will still have an investment portfolio, and it’s still wise to keep the amount of stocks in your portfolio under a certain number. Because of how quickly day trading moves, if you engage in too many transactions you could end up losing track and perhaps missing out on some potentially huge returns.
While it does seem like a less reliable approach and a method which is likely to generate less return on investment (ROI), it does have its benefits:
Why You Should Try it
Firstly, if you are committed to learning as much about it as possible and building up the necessary skills and abilities, you can make a good living just doing day trading. It can become a full time job for you.
And you do also have the opportunity to make a massive amount of money very quickly. It’s not going to happen every day, but if you are day trading on a daily basis you will at some point happen upon a transaction that will be extremely profitable.
It’s an exciting and rewarding job. There are a few rules that you need to keep in mind if you’re going to try this. If you’re trading in America, you must always maintain a minimum equity of $25,000.
So you must have this much before you start and your equity cannot go below that while you’re trading. You will also need to get yourself approved for margin trading before you start, and that’s not something you can do alone.
It’s illegal to day trade in the United States unless you are doing so with the help of a broker. As day trading has gotten more and more popular, more platforms and brokers have popped up and so you need to be thorough in your decision.
We have analyzed the usability, features, cost of trading and margin rates to determine the top 6 brokers on the market right now:
TradeStation
TradeStation has the best desktop trading platform that you could ask for and it also offers cryptocurrency trading which is not common among these brokers. Beginners may struggle with the lack of education offered, but it’s perfect for experienced traders.
Fidelity
In addition to having a strong desktop platform and a second-to-none mobile app, the big advantage of Fidelity is that their trade cost is $0 and they also don’t accept payment for order flow. Their margin rate is slightly higher than some other brokers, but overall it’s still the best broker to maximise your earnings.
Robinhood
Much like TradeStation, this broker also offers the opportunity for cryptocurrency trading and you can also work with exchange-traded funds (ETFs) too. There is no account minimum for this broker so it’s a good one to choose if you want to limit costs and have more trade options.
E*TRADE
This service doesn’t have a desktop app so you either have to use their web service or their mobile app, but that’s pretty much the only con about them. It is very easy-to-use, it offers a staggering choice of different investment options and it gives you access to a huge library of investment research.
TD Ameritrade
One of the most popular brokers going right now and it’s not hard to see why. There are numerous advantages to TD Ameritrade. They offer commission free stock, ETF and options trades, free access to research, a huge investment selection and their customer support is excellent.
ZacksTrade
One thing to note about ZacksTrade is that their account minimum is a little bit higher than other brokers, but it might be worth it considering how hands-on they are. They offer free broker-assisted trading, free research and you will also have access to international exchanges.
All six of these would be good choices for you, and so the decision will come down to your personal preference. You need to think about your budget, your level of experience as a trader and what kind of stocks and investments most appeal to you.
Knowing your preference in terms of all of these factors should give you a good indication of which broker to put your faith in.
