Finding a broker as a beginner is hard.

[Soley]

Finding a broker as a beginner daytrader is hard.

Hi!

I have been looking for an online stock broker for over 2 months now. It's a pain in the as* (or at least in my situation). I need a broker until I have $25,000. Sadly, $25,000 is quite a lot of money in a country with bad economics like mine.

Is there any broker out here which meets these requirements, or should I compromise?

- min. requirement to start a margin account: $1500 - $2000
- able to open an account as non-resident
- markets available: NYSE, NYSE Arca, OTCBB, Nasdaq, Pinksheet
- trustworthy and doesn't have hidden fees
- low-mid commisions
- not an US broker, so I don't have to stuck with the PTD rule
- able to short stock under $5

There is always a catch. There are some US brokers I like, but the PDT rule would really slow me down.
So basically I need a broker like SureTrader, but much less shady.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[lloydbee]

look into OptionsXpress as much as it is a poo platform

 

[NVP]

Hi!

I have been looking for an online stock broker for over 2 months now. It's a pain in the as* (or at least in my situation). I need a broker until I have $25,000. Sadly, $25,000 is quite a lot of money in a country with bad economics like mine.

and then once you get one theres making sure they don't stiff you as well ...............sympathies dude......

 

[drtro]

SureTrader isn't shady. I know three people who trade with them.


I traded with G6 Trading for a few months. They are an offshore prop firm from Belize. I think the minimal requirement is $2,500 though. I had no issues with them. They will annoy you with emails wanting you to buy their educational videos and chat room subscription, but that's what email filters are for. It's run by only two people, but they've always responded to me within the same day, received money transfers the same day, etc.

I would recommend if you have experience trading. If you are new to trading, you may want to save up and open a traditional margin account. These low capital requirement, high leverage brokers are not good for new traders. They will kill you because you're trading with 90% being on margin.

If you have $2,500 capital and they give you 20:1 leverage to day trade with, you're going to lose unless you're very consistent. So say you have $50,000 BP and you try to trade some earnings play stock at $20. You buy 2,000 shares. $2,500 is your own capital, $37,500 on margin, which is over 90%. It's only going to take a $1.25 drop to wipe your account out.

 

[marcadam]

It's a bit of a nightmare... the ones that appear cheap are usually the ones with the most hidden fees etc. Have you considered any of the UK brokers? They virtually all have access to the markets you mention and are quite tightly regulated, therefore not too shady.

I use Selftrade who've been reasonably good (about $12/trade), although they've just been acquired. IG, Hargreaves Lansdown, and Barclays spring to mind as being worth considering.

There's a better list of them here:
http://brokernotes.co/

 

[CostaKapo]

I have personally used SureTrader without any issues. Traders who use SureTrader don't seem to fair well though. Sign up for profit.ly and take a look at the trades via SureTrader versus other brokers and for some reason they don't perform as well.

 

[CostaKapo]

I don't believe you can view these pages if youre not a member but I think this is at least useful information to ponder while looking for a brokerage.

http://profit.ly/broker/SureTrader/trades

http://profit.ly/broker/TDAmeritrade/trades

http://profit.ly/broker/Interactive_Brokers/trades