Looking to trade US stocks from UK

[Shellhead18]

Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum, but not exactly new to trading. I've been going for about a year now, with some success.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me on the best way for me to start trading US stocks and options, from the UK? Essentially I want to do some day trading.

Which platform is the best to use for this? How do I go about paying the tax and what kind of pitfalls should I look out for.

I'm quite happy to engage in some one on one conversation about this is anyone has any advice.

Thanks for your help

Shellhead

 

[Quantt]

Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum, but not exactly new to trading. I've been going for about a year now, with some success.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me on the best way for me to start trading US stocks and options, from the UK? Essentially I want to do some day trading.

Which platform is the best to use for this? How do I go about paying the tax and what kind of pitfalls should I look out for.

I'm quite happy to engage in some one on one conversation about this is anyone has any advice.

Thanks for your help

Shellhead

Day trading - this is the first pitfall I see...

 

[Shellhead18]

Day trading - this is the first pitfall I see...

Maybe so, but that is why I asked the question really. I have my long term portfolio ticking over nicely, and I was looking for another avenue that I could be more involved in on the day-to-day.

 

[Charlton]

Setting up a platform and broker is the easy part BUT.....

Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum, but not exactly new to trading. I've been going for about a year now, with some success.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me on the best way for me to start trading US stocks and options, from the UK? Essentially I want to do some day trading.

Which platform is the best to use for this? How do I go about paying the tax and what kind of pitfalls should I look out for.

I'm quite happy to engage in some one on one conversation about this is anyone has any advice.

Thanks for your help

Shellhead

The process of setting up a broker, account and platform is technically easy. I have used Tradestation for many years. Their platform is very flexible, but you need to be comfortable with some degree of programming to get the best out of it.

https://www.tradestation.com/

Setting up an account is easy - fill in the form, transfer some funds. Spend your time going through all the screens on the above link, including university.

There is a demo account which can be used to become familiar with the platform, which runs off current live data.

Things to be aware of:
(1) Pattern Day Trader - this has a specific meaning in the US which relates to the funds that you must have in the account:
http://help.tradestation.com/09_00/...elanalysis/row/am_pattern_day_trader_row_.htm

(2) Platform fees
In Tradestation the platform fees are free if you maintain the minimum account activity per month. See the bottom of the link below

https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/other-rates-and-fees/

The minimum activity is currently 5000 shares traded (which means for example 2500 shares purchased and then sold again within a month)

Another popular platform/broker is Interactive Brokers, with whom I used to have an account, but no longer. I'm sure other T2W members can give you more information on them.

https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/home.php

As others have pointed out day trading is very different to longer term trading, so proceed with great caution.

 

[timsk]

. . .Which platform is the best to use for this? How do I go about paying the tax and what kind of pitfalls should I look out for. . .

Hi Shellhead18,
Welcome to T2W.

A very comprehensive reply from Charlton and I agree with everything he says. However, having virtually zero computer skills, my bias is slightly different to his. I had accounts with both TradeStation and IB when I day traded U.S. equities back in 2008 and ditched the former broker in favour of the latter. Horses for courses, but the one big advantage of IB is that you can open a universal account with them and trade just about any market and instrument under the sun.

With regard to tax, this link outlines the position 10 years ago. I suggest you contact your local HMRC branch to check whether or not the policies have changed since then.
Tim.