So after nearly 5 months of day trading a small account ($1,000 - $2,000 at the start of each month) live with SureTrader and not being able to string together 3 or more consecutive green weeks I've decided to pull the plug!
Why have I made this decision?
1. I haven't been able to prove to myself that I can day trade and put together profitable weeks let alone months. This is the primary reason for my decision. I clearly don't have the skill and experience required to grow a small account to something decent. My trading strategy/business plan still needs to have a few wrinkles ironed out here and there. However, for the most part its solid and based on proven methods of veteran day traders who have been successfully day trading the US markets for years. So I know it can work but I simply have not been able to execute well on a consistent basis.
2. Given the above; the commission structure and cost ($0.01/share, $4.95 minimum per trade) and the platform cost ($104/month) relative to my account size and maximum per trade risk ~$50 further exacerbate the difficulty of growing a small account at SureTrader.
My plan going forward...
Since I am not a resident of the US and have other options for circumventing the PDT rule namely TradeZero; I will no longer subject myself to the high commissions and platform fees at SureTrader.
In fact, my plan is to avail myself of the promotion above with a switch to TradeZero when I am confident enough to go back to live trading again.
From my experience; the minimum amount ($2,500 usd) shown above that is required for 6:1 margin will be just about the perfect amount for me to recommence live trading with. At this level, I will be able to risk $50 per trade knowing that I will only risk 2% of my equity. Further I'll be able to give myself 3 stop outs per day (or about a 6% draw down) which from my experience day trading with SureTrader will be more than enough room to be green on most days when my strategy is properly executed. I will also give myself a maximum 10% weekly draw down or roughly 2 consecutive days hitting my max daily stop before resorting to some sort of "trader rehab" to get my self back on track.
Further, from my estimations; I will need around 9 months to save the $2,500 usd and although this is a significant amount of time; my plan is to kill 2 birds with one stone. I will trade in a simulator (with DAS at a cost of $100/month) while I save the money over the 9 month period!!! This way I'll be able to fine tune my business plan; hone my day trading skills and gain some really solid experience without risking losing any of my precious savings!
I will run the sim starting with the same $2,500 that I plan to start with in the middle of next year. This will give me more than enough time for me to prove to myself that I will be able to grow this same amount live and eventually be able to switch to full time day trading!
I've spent years chasing over night/short term success to no avail and quitting whenever things would get rough in trading. However, I know that this is my true passion and I will do whatever it takes to make day trading full time a reality!
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