confused newbie lots of questions

tuckersluck · Mar 31, 2012

Hi everone,
I am from the U.K am new to trading (6 weeks) and would like to intraday trade (gap trade and micro trade), I have used a demo account for a while and a modest real account to limit any losses i am making as a rookie.

I wish to trade U.K and U.S equities and have accounts with city index and i.g index just to see which i prefer but ig do not offer the volume chart nor do both of them to my knowledge offer indicators like the tick, trin or vix indicators to help with market sentiment analysis.

I wish to view 6 charts on one screen at one given time showing me monthly, daily, hourly, 15, 5, 2 minute charts and a list of securities to scroll through throughout the trading session can this be done?

I know of real tick and trade station but do not have the 3k tradestation want to open an account and real tick said im too small at moment to open an account, is there an alternative i could use?

also would i have to pay tax if i was eventually to use tradestation?

i know its a lot of questions but any answers will help
thanks in advance

p-lab · Apr 1, 2012

Hi Tucker
Have you read 'mastering the trade' by any chance?

The answers you seek are out there you just need to google them. One thing I will say is I would not be anywhere near equities at 6 weeks deep and particularly not on an SB platform. Talking about trin then asking about tax tells me you need to do some more homework my man. Good Luck

timsk · Apr 1, 2012

Hi tuckersluck,
Welcome to T2W.

Day trading equities using a spread bet firm is an especially tough row to hoe. As a general rule of thumb, if you're going to day trade, then you need the best of everything. The best hardware and internet connection, the best trading platform, the best data and charting software, the best broker with the lowest commissions (or tightest spreads in your case) - all backed with extensive knowledge and experience. Now, there will be some members who claim to do okay day trading equities via spread bet firms - but they are about as rare as hens teeth. So, without wishing to dampen your enthusiasm, if you manage to do consistently well - you'll be amongst a very, very elite group indeed.

Generally, spread betting is better suited to swing trading. As a means to try out a few ideas and get a feel for the markets while you're learning, spread betting will be fine. But, I recommend paper trading or using very small sums of real money and be prepared to lose it all. To day trade equities, ideally you would use a direct access broker (like TradeStation). With regard to your question about tax, there's no tax to pay on profits earned via SBing, wheres, you'll pay Capital Gains Tax on your profits made via a direct access broker. This is the argument many people use in favour of the SB firms, but the counter argument I've outlined above trumps this many times over. Having tax issues is a much better place to be than losing all your money!

Tim.

tuckersluck · Apr 3, 2012

timsk said:
Hi tuckersluck,
Welcome to T2W.

Day trading equities using a spread bet firm is an especially tough row to hoe. As a general rule of thumb, if you're going to day trade, then you need the best of everything. The best hardware and internet connection, the best trading platform, the best data and charting software, the best broker with the lowest commissions (or tightest spreads in your case) - all backed with extensive knowledge and experience. Now, there will be some members who claim to do okay day trading equities via spread bet firms - but they are about as rare as hens teeth. So, without wishing to dampen your enthusiasm, if you manage to do consistently well - you'll be amongst a very, very elite group indeed.

Generally, spread betting is better suited to swing trading. As a means to try out a few ideas and get a feel for the markets while you're learning, spread betting will be fine. But, I recommend paper trading or using very small sums of real money and be prepared to lose it all. To day trade equities, ideally you would use a direct access broker (like TradeStation). With regard to your question about tax, there's no tax to pay on profits earned via SBing, wheres, you'll pay Capital Gains Tax on your profits made via a direct access broker. This is the argument many people use in favour of the SB firms, but the counter argument I've outlined above trumps this many times over. Having tax issues is a much better place to be than losing all your money!

Tim.

Thank you for your reply Tim you sound like you know what you are doing, there was me thinking google had all the answers!
thanks for your advice

ChocolateDigestive · Apr 3, 2012

have you got 5 spare years to learn?

VielGeld · Apr 3, 2012

ChocolateDigestive said:
have you got 5 spare years to learn?

This.

Trading's much harder than it looks like at first glance. Absolutely stick to demo until you have something on your hands. Then try it out live, and see if it works. If it doesn't, you go back to demo. If it works, you very, very slowly increase size as your proficiency increases.

Trading is about understanding market behaviour, and it can take aeons to really tune into the market and how it moves. You must be interested in studying something that is dynamic and be willing to fail a ****-ton while you research, study, and experiment with your ideas.

So consider yourself a scientist before being a trader! Having the patience of a Zen buddhist helps a lot, too -- trading can get hella boring at times.

confused newbie lots of questions

tuckersluck

Newbie

p-lab

Active member

timsk

Legendary member

tuckersluck

Newbie

ChocolateDigestive

Experienced member

VielGeld

Experienced member

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