Trading balance

A swap is a FEE that is either paid or charged to you at the end of each trading day if you keep your trade open overnight.

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What is Account Balance, trading balance.

In metatrader, you can see swaps on your open position (if you keep it open for longer than 1 day) by opening a “terminal” window and clicking on the “trade” tab.

What is account balance?

What does “account balance” mean?

In order to start trading forex, you need to open an account with a retail forex broker or CFD provider.

Once your account is approved, then you can transfer funds into the account.

This new account should only be funded with “risk capital”, which is cash you can afford to lose.

The “account balance” or simply “balance” is the starting balance of your account.

Basically, it’s the amount of CASH in your account.

Your balance measures the amount of cash you have in your trading account.

If you deposit $1,000, then your balance is $1,000.

If you enter a new trade or in trader lingo, “open a new position”, your account balance is not affected until the position is CLOSED.

This means that your balance will only change in one of three ways:

When you add more funds to your account.

When you close a position.

When you keep a position open overnight and either receive or pay swap/rollover fee.

Since the topic is about margin, the concepts of swap and rollover aren’t really related but for thoroughness, we’ll quickly describe it since swap fees do affect your balance.

Just know that there’s a difference between a trade that lasts a couple of hours and a trade you keep open overnight.

The procedure of moving open positions from one trading day to another is called a rollover.

During this rollover, a swap is calculated.

A swap is a FEE that is either paid or charged to you at the end of each trading day if you keep your trade open overnight.

If you are paid swap, cash will be added to your balance.

If you are charged swap, cash will be deducted from your balance.

Unless you’re trading huge position sizes, these swap fees are usually small but can add up over time.

In metatrader, you can see swaps on your open position (if you keep it open for longer than 1 day) by opening a “terminal” window and clicking on the “trade” tab.

The concept of swap and rollover is beyond the scope of this lesson and will not be discussed further, but we just wanted to cover if briefly for accuracy’s sake.

Now that we know what balance means, let’s move on to understanding the concepts of “unrealized P/L” and “realized P/L” and how they affect your balance.

Trade balance

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What is a trade balance?

The trade balance, also known as the "balance of trade (BOT)", is the calculation of a country's exports minus its imports.

How does a trade balance work?

When a country imports more than it exports, the resulting negative number is called a trade deficit . When the opposite is true, a country has a trade surplus .

For example, if the united states imported $1 trillion in goods and services last year, but exported only $750 billion in goods and services to other countries, then the united states had a trade balance of negative $250 billion , or a $250 billion trade deficit.

In the united states, the bureau of economic analysis calculates the trade balance. The trade balance is a component of a country's current account, which in turn is a component of the balance of payments (BOP)

Why does a trade balance matter?

The trade balance is used to help economists and analysts understand the strength of a country's economy in relation to other countries.

A country with a large trade deficit is essentially borrowing money to purchase goods and services, and a country with a large trade surplus is essentially lending money to deficit countries. In some cases, the trade balance correlates with the country's political stability because it is indicative of the level of foreign investment occurring there.

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How to day trade with less than $25,000

When you set up a brokerage account to trade stocks, you might wonder how anyone is going to know whether you're a bona fide "day trader." your broker will know, based on your trading activity.

The financial industry regulatory authority (FINRA) in the U.S. Established the "pattern day trader" rule, which states that if you make four or more day trades (opening and closing a stock position within the same day) in a five-day period and those day-trading activities are more than 6% of your total trading activity in that five-day period, you're considered a day trader and must maintain a minimum account balance of $25,000.

Background on day trading equity requirement

Back in 1974, before electronic trading, the minimum equity requirement was only $2,000. New technology changed the trading environment, and the speed of electronic trading allowed traders to get in and out of trades within the same day.

Since day traders hold no positions at the end of each day, they have no collateral in their margin account to cover risk and satisfy a margin call—a demand from a broker to increase the amount of equity in their account—during a given trading day. Brokerage firms wanted an effective cushion against margin calls, which led to the increased equity requirement.

Perhaps you don't usually day trade but happened to do four or more such trades in one week, with no day trades the next or the following week. In this scenario, your brokerage firm would still likely classify you as a day trader and hold you to the $25,000 equity requirement going forward.

You can meet the equity requirement with a combination of cash and eligible securities, but they must reside in your day trading account at your brokerage firm rather than in an outside bank or at another firm.

If you do not have $25,000 in your brokerage account prior to any day-trading activities, you will not be permitted to day trade. The money must be in your account before you do any day trades and you must maintain a minimum balance of $25,000 in your brokerage account at all times while day trading.

On the plus side, pattern day traders that meet the equity requirement receive some benefits, such as the ability to trade with additional leverage—using borrowed money to make larger bets. A stock day trader can trade with 4:1 leverage, while typical stock investors (including swing traders and those who tend to buy and hold) can trade with a maximum of 2:1 leverage.

Day trading loopholes

If you don't happen to have $25,000 to day trade, there are ways of getting around that requirement. They consist of loopholes and alternative trading strategies, most of which are admittedly less than ideal.

Make only three day trades in a five-day period. That's less than one day trade per day, which is less than the pattern day trader rule set by FINRA. However, this means you'll need to pick and choose among valid trade signals, so you won't receive the full benefit of a proven strategy.

Day trade a stock market outside the U.S. You'll have to do this with a broker that's also outside the U.S. Not all foreign stock markets have the same account minimums or day trading rules as the U.S. research other markets and see if they offer the opportunities for day trading that fit your needs. Consult both tax and legal professionals to understand the ramifications before considering this approach.

Join up with a day trader firm. The structure of each firm varies, but typically you deposit an amount of capital (much less than $25,000) and they provide you with additional capital to trade, with your deposit safeguarding them from losses you may take. Otherwise, the firm simply leverages your capital.

Do swing trading and enter trades that you hold for longer than one day. Swing traders capture trends that play out over days or weeks rather than attempt to time a one-day trend that might last for 20 minutes. While this is less a loophole and more of a change in strategy, it works for traders who want to stay actively involved but don't yet have enough equity to meet the $25,000 requirement for day trading.

Open multiple day trading accounts with different brokers. This is a less-attractive choice, but, for example, if you open two accounts, you can make six day trades in a five-day period—three trades for each broker. this isn't an optimal solution because, if you already have limited capital, each account is likely to be quite small, and day trading with such small accounts isn't likely to produce much income. With small amounts of capital in each account, you are severely limited in the stocks you can trade, and some brokers may not even accept the small deposit.

Brokers are out to protect themselves and can impose minimum capital restrictions at their discretion if they believe someone is day trading regularly (even if below the four-trade/five-day threshold) or trading in a risky manner.

Day trading on different markets

A better alternative to taking advantage of a loophole or adopting a different trading strategy is to change markets.

Forex

The forex or currencies market trades 24 hours a day during the week. Currencies trade as pairs, such as the U.S. Dollar/japanese yen (USD/JPY). With forex trading, consider starting with at least $500, but preferably more. The forex market offers leverage of perhaps 50:1 (though this varies by broker), so a $500 deposit means you can trade and earn—or lose—off of $25,000 of capital. Profits and losses can mount quickly.

Futures

The futures market is where you can trade stock index futures (the E-mini S&P 500, for example) and commodities (such as gold, oil, and copper). Futures are an inherently leveraged product, in that a small amount of capital, such as $400 or $500 in the case of the E-mini contract, gives you a position in a product that typically moves 10 or more points a day, where each point is worth $50. Profits and losses can pile up fast. It's recommended futures traders start with at least $2,500 (if trading a contract like the E-mini), but that will vary based on risk tolerance and the contract(s) traded.

Almost all day traders are better off using their capital more efficiently in the forex or futures market. These markets require far less capital to get started, and even a few thousand dollars can start producing a decent income.

Options

Day trading the options market is another alternative. Options are a derivative of an underlying asset, such as a stock, so you don't need to pay the upfront cost of the asset. Instead, you pay (or receive) a premium for participating in the price movements of the underlying. The value of the option contract you hold changes over time as the price of the underlying fluctuates. What type of options you trade will determine the capital you need, but several thousand dollars can get you started.

The bottom line

While day trading requires a large amount of equity, there are loopholes and other investment options to consider that may require you to put less of your money on the line. Before investing any money, always consider your risk tolerance and research all of your options.

The balance does not provide tax, investment, or financial services and advice. The information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal.