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Day Trading Risks
Day trading can be extremely risky. Day trading generally is not appropriate for someone
of limited resources and limited investment or trading experience and low risk tolerance. You
should be prepared to lose all of the funds that you use for day trading. In particular, you
should not fund day-trading activities with retirement savings, student loans, second
mortgages, emergency funds, funds set aside for purposes such as education or home
ownership, or funds required to meet your living expenses. Further, certain evidence indicates
that an investment of less than $50,000 will significantly impair the ability of a day trader to
make a profit. Of course, an investment of $50,000 or more will in no way guarantee success.
Be cautious of claims of large profits from day trading. You should be wary of
advertisements or other statements that emphasize the potential for large profits in day
trading. Day trading can also lead to large and immediate financial losses.
Day trading requires knowledge of securities markets. Day trading requires in-depth
knowledge of the securities markets and trading techniques and strategies. In attempting to
profit through day trading, you must compete with professional, licensed traders employed by
securities firms. You should have appropriate experience before engaging in day trading.
Day trading requires knowledge of a firm's operations. You should be familiar with a
securities firm's business practices, including the operation of the firm's order execution
systems and procedures. Under certain market conditions, you may find it difficult or
impossible to liquidate a position quickly at a reasonable price. This can occur, for example,
when the market for a stock suddenly drops, or if trading is halted due to recent news events
or unusual trading activity. The more volatile a stock is, the greater the likelihood that
problems may be encountered in executing a transaction. In addition to normal market risks,
you may experience losses due to systems failures.
Day trading on margin or short selling may result in losses beyond your initial investment.
When you day trade with funds borrowed from a firm or someone else, you can lose more than the funds you originally placed at risk. A decline in the value of the securities that are purchased may require you to provide additional funds to the firm to avoid the forced sale of those securities or other securities in your account. Short selling as part of your day-trading strategy also may lead to extraordinary losses, because you may have to purchase a stock at a very high price in order to cover a short position.
Day trading will generate substantial commissions, even if the per trade cost is low.
Day trading involves aggressive trading, and generally you will pay commissions on each trade. The total daily commissions that you pay on your trades will add to your losses or significantly reduce your earnings. For instance, assuming that a trade costs $16 and an average of 29 transactions are conducted per day, an investor would need to generate an annual profit of $111,360 just to cover commission expenses.
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