Watchlist for March 2nd

VSTNQ – Only interesting watch. Long or short … I may try playing it long if it gaps up, otherwise I am short-biased.

vstnq

Disclosure: No positions in any stock mentioned. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

14 thoughts on “Watchlist for March 2nd”

  1. Not the only interesting one I think…GHLV an old Pump and dump halted that is trying to fligh high again.

  2. I’m still opening an account in SogoTrade to trade this kind of stocks at nice price and lost the opportunity to buy overnight yesterday, made a great spike in the first minutes today.

    What about SCEY ?

      1. But don’t worry, is not my intention to ask “easy to search” questions, I’m only searching for recommendations. I need a lot to learn and I enjoy a lot learning. I hope to see you in Tim alerts chat in the future (when decent broker).

  3. Good attitude! IB really the best all-around imho; if you want a broker that is ideal for OTC, try speedtrader (I don’t use them yet).

    Wasabitrader :

    But donā€™t worry, is not my intention to ask ā€œeasy to searchā€ questions, Iā€™m only searching for recommendations. I need a lot to learn and I enjoy a lot learning. I hope to see you in Tim alerts chat in the future (when decent broker).

  4. If you are really confident in your abilities, you can open up a prop trading account to get you around PDT laws. BroadStreet trading offers intraday shorting on ANY stock and unlimited shares for $7/trade. Not bad. They’ll give you 5:1 or 10:1 capital buying power, so you don’t have to worry about PDT laws.

  5. Okay, help me understand something. When it comes to buying power, those whose accounts are above $25K get 4 to 1 intraday buying power and 2 to 1 for overnight holding.

    So $25K gets you $100K intraday and $50K overnight.

    If you had no open positions in your account come Monday morning you would have $100K day trading buying power (or DTBP for short). If you bought 1,000 shares of a $10 stock, that would cost you $10,000 (so no margin used), but now your DTBP would drop down to $60K. Not $90K like most think.

    Another example, let’s say you bought 1,000 shares of a $25 stock, using up all of the cash in your account. Your DTBP is now $0. If you sold that stock, you would get back your $25K (plus or minus the profit/loss).

    But you would only be able to get into another position of up to $25K.

    Using your existing cash and only your cash (not buying more than $25K up front) drops the remaining cash that is used to calculate your buying power.

    Do prop firms operate differently? Cause this has been my experience with the different brokers I have used in the past.

    If DTBP is calculated the same (regardless of the amount of leverage you get), it seems to suggest that you have to “use” it initially on each new position.

    For example, if you only have $10,000 in your account and the prop firm gives you 10:1 leverage. If you come in and make 1 trade costing $25K (1,000 shares of a $25 stock), then that is your only “margin” trade for the day. When you close the position you would get back your $10K and be able to use that amount again, but no more.

    Hopefully my question makes sense. I would appreciate if someone can confirm my beliefs on how this works.

    MM

  6. Let’s all ask our individual brokers the rules behind calculating the intraday buying power. I will ask TradeStation once again. I just asked LightSpeed.

    FWIW, I watch my DTBP in real time and each day I see it act the way I described above. But that’s TradeStation. Not sure if they are following a FINRA or SEC rule.

    I think the logic is that otherwise it would be unlimited leverage.

    In regards to prop firms, I think the appeal is that you get a “margin” account which allows you to trade your initial investment over and over all day long and not have to wait for T+3 settlement. The extra leverage is nice but not near the significance of immediately being able to trade in and out of positions, IMHO.

    MM

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