Page Summary
The Basics
New traders need information. Many jump in and start trading without enough knowledge. That leads to strategic financial mistakes. Online brokerages offer many ways to learn about trading. They make information accessible to everyone.
To improve your trading experience, these are the basics of an important and misunderstood term.
What is a Trading Account
Because of the broad nature of the term ‘trading,’ it is used to describe different things, including tax-deferred accounts.
What distinguishes a trading account from a normal brokerage account is the volume and frequency of trade activity, the purpose of it, and the volatility and higher risk associated with these accounts. Trading accounts are designed for ‘day’ traders. While the account looks and acts like a regular brokerage account, traders purchase stocks, futures, forex, and complete both the purchase and sale of the asset, frequently in the same trading session.
The Trading Account is a day trader’s primary account. As a result, they are subject to special regulations. Assets held in a trading account are separated from those part of a longer-term buy and hold strategy.
Best Trading Accounts?
There are different account types. Each is based on trader knowledge level, assets traded, and personal preference. Here are our favorite accounts based on trading assets and platforms.
#1 Best For Options Trading: IQ Option
#2 Best For CFD Trading: Saxo Bank
#3 Best For Social/Copy Trading: eToro
#4 Best For Forex Trading: XM
1. IQ Option –
Min Deposit: $10
Fees: 3.3
Assets available: 2.0
Total Fees:
IQ Option is a well established online broker great for users looking to trade forex, options, and CFDs on a intuitive trading platform. Their well rounded offer consists of low spreads, a sophisticated trading platform, free demo account option, and responsive customer support in English language. They offer islamic accounts and copy trading in Arabic language which allows you to copy portfolios from seasoned investors and traders.
IQ Option is a trustworthy and reliable market maker broker and subject to the highest standards of regulation in the industry. Options trading is no longer available.
“RISK WARNING: YOUR CAPITAL MIGHT BE AT RISK”
“RISK WARNING: YOUR CAPITAL MIGHT BE AT RISK”
2. Saxo Bank –
Min Deposit: $5000
Fees: 4.7
Assets available: 4.9
Total Fees:
69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Saxo Bank is a reputable global brand known for its complete overall offer and exclusive conditions for high volume traders and investors. Users can enjoy cutting edge trading technology paired with a premium interface and great trade execution on mobile and desktop. The Saxo Bank trading platform offers a feature rich trading experience, easy to use interface, competitive margin rates, and trading on over 40,000 financial instruments. This makes them an industry leader in trading assets coverage as an ECN broker.
If you can afford the minimum deposit of $10.000, this is the go to broker for traders and investors at all levels. They combine high-quality in-house research with top-tier third-party providers and a diverse portfolio of investment options.
Investors who are looking to trade in accordance with Sharia Law can open an islamic account. Saxo Bank also offers high quality customer service in Arabic and English language via phone, email or in person at their local office with guaranteed satisfying answers.
69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
3. eToro – Best Crypto Exchange for Beginners
Min Deposit: $100
Fees: 4.8
Assets available: 4.8
Total Fees:
Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more
eToro is a reputable global brand and industry leading broker for copy trading. Their robust and cutting edge copy trading platform and social trading features allow users to copy trades and portfolios from professional traders and investors.
As a CFD multi asset broker, eToro allows users to trade on over 3075 different symbols including stocks, forex, cryptos, indices and commodities. Trading spreads are wide, deposits are free and account minimum is low. There are conversion and inactivity fees. eToro provides a comprehensive list of technical tools, charts, and newsfeeds. Their customer support is available through email and live chat in Arabic and English.
eToro is a well established market maker broker with a clean history record, regulated by top tier regulators.
51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more
4. XM –
Min Deposit: $5
Fees: 4.1
Assets available: 2.8
Total Fees:
XM is a Best-in-Class broker offering a complete MetaTrader suite coupled with upgrades to enhance trading experience and use of custom indicators. Through its various brands, XM offers traders a total of 1,230 CFDs across multiple asset classes, including forex, cryptos, stocks and CFDs.
XM offers low min deposits and wide range of account types. XM Forex offers low spreads and flexible lot sizes and is considered an average-risk trader. They are privately owned and do not operate a bank.
XM is regulated and authorized by the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
75.59% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Trading Account Regulations
The Financial Industry Regulation Authority (FINRA) defines day trades as the purchase and sale of an asset within the same day. Day traders are subject to specific rules and criteria:
- conduct at least 4 trades over a 5-day week
- ensure day-trading investment activity accounts for more than 6% of their total investment activity during the week.
Firms allow day trader customers to open margin or cash accounts. They rely on these margin accounts for their trading.
Trading Account Margins
FINRA enforces special margin requirements for day traders. Cash maintenance requirements for pattern day trading accounts are higher than those of non-pattern trading. The base requirements for margin investors are outlined in US Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation T. FINRA includes additional maintenance requirements for day traders in Rule 4210.
Day traders must maintain a base equity level of $25,000 or 25 percent of securities values, whichever is higher. Traders can purchase up to four times any excess over that minimum requirement. (Equity in non-trading accounts is not eligible for this calculation.) Traders failing to meet these requirements receive a margin call from their broker. Their trading is restricted if that margin call is not covered within five days.
Managed Forex Accounts
Managed forex accounts are used by investors to place their money in the hands of a different trader, trading on their behalf. This account is recommended for investors without either skill to trade on their own or time. Investors have several managed account options. We recommend Oak Valley Investments or Fibo group.
If you like this article, please consider reading our other reviews:
- Best forex broker
- Gold forex trading forecast
- eToro review
- Plus500 platform reviewed
- Olymp trade review and insights
- Avatrade full review
- IQ Option full review
- Social trading – what it is?
- Online trading platforms in India
- Online trading platforms for UAE
Disclaimer
eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.
Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money
This communication is intended for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or investment recommendation. Past performance is not an indication of future results.
Copy Trading does not amount to investment advice. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more
eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.
Stefan Grasic (Dipl.-Jur) is the owner of Business24-7 and has considerable experience in the financial and investment niche, but also enjoys writing articles for the general readership. Stefan is an active stock, CFD, crypto and general investment researcher, advising blockchain companies such as Blockbird, GoCrypto, Hive Terminal at their start up level. Stefan began trading in 2010 as a college student. Money was tight,…