Transaction fees for most brokers are pretty high. Even "discount" brokers like Scottrade charge $7 for every stock trade.
There are other brokers that charge $0.01/share traded or less.[1][2] A $0.10 spread becomes easy profit if the buy/sell only costs $0.02.
The linked broker below requires you to be an "expert" before you can sign up -- you have to have made at least 100 trades -- but otherwise just about anyone can sign up.
I have NOT tried to use them for day trading (or at all, for that matter), so please don't consider this a full recommendation. Just trying to show that there ARE other options that are cheaper.
There are other brokers that charge $0.01/share traded or less.[1][2] A $0.10 spread becomes easy profit if the buy/sell only costs $0.02.
The linked broker below requires you to be an "expert" before you can sign up -- you have to have made at least 100 trades -- but otherwise just about anyone can sign up.
I have NOT tried to use them for day trading (or at all, for that matter), so please don't consider this a full recommendation. Just trying to show that there ARE other options that are cheaper.
[1] http://interactivebrokers.com/en/general/education/comparebr... [2] http://interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/fees/stocksPricing...