Day Trading Risk Disclosure Statement
You should
consider the following points before engaging in a daytrading strategy.
For purposes of this notice, a "day-trading strategy"
means an overall trading strategy characterized by the regular transmission
by a customer of intraday orders to effect both purchase and sale
transactions in the same security or securities.
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 system failures.
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.
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.
Potential Registration Requirements. Persons providing investment
advice for others or managing securities accounts for others may
need to register as either an "Investment Advisor" under
the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 or as a "Broker" or
"Dealer" under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such
activities may also trigger state registration requirements.
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