Thread: Swing trading ETF's with a brokerage account.

Roth IRA's are great.

Use who ever you feel good with ETrade, Scottrade, TD, etc. I use Scottrade because Spaf recommended it to me.

Understand Roth rules first, here. http://www.fairmark.com/rothira/roth101.htm

There are income limits.

Paper trade like 350Z suggested using this. https://www.thinkorswim.com/tos/disp...age=paperMoney

Use only a broad index etf and start slow. I use one and only one market, the S&P. There are others out there and I know them but I know the S&P the best and I don't have to keep track of to many things at one time.

I have a small account so I trade all or nothing to cut down how much the buy and sell fees eats into my trades.

Use limit orders ALWAYS! Use stops in case you get killed on the drive to work and your trade goes to crap. This does nothing for you, cuz your dead, but protects your families inheritance so they can bury you in a nice box.

Show,
I learned you had opened this thread today. It is a very good idea to open this thread. People that might choose to short also can discuss and learn the more specialized and complex requirements of trading. I have to get in a learning mode big time! Good Luck and have a great day.

You guys that are starting out, go slow. Use these first to get a feel that way you don't get beat to bad if it don't work out.

SPY is Long S&P 500 or same thing as the C fund.
SH is Short S&P 500

Please be advised that it takes three days for funds to "settle" once you sell them so you can't "actually" trade daily like we use to with our TSP. But the alternative is much better.

Unsettled Funds - Trading in Cash Accounts

Interpretations of Regulation T, which govern how trades are paid for, state that funds from liquidations in cash accounts will not be available to pay for purchases until the settlement date of the sell.

Credit balances in a cash account may be used for purchases.

• If the account has settled funds, there are no restrictions as to what may be purchased.
• If the credit balance is a result of an unsettled sale of securities, certain restrictions may apply.
• Unsettled proceeds from existing long positions can be used to purchase additional securities as long as the new purchase is not sold prior to the settlement date of the original sale that generated the proceeds used to finance the purchase.
• If it is sold prior to the settlement date of the funding sale without additional funds being deposited, it will be considered a free ride under Federal Reserve Regulation T.

For example, if you sell a security on Monday the 1st, you can use the proceeds to make a purchase prior to the settlement date of Thursday the 4th. However, if you make a purchase before Thursday the 4th then sell that new position before the settlement of Monday's sale, you will then be required to deposit funds to pay for the purchase. If you purchase on Thursday the 4th, you may place a sell at anytime you wish, since the purchase was made with settled funds.

Mutual Funds and Fixed Income Securities can only be purchased with existing or settled funds.

Here is the deal. Even in TSP it take 3 days to "settle" a stock buy or sell. That is one of the reasons they are pitch'n a bitch.

In your private account you will see that your funds will be waiting for settlement after you make a buy. It will be three days to settle. You can sell while you wait for the buy settlement to laps but you will not be able to re-buy anything until the new sell settles for three days.

Show, doesn't the wash rule apply to ETFs?

Originally Posted by FUTURESTRADER

Show, doesn't the wash rule apply to ETFs?

I don't know what the wash rule is. I get the settlement of funds prompt when I try to make a trade inside the 3 day period in and out.

Originally Posted by Show-me

I don't know what the wash rule is. I get the settlement of funds prompt when I try to make a trade inside the 3 day period in and out.

it's for tax loss purposes, 30 days

"In general you have a wash sale if you sell stock at a loss, and buy substantially identical securities within 30 days before or after the sale.

Example: On March 31 you sell 100 shares of XYZ at a loss. On April 10 you buy 100 shares of XYZ. The sale on March 31 is a wash sale.

The wash sale period for any sale at a loss consists of 61 days: the day of the sale, the 30 days before the sale and the 30 days after the sale. (These are calendar days, not trading days. Count carefully!) If you want to claim your loss as a deduction, you need to avoid purchasing the same stock during the wash sale period. For a sale on March 31, the wash sale period includes all of March and April."

Originally Posted by FUTURESTRADER

Show, doesn't the wash rule apply to ETFs?

Does the Wash rule apply in Roths?

Originally Posted by weatherweenie

Does the Wash rule apply in Roths?

No wash rule in Roth or regular IRAs. Roths are funded with after tax income. You pay no taxes on future gains hence no need for wash. Regular IRAs are taxed at ordinary income rates so again no capital gain to wash. There was and still maybe a loophole where you could sell stock not held in your IRA for the loss and immediately buy it back again in the IRA thus creating two separate transactions for IRS purposes. I don't know if this still exists since I no longer trade in any account other than my Roth.

On a sidenote foreign tax exclusion can't be claimed for a ROTH either to my knowledge.