This is a common question we receive here about small trading accounts. We realize most of you are not going to be starting out with an account size of $25,000+. In fact, when we survey new traders I’d say the average starting account size is about $5,000.
Small Trading Account Suggestions
If you are under $5,000 your best option is going to be focusing on forex. Since you can trade minis and even micros it’s the best way to control risk with a smaller account. However, once you cross the $5,000 threshold, you can open yourself up to daytrading futures.
Our suggested starter markets for daytrading futures typically are:
Dow e-Mini Futures – This market is $5 per tick/point, start trading after 9:30am EST
Natural Gas Futures – This market is $10 per tick, start trading after 8:00am EST
Wheat Futures – This market is $12.50 per tick, start trading after 10:30am EST
What you’ll find is the risk per trades on these are the most modest, and you can get your risk down to about 2% of your account size. This helps prevent any larger drawdowns if you string together a few losing trades. Plus, they tend to trade in a mageable way – meaning you have time to get your orders placed unlike some other futures markets which can move very quickly and cause mistakes for the newer trader.
Here’s some examples of what your trades would look like on these excellent starter markets (and they can each be traded with multiple contracts so no reason you can’t scale as your account grows:
