tantal,
With those fees, on a 100 shr lot, you have to have a .22 rise in price just to breakeven versus .02 at IB. Once my account moved to IB, I didn't think twice about fading in and out of positions, which was always a consideration at siebert due to the /trade fees.
I'm also not a proponent of papertrading, for all the reasons you mention, though I did do it for months on end when I first started trading vs. investing.
Then, as I moved towards testing out strategies and indicators I looked for lower-cost stocks that moved slower than Zeev's Q (much, MUCH slower), and aimed for shorter hold times and lower profits until I found what worked for me (I used to trade GLW a lot back when it was moving up from $2, and also low-cost miners like WHT, etc. Still do, now that I think of it!). There's nothing like a successful trade, however small the gain, to set the proper mental attitude for continued success. I'll never forget the thrill the first time a stock did exactly what I expected it to do. Absolute elation!
With commissions less of a factor, one can afford to play around more. I gradually increased my lot size and moved to more volatile stocks with higher prices as my confidence in what I was doing grew, and built my account back up from a negative balance to a positive one.
BTW, know the timeframe of your trade before you place it. Don't let a daytrade turn into a swing and then morph into a LTBH investment, or you will find your account so enmeshed in losing positions you will have to take big losses just in order to free up enough cash to trade with! Been there, done that, too. Funny how we all make the same mistakes -- over, and over, and . . .
Hope you find some of this helpful. Every trader is different. Find what works for you. Good luck!
Newly
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