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When most people hear “day trading,” they picture a fast-talking stock market picker glued to a wall of monitors, sniping hot stocks for quick wins. They imagine chasing breakouts, flipping tickers, and walking away with thousands by lunch.
We’ve got news for you: that’s not how it works. At least, not for most.
This guide is your reality check and your roadmap. Whether you’re curious about how to get started or tired of blowing accounts, we’ll break down the common myths and show you why a prop firm like Topstep might be the smartest place to start.
But first, let’s get clear on what day trading actually is.
“Day trading” can sound like some mysterious, high-stakes game reserved for Wall Street pros. In reality, day trading stocks is just buying and selling on the same day.
Let’s say you buy a stock at 10:15 a.m. because you think it’s about to pop. Then, you sell it at 10:23 a.m. for a quick profit. That’s a day trade. Same thing if you buy a futures contract at 9:05 a.m. and hold it until 2:45 p.m. As long as you’re out before the market closes, it’s a day trade.
Unlike long-term investing, day trading focuses on speed, strategy, and discipline. Instead of analyzing company fundamentals, day traders lean on technical analysis. It can offer real opportunities, but it also carries real risks, especially when you’re figuring out where to start.
Search “how to day trade” and you’ll land where most new traders do: stocks. It’s what dominates CNBC, TikTok, and Reddit. Everyone’s chasing the next breakout.
But here’s the problem: if you’re new, the world of stocks can be overwhelming. There are over 1,600 actively traded stocks on the NYSE and NASDAQ. Each morning, your job becomes finding the stock that’s about to make a move. And even if you nail the research? One bad headline or algorithmic spike can erase your setup in seconds.
Then there’s the PDT Rule. If you’re a brand-new trader, you were probably shocked the first time you heard about it. If you haven’t, here’s the short version: U.S. regulators limit you to just three day trades in a rolling five-day period unless you keep at least $25,000 in your account. For beginners trying to gain experience, that’s like trying to learn basketball when you’re only allowed to shoot three times a week.
So you try something else. Trading books and “gurus” will often tell you to start with paper trading, a simulated account with virtual funds. That can teach you the mechanics, maybe even help test a setup, but without real stakes, you won’t feel the pressure that comes when money’s on the line.
That’s when many new traders start looking for an alternative. Something with fewer restrictions, more consistent opportunities, and the chance to practice with real market pressure. That’s where futures trading comes in.
Futures traders focus on a small set of consistent, high-volume markets, like the S&P 500, Nasdaq, crude oil, gold, or treasury bonds, instead of scanning thousands of stocks each day, hoping to find one that moves. These markets see daily activity and repeatable patterns, which means you can spend your time refining a strategy instead of chasing noise.
There’s a reason many beginners never considered futures before. The contracts can be expensive, the learning curve steep, and for decades, the game was reserved for traders with big bankrolls and deep experience.
But prop firms like Topstep have broken down those barriers, opening the doors to an industry that was once highly exclusive.
Watch a candid interview Topstep founder Michael Patak had with Lance Breitstein, a prop firm skeptic and eight-figure trader, about how funding should work, what red flags to watch for, and how Topstep does it differently.
If you are new to prop trading, here is the crash course.
In a prop firm like Topstep, you do not start by trading your own money. You pay for a chance to prove your skill in a simulated environment, and when you pass, the firm moves you into a live funded account where you can take payouts. At Topstep, you keep 90% of the profits, and the firm covers the losses.
You can learn more about Topstep here.
For new day traders, that means a safer way to learn without the financial gut punches that can end a trading career before it starts. At Topstep, you can start for just $49 and trade with up to $50K in buying power, all while building the discipline, risk management, and consistency that hold up under pressure.
And if you’re coming from stocks, good news: you’re not starting from scratch. If you’re using technical analysis—reading charts, spotting patterns, tracking price action—those skills apply directly to futures. And with fewer distractions, it’s easier to stay consistent and sharpen your edge.
With over 10,000 Funded Accounts and millions in payouts, Topstep proves that prop firms can work when they’re built with structure, support, and capital behind them.
You don’t need years of experience to get started. You don’t need a perfect track record. What you need is discipline, a willingness to learn, and the drive to improve every time you sit down to trade.
Topstep is built for:
If you’re ready to trade with purpose and stop spinning your wheels, now’s the time.
We built the Trading Combine for traders like you. Let’s get to work.
Start a Trading CombineDay trading is the practice of buying and selling financial instruments like stocks or futures within the same trading day. The goal is to capitalize on short-term price movements.
Beginners often struggle with the overwhelming number of stock choices, unpredictable news-driven moves, and the PDT Rule, which limits trading without a $25,000 account balance.
The Pattern Day Trader (PDT) Rule restricts U.S. traders with less than $25,000 in their account to just three day trades within a rolling five-day period, making it harder to gain experience.
Futures markets like the S&P 500, Nasdaq, crude oil, and gold offer consistent volume, daily opportunities, and repeatable patterns, making them easier for new traders to learn compared to thousands of stock choices.
Prop firms allow traders to prove their skills in a simulated environment before moving into a funded account. At Topstep, you keep up to 90% of profits while the firm covers losses, reducing the financial risk for beginners.
Yes. Chart reading, pattern recognition, and price action strategies used in stock trading are directly applicable to futures, often with fewer distractions and more consistent setups.
Yes, when built with a strong structure and support. With over 10,000 funded accounts and millions in payouts, Topstep shows that beginners can safely develop skills while trading with firm-backed capital.
