UPDATE: I’ve updated my favorite broker list for 2013, read this new blog post here. DISCLAIMER: Swiss America Securities, Ltd (SureTrader)’s brokerage services are not intended for U.S. citizens, U.S. residents or U.S. corporations.
Definitely read this updated post on the best penny stock brokers for 2013 and why SureTrader has gotten even better in recent weeks.
As I announced the other day, I have a new favorite broker, which I’ve been testing out the past few weeks and with whose CEO I was meeting with down in the Caribbean over New Year’s…when you open an account and use my name as the referral, I got them to offer you some cool features for free, something nobody else can claim 
This is a Bahamas-based company that clears through US-based clearing firms and this setup opens the doors to some VERY appealing features as their CEO was kind enough to chat about on Friday’s LiveStock on demand:
Here’s the big list and if you have any questions, post them in the comment section of this blog post and I’m sure GG or someone else from theri company will answer them.
1. SureTrader‘s best feature is that their clients are not subject to the Pattern Day Trader Rule. (This is an SEC rule that disallows people with under $25,000 from executing more than 3 day trades in any 5-day rolling period…aimed at protecting new traders/investors from blowing up, it unfortunately also SEVERELY impairs the growth potential for small accounts)…trade as much as you want (within reason)!
It’s been a while since I’ve had less than $25k, but I have recently restarted setup a new account for my trading challenge students who exclusively receive trading alerts and video lessons as I grow this account, restarting at $12,415 (already up to $16,000+ in a few weeks)
Long story short, those of you with accounts under $25k are now SAVED! And the early reviews on Investimonials speak to this
2. I have opened a $50,000 account with SureTrader, but their minimum is just $2,000. This is HUGE for those of you with small accounts. Previously they only cleared through Penson – like their CEO’s sister company SpeedTrader & my favorite onshore broker Thinkorswim – but thanks to my haggling and the tremendous demand for shorts on hard-to-borrow stocks, they also now clear through my special broker whose minimum is $40,000 and 500,000 shares trader per month…so in essence SureTrader is a FAR less expensive way to get the same borrows that only my special broker previously had access to…all you need is $2k now instead of $40k.
In the past, short sellers have complained about my telling everyone where the shorts are, mistakenly believing I was hurting the supply (NEWSFLASH: it’s always been difficult to borrow in great amounts hence why I’m a teacher and not running a billion dollar hedge fund), but their small brains didn’t comprehend that due to the success of my 4 newsletters, shorts aren’t drying up, on the contrary, now that brokers see such great demand, they are doing whatever they can to open more doors for shorting! This is why I want more and more people in this game and I will forever talk down not just to near-illiterate promoters, but also to the short selling community who has wasted my time and patience with their misguided assumptions…so I say to everyone, you’re welcome for my efforts, apology accepted.
3. CEO Guy Gentile (referred to as GG in this past LiveStock episode posted above) built his other company SpeedTrader from nothing into a $20 million/year business in just a few years – verified by being on the Inc. 500, which rigorously examines and verifies company financials – so he’s willing to have SureTrader’s trades clear through several sources – basically wherever we find shares available to short – in order to make sure SureTrader is THE all-in-one broker for short sellers…he just wants commissions so he needs to find the shares to short in order to get his precious commissions…I look forward to SureTrader clearing through more firms to get even more borrows for us!
4. Speaking of commissions, it’s just $4.95/trade for up to 1,000 shares, making it one of the cheapest firms out there and while there will be premiums paid to short sell hard-to-borrow stocks, as we’ve learned too many times in the past even if you have to pay 1 or 2 cents/share shorting pump and dumps, they ALWAYS drop 20, 30, 50, 70 cents/share or $1/share and up to $3+/share. So I would personally pay 3 or even 5 cents/share on some of these pump and dumps like HHWW, KNKT, KYUS, JAMN, LEXG etc. as they drop many dollars per share off their highs so these puny fees and commissions are near irrelevant in the grand scheme of the trade…a trade that would never take place if I can’t find shares to short…it’s just a question of finding shares to short in the first place which is why this new broker is soooo important to me.
5. Also because they are offshore, take away that pesky US rule where when you short any stock under $2.50/share – whether its 10 cents/share or $1/share – you have to put up $2.50/share to cover the trade ie if you want to short 50,000 shares of a 10 cent/share stock, while it should only cost you $5,000 (50,000 x .10), in the US you need $125,000 (50,000 x $2.50)…this has limited me BIGTIME when shorting stocks like PEIX, WLOC and RAYS…they will knock that $2.50 rule down to $2/share, which is HUGE for shorting large amounts of low priced blatant pump and dumps like POTG, MILV, ABOT, NSRS, SPAH…all of which crash 99%+ time and again. For larger traders, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could negotiate personally with Guy to get him down to $1.50/share or even $1/share as opposed to all the suckers in the US stuck forever putting up $2.50/share!
6. And perhaps the most important part about these guys is geography as its open to all international investors and traders…Canadians, German, UK, Australians and ALL international investors and traders…trust me, I know there’s a ton of you internationalites out there as I get dozens of emails daily complaining how no US broker can handle your business…SureTrader can.
So say goodbye terrible Questrade & Thinkorswim Canada which apparently got shutdown to new accounts when TDAmeritrade took them over, remember with a just a $2k minimum to open an account even struggling Europeans can afford to open accounts at SureTrader.
7. Using my name as your referrer when you open a SureTrader account will get you FREE special features (a very nice $100+ bonus), but it also helps us keep track of people I refer as I get an affiliate fee (which I promise to spend on something that I will share with my top students, ‘tis far better to give than to receive…) and more importantly, if you ever have any problems, you come to me and I go crazy on Guy…I’ll make sure whatever is wrong gets righted…and trust me, Guy Gentile doesn’t want to see me angry so in this way I can ensure superior service for my people.
8. I can execute orders using my Mac, something my special broker never could do, which is why I had to IM in my orders for their desk to execute them…for which I paid a pretty penny…I have a Windows laptop, but once you go Mac, it’s tough to go back…looking forward to trading from my Mac and still getting great borrows!
9. While I profited over $334,000 in trading in 2011, or 54%, after earning 57% in 2010, thus retaining my title as the #1 ranked trader out of 60,000+ on Covestor the past 4 years in a row, I earn the majority of my income from instructional DVDs and my 4 newsletters. Many in the trading community look down on this, but I am extremely proud to be a teacher first and a trader second. It’s a shame more successful traders don’t think this way or else we’d have a lot more trading knowledge.
But no matter how profitable I am, or my trading challenge students are – now 4 students in the past 3 months have earned $50,000+, Croock, Asheya, Puker & Elkwood – many PennyStocking Silver subscribers and TIMalert subscribers who couldn’t afford my special broker’s $40k minimum time and again cancel out of frustration of not being able to find shares to short.
SureTrader helps solve this problem VERY well so in the few days since I unveiled them, already more people are returning to the game now as they see light at the end of the tunnel.
I totally understand and that’s why I am SO excited about this broker – it’s in my, yours and their best interests to find all the available shares to short possible and them being offshore gives them a huge advantage to achieve this goal which no US broker can.
10. BONUS: I don’t use or recommend using leverage, but I know some of you like it and employ it to grow your profits even faster so far be it from me to stand in your way, this firm offers 6 to 1 leverage and soon they’ll have a plan for 20-1 leverage so have fun, but remember with great power comes great responsibility.
PS I will still be using my other brokers too – for now – since this broker is brand new….the more brokers from my list at http://bit.ly/bestbrokers the better odds you have of finding shares to short.
FAQs:
1. Is having an offshore broker right for you?
I have no idea if it’s right for you, consult your accountant and lawyer…it’s DEFINITELY right for me and a ton of people looking to escape the PDT rule, get great borrows on shorts and all the cool benefits detailed above.
2. Will SureTrader always have shorts on hard-to-borrow stocks?
Not at all, sometimes there are NO shares whatsoever to short – like when the pump and dump AMWI dropped from $1.40 to .30 in 2 hours (what a waste!) – but these guys will have the best inventory around for reasons stated above…if you are a short seller of penny stocks, you’re an idiot not to use SureTrader, even if only for a small piece of your portfolio, and not use their unique features to enjoy greater profits.
3. Are there monthly fees?
Yes, but they’re minimal depending on what software option you choose…nothing more than $200/month and more to the tune of $50/month…there’s definitely a free option too, but it’s all new so ask their customer support and remember to mention my name so you get 30 free trades (pays for a few months’ worth of fees for freeeeee)
4. Why are some people negative on SureTrader?
When I announced this broker, there was an initial backlash from stock promoters, idiots and people who make a living running or promoting prop firms. Promoters don’t want people to be able to short their pump and dumps, absolute idiots rip on anything I do for too many selfish reasons on their part and onshore prop firm people are pissed they didn’t think of going offshore sooner since the new Series 56 rule requiring all prop firm traders to be registered is devastating their shady industry.
Face it: Guy Gentile beat all you people to the punch to create the near-perfect broker (and while their accepting customers is brand new, it took years of planning so anyone trying to copy this setup now is looking at a late 2013 or 2014 start)…lie all you want about these guys to try to keep them from becoming popular, money goes where there are profits to be made and given the MANY advantages listed above, their customers will inevitably perform better than those tied to regulation-strapped firms in the US no different from how intelligent penny stock trader outperform morons who invest thinking these scams are lotto tickets…the wise and informed get richer, same as always on Wall Street.
5. Will I personally move all my assets over to SureTrader eventually?
No, even though this broker is amazing and should forever revolutionize short selling penny stocks, it’s still offshore so it’s inherently riskier than having $ in the US…this will be a small part of my portfolio (currently under 10%) and it will likely grow to be a bigger piece of my portfolio, but never account for all my assets. While I have no idea who 99% of my readers are, I suspect this same type of conservatism will serve them well; for now SureTrader is simply a new and better way to short sell and trade penny stocks so I’m extremely proud to introduce them to you.
6. Why are they taking days to get back to me, can you help Tim?
I cannot help and it’s actually my fault – ever since I unveiled this broker’s many benefits, they’ve been overwhelmed with new accounts from people looking to escape the PDT rule and actually get good borrows with just account sizes of $2,000-$10,000. Give them time and be grateful for their existence in the first place.
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