1. Don't perceive day trading as a quick alternative to make fast cash. You go into this as you would in any serious attempt to take the time and make the effort to learn a real profession.
2. If you're planning to trade fulltime, you need to acquire a pay-per-share broker. This is a broker who charges no more than $1.00 per 100-share block trade.

   (Note: If you're only planning to trade part-time, and you'll be focusing on swing trades that produce more profit potential than intra-day trades, then most pay-per-trade brokers will suffice. You don't have to consider changing online brokers until you've been formally trained.)

3. You do not need to open or fund a live account while training with Day Trader Josh. Once you begin to real-trade, however, you will need a minimum starting balance of 25K.

This amount is a bylaw imposed by the SEC. When you're intra-day trading stocks, and you're placing more than four roundtrip trades in any five-day rolling period, you're considered a pattern day trader. As such you must fund your account with no less than 25K. If your balance falls below that amount, you get hit with an equity call. This means you can't trade on margin or pattern day trade until you deposit enough funds to return your balance to 25K.