Alpaca-API
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alpacahq
Allow for cash only trading account
Currently the API protects against pattern day trader limits, which is only applicable to non cash only accounts.
There could be several ways to implement 'cash only' trading. First, I believe what folks want is not 'no margin' but 'limited margin'. Dealing with settlement times can be frustrating.
One approach would be to have the ability to set margin. This is currently the read only 'multiplier' attribute of an account. It's currently set by the system as either 1, 2, or 4 based upon the margin being extended. If one could over-ride this it may accomplish what folks want. Better yet, one could set it to perhaps 1.5.
Another approach would be to surface the current 'borrowed amount'. This is difficult to calculate wit only cash and equity value.
If I understand the rules correctly, I also want NO margin features. I do not want to deposit $25,000 to enable day trading and I never want to borrow anyone else's money. I am ok with waiting 2-3 days for funds to settle before spending them.
+1 If I could, +100000 For reference, see the forum conversation here: https://forum.alpaca.markets/t/turn-off-margin/2190/31 As I commented there:
@Dan_Whitnable_Alpaca As other as have mentioned: I have $1,000 in my account. I bought a share of stock for $2, sold it at $2.10. Bought a share at $2.05 sold… wait. Locked can’t do it. Not allowed. PDT laws!!!
Why? I have $995.95 of my own cash sitting in the account doing nothing, and now I’m not allowed to sell the stock I bought at $2.05 because of PDT laws limiting my frequency.
I 100% want to disable margin because I care about frequency, and I’m 100% okay maintaining my “settled funds balance” to ensure I don’t buy/sell on margin before the dust settles in two days.
I don’t care about interest charges, volatility, or leverage. I just plain don’t want margin at all. What I want is to use my own money as I dang well please! Right now I’m forbidden by law from doing anything with the $995.95 sitting in my account, and I have to hold my fingers and pray to God that the share I bought at $2.05 will hold for a couple days.
This is literally the only reason I am not currently using Alpaca.
If I could place more than three trades in a day, even if it meant carefully watching my balances, I’d be here and active every day.
This would be a game-changer for Alpaca in my opinion. I never rely on margin and the PDT protection definitely affects the initial returns in my case (just to be clear, I love that PDT protection is a thing - if there was a cash account type, I would use that though)
