Traders in securities are indeed engaged in a business activity and thus, if eligible, can get the QBI deduction. In this regard, the IRS has stated:
- Special rules apply if you're a trader in securities, in the business of buying and selling securities for your own account. The law considers this to be a business, even though a trader doesn't maintain an inventory and doesn't have customers. (underline and bold added)
The prior experts, @Leonard Smith and @ColeenD3, were discussing different matters in that the former was speaking about the QBI deduction generally, and the latter was addressing the fact that with zero income, there would be no QBI deduction.
A trader that does not make an election under section 475, must treat all gains and losses as capital gains and capital losses and report same on Schedule D and/or Form 8949 as appropriate.
The above information was obtained from the IRS webpage at the following link: Traders in Securities
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