FOREX day trading is more popular than ever and online you can get a huge amount of e-books and FOREX day trading systems, which promise you regular income and huge capital gains.

Here we will look at how to separate out the myth and see the reality in relation to day trading and how to win in the markets.

Myth – Day Traders Have Profitable Real Time Track Records

Reality

FOREX day traders don’t make money and the proof is that of all the e-books and systems for sale, you never see a real track record of real profits made in the market over the longer term.

What you do get is a hypothetical track record, but these are not worth the paper their written on.

Why?

Quite simply because their devised in hindsight – knowing the closing prices.

Well, if we all knew tomorrow’s prices today we would all be millionaires!

Hypothetical track records are simply made up and have no bearing on how successful you will be trading the system.

Myth – Day traders trade their own systems

Reality

Most FOREX day trading systems are sold by failed brokers, or marketing people who have the sense not to trade the system themselves.

They don’t need to, as they make money anyway.

They can simply rely on writing some marketing copy to appeal to the greed of investors, then sell them the system.

They get their fee and the FOREX trader gets the loses – fair deal for them!

Myth – You can predict short term volatility

Reality

This is of course why day trading does not work.

Trillions of dollars are traded each day by millions of participants and to say you can predict where prices will go in a matter of hours is laughable.

The only people who take notice of support and resistance are losing day traders.

Volatility can and does, take prices anywhere in a day and levels of resistance and support are constantly broken handing day traders loses.

Myth – Day trading restricts losses and runs profits

Reality

As day traders work with meaningless data they can’t win of course but many think that day trading restricts risk, but it actually creates it.

Losses are small, as they are near daily support or resistance ( which get broken frequently as the data is meaningless) which simply ensures they get stopped out with a loss albeit a small one.

Running profits?

Forget this with day trading!

They are looking to scalp a few ticks or close positions out quickly.

The result is they can never run profits to cover the huge amount of small losses they get.

The biggest myth of currency trading is that day traders make money they don’t.

They lose and system sellers laugh all the way to the bank.

The proof of the above is:

If you ever ask a day trader for a long term track record of real profits – Try it and see if you get one.

If you want FOREX education avoid day trading and learn FOREX Trading methods that actually give you a chance of winning.

Day trading is simply one of the best ways to lose your money in online FOREX trading, so don’t fall for the myth understand the reality.

New and experienced stock day traders alike grapple with an all important question: Which method is the best approach to stock day trading, a system approach or a discretionary approach? While each approach has its advantages and disadvantages, the correct answer may, in fact, be a combination of the two approaches.

System trading means creating a strict set of objective and mechanical rules for identifying if a trade opportunity exists, when should you enter the trade, and how do you exit the trade. The operative words are “objective” and “mechanical”. If a set of trading rules can be programmatically reduced to a series of computer instructions, then the rules are objective and mechanical.

One of the main advantages of system trading is that it enables you to produce consistent trading results. In other words, your actual trading results should be identical to the results generated by the system. This type of trading requires very little thinking or analysis on your part, and all you have to do is follow the trading system rules without deviation.

However, system trading can be difficult to implement in practice because it typically requires you to take all of the valid signals produced by your system in order to allow the system’s edge to manifest itself. This is because it may take a considerable amount of trades in order to turn a profit with a mechanical method. As a result, your system will often produce entry signals that run contrary to what your common sense is telling you. For instance, the current trading day may be a very strong bullish trending day without any signs of selling; however, if your system produces a valid short signal, then you must take the signal without question in order to allow the edge to manifest under a system trading approach. Or, if you are in a trade and prices come very close to your profit target and suddenly reverses back toward your entry, you must stay in the trade if your system trading rules require you to do so, even if you believe strongly that the trade is failing. This type of trading is very hard on the emotions because it often requires you to make decisions that go against logic.

Discretionary trading, on the other hand, entails identifying when to enter and exit a trade based on whether you cognitively or intuitively perceive that a profitable trade opportunity exists. In essence. you are assimilating various mental processes of perception and judgment to determine whether you should either take a position or remain on the sidelines. Although discretionary traders also use rules for entering and exiting a trade, usually discretionary rules do not meet the objective and mechanical test. Typically, discretionary rules cannot be completely programmed for computerized instruction. An example of discretionary trading would be deciphering the sequence of trades occurring at the ask versus trades occurring at the bid on time and sales in order to determine whether a trade opportunity exists.

Discretionary trading is usually easier on the emotions than system trading because you tend to take trades that you agree with emotionally. For example, a discretionary trader that trades with the trend and looks for trade entries by reading the time and sales screen would probably avoid taking a short trade during a very bullish trend day in which there were no signs of selling on time and sales, because he would most likely be trading against the trend.

The main disadvantage of discretionary trading is the inconsistent results this style of trading can potentially produce. Markets are constantly changing, and the circumstances and factors which may have led to you placing a winning trade yesterday, may not be the same as they are today. A lot of the success of discretionary traders can be attributed to their ability to perceive trade opportunity. However, what may be perceived as the same setup that occurred in the past, may in fact be an entirely different setup upon a more thorough analysis. As humans, we are susceptible to biases that allow us to equally treat all market situations simply because they look similar to past situations. Looks can be deceiving when it comes to market analysis and one must perform careful due diligence to make sure that they are comparing apples to apples.

There is a third approach to stock day trading which combines both approaches described above. The hybrid trading approach merges together system trading and discretionary trading. Under a hybrid trading approach, you would employ objective system trading rules for those parts of the decision process that will enable you to achieve consistent results, but discretionary decisions would only be allowed for situations that don’t materially affect the outcome of the trade. For instance, identifying when a trade opportunity exists and when to enter the trade would be performed under objective system trading rules. However, discretionary decisions regarding how and when to exit the trade would only be allowed after your first profit objective has been satisfied because the essence of the trade opportunity has been met. A hybrid trading approach can often produce more effective results than either a system trading approach or a discretionary approach by relying on the rudimentary idea that sometimes the sum is greater than the parts.

Author: Monti Simmons
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Some of the riskiest investing that can be done in the stock market exists within what is called day trading. This practice is deemed risky and the results have proven themselves time after time. Vat fortunes can be lost within mere seconds if one is not careful with day trading so why do so many people engage in this activity?

The Risks of Day Trading: Day trading works based on the assumption that if a stock increases by a small margin, it will continue to do so within the next few seconds or even minutes. This had led to the day trading method. In this method, investors seek out stocks to trade- not keeping them more than a few seconds or minutes.

The prime stock a day trader targets is one that has been increasing within the recent past. The investor will then funnel a massive amount of money into the stock and hope the trend continues. If it does, the investor sells it immediately. If it doesn’t, the investor may choose to cut his or her losses by selling low- or hope for the best.

Since this method requires a high investment and extremely risky circumstances, this method has been problematic for investors.

Why So Many Engage in Day Trading: So what is worth the risk? Of course, the payout must have to be quite large! Typical day traders can make a very wealthy sum of money within a few hours of this technique. There are, however, some certain guidelines that these day traders should follow.

First, a day trader should only invest what he or she can afford to lose. This is because day trading is extremely risky and losing all the money in your savings account would turn your life upside down. Because of this reason, day trading is usually restricted to the wealthy (exceptions are present, however).

Day traders suffer large commission fees. Since most trading companies charge based on the amount of shares an investor buys and sells, the day trading investor gets hit hard with commissions. A day trader will be selling possibly thousands of shares every hour. Multiply these thousands of shares by the stock broker, and you can see why day trading is usually restricted to the wealthy.

Programs to Help Day Traders: There are some programs that allow day traders to benefit from advice, however. Seminars, educational classes, and online courses can help educate investors on the safest route in day trading.

Generally there is a lot of hype related to day trading, but there are a few gems on the internet to look out for. The right day trading program, coupled with a little investment and luck, can mean all the difference in wealth.

If you are a beginning investor, it is typically a very bad idea to jump right into day trading. Instead, one should either take advantage of the educational resources mentioned above, or at least get experience with the stock market firsthand.

Final Thoughts on Day Trading: Whatever you take away from this message, remember that day trading will indeed require a hefty investment. Be prepared to meet some losses along the way- day trading has lost (and made) many fortunes. If all else fails, call onto the help of experts in day trading- for a fee they are usually more than happy to let their secrets loose.

Day trading is defined as the buying and selling of a security within a single trading day. It is daily, online stock trading with very short investment timeframes. Those who do this day in and day out are traders, not investors.

Because of the high profits (and losses) that day trading stocks makes possible, Day trading is often regarded as more like gambling than investing. In truth day trading is about risk taking not gambling.

Day traders work from their homes or offices. With their eyes glued to computer screens, a day trader may execute over a hundred trades a day.

But they typically do not hold stocks overnight. In fact, they may

hold stocks for only a few seconds to limit risk.

A day trader will usually sell their positions before the stock market closes for the trading day to avoid the risk of price gaps between the previous close and the next open. Some day traders consider this to be a golden rule to be beyed at all times. Other traders believe they should let the profits run, so it is acceptable to them to stay with a position even after the stock market closes for the day.

For example,at 10:00 AM a day trader might buy 1000 shares of stock just as the price begins to rise, then sell it at 10:04 AM when it is up by 1/2 ($0.50). The day trader makes $500, minus commission of about $29.95 or less per trade, that is a quick $440.00 or so, excluding taxes.

Many day traders focus primarily on the NASDAQ. It is typically more volatile than the NYSE or AMEX, so it offers more opportunities to play the intraday price waves and troughs. Volatility however also carries high risk,in the time it takes to grab a cup of coffee, a stock may move 1/2 point or more.

To some, day trading is just a numbers game. They do little research and just watch for moving stocks with good spreads. Others are more scientific about it, relying on news and technical analysis to catch intraday price changes.

Depending on your trading style and strategies, the number of trades made in a day may vary from one, to dozens or more. Some day traders manage to earn millions per year solely by day trading stocks.

Day trading has become increasingly popular among casual traders due to advances in technology, changes in legislation, and the popularity of the internet. In the past, the tools for day trading stocks were available only to professionals. But thanks to the power of the Internet, everything you need to get started is now conveniently available online.

When you are ready to start day trading, you will need to choose a trading system such as the one I recommend on my website (see Authors Bio).

This course consists of two volumes and two exercise books, which will teach you everything you need to know, even if you have never traded stocks before in your life. The new second edition has been completely revised for 2008, and includes even more detailed examples, refined trading strategies and online access to a set of in-depth training videos.

Day trading is not a get-rich-quick scheme, it is a mentally and psychologically challenging activity and is by no means meant for everyone.

Day trading the stock market involves the rapid buying and selling of stocks on a day-to-day basis. This technique is used to secure quick profits from the constant changes in stock values, minute to minute, second to second. It is rare that a day trader will remain in a trade over the course of a night into the next day. These trades are entered and exited in a matter of minutes.

The main question that most people ask when it comes to day trading is simple: ‘is it necessary to sit at a computer watching the markets ALL day long in order to be a successful day trader?’

The answer is no. It’s not necessary to sit at a computer all day long. There are a number of factors to consider, but generally the rule of day trading is to trade when everyone else is trading. In other words, trade in the morning.

As with all financial investments, day trading is risky – in fact, it’s one of the riskiest forms of trading out there. The stock prices rise or fall according to the behaviour of the market, which is entirely unpredictable. Day traders buy and sell shares rapidly in the hopes of gaining profits within the minutes and seconds they own those particular stocks. Simple to do in theory, harder to do in practice.

If you are constrained by a small amount of capital, you may not be able to buy large amounts of a stock, but buying only a small amount can add to the risk of a loss. And, obviously, it is impossible to predict with certainty which stocks will result in profits and which in losses. Even the best of traders must learn to accept both outcomes.

It’s also important to know that in day trading, it is the number of shares rather than the value of shares that should be the focus. If you day trade, you WILL face losses, but even for the more expensive stocks, the loss should be marginal, because prices do not usually fluctuate to an extreme degree over the course of just one day.

The day trading industry deals in a large variety of stocks and shares. Here are just a few:

Growth-Buying Shares – shares made from profit, which continue to grow in value. Eventually, these shares will begin to decline in price, and an experienced trader can usually predict the future of this type of share.

Small Caps – shares of companies which are on the rise and show no signs of stopping. Although these shares are generally cheap, they are a very risky investment for day traders. You’d be safer to go with large caps and/or mid-caps, which are much more secure and stable thanks to a premium.

Unloved Stocks – company stock that has not performed well in the past. Traders buy these shares in the hopes of generating profits if and when the stock rises in value. As with small caps, unloved stocks can be a risky choice for day traders.

These examples are NOT your only options when it comes to day trading stocks. The best way to determine which type of stock is right for you is to invest some time for careful research, a knowledge of market patterns, a solid strategy, and a disciplined trading plan.

The key to successful day trading is to be prepared. Know as much as possible about the industry before you begin actually trading. You need to learn to trade ONLY when the market gives the right signals, and ONLY when the volume of activity in the market supports a successful trading opportunity.

Opinions about day trading vary widely. Some people swear it is the best way ever to make a profit in the stock market…others, including the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) advise strongly against day trading, insisting it is too risky. As with many things having to do with investing and the stock market you will hear all kinds of things about day trading. The trick is to sort the information out.

But what exactly is day trading and why do so many advise against it? Day traders literally trade everyday, all day, buying and selling sometimes very rapidly. They hope to see a stock going up, for instance, quickly buy a block of that stock and then sell it again as soon as it has risen enough to make a reasonable profit. If everything works right the trader makes a profit every day from the normal movement of stock prices up and down.

Day traders try to concentrate on certain stocks that are particularly suitable for day trading. The most important thing is that the stock must be one that is highly liquid, which means it is bought and sold often. This allows the day trader to buy and sell easily. Liquidity varies with market volume and the size and nature of the business. In general almost all stocks on the major exchanges are more than liquid enough for day trading purposes.

To be suitable for day trading a stock also needs to be sold in sufficient volume that the buying and selling activity of one trader won’t affect the market price of the stock. Day traders usually buy and sell big blocks of stock so a good day trading stock needs to have at least 500,000 shares traded a day. Day traders also look for stocks that have high volatility, which means that the price goes up and down rapidly. A stock with a rapidly changing price is perfect for day trading. The ideal is at movement of at least $2 a day.

A day trader also needs to be able to find sufficient real time information of the orders for a stock. This is sometimes called price transparency or market depth and lets the trader know how much stock they can probably move in a certain period of time. Traders need to have access to the NASDAQ level II quote screens in order to gather this information.

There is nothing illegal about day trading but it can be extremely risky. Almost all day traders are working with borrowed funds which they hope to increase through their buying and selling. If the NYSE and the NASDAQ classify someone as a “pattern day trader” then that trader must trade through a margin account with at least $25,000 as a deposit in it. The broker who handles the account will require that further deposits be made if the trader’s holdings drop too far in value.

Because day trading is so risky the Securities and Exchange Commission has devoted quite a bit of energy to spreading warnings about the practice. Their fear is that people will become involved without understanding how much money they can lose in a very short time.

Anyone who decides to try day trading can expect to suffer huge losses as they try to learn how to do it successfully. Very few will succeed and make money in day trading. No one should ever try day trading with money that they cannot afford to lose without any problems.

Day traders are not really investors. They buy and sell over the span of time as short as seconds or minutes. They never hold stock after the close of the trading day because the risk of overnight price changes is too great for them. Day trading is really speculating; some call it gambling.

Be sure to avoid websites which promote day trading by talking about the great profit potential and then offer you ‘expert information’ or ‘hot tips’ for money. The recommendations are usually actually paid for themselves and the advice is worthless.

Day trading is basically the buying and selling of stocks over a relatively short period of time, sometimes minutes. It was once only available to floor traders and investment banks but now the Internet has made day trading accessible to anyone with a computer system. There is good money to be made (and lost) using this method.

As an example, a day trader might buy 1000 shares of stock A at 10:00 as the price begins to move upwards on good news, then sell it at 10:04 when the stock price has risen (for example, by $0.50). The day trader would make $500 profit, less his commission which with today’s low commission rates of around $30 or less per trade, that’s a nice $440 or better, excluding taxes.

Day trading usually follows one of two approaches, either beating the spread or attempting to catch short term trends. The spread is the difference between what is being offered for a stock (the bid) and the price being asked for the stock (the ask). With spread trading, you attempt to buy at the ‘bid’ and sell at the ‘ask’ as many times as possible. Spread traders can make hundreds of this type of trade every day.

ECNs or Electronic Communication Networks are a recent development. They are completely electronic exchanges with very low commissions and very fast execution of orders. As a method of encouraging traders to use their networks, some ECNs offer incentives in the form of a rebate. In some cases, this can allow a day trader to make money simply from buying and selling a stock at the same price.

Day trading can be very profitable if you get it right, but you need to research as much as possible and take advantage of the free simulation software that is available for you to practice with before you take the plunge. Remember, day trading isn’t for the faint hearted!

Day Trading is the practice of buying and selling financial assets such as stocks, stock options, currencies, cash, equity shares, bonds, loans, or any other securities within the same trading day in which all carried positions are usually closed/square-off before the market close for the trading day. It allows traders or investors to make profit within the trading day. Traders who participate in day trading are called intraday traders or day traders.

Day trading generally refers to the opening and closing positions in financial assets at it is categorized above within the same trading day. It is used to take positions in a trading day and during the trading hours trader can closed his/her all positions at any time within the same trading day. It is supposed to be as gambling and speculation in which trader has to close his/her all acquired positions, no matter whether he/she is in profit or loss by the end of trading day.

In day trading or intraday trading system, traders can both either buy or sell according to the market nature whether it is bullish or bearish. When the market looks bullish traders use to buy first and then sell it to get profits, while on the other hand when the market looks bearish traders use to sell first and then buy stocks in order to get appropriate profits. However it requires lots of experience and knowledge of share market.

Day Trading Techniques: Intraday Trading Techniques provides a road map to traders by which day traders trade in stock(cash) market and attempt to make profits. Nowadays lots of stock trading course/education are given by different broking and investment advisory firms. Following are the techniques used to trade effectively in day trading or intraday trading:

1. Always follow the current market trend: Trend following is a day trading technique that helps to predict market nature and behaviour in various markets. By using this technique trader buys stocks which are assumed to rise, or fall in the expectation that the trend will go.

2. Scalping trading: Scalping is simply a trading strategy that attempts to make profit by the numbers of small price shares. It is generally referred as spread concept based trading. Sometimes it is known as chunking trading which allow to trade in small chunks.

3. Stock Volume and Market Volatility: Before going to take positions in day trading, a trader must look at to the volume of stocks and keep updations of market volatility as well. Volatility can be considered as one of the important factor to evaluate stocks for day trading.

4. Analyse Risks and Rewards: Day trading is a high risk trading game. It has lots of risk as well as high profits. Before investing in stocks a trader should analyse the risks and rewards associated with it.

5. Technical Aspects: In order to trade effectively in stock market traders need to take help from modern softwares and live stock charts. A trader may require to take help from stock advisor, and technical analyst to get stock reports and stock news.

6. Avoid Over-trading: A day trader should avoid to indulge in over trading, it may cause for loss, however sometimes it may lead towards profit.

Finally comes to the conclusion that the day trading is risky trading style, and a day trader must understand the risks associated with it. To trade effectively in intraday trading one should follow the appropriate rules, regulations and restrictions.

Author: Pinky Wadhwani
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Online trading communities are become a norm now-a-days. A bunch of people with similar interests come together and form a community. Day trading community is also an online community formed by a group of persons who like to trade in different financial instruments on the same trading day.

Day trading is a term that signifies that you buy and sell financial instruments within the same trading day, whereby all stock positions are normally closed before the stock market closes for the trading day. The positions are not necessarily always to be closed.

People who participate in this kind of trading are called day traders.

So, such like-minded persons join together to form an online day trading community, whereby they share and discuss their viewpoints on various changes in stock market. They may discuss different rates at which various instruments are floating in the market. Some of the financial instruments in which they commonly day trade may include stocks, currencies, stock options, and an array of futures contracts such as equity index futures, interest rate futures, and commodity futures.

Day trading community has its own importance in that people that form this community have similar tastes and way of thinking. They are willing to share information with one another with purity and without any ill will. They are more than willing to pass on any information that may hold key to earning profits in a given day of trading in specific instruments.

A day trading community normally follows certain rules regarding registration of members who want to join such a community. Following certain regulations is a must to avoid any frauds or embarrassing situations.

A day trading community’s registration system may ask for e-mail address validation by transmitting a link to the email address that must be clicked on by the person seeking registration to validate the email address.

A day trading community should be clear about what it expects from its members. It can put up expectations in a particular page covering clear community guidelines. A day trading community’s communication with its members should be clear, direct, and done frequently. Information sharing can be a powerful tool for such a community.

Day trading has emerged as a popular trend practiced all over, due to the fact that it can minimize forex trading losses to a significant level, if managed properly. It thus helps to exercise control over your transactions and ensures that you do not face any shock. In day trading, the stocks are bought and sold on the same day and thus there are not much of fluctuations and thus nothing to feel scared about.

Day Trading reduces the risk of overnight fluctuations in the value of stocks and is associated with the benefit of risk control. I was always fascinated by forex trading but did not want to take risk, so I started with day trading and it fetched me real good returns and I did not even lose any money, because before there could have been fluctuations in the price, I used to sell off my stocks. So, day trading truly worked for me. There are many day traders who have benefited a lot like me.

Day trading is perceived to be one of the safest as well as quickest means of making money. Taking into consideration the volatility of forex market, day trading appears to be the best choice. Day traders keep an eye on the market and grab the opportunity as and when they get a chance to buy fairly cheap stocks and sell them off at high prices, then there is the possibility of earning enormous profits. In day trading, if you invest a huge capital, then rise by even a small percent can make a lot of difference.

Let us understand this with the help of an example. Imagine you bought near about 5000 shares with each share costing $30. Now if the share rises marginally up to $30.10, then also you will earn a profit of $500, which is quite good in comparison to the percentage of rise. It hardly takes any time to sell off your original share costing $30 at $30.10 and if you keep repeating this whole process, you can earn considerable amount of profits. The risk was low but profits were significant.

This example must have made it clear to you as to why do most of the forex traders believe that day trading is the fastest way to earn money and that too without bearing any risk as such. But, despite all facts, it is recommended that day traders should never hold their stocks for a very long period of time, because then there are chances of losing money. So, don’t keep your stock with you for a longer period of time, sell it immediately.

Some of the experienced day traders are of the view that early morning is not the right time to day trade, as you may get inappropriate signals that can make you indulge in a wrong deal and suffer losses. It is recommended to wait for at least 2nd hour of trading and only then you should think of opening your position. This is owing to the fact that it is mainly during the second or third hour of forex trading session that you get to see the real situation taking place in forex market.

To conclude, day trading is indeed effective in earning profits but just be careful.