Guide to Day trading

NO! There are a lot of so-called "professional traders" out there that want you to fork over thousands of dollars for a course or seminar that will teach you the "secrets" of day trading. Don't fall victim to this scam. You can learn a lot more about day trading from this site for free than many of these "experts" put together. Don't be fooled by a couple of testimonials or infomercials on late night TV. The Unites States is the exaggerated advertising capital of the world. Only in the U.S. can you make outrageous, unverified claims such as, "we make the best this," "our superior quality is unequaled," "we leave our competition in the dust," …. What a bunch of baloney! Haven't you realized that when you don't know much about a particular subject, everything sounds good? This is true in the field of finance, medicine, law - you name it. Don't go by appearances.

How can I predict what prices are going to do while day trading?

All human beings have a desire to know the future even though this is an impossible feat. Deep inside people know that they can't know the future - but yet they have a burning desire to know what lies ahead. This is a paradox and is why so many people get ripped off by psychic hotlines, palm readers and new age religions. Because of man's inability to predict the future, day trading is not predictive; it is reactive in nature. The day trader's job is to react to what prices are doing instead of predicting what prices will to do. Predicting is a futile activity. No one has a crystal ball in day trading (if you do, please let me know). Despite this fact, people never give up trying to determine where prices are going. This becomes evident many times when someone is just starting to day trade. When it is time to press the button to buy or sell, the novice might hesitate - wondering he is doing the correct thing at the correct time; if the second after the order is submitted, the price will go in the desired direction. If this is your problem, don't worry about it. You will be on your way to becoming a successful trader when you can send the order without thinking about this nonsense; when you realize that winning and losing is part of day trading and that you will never know which one will come first.

Can I day trade only a few hours a day?

Yes. Of course, the more time you spend day trading the better (especially at the beginning) - but you don't have to be glued to your computer 24-hours a day. If you are only going to trade a few hours a day and you want to trade stocks, you will need to be there from 9 AM EST to 12 PM EST. These hours are prime time hours for stock day traders. If you want to trade currencies you will have a lot more flexibility. Unlike the stock market, the forex market is opened 24 hours a day for most of the week. This means that a currency day trader will have different trading hours to choose from depending on his availability. After 1 AM EST, the European financial markets start showing activity and so does the currency market. During this time, currencies can be traded just like stocks are during the first few hours after the stock market opens. These early morning hours are great for U.S. day traders in Pacific Time (in places like California) or for Europeans. Currencies can also be traded during the hours of the day when the US stock market are opened as well as when the Asian market opens in the late hours of the afternoon (when the US stock market is closed). After the Asian market, the European markets start kicking again and this round-the-clock process continues day after day.

Why all the fuss about having a day trading strategy?

Can I simply trade by feel? Yes and no. No if your 'feel' is not developed enough. Yes if you have developed a 'feel'. What does it mean? It means experience.

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