Day trading can be an excellent method for making a profit, if you have the stuff to do it. However, no matter how others may pitch it, it's not a smooth ride. You have to put a lot of work into it to succeed.
Day trading commodities and stocks is more like a highly lucrative job. You need a number of firmly ingrained habits to be successful at it.
The first thing you need is a great sense of time. Anyone who has trouble getting up first thing in the morning or needs to jumpstart with that first cup of coffee will only be miserable day trading. That's because the best time to figure out what you'll be doing on the market on a particular day is right before the opening bell. That happens at nine am in New York City - six am in California and five am in Hawaii and Alaska. You can't just be an early riser, though. You also have to have an excellent internal scheduling system and clock.
Habit number two that you'll need is having a good set of skills for quantitative thinking. You'll make or lose money in day trading just by operating on gut instinct. Making informed decisions, on the other hand, requires you to be able to look at numbers and understand them completely without even thinking about it. This means that numeracy and the ability to deal with numbers in your head is vital if you're going to tell whether something's a blip or a trend, and deal with it correctly.
Of course, that doesn't mean you have to be a trained mathematician. You can learn how to deal with numbers correctly, even it's never been your strong suit. Some numerical skills can almost become second nature once you get going.
Another habit all successful day traders need is to combine patience, organizational skills, and a strategically short memory. This is a hard skill to learn, since you can't allow yourself to feel disappointed if you miss getting a stop at its top, or if you lose money because the short you were hoping for never showed up. Don't get caught up in your losses, or over focus on the times when you really pick a winner.
Dedicated research is habit number four. You won't have to consume accounting statements the way someone in long term conventional investing does, but you have to constantly be getting new data and analysis. You also have to be proactive about your buying and selling, and make fast, accurate judgments, then act on them just as quickly. The only way to make the correct decision is to have the right research. Just don't let it paralyze you.
Remember that a lot of the research and analysis won't need to be done by you directly. The best traders always have a number of tools at their disposal, as well as many different data services and research sources ready to access.
If day trading appeals to you as a new career, you'll have to build up a support network. You'll need to find some investors willing to help you apply leverage, as well as a good broker.
If you've got all these skills and can develop these habits, day trading could be a great way to make a fantastic income. This is a job you can call fun honestly, and it can be pretty enriching, too. - 31987
Day trading commodities and stocks is more like a highly lucrative job. You need a number of firmly ingrained habits to be successful at it.
The first thing you need is a great sense of time. Anyone who has trouble getting up first thing in the morning or needs to jumpstart with that first cup of coffee will only be miserable day trading. That's because the best time to figure out what you'll be doing on the market on a particular day is right before the opening bell. That happens at nine am in New York City - six am in California and five am in Hawaii and Alaska. You can't just be an early riser, though. You also have to have an excellent internal scheduling system and clock.
Habit number two that you'll need is having a good set of skills for quantitative thinking. You'll make or lose money in day trading just by operating on gut instinct. Making informed decisions, on the other hand, requires you to be able to look at numbers and understand them completely without even thinking about it. This means that numeracy and the ability to deal with numbers in your head is vital if you're going to tell whether something's a blip or a trend, and deal with it correctly.
Of course, that doesn't mean you have to be a trained mathematician. You can learn how to deal with numbers correctly, even it's never been your strong suit. Some numerical skills can almost become second nature once you get going.
Another habit all successful day traders need is to combine patience, organizational skills, and a strategically short memory. This is a hard skill to learn, since you can't allow yourself to feel disappointed if you miss getting a stop at its top, or if you lose money because the short you were hoping for never showed up. Don't get caught up in your losses, or over focus on the times when you really pick a winner.
Dedicated research is habit number four. You won't have to consume accounting statements the way someone in long term conventional investing does, but you have to constantly be getting new data and analysis. You also have to be proactive about your buying and selling, and make fast, accurate judgments, then act on them just as quickly. The only way to make the correct decision is to have the right research. Just don't let it paralyze you.
Remember that a lot of the research and analysis won't need to be done by you directly. The best traders always have a number of tools at their disposal, as well as many different data services and research sources ready to access.
If day trading appeals to you as a new career, you'll have to build up a support network. You'll need to find some investors willing to help you apply leverage, as well as a good broker.
If you've got all these skills and can develop these habits, day trading could be a great way to make a fantastic income. This is a job you can call fun honestly, and it can be pretty enriching, too. - 31987
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