How to Day Trade for a Living summary

Day trading is a specific form of stock trading that occurs within a single day. Unlike investors and swing traders, day traders don't hold onto any stocks after the market closes – they close their positions during the trading hours of the same day. This strategy is employed because day traders take advantage of momentary price fluctuations. They focus on how a price moves within seconds or minutes, rather than a company's performance over months or years.

There are two main strategies to profit from day trading: buying long and selling short. Buying long involves purchasing stocks at a relatively low price and selling them when the price rises. On the other hand, selling short means borrowing stocks from your broker at a higher price, then returning them when the price falls.

Contrary to popular belief, day trading won't make you enormously wealthy overnight. The reality is that you probably won't see consistent profits until after about six months or so. And even to see those results, you need to take day trading seriously. It's not a casual hobby you can engage in when you have ten minutes to spare – it's a business that demands considerable time and energy.

Just like any other business, success in day trading requires proper education. You'll need to read books, attend courses, and perhaps even enlist the help of a mentor. Joining trading communities and chatrooms can also be valuable, as the members can readily support and teach you their strategies. Some chatrooms even offer the opportunity to watch others trade live.

After you've grasped the fundamentals, it's crucial to spend time practicing on a simulator platform before going live. A simulator is similar to a real trading platform but uses imaginary money. As a good rule of thumb, you should practice on a simulator for a minimum of three months. Use this time to refine and perfect your trading strategy.

In addition to education and practice, you'll also need the right tools to get started. The three most important ones are probably your broker, trading platform, and scanners. Your broker is essentially a company that allows you access to a stock exchange via a website or mobile app, for a fee. To start trading, you'll need to create a brokerage account with your chosen broker and fund it. Look for a direct-access broker that offers speedy order processing, as trades can occur in mere seconds.

Next, you'll want to identify a trading platform. This software is where you place your orders. Once your order is sent to the stock exchange by the trading platform, your broker then fills it for you.

Finally, there are the pre-market scanner and the real-time intraday scanner. These are programs that provide you with a list of potential stocks to trade. Both can be configured to find stocks that match your predefined criteria, so all you have to do is review the list and decide which ones to trade.

Day trading can be a rewarding venture, but only if you approach it with dedication and a willingness to continuously learn and improve.