The Mindset Of A Profitable Trader - Successful Day Trading

By Frank Miller


Day trading is the practice of active buying and selling of the stocks, options, futures and currencies within a trading day. All trades are completed within a day so that after the closing of market the day trader do no hold any open positions and therefore are not subjected to any overnight risks. The traders trade against very small changes in price of the financial instruments. Day trading is usually a vigorous trading activity requiring high concentration and time during trading hours.

Day traders can be grouped into two broad categories as scalpers and momentum traders. Scalpers trade in large quantities completing each trade within seconds or minutes. Most scalpers are usually large financial firms or investors like institutional traders. Momentum traders are usually individual traders who trade according to the stock market trends. The trading volume of momentum traders usually depends on the market condition. Some other popular trading strategies include range trading, news playing and rebate trading.

Another reason I prefer day trading is that I can work through losing spells more quickly. All trading methods encounter drawdowns when traders have a losing spell. If a typical drawdown for your system spans a period of 10 trades, and the average duration of each trade is 2 weeks, you face drawdown periods averaging twenty weeks. But if you are a day trader completing one trade each day, your average drawdown period is just 10 trading days. If you complete more than one trade per day, the drawdown period is even shorter. It is never pleasant being in drawdown and it is easier to stick to your system if drawdowns are short. Twenty weeks, or more, in a loss situation tests the resolve of any trader.

Day trading is a broad term, encompassing many trading styles. The one thing all day traders have in common is that they are out of their positions at the end of the primary trading session. No open positions are held overnight, at weekends, or even during lightly traded electronic sessions outside primary trading hours. The typical image of a day trader is of a person glued to a screen during long market hours, possibly entering several trades during the course of a day. That is true of many traders, but there are other styes. For example, my own approach is quite different.

Having confidence in a method you have traded in simulation mode is the most rational starting point for a new trader, or any struggling trader. So begin the successful part of your trading career with a strategy that you personally have learned to trust through real-time trading (preferably simulated trading). Not all trading strategies are alike when it comes to day trading psychology, and this is important to understand.

Day trading facility is available for most stock, options and futures market, but note that most brokers offers services for limited markets/exchanges. The trader also must be keen to choose markets according to the product they are trading, their financial status, the brokerage they are affiliated to, the trading system they uses, and their geographical location.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment