Thursday, January 29, 2009

How To Learn Day Trading From The Pros

By Tim Hunt

Day trading can be an excellent way to make very good money. But, it is not an easy job, as some may imply. You'll need to put in a lot of work to be successful.

Day trading stocks and commodities is a great job and a quite profitable one as well. It requires certain traits for success, and certain habits will need to be internalized.

Time management is the first important habit. You must be able to wake up early and alert first thing in the morning and be ready to evaluate how you'll play the market that day. All of this must happen before the opening bell, which starts at 9:00 a.m. in New York, 6:00 a.m. in California, and 5:00 a.m. in Alaska and Hawaii. Getting out of bed early is only half the story; you'll also need to stay on schedule and have a good internal alarm clock. If you're the type who can't function before 11:00 a.m. or has to guzzle down multiple cups of coffee before facing the day, day trading may not be the job for you.

A second critical habit is a good set of numerical analysis skills. Making and losing money based on gut hunches is a given, but you'll also need to make educated choices based on what you've read, summarized, and synthesized so that you can make good judgments quickly with this background knowledge. All of this needs to be done fast, and you'll need to quickly judge trends in financial markets and apply these snap analyses to your trading decisions.

If you're thinking that you'll need to be a mathematician to get in the game, don't worry. Even if you weren't ever that great at math, you can learn certain quantitative skills that will quickly become second nature with just a little practice.

A Third habit of successful day traders is the ability to make sharp observations, and to be patient when things don't pan out. Observations must be made quickly and with good short term memory. Though it can be hard, you must train yourself to stay calm even when you lose a trade, and just as importantly, keep your cool even when you make a winning trade.

Dedicated research is the fourth important habit for day traders. While you won't need to perform in depth analysis of accounting statements as in long term conventional investing, you will need to analyze the constant inflow and outflow of data to have a good knowledge base for making judgments on the fly. On the other hand, don't get so caught up in research that you lose the ability to think and act quickly.

Remember that you don't have to do all of this research and analysis alone. High level traders have many research tools and tricks, and various data analysis tools close by.

If day trading is a career that appeals to you, start by building a support network. Your team will include a broker, and investors to help you gain leverage in the market. Bear in mind that you will need to work, and word hard. You'll have to show intelligence, drive, and focus to succeed.

If you think your skills are a good fit for day trading, this can be an incredible way to earn great money. It's an enjoyable profession that can "enrich" your life as well. - 14915

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