Posts Tagged ‘Day Trading’

What are the Risks of Day Trading?

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

If you are looking for a truly risky venture for your investment dollar then you may want to investigate the roller coaster ride that many know as day trading. While those that swear by it for making and breaking fortunes will swear there is a formula those that have been raked onto the rocky shores of this particular trading business will be the first to tell you that their luck ran out. Whether it’s luck or science, day trading for many has proven to be risky business at best.

The Risks

In order to be successful in day trading you must be absolutely prepared to lose. You do not have time to think about failure, as it is likely at any moment. This is a lightening quick business and sometimes the market moves much more quickly than your fingers. This can result in unexpected losses as well as unexpected gains along the way. These bumps in the road are nothing compared to the highs and lows of actually being a day trader though. Forget the finances for a moment and consider the risks of heart attacks, heart palpitations, and strokes brought on the by excitement and heartburn (not that this can bring about a stroke but it sounded good) of the moment.

Day trading is very taxing. You must constantly watch your computer throughout the day for signs of life from your stock and act immediately. This is a high stress job that many simply cannot handle long term. Unfortunately day trading must become your day job because you have little time or energy to invest in anything else. There are those that get a huge charge from day trading but this is not a job for the average citizen it takes a huge toll on their health much too quickly-especially those that are sensitive to stress as it is.

Perhaps the biggest risk is that you can become addicted to the highs and lows. This is a huge problem because once you become addicted it is much more difficult to temper your purchases and counter your losses. When you aren’t looking at it with a clear mind and unhampered perspective it doesn’t seem nearly as dangerous as it can be. Lives are ruined financially because of irresponsible day trading and addictions to day trading that are much like addictions to gambling. If you suspect you or someone you love is the victim of this particular addiction please get him or her or yourself the help that is needed as quickly as possible.

You should also understand that day trading isn’t investing in the strictest sense of the world. Day traders don’t invest in stocks so much as they trade stocks and while some may claim this is a simple case of semantics there are a few major differences. Investors hold onto stocks for a little while with the expectation of gains over time while traders buy and sell quickly hoping for immediate gratification. Investors research and study a specific stock before jumping in while traders study patterns and formulas and hope they made the right decision.

Investing in and of itself is risky; day trading adds another layer of risk to the equation. If you think you have what it takes to participate in day trading you need to keep in mind that you should make sure that you have a few other options in place for your investment future that require a little less risk.

Losing to Win

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

In the world of the stock market, particularly when it comes to higher risk investments such as day trading there is a bit of a learning curve. In other words you must be prepared to lose in order to win. By doing this you will be in a much better position for making wise decisions later on based on your past experiences.

This means that you will either need to lose money by investing in a broker that can assist you in making those initial trades while educating you on the ways of the market or you are going to need to spend a little money learning the ropes on your own. Either way in the stock market you will learn much more from the losses you take along the way than you will ever learn through successes that get you through the days.

The theory behind losing to win is that you will spend a little money learning the ropes and that will be money well spent once you learn the ins and outs of trading. It is quite likely that this will not be the only money that you will lose along the way as you journey into the world of high finance and stock market and mutual fund investments but it is probably going to be the largest concentration of money that you will lose during the process.

If you are willing to risk those initial dollars for the purpose of learning a new and better way of making your money work for you then you can expect to not only establish a comfortable retirement but also to quite possibly make a comfortable living in the meantime. Most day traders fail all together. Among those that ultimately succeed they face heavy losses in the beginning at least until they work out some sort of system that brings success their way more often than not. In order to succeed in that particularly volatile market you must be observant, pay attention to detail, and keep accurate and copious records not only of all transactions but the results of those transactions for better or worse. This helps you see patterns that you might not otherwise see as well as keeps your wins and losses in black and white so that you are aware of just how much money you are making and losing while learning the ropes.

For those who are willing to take these steps there is a lot of money to be made in the stock market-particularly in the field of day trading. High profits are great and something that most investors secretly dream of whether they’ll ever admit it out loud or not. The difference in those investors and those that go the day trading route is that the day traders are actually placing themselves in a position to experience these massive profits that everyone else will be so jealous of in the end. It is a risk, no doubt, but careful consideration, planning, and attention to detail can bring those big paydays.

Some people go to college for advanced degrees in their chosen fields. Education is a big investment with high interest bearing student loans left over when all is said and done. All in all, a year of learning the ropes with day trading can prove to be a much lower expense than a full four-year college education (interest included) and bring about bigger profits without creating nearly the mountain of debt (provided of course that you invested wisely). If a small learning curve and one year’s worth of time can produce results such as this wouldn’t it be well worth it to try and see how much of a difference day trading can make in your financial future? If you are at all interested in this form or any other form of stock market investing take the time to learn a little more before taking the plunge.

Emini Futures Day Trading : Fundamentals And Simulated Trading System

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Emini Futures Day Trading : Fundamentals And Simulated Trading System

Fundamental Analysis
Fundamental analysis is a methodology for analysis of a company as a viable stock that you want to hold for long term. Fundamental analysis is more widespread in the world of investing since you are going to hold your companies for 10 to 20 years, you do not wish that your companies go bankrupt the next day. Some of the common ratios used are PE ratios (price earnings ratios) which measures the relative price of the stock to the earnings of the company, the EPS (earnings per share), the debt equity ratio and tons of other ratios.

Although I have spent considerable time studying such ratios I discovered that you do not really need such information to be successful in day trading. I repeat, fundamental analysis plays a marginal role in day trading. In fact, most of the time, I don’t follow it at all. If you still have reservations about ignoring fundamental analysis, I recommend trading ETFs (exchange traded funds) such as QQQQ which mirrors the movement of the NASDAQ 100. In essence, you are actually trading the index like a normal stock. Indexes usually have a huge number of stocks in them, making them less susceptible to company specific news. However if you are paranoid, then you might still want to follow the news of the major companies in the index.

here is no lack of information and no end to analysis. Knowing the fundamentals might seem cool when you discuss company so and so over a cocktail party, but it will not help you rip money off Wall Street in day trading. Being able to remove fundamental analysis from the decision making process is also one of the reasons why I recommend trading Emini index futures.

Paper Trading: Don’t Ever Underestimate it!
Paper trading refers to trading with virtual money, you do not use real money. You jot down in your notebook when you bought at what price and why. When you sell, you record in your notebook again why you sold and calculate the profit or loss associated with the trade.

If you cannot make money by paper trading, you can forget about making money in real trading. Always test a new trading idea with paper trading first before using real money. Also start with paper trading after a long period of break, to help you get back in touch with trading.

Although there is very little difference between paper trading and real trading in Emini, real trading is subjected to slippage and psychological factors come into play when you are using real money. Do not underestimate the impact of psychological factors on your trading. After you have a reasonable method and money management techniques, it is the psychological factors which will determine whether you make a profit or loss.

Some traders have created software to paper trade. You hit the buttons like you are doing real trading but only virtual money is involved and no real cash is used. The system will record down the time, price, symbol and the position opened or closed. This saves you the trouble of keeping a paper record.


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