If you put on a trade and your heart starts pounding, you are *not* ready to trade yet...Some people who aren't ready to trade have other problems as well: Pulling the trigger to get in. Staying with one trading strategy long enough to judge it. Letting good trades go bad. Day trading psychology plays a role in these issues, and books have been written to help traders deal with these problems, but most of them do not offer a practical solution.
People day trade for many reasons, two of which are especially important to me. The first is that the day trader is less exposed to event risk than a long term trader. I get in and out of the market as quickly as possible. I am in the market during primary trading sessions, so my stops are normally filled at or near the specified price. A long term trader may find that an unforeseen event triggers big moves when primary markets are shut, forcing price to gap way beyond protective stops when markets re-open. Minimizing exposure to event risk while trading leveraged instruments is a key benefit of day trading, and why I think it is one of the least risky forms of trading when done properly.
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.
Some "professional" traders will tell you that simulation trading is useless or even, "the worst thing you can do." But it depends on why and how you utilize simulated trading. If you choose a simulation strategy that has a defined number of setups, a fairly specific strategy for limiting losses, and you stick to that strategy like glue, never deviating from it - then simulated trading is a logical way of testing your method in real time and it will help you greatly. Day trading psychology also involves self control. Cultivating good habits such as self control, and developing confidence while using a simulation method will help you when you're ready to trade for profit.
As told earlier, there are a variety of products available for day trading. The most popular ones are the stock and the forex currencies. Others include options like stock options and futures options, and futures like currency futures, stock futures, stock index futures and commodity futures.
Day traders work in short time frames, so trade profits are smaller. Where it might be reasonable for a position trader to target 100 points of profit over a period of several weeks, the day trader may realistically be limited to targets of 5 - 10 points. If trading costs for each trade are fixed at, say, 2 points, you can see that they constitute just 2% of the long term target profit, but may be 20% - 40% of the short term target profit. Unless a market has sufficient volatility for a trader to target profits significantly larger than trading costs, it is not suitable for day trading. Fortunately many such markets exist. Soybean and wheat futures are good examples. Suitable markets often have another advantage. Their periods of volatility frequently occur at specific times, typically short periods near the open and close of trading sessions. For example, I can usually enter my daily trade during the first thirty minutes of the trading session.
People day trade for many reasons, two of which are especially important to me. The first is that the day trader is less exposed to event risk than a long term trader. I get in and out of the market as quickly as possible. I am in the market during primary trading sessions, so my stops are normally filled at or near the specified price. A long term trader may find that an unforeseen event triggers big moves when primary markets are shut, forcing price to gap way beyond protective stops when markets re-open. Minimizing exposure to event risk while trading leveraged instruments is a key benefit of day trading, and why I think it is one of the least risky forms of trading when done properly.
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.
Some "professional" traders will tell you that simulation trading is useless or even, "the worst thing you can do." But it depends on why and how you utilize simulated trading. If you choose a simulation strategy that has a defined number of setups, a fairly specific strategy for limiting losses, and you stick to that strategy like glue, never deviating from it - then simulated trading is a logical way of testing your method in real time and it will help you greatly. Day trading psychology also involves self control. Cultivating good habits such as self control, and developing confidence while using a simulation method will help you when you're ready to trade for profit.
As told earlier, there are a variety of products available for day trading. The most popular ones are the stock and the forex currencies. Others include options like stock options and futures options, and futures like currency futures, stock futures, stock index futures and commodity futures.
Day traders work in short time frames, so trade profits are smaller. Where it might be reasonable for a position trader to target 100 points of profit over a period of several weeks, the day trader may realistically be limited to targets of 5 - 10 points. If trading costs for each trade are fixed at, say, 2 points, you can see that they constitute just 2% of the long term target profit, but may be 20% - 40% of the short term target profit. Unless a market has sufficient volatility for a trader to target profits significantly larger than trading costs, it is not suitable for day trading. Fortunately many such markets exist. Soybean and wheat futures are good examples. Suitable markets often have another advantage. Their periods of volatility frequently occur at specific times, typically short periods near the open and close of trading sessions. For example, I can usually enter my daily trade during the first thirty minutes of the trading session.
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Frank Miller has a Debt Consolidation Blog & Finance, these are some of the articles: Puerto Rico Tax Shelter For Companies And Individuals You have full permission to reprint this article provided this box is kept unchanged.
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