I only used to only trade eurusd but now mix it a little with xauusd ,i find xauusd a little quite at the UK open ,so trade euro till about 12 noon uk then watch gold from there.
In the morning, i try DAX trades after 8am UK time. Then SPX/NAS after open at 14:30...sometimes before 14:30 if red news at 1:30 causes a stir. To be honest I rarely trade gold and oil as I think it's enough to concentrate on 2 or 3 things. I do trade every day. I am not as profitable as I should be. Even after many years I still do stupid things. Trading is a battle with oneself.
Strategy for day trading stocks: 1rts hour reversals. I first scan the daily charts to see which (institutional) stocks show buying pressure on daily TF, and it usually leaves me with up to 10-30 stocks on my watchlist. Then I watch these selected stocks in the morning to see if there will be an intraday setup between 9:45 and say 11;00. The intraday set-ups are usually first-hour reversals based on order flow. All are trade through entries on M5 TF. Strategy for day trading FX: Supply/Demand and PA with the momentum, zone to zone trading, all are limit entries (reversals in the direction on momentum). I do find in stocks far more day trading opportunities than in FX. Although, the last few months (due to health reasons) I’ve been trading mainly stocks/options on higher timeframes, and I like it more than intraday trading. Less stress, more free time, better quality of life.
For me day trading is really hard work and not profitable. Longer timeframe options, easier, more flexible time wise, though I still want to get back and find a profitable day trading scheme. Almost there.
Getting one's 'head" wrapped around it - once that accomplished it all academic This shit is just as hard..., or easy - as one wishes to make it Takes time and effort - simply the tuition one must pay RN
Biggest challenge for me was when the market structure changed and direct access trading on Level II stopped being a cash cow. For about two years, 1997-1999, scalping tech stocks was like walking up to an ATM and punching a few buttons to take money out. The biggest risk was racking up high commissions from scratching a lot of trades. Eventually the market makers and institutions began hiding behind ECNs, and as more traders got into the game, competition increased to grab the limited shares available. Too many eyeballs were watching for the same opportunities. The tech crash and decimalization were the final nail in the coffin for that era. That was an unbelievably fun period.
What's your core strategy? I see that 90% of traders lose money or more then that, and the common pattern in this traders is that they do the same thing repeatedly. If you are using price action or indicators to trade but couldn't make it from them then they aren't really for you. Technical analysis don't sustain for long term and that's why many traders believe in hedging and make small but consistent wins.
Would you regard a 40 pip win on xauusd small ?, i don't know ,I would appreciate some feed back on this.
Small vs large - wins vs losses - win percent vs loss percent, on a relative basis. Greater win percent will have a smaller gain/loss percentage and vice versa.