Does anyone daytrade

just one stock, lets say GOOG or APPL, or maybe 2-3 stocks max. Really learn their movement and pop in and out several times a day.

??

 

yes some people do.

Others scan maybe 10-20 and try to find patterns they like to trade.

 

this is a great post!!

that is exactly what i thought 3 months ago. and i was even thinking aapl and goog.

we are thinking the same. funny thin is i started DEC 10th made money the first two days the the market went down. even though i was only day trading i still lost big. there are a ton of little tricks, which as they say, makes it harder than it looks. i lost big thinking it was still gonna go up. just when i finally bought into it going down. it started to go up right after christmas.

wow. what a sucker. it is funny cause it looks so easy. (and dont forget the dying steve jobs rumor, lol, stock dropped $3 in 2 min.

i will help you get started.

here is my question if u want to be a day trader.

will aapl go up or down tomorrow? will the s&p go up or down tomorrow? curious to see your answer. that is where u begin. good luck. i m a total newbie, so not sure if any of this helps

 

The market will go up on Friday.

However, I am not sure this information will help you make money.

 

lol, thanks oracle, and it shows how hard it is to daytrade. cause the market is definitely going down fri. lol. im kidding. about the definitely part.

lets see.

 

I can promise you they will all go up and down tomorrow.

 

As a daytrader, I'm not sure it's in your best interest to have a directional opinion on any given day before the market opens.

Now that being said, if the dow is down 1000 one day, and gaps lower the next, you probably don't want to get short.

 

In this market being a day trader is a very safe way to make money.

The market is driven by news so to predict the direction for the market the next day is very risky.

There are many ways to day trade. To me, after 8 years of trading, I found the following methods works for me:

1. Play the gaps. watch for candle sticks that show signs of reversal to short. Since we are in a bear market, shorting is easier, especially there is no news.

2. Pick a number of stocks that you know the behavior and trade them. For example, trading bank stocks GS, JPM, BAC, etc. Learn how they react to news, when Obama talks, etc.

3, Use intra day patterns, key support, resistance , volumes and enter/exit stocks. Trade the volatile stocks like MOS AGU FCX. When the markets turns down, we can make a couple $$ shorting. Look at MOS, FCX today.

4. Trade the ETFs: When the market gaps up, follow the short ETFs such as SRS, SMN, FAZ, SKF and buy them when people are chasing the market. This is a BEAR market. Buy these low.

5. The night before, search for stocks that pulled back from great earnings at key retracement such as ma-50, ma-200, 38%, 50% retrace, etc..know your stocks to make sure you think they have solid fundamentals. If the next day, market looks strong then trade these. For example, SYNA pulled back from almost $28. Follow these. Analysts may come out saying the pull back is overdone. AMZN is a good one to trade on pull back.

Until the market shows sign of reversal, shorting is easier. Day trading helps us to sleep better at night.

We never know what Mitchell will tell her husband Obama to say in the morning. He means well but we are facing a very tough time and Idon't think anyone out there has a solution. We tend to say that guy is no smart, etc....it's not easy but our country will get out of this. I pray daily!

 

jn, that is a good point. i am interested to know, how long have u been trading, and are u successful.

do you play only the indicators? if so what are your stops (i know they are probably different all the time, but in general).

also do u trade stocks, indexes, futures, or all of the above?

the reason i ask is because. i have found the general direction is the most important factor. it seems since we are bear, which i hope we can all agree on, then that, in the end, drags down everything, so profits are less, ups are less, and up movements are less.

funny thing is , u might think i would be making a ton of money short, but i cant bring myself to short. its weird.

i think i need a lot more experience. any info is greatly appreciated.

THANKS

 

cyber, i was posting when you posted.

thanks, that is solid insight and i will look into them.

i have a question:

do u use trailing stops?? they seem worthless to me. they guarantee that i get my trailing stop less than the highest price. i dont think i have made any extra money using trailing stops.

if u agree then great, it affirms my opinion. if u dont, can you tell me how u use them. i usually place them 5 cents less then the last retracement. which never seems to work.

THANKS