So I am a 2.5 months into daytrading, down about $2500. Not too bad, but the discouragement sets in everyday around this time. No one has shown me a thing. I ask, they spout something about time and "have to be fast" and off they go. It's getting old. I am noticing somethings. So that is good. The way I am learning is a "look for the shorts" and that's it. Having 500 stocks up and scanning for shorts. That's it. There has got to be more. Whenever I get stuck I go back to charts, but I was fighting the trend. I fixed that (got some good charts, ours were crap and I was an idiot) My main issue is scanning stocks. The only thing I can really scan for is size on the bid/offer. So I scurry around all day looking for size. Then I pray it steps or gets eaten. Some one please tell me there is more. Any suggestions on how/where to learn a bit more? Thanks all.
Narrow your focus to one or two stocks, and observe how it acts, where the prints are, how it moves with the market, etc ... Your'e overwhelmed with all that data. Start narrow, and small.
I've been trading for 14 years and was successful for 10. When I started daytrading, I was making as much as 2 to 7 points a day. Then I lost my edge. The last three years, I broke even daytrading. So last year, I decided to put my money in CD's and paper trade. So far I'm not doing any better. Based upon my experience here is the best advice that I can give you. If you are losing money, then stop making real trades right away and until you prove to yourself that you now have a real edge. If you can't whip it, then move on to something else. Good luck.
Stop what you are doing asap. Try to papertrade stock indexes then move to emini's. If you have 30K account, papertrade ETF's profitable, then swing trade it .It loks like you are better fitted to trade indexes or eminis .
I agree with some of the posts here - you have WAY too many things to look at. Narrow the focus list and know that list inside and out whether that's 5-7 stocks or the mini's (my recommendation). Either way, you need to know how Ebay or the ES has responded during certain market conditions in the past. Study your list daily and you will be amazed at how quickly you just have a '2nd sense' for these.
Do you know what your problem is? You are fighting the trend. When the market is strong, big offers will be taken out and vice versa. I would suggest that you think about your strategy again. Don't find the trend. Just go with the flow. If your mindset is always short, you will not make money in a bull market. In a bear market, your method may work, but it will be too late to short when the big offer is shown. You will get squeezed once the offer is taken out. If I were you, I would reevaluate the strategy to see what works and what does not work. Good Luck!
Number of reasons: 1) Liquidity 2) Leverage - good and bad though 3) No uptick rule, easy to short 4) Fast moving, can make larger profits (and losses) 5) Monitor 3-5 markets vs. hundreds of stocks 6) 60/40 tax treatment