There is excellent money to be made in day trading, but, unlike what some may think, it is not a simple job. To be successful, you’ll need to put in some work.
Day trading stocks and commodities is a great job and a quite profitable one as well. It requires certain traits for success, and certain habits will need to be internalized.
The first habit that must be cultivated a good sense of time. Day trading is not the sort of job for someone who is always late, or can’t get out of bed before 11 AM. The best time for determining how you’ll strategize to play the market on a given day is right before the opening bell. The opening bell rings at 5 AM in Hawaii and Alaska, at 6 AM in California, and at 9 AM in New York. Getting up early isn’t the only requirement; you’ll need to be alert and ready with a good internal clock.
A second critical habit is a good set of numerical analysis skills. Making and losing money based on gut hunches is a given, but you’ll also need to make educated choices based on what you’ve read, summarized, and synthesized so that you can make good judgments quickly with this background knowledge. All of this needs to be done fast, and you’ll need to quickly judge trends in financial markets and apply these snap analyses to your trading decisions.
Let me just point out that you don’t have to be a mathematician to be good at day trading. You can learn certain quantitative skills, even if you were never that great at math. Certain numerical skills will seem automatic to you once you’ve practiced them a bit.
A Third habit of successful day traders is the ability to make sharp observations, and to be patient when things don’t pan out. Observations must be made quickly and with good short term memory. Though it can be hard, you must train yourself to stay calm even when you lose a trade, and just as importantly, keep your cool even when you make a winning trade.
Dedicated research is the fourth important habit for day traders. While you won’t need to perform in depth analysis of accounting statements as in long term conventional investing, you will need to analyze the constant inflow and outflow of data to have a good knowledge base for making judgments on the fly. On the other hand, don’t get so caught up in research that you lose the ability to think and act quickly.
Bear in mind that you don’t have to do all of this research on your own. Top day traders have many tools and services available to assist in the research process.
If you think you are ready for a career change and that day trading may appeal to you, you’ll need to start by creating a support team. At a minimum, you’ll need a broker, and a few investors willing to help you level the market. Realize ahead of time that it’s hard work, and will require savvy, dedication, and focus.
If you think your skills are a good fit for day trading, this can be an incredible way to earn great money. It’s an enjoyable profession that can “enrich” your life as well.
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