how do i day trade stocks?
I really just want a top to bottom answer to this.
do i absolutely need stock trading software?
can i do it with scottrade or etrade and other sites like that? are their regulations practical for day trading?
any information helps thanks!
Comments
There are great free resources on the internet, but one place that not only has good picks, but also has a great monthly primer on technical analysis is The Fund Timer. The newsletter is free until they make 50% on their portfolio this year. They’re currently at +35% or so in the handful of months they’ve been online. Supposedly they didn’t make their previous musings public.
http://www.thefundtimer.com is where you can sign up.
It’s a free newsletter that focuses on the ETF markets, and individual stocks. The post their portfolio, returns, and they post their trades before they put them in with their broker.
Their Chief Analyst Scott K. has been very kind to explain things to me via e-mail, and seems to really know his stuff.
Another place for great information is http://www.etfguide.com. They have a great wealth of information there as well. I’ve had less luck getting responses from them, but they’re on-the-ball.
The other advice I would give is to resign to yourself that you’ll never know everything about the markets, and always keep learning. There are knowledgeable people out there but you’ll need to find them, because they won’t find you. 
get a decent book educate yourself first
Congratulations… you sound like someone looking for an easy way to make money in stocks.
I spent years doing position and swing trading so I could get into day trading. I read a new trading book every month. I’m just starting to become reliably profitable in day trading (I am profitable in position and swing trading).
As far as "stock trading software"… a good broker will give you most of what you need (many for free). Scottrade is much better than eTrade for day trading. Scottrade is a mediocre broker.
Outside of charting, alerts and a good complement of order types (OCO/bracket and conditional orders)…. You’ll get most of what you need. I do pay $70 a month for a good scanning package (to bring day trade leads to me quickly… in real time).
This package allows me to find stocks with good opening ranges, high volume (both for the day and narrowed down to the past 5 minutes, and compare it to the day before). I can pick stocks with my minimum amount of volume and the companies net value.
Trading is very time consuming and hard work. 95% of the people that try… fail. People looking for the easy way to get into trading, generally wind up destroying their accounts.
search internet, you’ll find good site to learn
no you do not absolutely need extra software.
you do need $25k to start if you are going to self-declare yourself as
as a day trader.
June 27th, 2010 at 2:15 am
If you’re a rookie in investing or stocks, go to
http://www.finance.yahoo.com.
Open up a portfolio without using real money. You can give yourself as much or as little money to try out the market. The stocks you want to focus on is consumer staples, consumer discretionary, and healthcare. These are DEFENSIVE stocks that will survive through good and bad times. Most of my positions are in these stocks. Some names include 3M, Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, Exxon Mobil, Walmart, Costco. Everybody’s got to eat and wipe their butts regardless of the state of economy. Many of these companies survived through the Great Depression.
That’s the benefits. You can sleep at night knowing your money is doing well. There are NO guarantees that you won’t lose money. It’s just that these stocks are the best. They pay good dividends too.
Then once you’re comfortable and test the waters of the market, you can finally put some real money in. Go to Scottrade.com. They’re excellent for beginners.
If you’re new to stocks, DON’T DAY TRADE. You’ll a rookie in a world of professionals. I tried day-trading with Citigroup and AIG when they were a little bit over $1. I had some luck at first, making about $30 a day but I was way over my head. My luck didn’t last long and I had to rethink my strategy.
Day trading involves A LOT of commissions to the broker. With all the commissions deducted from each trade, you’ll be lucky if you only lose half your money.
I would just day trade using Yahoo! Finance. Open a stimulation account, give yourself $100 worth of fake money and play it in the stimulation format. You’ll see what I mean by losing money every easily.
Good luck.