Day Trading Tips For Making Money In the Real World

Day trading can be an enjoyable way to make money. But it’s not as easy as most people think. Here are some day trading tips that can aid the beginner and the more experienced trader to help you reach your goals faster.

Tip #1: Do not over trade. The market is a random walk most of the time, meaning that it’s moving around without a pattern that can forecasted. Retail traders taking small positions in the market cause this meaningless movement.

The amateurs don’t affect the market in any significant manner. The pros, with their big positions and their commitment to hold trades for longer periods of time, create longer term moves that can provide large profits.

Many traders are lured to day trading because of the energy of the business and the potential for big profits. This mindset is not helpful. The pros keep their powder dry for long periods of time waiting for a high-probability situation to happen. They are much less active than beginners think.

Second: The trend is not always your friend. Perhaps the most common axiom in trading is “The trend is your friend.” That is a half-truth.

The truth is that the trend is a fair weather friend!

It is your friend early on. But trends get run out of steam.

Therefore there are 2 times to trade when you can put statistics on your side:

When a new trend is just starting.

Late in an old trend.

Trading only at these 2 times allows you to put the statistics of the “edge” of the bell curve on your side. Trading in the middle of a trend, puts you solidly in the middle of the bell curve where anything can happen.

Third: Listen to free chat rooms for day trading tips and do exactly the opposite!

I’ve participated in many chat rooms over the years, and have received a tremendous benefit from them. But the benefit did not come from listening to the teacher. It came from watching the comments of the participants as they shared what they were doing at any given time in the market.

The vast majority of the time they were dead wrong in their approach.

They represent the collective voice of the unprofitable masses. It’s uncanny how all the amateurs think alike when it comes to analyzing the markets. If you follow them in the chat rooms long enough you’ll pick up on the patterns of the things they do wrong over and over. Then you’ll learn to do the opposite and win.

As an example, one of the most common problems amateur traders have, is resisting the urge to fight the trend. You’ll often hear comments such as: “The market can’t go any higher than this.” “This market just has to turn around at this point.” “The market is definitely way over-extended now.”

It seems to be hard wired into the brains of retail day traders to trade against the prevailing energy of the markets and try to find the top or bottom. You can make a lot of money trading against them and doing exactly the opposite.

Day trading can be enjoyable and financially beneficial. To be a success, however, you must avoid the herd and stand apart from the masses who lose their money. Employ these 3 day trading tips to put you squarely on the path to profitability.

About the Author:

Dr. Barry Burns is the president of Top Dog Trading, writes a day trading blog and offers a free 5-day video course which offers day trading tips. He has addressed DayTradersUSA, “Elite Masters of Trading,” and Traders Expos.