Day Trading For Dummies

Get started with an action plan Avoid day–trading pitfalls Position yourself for trading success Start day trading today with this hands–on guide to mastering the markets This plain–English guide shows you how day trading works, identifies its all–too–numerous pitfalls, and gets you started with an action plan. From classic and renegade strategies to the nitty–gritty of daily trading practices, it gives you the knowledge and confidence you need to keep a cool head, manage risk, and make decisions instantly as you buy and sell your positions. Understand day trading discover the fundamentals of day trading, from what it is to how it works Start strategizing get all the facts on the different strategies and research techniques day traders use to determine how and when to buy and sell their positions Pick up the tools of the trade find out how to set up your office to improve your response times, choose the support services you need to research trades, and get through a treacherous trading day with your sanity intact Get down to the nitty gritty grasp the day–to–day stuff that separates day trading from other types of trading, like paying taxes on your gains, measuring your daily trading performance, and much more Move beyond stocks find out how to trade in commodities and derivatives, among other more exotic trades Open the book and find: Market indicators and day trading strategies Advice on how to manage money and your positions Key characteristics of successful day traders Guidance on understanding risk and return How to differentiate trading, investing, and gambling A look at rules and regulations Research techniques used in day trading Tips for managing stress in the trading day

Introduction  1 Part I: Getting Started with Day Trading  5 Chapter 1: So You Want to Be a Day Trader 7 Chapter 2: Planning to Succeed As a Day Trader 23 Chapter 3: Deciding What to Trade and How to Trade It 45 Chapter 4: Defining Trading: Risk, Reward, and Timing 69 Chapter 5: Regulation and the Modern Trader 81 Part II: Exploring Popular Day–Trading Strategies  97 Chapter 6: Managing Your Money and Positions 99 Chapter 7: Technical Analysis 101 115 Chapter 8: Following Market Indicators and Tried–and–True Day–Trading Strategies 137 Chapter 9: Increasing Risk and Potential Return with Short Selling and Leverage 161 Chapter 10: Looking for Easy Profits: Navigating the Tricky World of Arbitrage and High–Frequency Trading 177 Chapter 11: All About Accounts 191 Part III: Necessities and Niceties for Successful Day Trading  205 Chapter 12: Equipping to Day Trade 207 Chapter 13: Researching Research Services 215 Chapter 14: Stress Management in the Trading Day 231 Chapter 15: Taxes for Traders 243 Chapter 16: But Did You Make Money? Testing, Tracking, and Evaluating Performance 263 Chapter 17: Day Trading for Investors 283 Part IV: The Part of Tens  295 Chapter 18: Ten Good Reasons to Day Trade 297 Chapter 19: Ten or So Good Reasons to Avoid Day Trading 303 Chapter 20: Ten Common Day–Trading Mistakes 309 Chapter 21: Ten Tested Money–Management Techniques 315 Appendix: Additional Resources for Day Traders  321 Index  329

Ann C. Logue, MBA, has more than a dozen years of experience working in financial services and has taught business administration at the University of Illinois. She is a finance writer who has written numerous articles on investment and has edited publications on equity trading and risk management.