Neophytes in day trading have common denominators that should be avoided. These denominators define them as traders initially but as they mature in the trade, they learn to strip themselves of these common personalities that are oftentimes unhelpful.
The Slacker, By definition, a slacker is a relaxed person, he does not take the business personally. He is contented in being a mediocre. He does not bother studying beforehand what the indicators are; he does not do his homework. He does not go over the past trading sessions to asses the changes that happened, the indicators that could have been helpful for his next trade, the chances on trading that he has missed. In short, he does not understand the behavior of the market and he does not mind. He is different from many other traders who dedicate all their waking hours to trading without counting the costs. A slacker does not have passion for this kind of work.
The Over traders, Scalping often appeals to novices because of the minimal risks on each trade and the opportunity that these give to practice trading muscles since each trade has a different behavior. However, scalping also lures traders to overtrading which has its inherent dangers like random choices of trades (remember that it helps to have a great deal of knowledge on one trade since it gives you a higher probability of profiting) and choosing too many trades that are too much to handle.
The Gold Rushers, These type of people believe that day trading could make them millionaires overnight. They believe in unrealistic promises that most promoters use to encourage people to participate in the trade.
The News Dependents, Most people think that the headlines provide all the information they need. What they do not realize is those commercial news channels have only one thing in mind- to make money out of delivering news to the people. They make trading news so trivial that many people react to them easily, sometimes with too much excitement. What these viewers do not realize is that by the time the news gets to them, the traders have already closed their positions and the climax of the trade is over. News channels and papers are fun to watch but they do not provide a great deal of information necessary for directing the trades.
The Trade Chasers, These are traders who lose trades and make up for them by panicking and chasing trades.
The All-Around Players, These are the people who adhere to the belief that knowing a little on each type of indicator is enough to make money on the trade. They are, basically the jacks of all trades, masters of none.