Day Trade for a Living and Live the Dream

Most novice traders are attracted to day trading as they feel it can offer them a living by making small regular profits that can build up into a substantial income over time. Let's look at day trading in greater detail.

The reality of day trading profits is a myth, no day traders make money longer term and if you see a day trading track record of profits, you will however see the disclaimer below.

You need to read it very carefully - here it is:

"CFTC RULE 4.41 - Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not been executed, the results may have under-or-over compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown".

So what use is a track record with this written on it - it's not worth the paper it's written on. It simply means a vendor can make up a track record (showing any profit they like) in hindsight knowing the closing prices and they do.

They know day trading is a good story but that's all it is a story, I love James Bond but don't take it seriously!

No day trading is doomed to failure simply because the logic it is based on is just plain stupid - think about it:

You have millions upon millions of traders transacting trillions of dollars each day and every trader has different skill levels, motivations etc and you simply cannot tell what this vast diverse group will to do in a few hours and it's totally futile to try.

Volatility is random in short daily time spans, you therefore cannot get the odds in your favor and you will never win. Of course day trading also breaks the cardinal rule of trading which is - run your profits to cover your inevitable losses. Day traders certainly keep losses small but sometimes they hit a profit (day traders get lucky to) but do they run it?

Of course not, they close it out at the end of the day!

So we have lots of small losses, a few small profits and over time, equity gets destroyed - that's the reality of day trading. If you still don't believe me, try and find a day trading system with a real (not simulated in hindsight) track record, supported by brokerage statements over the longer term.

By the way if you do let me know - I have been searching for one for 25 years and not found one yet. If you want to enjoy forex trading success - learn to follow the longer term trends, where you can get the odds in your favor and make some great profits and leave day trading to the nave, or lazy traders.

Concentrate on working with a logical, robust and long term method which will give you forex trading success.

Choose Wisely When Trading Forex

You will be facing some pitfalls when you are trading Forex if you are poorly educated and using the incorrect tools. The smartest thing that a person can do is begin small so that you can see if trading Forex is something that you will be good at and want to continue doing on a larger scale. Traders are able to open mini Forex accounts with just $50 and if they should find that this is not for them they are able to easily exit and only be out the initial $50 investment.

Choosing to trade Forex can be a very risky endeavor even if you think you have the perfect strategy in place. You need to be well educated on how to correctly use the knowledge and tools that can easily improve your chances of making some nice money. So basically if you are not well informed before you begin trading you are setting yourself up for a fall. Here is where online Forex trading can be beneficial.

Being highly accessible is an enormous benefit of trading forex online. You are able to make trades no matter what time of day it might be. All online Forex transactions can be seamlessly conducted from the comfort of your own home.

Almost everyone will agree that another huge benefit to trading Forex online is that zero fees are taken from your transactions. So trading online can really improve your potential profit margin. You as a trader can conduct a transaction with any seller at any time of the day no matter where either of you happen to reside.

When you are looking to enter the world of Forex trading you need to locate the platform that will provide you with the best spread. Money from all over the world is very often traded in pairs and the various forex trading platforms are making from the different spreads so your best shot at turning a great profit is finding a platform with a super competitive spread.

Before you get overly excited about looking for a competitive spread on a forex platform you should also know that this can increase your trading expenses as well. You want to educate yourself before you begin trading and select a trading platform that you are going to be comfortable doing business on.

Day Trading Tutorials - Some Facts To Consider

Day trading has always been acknowledged by many as being as risky as gambling. Is this a bad rap, or is it really true? You cannot deny that trading and gambling involve great monetary rewards. Gambling has from the beginning of time been based on pure chance. Day trading to be successful on the other hand, has always involved skill and a good amount of knowledge to go along with a certain amount of luck. More and more day traders have been seeking day trading tutorials lately so that more skill and knowledge can be gained to increase their chances of success.

Traders are quite aware that they cannot rely on fate to decide their chances of winning at day trading. A good comparison to day trading would be a game of cards, not a game of roulette, slots, or other forms of gambling that are pure games of chance. Good luck has its place in bridge and poker. It comes into play in the cards one is dealt, something a player has no control over. However, the victor of the game is always decided by how the cards are played, not what is dealt. That is where knowledge and skill come into play.

The following are thirteen things you should know about day trading. These pointers should give you a good background, and supply you with important information about day trading and the importance of day trading tutorials before you make your first or next trade.

1) Learning to be a day trader means knowing the ins and out of the activity and what exactly is day trading.

Day trading involves the buying and selling of securities, or financial instruments such as stocks, their options, future contracts, foreign currencies, all within the same day they are bought. One is looking to take advantage of high market volatility or activity. The goal obviously is to profit from such activity. The actual doing it can seem strange and confusing to the uninformed and novice trader. Once one gets experienced, all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

2) Once the initial trade is filled and in the account, day traders will hold that position looking for an opportune time during the day to cash out of the position and realize an acceptable profit for their trouble. This opportune time may come in only seconds, minutes, or perhaps in hours.

Day traders never look to hold their positions for the long term. Their goal is to get out as soon as possible based on how they are doing with the position. Their ally is wild fluctuations during the day or strong developing trends in their holdings so that they can seek out potential profits in multiple short term positions or investments. Day traders will close out these positions during the day regardless of the positions profitability. This means, even at a loss, if necessary, they will go to a blank balance sheet at the end of the day. They can then look forward to a night of not having to worry about what will happen overnight to their positions when the markets open in the morning.

I realize it is way too early to see the importance of day trading tutorials, but you will if you keep reading this series of articles.

The Day Trader Psyche - Gambler Or Entrepreneur

There was a short segment on CBS Sunday Morning that was titled, "The Psyche Of A Day Trader." As day trading is what I do for a living; I thought it would be interesting to tune in and see what they had to say.

The premise of the segment was that there was a correlation of the effects on the brain of what a day trader does and that of what a gambler does. Somehow, (I don't pretend to understand the methodology of the study), measurements of the brain activity of a day trader and a gambler were analyzed while both subjects were involved in their various pursuits. Apparently, there were certain similarities between the two. This begs the question: Are day traders' gamblers or are they entrepreneurs?

There is something to be said for the rush of being in a trade that is making you money. To a certain extent, day traders are addicted to the feeling that they were right, that all of their hard work to get to a level of profitability is paying off. On the other hand, the sheer frustration and bewilderment a trader feels when a trade goes against him/her is equally as devastating.

Most any successful person in life has experienced similar feelings. If you are a salesman, there are similar emotions associated with closing a big deal that go beyond the aspect of "just making a living." If you are a research scientist, solving a specific problem that you have been working on must carry the same feeling. If you are a detective and have just solved a particularly difficult crime, would in a certain sense, again create the same feeling of elation. So it stands to reason that just being a day trader and having feelings of excitement doesn't make you a gambler; it just makes you human.

So the next question for the day trader is how do you adequately deal with the ups and downs of your profession? For the active trader, learning how to deal with this predicament is as important as finding the right trading system to use. As any seasoned trader knows, taking a losing trade is as inevitable as death and taxes. The best way to deal with this situation is to have a very defined set of rules and the mind set and resolve to carry them through. It is also important to have enough confidence in your trading system to have a positive expectation about the result of the trade. That way, when you do take a losing trade, you know that the probability of the next trade being a winner is high.

On final thought. There is no way a gambler can stack the odds in his favor. The house is always going to win. Why do you think they have all of those big beautiful casinos in Las Vegas? At least with day trading, a trader can, with a lot of practice, turn the odds in their favor. Is it easy? Nope, nothing in life that is worthwhile is ever easy! Is it possible? Absolutely!! With enough practice, the right system, the right money management rules, the right mind set combine with the integrity to follow through on those rules, day trading can not only be profitable but very rewarding.

Playing Your Risk Right - Day Trading By Proper Education

Trading can be a risky activity. There is no doubt about that! However, so is driving a car to work, but the risks of getting from A to B on four wheels are well understood and are managed accordingly, to the point where we do not think twice about getting behind the wheel.

And in the same way, provided a trader is disciplined in his approach to the job at hand, and understands the associated risks of the work, those risks can be managed and a trader could well be on his way to good profits.

On the subject of risk in day trading, it is almost unique, in that it can be learned and practiced with absolutely no financial risk at all. One way is by means of paper-trading - that is - trading using freely available simulation software. Thus in the same way a trainee airline pilot won't be let loose into the skies without having learned and rehearsed their skills in a simulator, so a new trader can employ the same technique before they start trading real money. "Sim-trade" before you give up the day-job.

Most of us may rely on experience as a teacher, reading the charts and relying on gut feel. Your experience may be a master teacher but it can be very costly and if we go through too many failing experiences, we will be out of the game altogether. We need to understand the risks involved in every trade to succeed.

Knowing your risks and knowing the right information in the right time is the key to success or failure. Note that in trading, sometimes that knowledge can be hard to find or intentionally kept secret.

It takes a lot more than getting lucky and common sense to break even in day trading. But who wants to just break even? If you are hitting a bad trade day, why not take a break and look into day trading tutorials. These tutorials are one way traders can shorten the learning curve and have greater odds of hitting more than losing.

Invest Online And Reap The Benefits

In today's modern and high-tech world, if you have no online presence, then you will not be considered as a perfect entrepreneur. People who are doing non-Web businesses cannot challenge this proposition. The most common and commercial applications of the Web are online trading business. Brokerage on the Web has totally changed the depiction of the traditional brokerage house. This paradigm has really changed the perception of even common investors. Sitting at home, investors can collect a wealth of information required for market analysis.

The unprecedented change in the stock market has really opened a new vista for all those investors who were unnoticed before. Any new investor interested in trading can join and earn short-term as well as long-term benefits from their investment. There are several advantages of Internet based trading and this has a straight effect on the financial growth of the investors in future.

Online firms on the other hand are doing their best to differentiate themselves on the Web. Consumers are also taking the leverage of the information and the resources that are being introduced by the company Website. In addition to that many firms provide analytical tools and help investors in making quick decisions. However, it is also important for investors to acquire knowledge and find ways to handle intricacies associated with online stock market trading.

Since, trading is done on the Internet and brokerage firms play an important role in the whole process, it is important for every investor to choose the best industry available in the market. There must be clarity from the firms for what kind of services they are offering and how they effectively communicate with their consumers. Search major companies on the Website and find their services and the terms and conditions associated with them. Narrow down your searches and filter the one that suits your requirement.

Investor's education is again one of the most important factors for people to succeed in trading. There are information available on the Net - read news, articles, newsletters, reviews and other Web content related to stock trading. Moreover, if you find any difficulty in planning or in trading process, you can discuss with online financial experts. These expert professionals with years of expertise can guide you in the most appropriate way.

Stock market has always been considered as a risky platform and only experienced investors should try - this is absolutely wrong in the present. Though the market is flexible, but today, this has become one of the easiest means of investing. Few things that you require are some market knowledge, a good

Online Trading - A Profitable Avenue For Investors

Are you searching for the best investment options available on the Internet? If yes, then delve into the enthralling world of online stock market trading. It's a platform where the sooner you come; the more you can reap the benefits. This easy and unique wire world of investing has indeed given a new meaning to the investment world. So, don't think more, invest your hard earned money and enjoy the benefits in a very short period of time. This technological innovation in the investment world has also opened a new vista for common investors who have never been in such type of trading before.

This revolution has notably advanced all across the world. You can feel the power of the Internet - with a PC and an Internet connection; you can start trading from almost any corner of the world. There are several advantages associated with such type of trading over other types of trading options available in the market. First of all, it is easy to manage; flexible, as there is no locking period and you can invest as per your financial strength. Though the attraction involved in online trading is obvious, Internet has added more leverage with the introduction of Web awareness through electronic content such as business news, chat-rooms and a wealth of resources including investment strategies, online financial advices and more.

With the gumption of major online trading companies available on the Web, the electronic communication networks are growing vastly and providing uncompromising services to individuals. Though such companies are mushrooming in the market, but you can't expect the same services from all of them. There are many companies who fail to offer the services mentioned in their Websites. Therefore, precautions must be taken while choosing the industry. Do some market research and find the best industry as per your need.

With the advent of the Internet stock trading, many new investors are showing their interest in this venture and making profits. No one wants to lock his or her money for a period of time - here stock trading gives added leverage to the investors. You can draw money anytime you want. Other remarkable benefits associated with such type of trading are mentioned below:

Best profits: Unlike traditional brokerage house, there is no middleman involved. Therefore, investors directly enjoy the benefits. This is again one of the major benefits that have attracted many new investors.

Liquidity: Since,

The Profit Making Approach To Currency Day Trading

Having the right attitude matters a lot when embarking on any course in life. Most of all, it becomes imperative for us to adopt the right attitude, follow the foreign exchange business with the best attitude. In the currency trading business your attitude determines your altitude. The way you approach the trade has a lot to do with how high you climb and how much profit you make. The major aim of everyone in the market is to maximize profit, so, get up, and be determined to make it in this trade - this is the beginning of the rest of your days in wealth.

Another winning approach to make profit in currency day trading is to be calm, calculative and collected. You need to work intelligently, calculating your every move, because it's not about how much time you work but how well you work. When you are calculative you definitely make more money even if you spend less time trading. The calculative approach helps you to, observe and scrutinize the world economies as it affect the different currencies hence you are able to forecast the rise and fall of prices of these currencies.

Be informed about world events, keep abreast of current affairs and world events that way you will be able to monitor currencies. Invest in training materials that will improve your skills in trading. There are different resources available through the internet, browse the net and get all the information you need to make it in the currency day trading market.

When even you want to deal at the market, let you instinct be your guide in combination with the skill you've acquired through experience. Those with high instinct and perception make it big in the currency day trade, if you are not like that, begin now to develop your instinct and perception, so that you can be sure to always, make the right move whenever you trade.

One more thing, Learn the different techniques used in the currency day trading market, bearing in mind that the best method to use is the method you know well and are comfortable with. The best technique is the one that produces better results for you. Go for the method you can depend on - something easy and not complex. These winning approaches will always keep you on top of the game - enjoy your trading!

Swing Trading For a Living - 5 Things Not to Expect

Yes, you CAN trade for a living. But you need to know what to expect. Unrealistic expectations can frustrate your efforts and adversely impact results. Here's what NOT to expect:

1) Do not expect trading to pay your bills.

This is not just dangerous, it is downright suicidal. You are likely to take above average risks if you are under pressure to produce enough by a certain date. If the trade goes against you, you will take even more risk to recover the loss and still make the quota for the month - a process that can easily degenerate into a death spiral. You should have at least 3-6 months of living expenses stashed away in cash/CDs to take the pressure off trading, or find a way to trade part-time while you are going through a learning curve. Some stocks are difficult to own unless you can watch them throughout the day, others are best left alone to do what they set out to do.

2) Do not expect a regular paycheck.

Many traders expect successful trading to generate regular monthly income. This expectation is reinforced and magnified by TV infomercials where dumb looking people "making $1,000 per day by 9 am" day in and day out make you think: "If THEY can do it, I sure can."

The market is not linear. It typically presents 3-5 great buying opportunities a year, when multiple stocks break out. Fast runners also tend to top out around the same time, when market conditions deteriorate. Your annual income is therefore more likely to come from 3-5 lump sums per year interspersed with many small losses in between.

3) Do not expect to beat the professionals at their own game.

Any stock you touch is likely to be traded by a handful of professionals who know more than you do, have more capital than you do, and have been doing it longer than you. Do not expect to outsmart them. Instead, find a method that will give you an edge. There is more than one way to trade.

4) Do not expect complete clarity.

As a matter of fact, expect the unexpected. No amount of due diligence will protect you against sudden losses and setbacks. No system works 100% of the time. Expect things to go wrong and be prepared to deal with it. Trading is not an exact science. Expect to operate on incomplete information and contradicting signals.

And finally:

5) Do not expect to make a killing.

The amount of money you can take out of the market depends on the amount of time and effort you are willing to put into this business. There are no short cuts. Instead of focusing on "how much you should expect to make," focus on how good you can get. If you follow a good system and are disciplined, profits will follow, almost as an afterthought.

Forex Trading - Advantages & Disadvantages

Foreign Exchange (or Forex, FX) is one of the world/s largest financial markets, if not THE biggest. Its daily turnover is about $3 Trillion dollars, it deals with the real-time exchange of currencies of different countries. This currency exchange market has a much bigger volume of buyers and sellers than any other market, combined.

Some of the major Forex centers around the world are: New York, Tokyo, London & Sydney, Forex is also the only market that is open 24 hours a day, almost 6 days a week...around the world. Forex is a speculation market, and one of the biggest obviously. It is well known for the volume that is traded, its superior liquidity as well as the steady trading. This attracts high levels of leverage, meaning you could buy 100,000 units of a currency for only 100, if your broker allows you to do so.

Advantages:

High Leverage - Usually you start with 100:1, this is really a relatively unique feature for the Forex market. You could turn a huge profit by simply investing small amounts.

Superior Liquidity - Most of the trading done on the Forex market is comprised of the main 7 currency pairs, due to the high volume of the trades this tends to exhibit some positive side effects on the currencies themselves. Price stability and little slippage are just two of many.

24 Hour Trading - Forex currency trading offers its traders a 24 hour trading opening, in this time an investor can trade at any time of the day, any. The market is open from Sunday 5pm (ET) to Friday 4:30pm. This gives traders a huge advantage, knowing when the market is closing or opening is a big piece of the pie. Traders use this to enter or exit trades at key times.

Profitability - The forex market can be called many things, one of them is an "over the counter" market. This is when a trader always buys one currency and sells the other in real-time, thus effectively hedging against itself in a sort of soft forex security system. There is no prejudice in this market, everyone profits equally.

No Commission - The forex currency market lets its traders keep 100% of their trading profits. If dealing with a financial market on an almost daily basis then the regular traders are the ones who really benefit by the no commission trading.

Disadvantages:

24 Hours Market - Although, as stated before, it is convenient for the market to be open 24 hours and a trader can trade from wherever, it can be a rough position as well. This is because it is not possible, at times, for a trader to keep track of the forex market for 24 hours a day. This is where the forex broker is beginning to show up, most people should get professional help with their trading for this reason alone. It is always better to deal with someone who can simplify the situation rather than the problem itself.

The forex broker can be described as a professional who keeps you updated on everything, from news to ticks to trades to prices. A broker will even tell you when to trade and when not to, they are your "guide" so to speak.

High Leverage - While this is also an advantage like above, this blessing in disguise can also drive traders away and can perceived as a disadvantage for them. With such high levels of leverage coming from a forex broker, comes a level of profitability AND loss that is just as high. As the saying goes "play big or go home", if you trade big you can expect to win and loose big too.

Too much leverage on a forex account can lead to a margin call from a broker, this is a very bad thing as your account can be wiped completely if you don't watch your trading positions. This is where money management comes into play.

Like every other market out there, the forex market is going to have its ups and downs. Being aware of the two is what gives good traders their profits. Knowing when to trade, the time of day/week, what size lots etc etc. Take these points and learn them, make them your routine and you will profit.

Why You Should Get out of Your Mutual Fund

You might want to think back for a minute why you got into that Mutual Fund to begin with. Did your broker tell you it was
a safe investment? Did your broker say it would beat the S&P 500 average? Did your broker show you some previous returns
and say "look at how well this fund performed in the past?"

Whatever the reason was then, ask yourself, is that reason still valid today? The fund you bought yesterday may be time to
sell today.

The question is...how do you know? What do the large institutions focus on when they upgrade or downgrade a mutual fund,
and shouldn't you be focusing on the same things? Do a little research and find out answers to the following...

1) Is it the same fund manager as when you bought? Fund managers change, they move on, they get demoted or fired. Has fund
management changed and are you really in a different fund?

2) Does the fund still meet your overall risk profile? Has the fund lost so much money that it no longer provides a safe
return on investment? Is staying in the fund more risky than sitting on the sidelines in cash?

3) Is the fund still investing in the same types of instruments as when you first bought into the fund? Mutual funds often
change instruments because the original instruments are no longer lucrative. Say you invested in a fund that primarily
invested in financial stocks. Today, financial stocks have taken a real beating. Mutual fund managers have had to exit out
of those stock positions and get into others. When was the last time you looked at the set of stocks your mutual fund is
now trading?

4) How is your mutual fund now performing? What if your mutual fund no longer is producing gains for you, should you
remain in that fund? And how many quarters of loss are you willing to take before you say to yourself, enough is enough.
Not every mutual fund does well every quarter. But how many down quarters will it take before you decide to move on. Many
fund managers will say "I didn't lose as much money as the other fund managers." Is this reason enough to stay with that
fund? Have you ever seen a fund put money back into your account after they took losses?

5) Probably the most important question you need to ask yourself is..."was it a mistake to buy into the fund in the first
place." Think back to what you were doing when you first bought into the fund. Maybe you were working for a company and it
was part of the 401K. Maybe your spouse saw an advertisement for the fund. Maybe your friends were in the fund and
recommended it to you. But perhaps you yourself didn't do your homework on the fund to know that this was really where you
wanted to invest. While it may be hard to admit your mistake, it may be harmful to remain in the fund just so that you
don't have to admit your mistakes.

Mutual funds are a mixed blessing. When the fund is doing well, you pat yourself on the back and tell yourself its ok to
have someone else, a professional, manage your money. And when that fund takes a dump, isn't it always easy to blame that
someone else for your losses? The real fact of the matter is that you need to take responsibility for your own portfolio.

You should never just trust a broker to make the decisions about your financial future.

If you are ready to learn to trade your own account, even some portion of your own account, perhaps you should look at
Shadowtraders.com. They will start you at the beginning and walk you through the maze of confusion that is the financial
world.

Here's Why You Should Trade the S&P 500 E-Mini Future

Whether you're new to the markets or a seasoned trader, you should be trading S&P 500 E-Mini Future.

Large Institutions and Hedge Funds trade S&P 500 Futures contracts. This way they leverage their money, not having to
invest in any one company but actually able to trade all 500 at once. The S&P 500 E-mini Future is a smaller version of the
exact same futures contracts traded by these large institutions. It is designed primarily for individual traders to trade.

But it follows along exactly with the larger S&P 500 the institutions trade. That way, when the large S&P 500 contract goes
up, the E-Mini S&P 500 goes up along with it.

The E-mini S&P 500 Future offers great potential for traders. The margins for trading the E-mini S&P 500 Future contract can
be as low as $400-$500 per contract, depending on the brokerage firm you use. But low margins are not the only reason
traders are turning away from trading the Stock Market. So if you are tired of being in stocks "for the long haul", if you
are tired of seeing your mutual fund portfolio value cut in half by the sub-prime credit crunch, find out why you should be
trading S&P 500 E-mini Futures.

One of the best things about trading the S&P 500 E-mini Future is leverage. The S&P 500 E-mini Future is based upon the S&P
500 index, or the value of the top 500 stocks traded publically. Wouldn't it be great to be able to trade 500 stocks all at
once, not having to research any one in particular? Unfortunately you cannot trade an index. So the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange created a futures contract based upon this index. Instead of having to buy shares in 500 companies that would cost
a fortune, you can pay $500 per contract. This way it is as if you are trading all 500 stocks at once. Now that is
leverage. Leverage is probably the main attraction of professional traders to the futures market.

Another reason professional traders are attracted to trading the S&P 500 E-Mini Future is the ability to daytrade. For $500
per contract, you can daytrade. What could you buy for $500 if you were trading stocks? And many futures brokers will
allow you to open an account with $2500. Daytrading stocks makes you a "pattern day trader." The regulations required that
you have a margin account of at least $25,000 in order to daytrade stocks.

Not convinced yet? Look, here's another good reason to daytrade the S&P 500 E-mini Future...no research.
You don't need to do hours and hours and hours of research just to find the stock to trade. No more investing hundreds of
dollars monthly in a Real Time stock screener. And most important, no need to have 5 or 6 charts open at the same time.

You can use just one chart. This means you can concentrate on your technical set-ups on just one instrument. You won't
need to open one chart, then minimize it, and then open another chart, etc. Trading just one instrument can often mean that
you minimize risk because your attention is narrowed to just what you are trading.

As we know, each instrument trades differently, requiring its own profit targets and stop losses. Trading the S&P 500 E-
mini future, you'll be able to identify profit targets and stop losses easier because you only need to set them for 1
instrument.

Much of trading is watching highs and lows, hard to do if you are watching a portfolio of 5 or 10 stocks. But if you only
need to remember one closing price, one high or one low, might that not be easier to trade?

Whether you are a fundamental analyst or a technical analyst, the S&P 500 E-mini Future will work for you. With the
institutional traders trading the larger S&P 500, you get the benefit of their research without the cost because you are
trading the same basic instrument they are trading. Are you concerned with overbought or oversold conditions, news
announcements, Federal Reserve interest rate cuts? The S&P 500 E-mini is a perfect tool for taking advantage of those
specific movements. Why? Because the S&P 500 E-mini trades 24 hours a day.

Or are you a master chart technician? If so, the S&P 500 E-mini Future is for you. It works well with moving averages,
macd's, stochastics, pivots, and many other technical tools. If you prefer to look at the markets through a fundamental or
sentiment-based approach, then rest assured that the same techniques for determining oversold markets or markets where
emotions have run to extremes, will apply to e-mini index futures trading.

Like any other trading, whether it is stocks or bonds or options, or currencies, trading the S&P 500 E-mini Future offers
great potential for gain and loss. Before you start trading the Futures market, it is advisable that you learn to trade
it. Take an online course, do a seminar, read a book. You might take a look at Shadowtraders.com. They offer both an
online study course as well as a seminar.

Forex Day Trading Strategy - Which One Is The Best For You?

Many currency exchange traders have developed their own forex day trading strategy to ensure their success in this field. However, there is no general method or rule that can be conceptualized since currencies are greatly dependent on the condition of the market on a "per day" basis.

Hence, to develop the best forex day trading strategy possible, it is essential that you understand these 3 different strategies that the industry experiences.

1. Slow Trending Day

The market experiences a slow trending day when the price of currencies start at 200ma, extends no greater than 20pips, then retraces to 200ma within the same trading day.

This situation often leads to a normal trending day. Knowing this, you can adjust your strategy correspondingly. Bear in mind that it often indicates stability of the currency's value.

2. Normal Trending Day

The market experiences a normal trading day when the price of the currency starts slightly above or below 75ma, extends a little, then retraces to 75ma.

This indicates that a particular currency is stable and shows the least signs that you should adjust your positions.

3. Fast Trending Day

The market experiences a fast trending day when the price of the currency is slightly above or below 21ema, ascends or descends, then reverts back to 21ema.

This will indicate bullish movements of the factors affecting the currency's mother country. Such movements can be for the better, or for worse. A closer study of the trends in the currency's motherland is needed to determine the next course of action.

4. Big Range Day

This is when the highs and lows of the subject range are 20pips apart. It indicates instability in the currency. Again, this may be good or bad. Your strategy should be flexible enough for any eventuality.

Your forex day trading strategy should be anchored on vigilance, flexibility and caution. A news day can be a window to great things, or it can be a hole that will make your entire portfolio crumble.

Day Trading Signal - Is It Better To Use Trend Or To Counter-Trend?

Every market shows a certain dynamism that makes it quite difficult to predict. Take for example the foreign currency exchange. It deals with currencies, and their value greatly depend on the factors at play in the respective mother countries. Not all of these factors can be predicted with certainty, hence, traders rely on trending instead, and trending is hugely dependent on day trading signals.

Do You Need To Follow Day Trading Signals To The Tee?

Now, here's the deal: day trading signals may indicate the immediate fate of currencies, but should we act on what they say?

There are two schools of thought on the matter.

The first tells us to trade with the trend established by these day trading signals. There are only three choices. You can buy, sell or do nothing.

Others teach that you need to counter-trend. Let's take an example to make this easier to understand. Suppose that the signals point to a significant drop in the value of a currency. You can speculate that a lot of people will sell thiscurrency to prevent losses. Because people will be dropping these currencies, you can opt to buy them at a low, low price, and eventually, when things start to look up for the country of the same, the law of supply and demand will take place. They'll demand, and you'll have all the supplies.

However, for this method to be effective, you need to follow forex news and be aware about what is going on into the country of the currency you are trying to earn from.

There are some risks associated with counter-trading although it can be really rewarding for smart investors. In fact, novices should stay away from it and should act with the system instead of acting against it because as I said above, it require a mind that is well versed with the intricacies of the industry as well as the happenings in world events.

You will also need to be able to analyze a big amount of information and it's not possible for a beginner in the currency trading industry.

Although it is sometime described as a gamble, be sure to master the day trading fundamentals before you can use your own method.

How to Make $100-$200 a Day Trading

Does making $100-200 a day within a two hour time window sound appealing to you? Of course it does, who wouldn't?

The real question is are you willing to put in the time, effort and money to learn to do this? We might lose a few people with that question.

The final question is do you have $30,000 of risk capital to make this money and are you willing to lose that? Ok, that eliminates most of you, so you can hit the BACK button here. Sorry, but better you know now, than later. Bye.

Still here?


If so, you probably did the math and figured even at $100 profit a day times 20 trading days is $2000 a month which equates to $24,000 a year in profits which is an 80% return on investment. That's an amazing return. Good thinking. The only problem is if you are just starting out, cut that figure by 80% if you are lucky. That's the time, money and effort part. But that doesn't mean you won't get there, it just means you have to work your way there, slowly. You can hit the BACK button now

Still here?


If you are still reading, then there is hope, but it's a long journey. Let us not fool anyone here. Trading is a skill that has to be taught but only to those who truly desire to learn. We call this hunger. The most costly way to gain hunger is to blow out your account and lose a ton of money in the process. We call this the learning curve. You get so deprived of effective trading methods that the process of elimination and contrast draws you to what eventually works and doesn't work. From here, the trader seeks out to fill in the void in his understanding of the markets and methods (if he lasts that long), unfortunately, he has no more access to capital. That is the tragedy of trading.

For all intents and purposes, we want to trim the learning curve as much as possible. Yes, it is POSSIBLE. Just like the markets, we like to let others test the support and resistance levels and then step in on confirmed breakouts. This way we avoid the risk ourselves. When learning how to trade profitably, you can also avoid the pitfalls by learning from the experience of others.

First, let me start off by saying, making money trading the market is not hard (if you know what you are doing). The hard part is keeping it. These are two separate statements. In order to even relate, you must have already earned' your way in the form of experience and effort with learning the methods. Let's also get something straight. There are no shortcuts in this game. This isn't a cheeseball infomercial and there are no twelve part video/dvd series to buy.

How these statements pertain to you as a trader depends on which side of line you are standing. Are you on the inside or the outside? The inside simply means you have already built a solid foundation in regards to knowing and executing the methods effectively. The outside is everything else.

Here's a quick test to see where you stand:

Answer yes or no:

1) Can you identify a pup and mini pup pattern?

2) Can you identify a prime setup and perfect storm?

3) Can you identify the four parts of trend?

4) Can you explain a channel widening and tightening?

5) Can you spot a consolidation?

6) Can you identify a tradeable' market environment as opposed to a flat and choppy untradeable' market environment?

7) Can you walk away from the computer screens at any given moment?

8) Can you take a stop loss and reenter the same trade minutes later and explain why?

9) Can you determine when your premises are fading and keep stops?

10) Can you enter a trade long and reverse it short based on premise changes?

11) Do you believe a stock can be uptrending and downtrending at the same time?

12) Can you accept losses on a trading day?

13) Do you have to make money every trading day?

If you answered YES to all the above and NO to the last question, then you are already at the stage where you should be making $100-200 a day, so good trading!

If you didn't get all the answers right, then keep reading.


The first part is being able to make the money. In order to do that, you need to learn an effective trading method or system. This can take years to develop or you can learn a system someone else spent years to develop (namely me). I make my methods public so anyone who truly desires to learn it can. Naturally, being able to learn it and apply it can be separate things all together. The connecting of the two can be resolved by spending time in our interactive trading chatroom. We offer a free 10 day trial. Full membership allows the trader access to over 3,000 pages of materials and interactive privileges.

Changing your oil is not hard, if you know what you are doing. You can either figure it out yourself through trial and error or pay to have a mechanic teach you. With that thinking, the goal of UndergroundTrader.com is to put our experience to your use so that you can fend for yourself in the markets. Learning trading should be a dynamic real time experience just like the markets. This is what we do every day. Here is a sample log of a day in the trading pit http://www.undergroundtrader.com/samplelog.html and a sample trade alert http://www.undergroundtrader.com/graphics/jay/

Apply for a free trial and you will have access to the trial trader training slide slow which has all the answers to the above questions and much more. This will serve as a good starting point to building up your foundation. In addition, you will also be able to view the analysis and alerts in real time so that you can gauge the results for yourself to see if it is actually worth pursuing the effort. Hey if the results are sucking, then why even bother? Seeing is believing and first hand experience is the only true way to form an opinion.

Before this sounds too much like a pitch, let me show you a trade we played on a stock called HOKU on 7/9/2007. If this goes over your head, don't sweat it. The goal is to be able to eventually understand it.

At 12:19pm est, we alerted our members to consider buying shares of HOKU up to $11.85 based on the multi lane perfect storm setup which comprised of a 8/13 minute dual pup and mini pups along with a daily and 60 minute pup breakout. The 3 minute chart formed a nice consolidation breakout. The beauty of the perfect storm setup was the layered support levels at 12.70. Members were alerted to trim the heavier size shares up to 12.10 coil resistance at 12:24 pm est. At 12:57pm, members were alerts to trim out more shares in the 12.40 x 12.50 levels (stinky 2.50s call option strikes). We finally LOCKED the rest of the profits out in the 12.60 to 12.70s range at 1:20 pm est as it was forming a gap fill of prior daily highs, where we anticipated heavier selling. The trade played out beautifully and our members made money.

Is every trade this good? Hell no. Does my method work all the time? NO. Does it have to work all the time? NO. It only needs to work when we use it under the RIGHT circumstances--- that's all that matters. The key is to know when the method is most effective and use it ONLY in those situations. This is what the real time trading pit is for. Learn and move on to sustain yourself.

Making the money is not hard, once you learn how to do it. Keeping it is the tough part. This is addressed in the pacing article. Remember, this is a long road, but if you choose to take it, the end game can be lucrative and fun. Good trading.

Why People Choose Day Trading?

In this article I want you become more familiar with Day Trading thoughts. At first, what is Day Trading? "Day trading" means that a trader tries to make money buying and selling stocks during the day taking advantage of the daily price movement. Day traders end the day flat (with no open positions).

It is commonly stated that 80-90% of day traders lose money. Also price movements in a day are few, so why people trade only in a day? What are advantages of being a day trader?

Advantages of Day Trading

Less Stress (Zero Overnight Risk)

To avoid the risk of price gaps (differences between the previous day's close and the next day's open price) day traders close all their positions at the end of a trading day. Because of this, day trading is less stressful than holding stocks overnight. After market closed you are not worried what will happen until tomorrow and what news will distribute. You never 'lost sleep'; in the morning have a nice feeling because you don't care what the market's doing at the open.

Cheaper Commission

One thing that makes day trading potentially profitable is commission structure. Day traders pay 'per share' instead of 'per trade' structure . If you pay about $10 per trade now when you become a day trader, you may pay about $0.01 per share.

Increased Leverage

Day traders could have 4 times their equity as intraday buying power. This great margin can increase your profits if used wisely. This increased leverage makes day trading very risky, especially if one has poor discipline, risk or money management.

Profit in any market direction

Day trading often will utilize short-selling to take advantage of declining stock prices. The ability to lock in profits even as markets fall throughout the trading day is extremely useful during bear market conditions