Day Trading As A Living?
The words "day trading" tend be brought up in casual conversations these days as most people know someone who has tried it or know someone who knows someone that has. With the ease of accessing online brokers, day trading has begun to take off in recent years as both a hobby and a full time job. With that in mind, there are several considerations you need to keep in mind before you decide to begin day trading on any level.
First, you need to make sure that you understand the risks involved in day trading, especially on the Forex market. Day trading is not gambling. Day trading is not a get rich quick scheme. Day trading is hard work that requires the ability and time to learn a great deal of information and apply it in real time across a spectrum of continuously changing assets. The biggest tip you need to remember is to always have patience. Do not make a trade simply because you want to make money. Make the trade because its right.
Day trading is not for everyone. It requires the ability to handle the ups and downs of making successful and unsuccessful trades. The Forex market trades twenty-four hours a day throughout the workweek. That does not mean that you need to, or should, trade anywhere close to that many hours. Maybe you only have a few hours after your normal job to trade, that is absolutely fine. You just need to realize that no matter when you can trade, you should only trade when market conditions are right for your trading strategy. This brings up another key point, always trade using some sort of strategy. You can trade off of technical analysis based on the chart of the asset you are trading or you can look to fundamental analysis such as how recent announcements from the Federal Reserve will impact the value of the US Dollar. Or you may wish to invoke a combination strategy. Either way, develop (or learn) a strategy and stick to it. Every time you make a trade, do so for a reason, not just on a whim.
Consistency in day trading is the hardest thing to accomplish. Any trader can get lucky or un-lucky. Those that survive and make a full career out of day trading make serious amounts of money each day and do so because they consistently trade correctly. Correctly does not mean that they always win. Correctly means that they know when to cut their losses when a trade is going bad and when to lock in profits and not expect more than is necessary when things go well. Set a goal for each trade and stick to it. Do not expect to make an outrageous percentage gain on any one trade. Be realistic. Set goals. Stick to them.
Also realize that no successful trader became successful over night. It is only through hard work and dedication to learning about what influences the markets, different trading strategies, and the best times to trade that a trader becomes successful. Research as much as you can about the Forex market. Read as many different books as you can. Stay away from robot trading programs - they simply do not work. Learn how to trade and why to make a trade. And most of all, have fun.
All trading can be a risk!
