In the current credit crunch environment, the best remedy for feeling alone in the market is for you to get more involved in your own investing decisions. The issue is that most individual options day traders do not have the knowledge, expertise or training to conduct their own stock analysis and management of positions.

The growth of the worldwide web has resolved part of this issue in that the net now gives accurate information straight to the investors home.

Annual reports and accounts, profit statements, balance sheets, graphs, investment bank research, and even analyst video conferences are easy to have online. Now, day traders have all the investment tools required to make their own investments.

However, for quite a few the issue still exists. Why? Because, all the tools in the world are no good to you, if you don’t know how and when to use them. The truth is that most professional are unqualified to interpret the use of these investment tools, and are therefore likely to take big unnecessary risks.

So now what should investors do? The solution is to get a professional trainer to help you take the first steps to you making a fortune. Not to make stock option buying decsions for you, but to get you to make informed and, most important, profitable trades in your own right. `

You need to become more involved, and the first step in the involvement process is education.

The specialists will say there are three outcomes to take into account after buying a stock on the stock market.

First, the stock can increase in value and this is usually a good result.

Second, the positions can drop and this is usually a poor outcome.

Third, the stock can go nowhere – which is also generally a bad outcome. It is poor because not only could you have invested that cash in positions with lower risk that may have yielded a profit but you also incurred commission costs on the entry and exit which compounded your loss.

So, we see that there are three potential outcomes that can come about when taking a new share position, and two of them fail. Now, what if we hinted to you that by using a specific money making strategy, you can greatly improve your chances of success?

Rather than having two of three outcomes go wrong, you would have two of three outcomes that could go right. And, the 3rd scenario, the bad position wouldn’t be quite as bad.

It can happen by using just one of the many strategies involving teaming stocks with options. Sound attractive? Okay, but let’s not forget to lay a well built foundation first. Click this link to learn how an Options DayTrader made $9,900 with 4 trades and also receive free reports worth hundreds of Dollars.

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Primarily there are two trading styles in forex trading: Short term and long term. Short term trading is done when positions are opened and closed on an intraday basis. Long term trading positions may span a few weeks or a few months.

Scalping is one of the methods to trade forex on a short term basis. It is a trading style where small price gaps created by bid/ask spreads are exploited. It normally involves opening or closing a position within a few minutes or even second.

Scalping takes advantage of the fact that most of the time the market is ranging. Ranging means there is no significant price movements or volatility. The aim of a scalper is to make 2-5 pips per trade.

Scalpers look for the period when the market is consolidating and ranging like when between the closing of the US currency markets and the opening of the European currency markets. During this period forex markets tend to range for hours without much movement. This is the time when scalpers like to trade.

If you are interested in scalping then you need to make more pips per trade than the pips spread offered by your broker. The spread is your cost of trading. So if the spread is 4 pips. You need to make more than 4 pips for each trade just in order to break even.

You cannot become a successful scalper without understanding technical analysis well. You should have clear concept of over-under brought, support and resistance levels, trendlines, trading channels etc before trading any position.

Most of the forex brokers hate scalpers. Since the brokers are most of the time trading against you, a successful scalper can take profits away from the brokers. No doubt many brokers try to ban scalper from trading.

Since scalping means a few pips per trade, in order to make 20-50 pips per day, you will have to trade many times. Dont forget these 20-50 pips are after you have subtracted the trading cost.

Since scalpers are looking for capitalizing on very small gains like a few pips per trade, the profits obtained per trade are small. So scalping requires you to use high leverage.

Leverage is dangerous. It is a double edged sword that cuts both ways. Leverage helps you if market favors you but it will destroy you if the market does not favor you. So beware of using too much leverage while trading.

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By The Art of the Chart

If the trend is up and momentum in the range is positive, the second bounce in a range is often a better entry then to wait for the breakout because it can improve r/rw by a factor 2 to 4

5 min chart of a 2 wave correction into the rising sma 20, click to see 1 min momentum change!

I used to buy when a stock moves up and sell when it goes down. It took me a long time to realise that this might feel nice, but really does hurt profit potential.Toni Hansen showed me the importance of a momentum.  IPG was a strong mover in the morning but came off the highs.  On the 15 min timeframe I saw three bars up, and three bars down, downside momentum slower then upside. Timing is everything and if there is a three bar move I only start looking to buy after it has reacted for at least the same amount of time.  When price is near support, I start looking for a change in momentum (or pace as Toni calls it) on a smaller timeframe, often the 1 min chart. I tried to enter nearest to support as possible. It improves r/rw tremendously. You might think by entering early that a flush move is more likely, but often the opposite it true. Click on the chart to see the complete marketview I look at.

Many traders would call today a trend day since it started at one end of the range and closed in the other. From the sound of it you would think that you can make a lot of money on these days, yet usually I do worse on those days. Probably because I keep feeling I don’t want to buy the top. 

While today might be considered a trend day, it was hard to trade because it was very choppy. 

I was late becuase of other business then had a hard time finding something I liked until I spottend HUN, right before it started its final move. 

My entry was at 11.ninety, with a stop at eleven.65 and I closed all at 12.50, a nice reward, but more importantly the number resistance area (12.5) and daily sma 50 resistance. Not much but it was the best I could do today and it was a nice setup.

Please have a look at Online Income too.

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Expecting a miracle?? Well it won’t happen. This article is written to deal with trying to trade out of a losing position, NOT to ignore stop losses. Ignoring stops is the surest way in the world to take all the money in your account and just flush it down the toilet. I am serious. While that might help you in the short run eventually there is a 100% chance you will have a massive loss, like 50% or more on your money lost that is invested in the trade if you don’t use a stop. In addition, you will accumulate a portfolio of losing positions and have no more money to trade with. Every large loss starts as a small loss that is ignored - most of the time this is learned from taking a loss and then watching the stock turn and move in the desired direction. So the thinking is “They are not gonna get me this time”.  This is how traders learn to trade with bad habits.

The first thing to realize, there are 4 reasons losses that can happen when you are in a day trading or swing trading.

1. Timing is off on the entry
2. You are dead wrong on the direction
3. News items come out and move stock or index against you
4. Your price target to exit is too far away

We will address these one by one.

1. Timing is off on the entry

If your timing is off on the entry (the most common), usually that means the stock will go a little for you, then move against you within the first 5-10 minutes. The amount it moves for you will be far less than against, but the stock does not really go down to your stop area. The key to identifying this is the stock will hesitate up and down, just below your entry for long or above entry for short. It should not make a beeline against you and it should not go right near your stop in the first few minutes.

The best way to deal with this type of trade is to assume most of the time you trade you are going to be off. Buy or short only 1/2 to 2/3 the size you want where you think the entry should be. To help with this issue, never use market orders. Put a limit in just slightly below market, almost every time you will get filled. Obviously you need to be aware of the trade type – if it’s a breakout and you don’t think you will get filled if you don’t use market, then for sure just go in. Most trades you enter will not immediately run in your favor, including breakouts. Once filled, put an initial stop in for that position. Wait 5 minutes and see what the stock does. If it runs in your favor immediately, well then your timing was perfect – trade what you have OR look for the remainder on a small dip.

Most of the time the best deal is to just day trade what you have. If the stock moves against you more than for you in the first 5 minutes, but is not a beeline against you (meaning it looks like the trade will stop out etc), then put in an order to add at the low of this 5 minutes (for long) or the high (for shorts). In addition, if you are aggressive, put in another add order (press bets) above the high for longs, or below the low for shorts. IF you don’t get your better price add, usually this press bets add when its going for you will work out. If you get your better price add, cancel the press bets add. If you get your better price add, you can either move your stop down slightly but increase it to include all shares, or place a second stop lower on this second add - it’s up to personal choice. If you get the press bets add, move your initial stop up to just below that low of the 5 minutes, and make sure you increase the shares.

2. The direction you think the stock will move is just wrong

This does happen, even to the best traders. No matter what you try it fails, breakouts, reversasl, or trend following - common theme is you are just dead wrong. Usually these types of trades will be self evident from the get go - meaning within a few minutes its already far further against you than it ever went for you AND it does not oscillate. By this I mean the upside is severely limited (for longs) or downside limited (for shorts). This means it can move easily one direction, but really, really struggles in the direction you bet.

Usually if you see this happening, the only chance you have is to try to double down near your stop. You basically would risk another 15-20c on double size that it would bounce before you get stopped out, or sell down before you stop on shorts. If you try this you really have to be disciplined. Do not expect to make money on the trade. The goal is to minimize the loss by trying to catch a turn near your stop area. If you can cut the loss in half or even get to even, get out. Just move on to the next trade.

Advanced method when this happens would be to move the stop up on all to just below the turn IF you doubled down and actually caught the turn. When it goes halfway back from your second entry to your first entry, sell the add position. Keep your stop on the other position just below the entry for the add position. The thinking here is you possibly washed out the side that was causing it to go so far against you, so give the rest a shot. Because you made a bunch back with the added shares, if you get stopped you will lose less than if you did not do that. It really is a judgment call whether that is the appropriate play or just to exit all with a minor loss and move on.

3. News items come out and move stock or index against you

This is a tough one. You have to be able to analyze the news very quickly AND decide the impact. The judgment is would this news cause the stock to go far enough to stop me out? If the answer is probably yes, exiting at market before the stop will save you money. If you think there is a chance the news would not stop you out, the plan is to exit the position on a counter move the other way. Most of the time there is no good way to add shares to trade out of a news play where you get caught. Occasionally the market will react in way A, but a few minutes later they realize they are wrong (or someone made a bad assessment, and the market is changing its mind) and react in way B. If you can uncover and notice that this will probably happen, the add point is the high of the bar where the news came out. Usually that will run stops and trap whoever was playing the news as a quick trade and force them out.

4. Your price target to exit is too far away

This is common to. You have to kind of guess based on how the stock has been trading, localized volatility, and support resistance points where a price move might go to. I can be commong for a trader to think a stock will move to point A, but it cannot even push to half of A. Usually these types if you don’t monitor them real close will turn into losing trades. The main reason is a scale up seller (for long bets) or scale down buyer (for short bets) is betting the other direction and absorbing a lot of the volume.

Most trade setups attract attention, so the more obvious a trade looks, long or short, and it does not really do that or struggles, the bigger the indication is to get the heck out. Some of these can result in a huge move the other way because they trap lots of short term money in the stock trying to trade whatever setup happened. There is no real method to add to work your way out of it, you really just need to pay attention. If the stock appears weak (meaning it should be going up but its not) and you think you should exit - usually this is the right thing to do. Your gut is telling you something, the stock is not trading just right for the trade setup. Flattening the position is often the best solution because you are looking to lose less than if you get stopped out. Also realize if you exit early, and then see it was a mistake, you can always get back in with a click of the button.

One last word - do not fall into the trap of trying to make money on every trade. If you sense something is off or wrong and you are at a loss, take the loss and move on. Sticking around and trying to always make money will actually result in bigger losses eventually. You can think of the God rule (just a catchphrase) – When a trade goes wrong, (God) gives you one chance to get out – it’s up to you to realize the chance and take it.

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Search for ‘Technical Analysis’ on the net and you will be inundated with what’s available, but after much reading I uncovered Top Dog Trading.

When I began trading Share markets, I realised that fundamental analysis was out of the question, but reading share charts was something I could get my head around.

What made me decide to take the Top Dog Trading course to learn Share trading?…. A number of things besides the absolute necessity to trade better and to halt my run of losing trades; was that I understood what Dr Barry Burns was imparting on his website and most of the training is explained on the detailed videos which makes it much simpler to get your head around. A further qualifier was Barry’s CV; it is what I wished to see, a business man who treats trading as a business, he is also a highly regarded speaker and writer.

So I signed up for his free 5 video course on learning to trade to see if I would feel comfortable with his techniques.

Leading up to this, I had completed several other courses on technical analysis relating to Share trading but cannot say that I really gained the understanding of share trading that would help me trade successfully, all that has change having met Dr Barry Burns, I now feel confident that I can make the business of share trading, a success.

You will find Barry details the principals simply and clearly, then gives upto date chart examples with all their confounding moves showing how to make the rules work profitably. This is all achieved via a vast selection of videos.

Having completed Barry’s courses I have not only fully comprehended how to execute his methods but also developed a far deeper comprehension of the Share market & the associated charts and probably more importantly the money management and personal philosophies that are so intrinsic to becoming a professional Share trader.

Barry’s teachings are the best Share trading courses that I have found and I would strongly suggest that you give his FREE course a try. This tutorial has 5 videos that introduce you to some of the most powerful trading material I’ve ever seen.

Provided you follow the principals Barry explores, you will end up with a very profitable ratio of wins to losses with tight control on the losses, so when one does a trade that goes against you (which all traders do) the financial pain is not too severe.

I personally took the course, loved it, and gained a vast amount from it and have gone on to Barry’s more in-depth courses. My wish to understand more about Share trading will never again produce the losses of the past.

Try Barry’s Free Video Course for yourself:

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If you are about to start, or are already in the process of learning how to trade, or day trade, you may have already been searching the internet using Google or Yahoo for day trading training education, tools, software or seminars, and have found that there is a lot on offer.

For example “trading course” brings up 758,000 pages in Google and “trading seminar” another 109,000 pages, the question is what should you be looking for when selecting a trading course or seminar. In this article I’ll point out some of the things to check before spending your hard earned cash on your trading education.

1. Becareful of the hidden costs involved in a trading seminar that is away from home, account for the expense of hotels, meals travel and car rental?, it may be a lot more than you expect.

2. What is the return policy, this can vary widely between trading education companies, for some you only have a 3 day cooling off period while for others you may have up to 12 noon or the end of the 1st day to ask for your money back if you decide this was not.

3. For a live seminar are you also given DVD’s of the same or similar content?, so often live seminars fail to cover all the very important details involved in day trading. Having a set of DVD’s enables you to watch the content over and over again at home until you get it. Beware that some companies will charge you extra for the DVD’s even though you have already paid for a live trading seminar.

4. Check the internet for feedback on the company and trading seminar. Use search terms like “company name review or “company name scam”. Often reviews are posted in trading forums, these can be found by searching for “trading forum”.

5. In advance try and find out exactly who will be presenting the seminar. The last thing that you want is a professional “teacher” giving a seminar on trading, what you want is a “trader” who makes his living by trading and only does a few seminars a month out of interest and for personal reasons, not because they need the money.

6. If you are buying an online day trading or investing course where the content is 100% viewed online you should get at least a 30 day 100% money back guarantee, if not stay away.

7. If you are buying a course or trading seminar in which DVD’s and manuals are being shipped to your house, again you should expect a 30 day 100% money back return policy, less shipping and handling, again if not stay away.

8. It’s very likely that you will have questions after watching either the live or online course or watching the DVD’s, make sure that you will be able to ask questions and have them answered, either one on one or in a forum setting.

9. Last, but certainly not least, before buying do a lot of window shopping. The price for trading seminars, either stocks, options, Forex or futures varies widely from $50 for an ebook to over $25K for a comprehensive set of training. You may be able to find the same material much cheaper at a different company.

Also be aware that day trading education and seminar companies are always running specials and offering discounts, before you buy search the internet carefully for any deals and also call the company directly and ask for a low price guarantee. In other words make sure that you are paying the lowest price that they are offering the product for.

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