Best Day Trading Strategies for Investors
The best day trading strategies evolve each and every year. New forms of analysis, pattern identification and much more can influence investors. And as you may know, day traders are a different breed altogether. According to a Modern Trader report, there are more than 13 million day traders worldwide.
4 Most Popular Day Trading Strategies
Day traders understand that there are multiple ways to reach and maintain winning positions throughout each day. From trailing stops to profit targets, you can pre-determine when you get out.
But no two day traders think exactly alike. In fact, most of these investors have their own set of guidelines, concepts and even quirky superstitions. Whatever works to get ahead, they will use it. And they will keep using it until their luck runs out.
Yet there are four popular day trading strategies that are most common in today’s stock market:
- Daily Pivoting
- Fading
- Movement Trading
- Scalping.
Each of these strategies uses different techniques. But deciding when to sell is a uniform concept. Day trading is a full-time job, and most traders will define exactly when they will sell before buying a stock in the first place. Let’s take a closer look at these four day trading strategies below.
Daily Pivoting
Stock volatility is the name of the game when it comes to daily pivot trading. And the goal is to buy a stock at its lowest price each day and sell at its highest price.
These are known as the “pivot points” that investors use as indicators. Specifically, they use share price highs, lows and previous day closing prices to calculate pivot points for the current day. This has become one of the most common day trading strategies for determining market trends over different periods of time.
Fading
Fading is all about shorting stocks. And short selling is a trading concept in which you speculate on the decline of a stock price.
You begin by borrowing shares of a stock that you believe will decrease in value. Next, you sell these borrowed shares to buyers who are willing to pay the market price. Theoretically, you are betting that the share price will continue to decline before the borrowed shares must be returned.
You are betting on and profiting from the drop in stock price. However, this is a much more advanced form of trading that is not recommended for day trading beginners.
Movement Trading
Did you know that news reports and financial updates can play a role in a stock’s growth or decline? Well, movement traders certainly do.
The movement strategy is built around recognizing trends and playing off news releases. Day traders buy stock that has high volume support and ride it out until there are signs of the trend reversing. At that point, they sell their shares, hopefully for a profit. It’s as simple as that.
Scalping
Scalping is one of the most popular day trading strategies you can find. This is because it eliminates as much risk as possible in a high-risk market. Day traders take on as much risk as anyone. But scalping helps lower that risk by trading stocks as soon as positions become profitable.
Scalpers aren’t willing to take chances and wait for larger returns. The moment a stock price becomes advantageous, the trader will sell for a small profit. By doing this many times throughout the day, these traders can build up hefty gains.
However, scalping also requires you to sell a stock as soon as it begins to drop as well. That way, you take on a small loss and move on before the stock falls any further.
Best Day Trading Strategies for You
As you now know, there are various ways to go about day trading. Yet this is much more than a hobby. Your dedication will have to go well beyond your trading time. It takes lengthy research and continuous oversight to become a day trader.
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About Corey Mann
Corey Mann is the Content Manager of Investment U. He has more than 10 years of experience as a journalist and content creator. Since 2012, Corey’s work has been featured in major publications such as The Virginian-Pilot, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC and more. When Corey isn’t focusing on Investment U, he enjoys traveling with his wife, going to Yankees games and spending time with his family.
