Day trading in stocks is an exciting market to participate in for investors. Stocks are basically capital raised by a company through the issuance and subscription of shares. While stocks and equities are considered long-term investments, stock trading can still provide opportunities for day traders with the right strategy. The ability to short prices, or trade on company news and events, means that short-term trading can still be profitable.

 

 

This page will advise you on what stocks to look for when aiming for short positions to buy or sell. It will also give you some invaluable rules for day trading stocks to follow. You will learn how to choose stocks and when to trade them, as well as some smart trading strategies that can help you make a profit.

See the best stocks for day trading, based on volume and volatility – key metrics for day trading across any market.

Why stock trading day?

Stocks trading today are dynamic and exhilarating. Best of all, they are easy to buy and sell. With the world of technology, the market is easily accessible. Liquidity in the market means that short-term bullish or bearish price speculation is possible

Also, stocks are relatively simple to understand and follow.

While day-to-day trading in the technically complex world of crypto or forex can leave you scratching your head, it’s easy to grasp the potential wins and pitfalls of Google and Facebook. much easier.

This means that determining which stocks are suitable for online day trading will hopefully not be as difficult as in other markets.

Day trading and stock trading

Before you start your day trading a stock, you should consider whether it is definitely right for your situation.

For example, day trading usually requires at least a few hours a day. One of those hours will usually have to be early in the morning when the market opens. Long-term stock investments, however, usually take up less time. This is because you have more flexibility when you do research and analysis.

In addition, day trading returns can exceed long-term investments. This is partly due to leverage. This allows you to borrow money to take advantage of opportunities (margin trading). However, with increased profit potential also comes a greater risk of loss. On top of that, you’ll also invest more time in day trading for those gains.

You could also argue that short-term trading is harder unless you only focus on trading for one day. This is because it is much easier to interpret stock tickers and spot gaps in the long run. You also don’t have to rush to make a decision. However, this also means that day trading can provide a more enjoyable environment to work in.

A major advantage of CFDs and spread bets over traditional equity investments is the ability to “make money short”. There is no easy way to make money in a falling market using traditional methods. However, day traders can trade regardless of whether they think the value will go up or down.

Overall, there’s no one right answer for day trading versus long-term stocks. Spotting trends and growth stocks in some ways can be simpler as a long-term investment. Having said that, day trading can give you bigger profits.

Exchanges

The trading platform you use for your online trading will be an important decision. Do you need advanced charting? Can you automate your trading strategy? Can you trade the right market, such as an ETF or Forex?

There are several important decisions to make when choosing your trading platform or stockbroker, and many will depend on you and your trading style. Learn more about choosing a stockbroker here .

 

 

How to trade stocks

The best day trading stocks to buy give you opportunity through price movements and a wide variety of traded stocks. This will allow you to enter and exit those opportunities quickly. These factors are called volatility and volume. You might be thinking ‘ I’ve heard of stock trading and volatile volume before, but what does that really mean? ‘

Volume

Volume is simply concerned with the total number of shares traded in a security or market during a particular time period. Each transaction contributes to the total volume. If only twenty trades were made on that day, the volume for that day would be twenty.

How is used by a day trader making his stock picks? Volume acts as an indicator that gives weight to a market move. If there is a spike, the strength of that movement depends on the volume during that period.

Simply put, the louder the volume, the more meaningful the move.

Use volume

If you have a substantial amount of capital behind you, you need substantial volume stocks. While your brokerage account will likely provide you with a list of the top 20-25 stocks, one of the best stock day trading tips is to widen your search a little wider.

That way, you can find opportunities that aren’t on everyone else’s radar. Look for stocks with a spike in volume. If a common stock trades 2.5 million shares daily, but you notice it traded 6 million shares at 10 a.m., this might be worth exploring. If your platform of choice doesn’t offer a strict screener for high-volume stocks, use the following alternatives:

  • Column chart
  • Road
  • Yahoo Finance Abnormal volume
  • Volatility

Volatility refers to the risk/unpredictability of the size of changes in the value of a security. If it is highly volatile, the value can be spread over a large range of values. This means that a security’s price can change drastically in a short period of time, making it ideal for fast-moving day traders.

Meanwhile, if it has low volatility, the value of the security will remain relatively stable, providing less opportunity for quick profits.

Beta

One way to establish the volatility of a particular stock is to use  beta . The beta predicts the total volatility of a security’s return relative to the return of an appropriate benchmark (typically the S&P 500).

A stock with a beta value of 1.2 has moved about 120% for every 100% in the benchmark, depending on the price. On the other hand, a stock with a beta of just 8, has moved 80% for every 100% in the benchmark index.

How to find stocks to day trade?

So finding the best stocks to day trade is a matter of finding assets with high volume and or recent spikes in volume and beta higher than 1.0 (the higher the better). Stocks lacking these will prove very difficult to trade successfully.

How you use these factors will affect your potential profits and will depend on your strategy for day trading stocks. Profit from a unchanged price is not possible. Buyers and sellers create price movement, lack of volume indicates lack of buyers and sellers.

Defensive stocks, while typically associated with lower volatility, can suddenly be in demand if market panic makes a safer investment flight, so volume and volatility may not always always increase in obvious places.

Best Intraday Trading Stocks 2020

You now have an idea of what to look for in a stock and where to find them. Below is a breakdown of some of the most popular stock trading options of the day. The most popular exchange-traded fund (ETF) is the S&P 500 (SPY). Regularly trading in excess of 100 million shares per day, the huge volume allows you to trade both small and large positions, depending on volatility.

Alternative choice

However, in addition to the popular options above, there are several other popular exchanges worth considering, including the Toronto Stock Exchange, Karachi Stock Exchange, Philippine Stock Exchange, and the Philippine Stock Exchange. Tokyo Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange.

You can also start the day trading Australian stocks, Chinese stocks, Japanese stocks, Canadian stocks, Indian stocks, plus a bunch of European stocks.

So there are several day-trading stock indices and classes you can explore. Furthermore, you can find everything from cheap foreign stocks to expensive options. All of the strategies and tips below can be used no matter where you choose to trade stocks.

Shares Penny

“ Which penny stocks are the best for day trading? This is a common question we face. However, if you have read above that volume and volatility are the keys to successful day trading, you will understand that penny stocks are not the best choice for day traders. They have low volume (very little buying and selling) and this leads to a lack of volatility in the short term.

Volatility in penny stocks is often misleading because a small price change is a large percentage, but the reality is that most penny stocks end the day exactly when they started with no movement at all. It is impossible to profit from it.

Watch the volume of these stocks, as a spike could translate into price movement. But low liquidity and trading volume mean that penny stocks are not a great choice for day trading.

Using leverage is one way to make a stock trade ‘cheaper’ but make sure you understand the increased risk that leverage brings before using it.

Stocks to trade today

Now that we know volume and volatility are important, how does that help us find the best stocks to trade today? Well, the ‘Risk and Fall’ table is a shortened way to find the markets that work. It means something is happening, and that creates opportunity.

Most brokers will display a table of active stocks, whether they call it ‘Risk/Fall’ or ‘Most Traded Stocks’, they will all direct you to opportunities best suited for stock day trading.

When stocks trade daily

Timing is everything in the day trading game. If you don’t know the best time to trade, you may struggle with trading stocks for a living. With that in mind:

  • Start Early – If you want to start your trading after lying generously, don’t be surprised when you struggle to make a profit. The increase in trading volume is seeing the market only get faster. You need to wake up at 8am, prepare for the day ahead. This will allow you time to do your research and configure your monitor with the stocks that you will be actively monitoring that day.
  • Keep it short – While yes, you will make more money if you trade all day, day traders see the best profits when they trade for just 1-3 hours. You can earn £750 in 2 hours and £1000 when you trade for 5 hours. So, if you are considering trading stocks for a living, you can get the best profit every hour if you trade in short batches.

 

 

Sample

Wrench

The pennant is usually the first thing you see when you open a pdf of chart templates. It is created simply by significant stock moves and then consolidation. Converging lines give the pennant shape. You will see a breakout movement taking place along with a large stock change.

You will then see significant volume when the stock initially starts to move. Eventually the volume in the pennant will decrease and then the volume at the breakout point will spike.

 

 

Ascending triangle

Usually you will see triangles appear in an uptrend and are considered a continuation pattern. Less often it is created in response to a reversal at the end of a downtrend. Whenever they occur, the ascending triangle is a bullish pattern (when the small black candle is followed by a large white candle that completely engulfs the previous candle).

 

 

Descending triangle

Although usually a bearish pattern, the descending triangle is a continuation of a downtrend. Less often it can be observed as a reversal in an uptrend.

 

Cups & Handles

Just glance at the chart and you can judge how this pattern got its name. The cup has a beautifully curved ‘U’ shape and the handle angles are slightly downward. Usually, the right side of the chart shows low trading volume that can last for a significant period of time.

 

 

Top Head & Shoulders

Simple to spot, the shape comes to life when both trendlines converge. They come together at the peaks and troughs. The lines create a clear barrier. If the price breaks through you know to predict a sudden price move.

You will find different stock templates for day trading in every pdf you open. Instead of using everyone you find, excel at a few.

 

Strategy

The patterns above and the strategies below can be applied to everything from small and microcap stocks to Microsoft and Tesla stocks.

Heikin-Ashi

If you like candlestick trading strategies, you should love this variation. A candlestick chart tells you four numbers, open, close, high and low. But you use information from previous candlesticks to create your Heikin-Ashi chart.

  • Closing price –  Heikin-Ashi candle averages open, close, low and high.
  • Open price –  Candle will be the average of both the opening and closing of the previous candle.
  • High Price –  The high you see in your Heikin-Ashi candle is selected from the highest value of the high, open and close.
  • Low price –  This time the high price in the candle is selected from the high, open and close, but this time with the lowest value.

 

This chart is slower than the average candlestick chart and the signals are delayed. This is part of its popularity as it comes in handy when price action is volatile.

The strategy also uses momentum indicators. A simple stochastic oscillator with settings (14,7,3) will do the trick. If you see that two candles, bearish or bullish, have fully completed on your daily chart, then you know the pattern is valid.

  • Short Setup – If after several green candles the price makes two red candles in a row, the uptrend is over and a reversal is on the cards. Short positions should be used.
  • Long Setup – If, after a series of red candles, the price creates two green candles in a row, the downtrend has exhausted and is likely to reverse again. You should consider long positions.
  • Filter – You also need to use other filters to suppress false signals and enhance performance.

These charts, patterns, and strategies can all be useful when buying and selling traditional stocks. However, they can also come in handy if you are interested in the little-known form of stock trading discussed below.

Shares Penny

Every day, thousands of people turn on their computers in the hope of day trading penny stocks online for a living. But what exactly are they? The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) defines penny stocks as those that are priced at $5 or less. However, the majority of the trading community agrees a ‘penny stock’ is any stock that is traded on an over-the-counter bulletin board (OTCBB) or pink sheets.

Advantages & disadvantages

Benefits

To help you decide whether day trading on penny stocks is for you, consider the benefits and drawbacks listed below.

  • Excitement – There’s no denying that day trading in penny stocks can be exciting. The potential for big wins and big losses makes for an attractive market.
  • Speed – While many of the people on your penny stock list may remain relatively stable, some prices will change dramatically over a short period of time. This can lead to significant profit potential for day traders converting.
  • Initial Capital – Less than a thousand dollars can only allow you to buy some shares of large companies. However, you can buy thousands of shares of penny stocks that interest you.

Limit

Unfortunately, many penny stock day trading videos fail to point out some of the potential pitfalls:

  • Low Quality Companies – No matter how effective your strategy is, you will need to account for the low quality of the majority of penny stocks. This means that companies in dire financial positions, with worrisome balance sheets, generate substantial losses.
  • Risky Markets – There are a number of penny stocks that are regulated on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and the NASDAQ. However, those who are traded on Pink Sheets, OTC or OTCQX will often lack adequate oversight. Unfortunately, there are simply no strict penny stock rules. This means listing fees, reporting requirements and regulations can be virtually non-existent.
  • Brokerage Fees – With traditional day trading versus penny stocks, you also have to account for the less favorable price structure the broker offers. Many will charge a higher commission rate for penny stocks, if they offer it. Plenty will also not allow special trade orders, such as stop-losses.
  • Low Volume – Volume is essential if you want to make good profits. However, penny stocks can see only a few thousand shares traded per day, and some even less. However, large companies can trade tens of millions of shares in a single day.
  • Scam – Go to a penny stock trading forum and you’ll quickly come across stories of lies, scams, pumps, and landfills. Unfortunately, there is a lot of information available, so making the right investment decision can be extremely difficult.
  • Sell – Due to being traded with such low volume, it can be difficult to find a buyer when you want to sell. This is a serious problem, especially since making a profit often relies on buying and selling at the right time.

Spotted a winner

As you can see above, penny stock reviews highlight some serious concerns when these tools are used for day trading. Perhaps then, focusing on traditional stocks would be a wiser investment decision.

However, there are a number of individuals out there who make profits from penny stocks. So if you want to join this minority club, you’ll need to make sure you know what a good penny stock looks like.

To do that, consider the following:

  • Is the company profitable?
  • How many stocks are outstanding?
  • Are stock splits and stock options diluted?
  • Can the company really turn a profit based on its current business structure?
  • Is the current management team dependent on issuing new shares to raise capital?
  • Can the company compete effectively in its field?

Best of all, when it comes to penny stocks for dummies, knowing where to look can also help you get started. For example, the metals and mining industries are well known for their large number of coin companies.

Last words of Penny . stock trading day

In general, penny stocks may not be suitable for active traders. This is because even the best day-trading stocks under $5 can lack the volume, regulation, and precise information needed to make informed investment decisions. However, if you want to explore more, there are a number of penny stock book trading days and training videos available.

 

 

Stocks for kids

This is a popular niche. Choose stocks for children. Here, the focus is much more on long-term growth. “ Day Trading ” does not really apply. When looking for long-term ‘buy and hold’ growth (and to pass it on to future generations), the key test for any stock – is timing.

Time filters most things, great ideas, great books, great music – the best of them ‘stand the test of time’. Stocks (or companies) are similar. If you want to buy some stock and never worry about it until you come to give it to your kids, look for the oldest businesses out there. Tech stocks are simply too new to know if they are ‘classics’. A company that’s been around for 100 years has seen (and survived) more booms and busts than any other hot trader. Let time be your guide.

Intraday trading tips

From above you should have a plan when you will trade and what you will trade. But it’s also worth determining how much you can risk per trade, plus specifying a maximum daily loss or loss from the top limits. This discipline will prevent you from losing more than you can afford while optimizing your potential profits. So think of these as general rules when you day trade stocks:

  • Keep it simple – If you’re new to the game, focus on just one or two stocks to get started. This simple approach is ideal for people who don’t have sixteen hours a day to be glued to a screen. If you trade the same few stocks every day, you will become an expert much faster.
  • Know Your Costs – Daily traders often pay huge amounts in commissions, simply through volume. Income tax can be another expense, depending on the location and whether day trading is your ‘job’. Say you’re competing against sophisticated algorithms that can enter and exit positions in a fraction of a second and you’ll realize the importance of an effective money management strategy for day trading stocks.

Tools

Education

If you want to continue for tomorrow, you need to learn about the range of resources available. It is especially important for beginners to use the tools below:

  • Blogs and forums – They provide a great opportunity to learn from experienced traders. Traders can provide techniques for scanning potential stocks. In addition, you can learn the secrets of profiting from short, sharp price movements. You can even get day picker stock trading for free.
  • Courses – There are many online and face-to-face courses available. These can teach you everything from the basics of day trading stocks to in-depth stock market analysis. On top of that, you’ll often spot the risks of certain strategies and how to avoid them. All can help you stay away from the most common mistakes made by day traders.
  • Tutorials – They can be in the form of training videos, PDFs or other written material. They can teach you how to set up your new software for stock picking and creating stock alerts. All of these can help you capitalize on the most volatile stocks and boost that overall salary.
  • Newsletter – Newsletter stocks online pick-up newsletter can prove useful. They usually scan for potential stocks for you, and also display stock charts to support their findings. If you’re looking for the best stocks right now, they can often be worth exploring.
  • Stock Sites – These sites are another great place to find hot stocks and recommendations. Often, they also provide definitions that are helpful for beginners and help you define criteria when looking for opportunities.
  • Books – Stock market book trading day is another great resource. They can help you with everything from identifying hot oil stocks to avoiding illiquid stocks. You will also find relevant books. So if you are interested in day trading penny stocks, for example, the right book can help you identify the best day trading stocks under $5.

Stock picker software

You may want to start trading stocks full time, however, with so many different stocks and markets available, how do you know what to choose? Do you want to start your day trading gold stocks, bank stocks, low price stocks, or perhaps Hong Kong stocks?

This is where a stock picking service can prove useful. But what exactly does it do and what exactly can it help? It’s essentially a computer program that helps you pick the best stocks from the market, in specific situations. Then it can help in the following ways:

  • Software often streamlines the process of pouring through large amounts of data and finding potential opportunities that match certain criteria.
  • You will often receive real-time email and text notifications when new trading opportunities arise.
  • Many stock pickers have an active and helpful chat room that will help you learn how to start sifting through the stocks that interest you.
  • Lots of vendors offer market outlooks at the beginning of the day, plus stock ideas and techniques to capitalize on the day’s trading of the most active stocks.
  • The software is often flexible. So it can be used to help you start your day trading stocks, IPO stocks and blue-chip stocks.

Overall, such software can be useful if used properly. It can quickly create a stock watch list, allowing you to focus your time on building a strategy. However, it is important to note that such systems should only be used to complement your strategy and not as a comprehensive day trading advisor.

Demo account

A free stock trading simulator day is a great way to learn about the markets. So how does it work? Funded with virtual currency, you can exercise stock picks, so you can practice buying and selling your favorite Apple or Biotech stock, for example. This allows you to practice dealing with stock liquidity and develop your skills in stock analysis.

Since you practice against actual historical data, you can develop specific strategies that will work best for the NASDAQ or the NYSE, for example. All of this can help you find the right day trading formula for your stock market. Not to mention, due to the time spent on the demo account, it can be much easier to predict future stocks.

For more instructions on how the practice simulator can help you, check out our demo account page .
Remember – if you want to make $100 a day trading stocks, whether you’re from Canada, India, Singapore, Australia or the Philippines, you’ll need to use as many of the above resources as possible.

Last word

Hundreds of millions of shares are traded in the hundreds of millions every day. This makes the stock market an exciting and action-packed place. As you day trade, look for stock patterns that show encouraging volume and opportunistic volatility. There are a number of user-friendly screeners available to see intraday trading stocks and to help you determine which to buy. Stock day traders will also have a clear strategy. In addition, they will follow their own rules to maximize profits and reduce losses.

Read more

  • How to build a stock portfolio?