Day Trading: Most Popular Articles

Day Trading Tools
List of the tools needed for day trading, with minimum specifications and recommendations. Includes discussions of day trading computers, Internet access, brokerages, trading and charting software, and market data.

What is Day Trading?
Explanation of what day trading actually is, and how it relates to other styles of trading. Includes some of the differences between day trading styles, types of trade, and day traders' personalities.

Pivot Point Bounce
Step by step tutorial of the pivot point bounce trade, including detailed instructions and charts of a real trade made using the pivot point bounce trading system.

What are Futures?
Description of futures markets and contracts. Lists some of the most popular futures markets. Explains how futures trading symbols are constructed, and how tick values are calculated.

Interactive Brokers
Profile of the direct access broker Interactive Brokers or IB. Includes information about opening an account, trading fees, trading software, and reliability.

Day Trading Charts
Descriptions of bar, candlestick, and line charts, with the trading information that they represent, and instructions for reading and interpreting them during trading.

Call and Put
Definition of related options phrases such as Call, Put, in the money, out of the money, strike price, option exercise, and expiration date.

Day Trading Market Data
Description of day trading market data, and the trading information that market data provides. Includes profiles of the most popular market data feeds, with the markets that they offer, their monthly fees, and their software and programming interfaces.

Tick Size and Tick Value
Definition of the futures terms tick size and tick value, and examples of their use in trading.

Currency Futures
Description of currency futures markets, and how they differ from currency markets (Forex). Includes a list of the most popular currency futures markets, with links to their market profiles, and contract specifications.

Day Trading Computer
Description of day trading computers, including laptops and desktops, with recommendations for the minimum specifications that are suitable for day trading.

Increasing Targets
Discussion of target orders, with an explanation of why a trader would increase their target order, but why increasing your target would be a mistake.

How Futures are Traded
Discussion of how futures markets are traded, including descriptions of futures contracts, and long and short trades.

Day Trading Order Types
Description of the day trading order types that are combined to make a complete trade. Includes market, limit, stop, stop limit, market if touched, and limit if touched orders.

Reading a Candlestick Chart
Instructions for reading a candlestick chart, including descriptions of each section of a candlestick, and how to determine the direction and range of a candlestick.

TRIX Reversal
Step by step tutorial of the TRIX reversal trade, including detailed instructions and charts of a real trade made using the TRIX reversal trading system.

Day Trading Restrictions
Description of the SEC day trading restrictions that apply to US stocks and stock markets.

Moving Average Bounce
Step by step tutorial of the moving average bounce trade, including detailed instructions and charts of a real trade made using the moving average bounce trading system.

Day Trading Markets
Introduction to the markets that are available to day traders, including some popular futures, options, currencies, and stock markets.

Futures Contracts
Description of futures contracts, including the information that they provide, and where they can be found.

Trading Software
Description of day trading software, including brokerage provided and third party software.

Pivot Points
Description of Pivot Points, including definition, calculation, and their basic use in trading.

Description of Options Markets
Description of options markets and contracts, and how they differ from futures markets. Lists some European and US style options markets. Explains how options trading symbols are constructed, and how tick values are calculated.

How Options are Traded
Discussion of how options markets are traded, including descriptions of options contracts, long and short trades, call and put contracts, and options premiums.

What are Currencies?
Description of the currency (or forex) markets, where one currency is traded for a different currency. Includes a list of popular currency markets, and trading recommendations between currency and futures markets.

Zero Line Cross
Step by step tutorial of the zero line cross trade, including detailed instructions and charts of a real trade made using the zero line cross trading system.

Candlestick Charts
Description of candlestick charts, including the trading information that they represent, and the timeframes that they can be based upon.

Market Profile Charts
Description of market profile charts, with explanations of the information that they provide, and examples of how they are used in day trading.

Strike Price and Expiration
Definition of related options phrases such as Call, Put, in the money, out of the money, strike price, option exercise, and expiration date.

Market Data Definition
Description of day trading market data, including the different levels of market data, and the trading information that each level of market data provides.

Day Trading Brokerage
Description of day trading brokerages, and why direct access brokers are the more suitable than traditional brokers. Includes links to profiles and reviews of some of the most popular day trading brokerages.

Profile of the DAX
Profile of the DAX futures market, including the companies included in the DAX stock index, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Profile of the HSI
Profile of the HSI futures market, including the companies included in the Hang Seng stock index, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Moving Averages
Description of simple, exponential, and weighted moving averages, including definitions, calculations, and their basic use in trading.

Long and Short
Definition of the futures terms long and short, and examples of their use in day trading.

Order Book
Definition of the day trading terms order book, level 2 market data, and depth of market.

TradeStation Securities
Profile of the direct access broker TradeStation Securities or simply TradeStation. Includes information about opening an account, trading fees, trading software, and reliability.

Bar Charts
Description of bar charts, including the trading information that they represent, and the timeframes that they can be based upon.

MACD
Description of the MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) indicator, including its definition, calculation, and basic use in trading.

Profile of the ES
Profile of the ES futures market, including the companies included in the S&P 500 stock index, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Time Charts
Description of day trading charts based upon time, such as short term timeframes like seconds and minutes, and long term timeframes such as hours and days.

Averaging Down
Definition of averaging down, with reasons why a trader would average down a position, and an explanation of why averaging down will lose money over the long term.

Day Trading Stock Markets
Description of stocks markets and their suitability for day trading, including minimum trading deposit, margin, and SEC imposed day trading restrictions.

Commodity Channel Index (CCI)
Description of the Commodity Channel Index (CCI), including definition, calculation, and its basic use in trading.

Profile of the EUR
Profile of the EUR futures market, including the exchange rate that the market is based upon, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Stop or If Touched Orders
Explanation of the differences between stop orders and if touched orders, with examples of how using the wrong type of order can greatly affect your trading.

TickTrader
Introduction to the TickTrader trading software, with descriptions of TickTrader's main features, and examples of how TickTrader can be used for automated trading.

Tick Charts
Description of trading charts based upon ticks (number of trades), including their advantages and disadvantages compared to time charts.

Geographical Location
Discussion of the geographical locations of various day trading markets, and how that affects their suitability for beginning or experienced day traders.

Profile of the ER2
Profile of the ER2 futures market, including the companies included in the Russell 2000 stock index, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Forex or Currency Futures?
Description of the currency markets, including the differences between Forex and futures markets, and recommendations for the best choices for individual day traders.

Charting Software
Description of day trading charting software, including brokerage provided and third party software.

NobleTrading
Profile of the day trading brokerage NobleTrading, including information about opening an account, trading fees, trading software, and reliability.

Buying Stock Using Options
Explanation of how to buy stock using stock options, including the price advantages that this strategy can provide, and an example of a trade made using the stock options strategy.

Parabolic Stop and Reverse
Description of the Parabolic SAR (Parabolic Stop and Reverse) indicator, including its definition, calculation, and basic use in trading.

Profile of the GBP
Profile of the GBP futures market, including the exchange rate that the market is based upon, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

News or Technical Analysis
Discussion of the differences between fundamental analysis and technical analysis, and which type is better suited for day trading.

Line Charts
Description of line charts, including the trading information that they represent, and the timeframes that they can be based upon.

Profile of the NQ
Profile of the NQ futures market, including the companies included in the NASDAQ 100 stock index, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Profit and Loss Potential
Discussion of the profit and loss potential of various day trading markets, and their suitability for beginning day traders.

Short Covered Call
Description of the basic options strategy known as a short covered call, including instructions for making a short covered call trade, and explanations of the risk and reward of short covered calls.

Profile of the YM
Profile of the YM futures market, including the companies included in the Dow Jones stock index, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Making your First Trade
A step by step tutorial to making your first real trade, whether in simulation or live. Includes descriptions of each step, and images of the trading software and charting software at each step.

Commodity Futures
Description of commodity futures markets, with lists of the most popular commodity futures markets, and links to their market profiles and contract specifications.

Peregrine Financial Group (US)
Profile of the direct access broker Peregrine Financial Group or PFG. Includes information about opening an account, trading fees, trading software, and reliability.

Open Interest
Definition of open interest, with explanations of how open interest is calculated and interpreted.

IB's Market Data
Description of Interactive Brokers' market data feed, including the available markets, the monthly fees, and the software and programming interface.

Stochastic Oscillator
Description of the Stochastic Oscillator indicator, including its definition, calculation, and basic use in trading.

Stop Loss
Definition of the day trading term stop loss, with descriptions of the two most common types of stop loss, and a discussion of whether or not a stop loss should be used.

Choosing a Day Trading Market
Discussion of the best markets for beginning day traders, including criteria like initial trading deposit, personality, tick values, and geographical location.

Reading a Bar Chart
Instructions for reading a bar chart, including descriptions of each section of a bar, and how to determine the direction and range of a bar.

Trading in Simulation
Description of trading in simulation, and its advantages over trading live when making your first few trades.

Profile of the CAC40
Profile of the CAC40 futures market, including the companies included in the CAC40 stock index, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Initial and Maintenance Margin
Discussion of the initial and maintenance margin requirements of various day trading markets, and their suitability for beginning day traders.

Day Trading Style
Definition of the style of trading known as day trading, with examples of the types of trade that fit within this short term trading style.

Stock Options
Description of stock options' markets, including an explanation of stock options' contracts, strike prices, options expirations, and exercising stock options.

Transact Futures
Profile of the direct access broker Transact Futures. Includes information about opening an account, trading fees, trading software, and reliability.

Directional Movement Index
Description of the Directional Movement Index (DMI), including definition, calculation, and its basic use in trading.

Reading a Line Chart
Instructions for reading a line chart, including how to determine the direction of a line.

Volume Charts
Description of trading charts based upon volume (number of contracts), including their advantages and disadvantages compared to time charts.

Emergency Hedging
Description of emergency hedging, and an explanation of when it is used, with examples of emergency hedging strategies.

Swing Trading
Definition of the style of trading known as swing trading, with examples of the types of trade that fit within this medium term trading style.

Profile of the ZG
Profile of the ZG futures market, including the commodity that the market is based upon, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Choosing a Market
Discussion of the best markets for beginning day traders, including criteria such as initial trading deposit, personality, tick values, and geographical location.

Fear and Greed
Discussion of the emotions of fear and greed, and how they affect traders and day trading.

TRIX
Description of the TRIX, including its definition, calculation, and basic use in trading.

Momentum
Description of the Momentum indicator, including its definition, calculation, and basic use in trading.

Bull Put Spread
Description of the basic options strategy known as a bull put spread, including instructions for making a bull put spread trade, and explanations of the risk and reward of bull put spreads.

European or US Style Options
Description of the difference between European and US style options, and list of popular futures and cash settled options in both styles.

Trend Lines - Price Levels
Description and examples of trend lines showing support and resistance, and explanations of the information that they provide about the market's prices.

Trin
Description of the market internal known as the Trin, with explanation of how it applies to day trading.

Range Charts
Description of trading charts based upon price range (difference between high and low prices), including their advantages and disadvantages compared to time charts.

Telephone
Explanation of why a telephone is needed during day trading, with recommendations for the best type of telephone.

Overcoming a Losing Streak
Discussion of day trading losing streaks, with examples of acceptable losing streaks for different types of trading system, and suggestions for overcoming a losing streak.

Trading Logs
Discussion of trading logs, including the information that a trading log should include, and the different formats that a trading log can be stored in.

Opening Gap
Definition of the day trading terms opening gap and price gap, with descriptions of the most common types of gap.

Relative Strength Index (RSI)
Description of the Relative Strength Index (RSI), including definition, calculation, and its basic use in trading.

Accumulation Distribution
Description of Accumulation Distribution, including definition, calculation, and its basic use in trading.

Ranging and Trending
Definition of the day trading terms ranging and trending, and descriptions of the types of market that they describe.

Market Data
Description of day trading market data, with suggestions for market data feeds that are suitable for day trading.

Spread
Definition of the day trading term spread (or bid and ask spread), including what causes a small and large spread, and how they affect trading.

In and Out of the Money
Definition of related options phrases such as Call, Put, in the money, out of the money, strike price, option exercise, and expiration date.

IQFeed's Market Data
Description of IQFeed's market data feed, including the available markets, the monthly fees, and the software and programming interface.

Volatility Ratio
Description of the Volatility Ratio indicator, including its definition, calculation, and basic use in trading.

Trend Lines
Series of articles about trend lines, including the information that they represent, tutorials for drawing trend lines, and examples of trading using trend lines.

Day Trading - HowTos
An index of HowTos for the Day Trading guide site.

Profile of the ZW
Profile of the ZW futures market (wheat), including the commodity that the market is based upon, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Trend Line Breaks
Definition of trend line breaks, including why they occur, and examples of how they can be used as part of a trading system.

Why Markets Fall Quickly
Discussion of why markets tend to fall quicker than they rise, with an explanation of how the emotions of fear and greed cause this to happen.

Long Call
Description of the basic options strategy known as a long call, including instructions for making a long call trade, and explanations of the risk and reward of long calls.

Margin Call
Definition of a margin call, and reasons why margin calls should be avoided.

Long Call Butterfly Spread
Description of the neutral options strategy known as a long call butterfly spread, including instructions for making a long call butterfly spread trade, and explanations of the risk and reward of long call butterfly spreads.

Drawing Upward Trend Lines
Step by step tutorial explaining how to draw upward trend lines on graphical price charts, with complete instructions and example charts of each step.

Tiki
Description of the market internal known as the Ticks, with explanation of how it applies to day trading.

Profile of the Z
Profile of the Z futures market, including the companies included in the FTSE 100 stock index, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Single Stock Futures
Description of single stock futures, with an explanation of single stock futures contracts, and examples of single stock futures markets.

NewsScope - Sentiment Analysis
Description of Reuters' automated news services, NewsScope and Sentiment Analysis, including how they work, the information that they provide, their formats, and their availability.

Binary Betting
Description of binary betting, its advantages and disadvantages, and how it can be used as an alternative to regular day trading.

Bull Call Spread
Description of the basic options strategy known as a bull call spread, including instructions for making a bull call spread trade, and explanations of the risk and reward of bull call spreads.

Trading During News Releases
Discussion of whether day traders should have active trades, or be flat (no active trades) during news releases.

Points, Ticks, and Pips
Definition of the day trading terms points, ticks, and pips, with an explanation of which term is used for which markets, and examples of how they are used when talking about day trading.

Profile of the ZC
Profile of the ZC futures market (corn), including the commodity that the market is based upon, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Margin
Definition of the day trading term margin, with an explanation of how margin applies to day trading, and why different markets have different margin requirements.

Day Trading Virtues
Discussion of the personality traits of patience, decisiveness, and calmness, and how they are necessary for successful day trading.

Arbitrage
Definition of arbitrage with examples of how it can be used in day trading.

Profile of the SMI
Profile of the SMI futures market, including the companies included in the SMI stock index, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Long Covered Put
Description of the basic options strategy known as a long covered put, including instructions for making a long covered put trade, and explanations of the risk and reward of long covered puts.

Ticks
Description of the market internal known as the Ticks, with explanation of how it applies to day trading.

Order Execution
Definition of the day trading phrases related to orders being executed and orders being filled.

Fibonacci Numbers
Description of the Fibonacci numbers, including their history, calculation, and examples of their use in day trading.

Live Trading Room
Definition of a live trading room, with examples of different types of live trading room.

Weather Futures
Introduction to the weather futures markets offered by the CME (CME Group), including the weather events and locations that can be traded, and examples of why the weather futures might be traded (aside from day trading).

Drawing Sideways Trend Lines
Step by step tutorial explaining how to draw sideways trend lines on graphical price charts, with complete instructions and example charts of each step.

Trend Lines - Trend Strength
Description and examples of trend lines showing strong trends and weak trends, and explanations of the information they provide about the market's prices.

Time and Sales or Tape
Definition of the time and sales (or tape), and descriptions of the information that is provided by the time and sales.

Position Trading
Definition of the style of trading known as position trading, with examples of the types of trade that fit within this long term trading style.

Market Scanners
Description of market scanners, with instructions for how they are used in day trading, and explanations of the criteria that they can use.

Internet Access
Description of the type of Internet access that is most suitable for day trading.

Short Covered Put
Description of the basic options strategy known as a short covered put, including instructions for making a short covered put trade, and explanations of the risk and reward of short covered puts.

Trading Style
Discussion of the trading style and type of movement of various day trading markets, and their suitability for beginning day traders.

Bear Call Spread
Description of the basic options strategy known as a bear call spread, including instructions for making a bear call spread trade, and explanations of the risk and reward of bear call spreads.

Triple Witching
Definition of the day trading phrase Triple Witching.

Day Trading - Articles
An index of Articles for the Day Trading guide site.

Trend Line Bounces
Definition of trend line bounces, including why they occur, and examples of how they can be used as part of a trading system.

Drawing Downward Trend Lines
Step by step tutorial explaining how to draw downward trend lines on graphical price charts, with complete instructions and example charts of each step.

Low Risk Stock Investing
Description of an options strategy that is used to invest in stock with less margin and less risk, with an example of a trade made using the options strategy.

Profile of the ZI
Profile of the ZI futures market, including the commodity that the market is based upon, the full contract specifications, and the market holidays.

Long Put
Description of the basic options strategy known as a long put, including instructions for making a long put trade, and explanations of the risk and reward of long puts.

Day Trading - QuickTips
An index of QuickTips for the Day Trading guide site.

Day Trading - FullReviews
An index of FullReviews for the Day Trading guide site.