day trading

My wife and I opened an account with Scottrade to do some day trading. I'm hoping some DUers might have some tips. Positive or negative feedback is OK. If there are pitfalls I'd like to know how to recognize them and avoid them. Thanks, DUers.

When in doubt don't.

Do a dummy account in yahoo for some practice.

And I sure hope you have SOME experience in SOME sector's you're going to be investing in? Cause if you don't what will you be basing your bids on?

Also, USE YOUR STOP LIMITS. And if you have to ask what they are, DO NOT DAY TRADE.

Good luck to you. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Stocks? Futures? Options?

Stocks only. Don't know enough about options and futures.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

Great information on his daily sheet and the trading desk is worth taking a look at. I think they have a free 14-day trial.

Also do you have Level II? You really need to have access to a real-time trading system. I don't know what Scottrade offers but access to the market makers is vital.

I have a yellow stickie with that on it stuck to my monitor right now, in fact.

The advice on using stop losses is crucial.

I've been trading since 91. There are as many different ways to trade as there are people. The one, and only one, rule that must be followed is KEEP YOUR LOSSES SMALL.

Professionals use a 2% rule, they never risk more than 2% on any one position. This rule is very difficult to follow if you're a small trader because your account probably isn't that big.

The idea behind the rule is KEEP YOUR LOSSES SMALL. Everybody from small traders to George Soros make wrong choices sometimes. Humans make mistakes. If your mistakes are little ones, you will still have an account left to make be gains on your correct choices.

Hope this helps.