Day Trading

A Beginners Guide to Day Trading Learn the Day

Trading Basics to Building Riches
Matthew Maybury

 Copyright 2016 by Matthew Maybury - All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents
Introduction: What is Day Trading?
A Tale of Two Days: Ben & Jenna
Risk, Reward, Temperament and Time
Summary of Day Trading Features
Chapter 1: How to Get Started
Your Personal Day Trading Playbook
The Essential To-Do List
Optional or Follow-Up Activities
Chapter 2: Stock Market 101 and Day Trading Principles
How does the Stock Market Function
Making Your First Trade
Two Objectives to Keep in Mind
Chapter 3: Different Types of Stocks
Chapter 4: How to Read a Candlestick Chart
Chapter 5: Four Different Order Types
Chapter 6: Dos and Donts of Day Trading
Chapter 7: Some Techniques and Strategies
Chapter 8: How Much Can You Earn?

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Introduction: What is Day Trading?

Fortune sides with him who dares.
Virgil

If you are reading this book you may have already heard about the exciting financial and personal
rewards of day trading. You are curious about the fascinating tales of great monetary rewards and are
excited by the prospect of working from home. But you may also be aware of the horror stories about
people losing huge sums and wonder whether the day trader lifestyle suits you.
What is day trading exactly?
In brief, day trading refers to transactions performed on financial securities within a time-restricted
period of one trading day on the market. Put most plainly, it is the buying and selling of securities,
which for the purposes of simplicity in the demonstration of this book, we will focus exclusively on
stocks (but know that there are a variety of trading options, currencies, and futures) limited only to the
course of one trading day so that no open positions are held overnight.
But, what are the implications of closing all positions by the end of the day? How does day trading
differ from long form trading? And what actually happens during the course of a day traders typical
day? These questions are explored in the following chapters with the purpose of providing a basic
introduction to the nuts and bolts of day trading so that the beginner trader may make informed choices
in their day trading ventures.
In this book you will learn specifically how to start and organize your daily trading activities, the
different types of stock available, how to read a candlestick chart, and place different orders. We
will conclude with a discussion on important dos and donts of day trading, as well as some
techniques and strategies to boost your day trading performance.
But first, it is not enough to simply absorb the very general idea of day trading, but to understand what
kind of person is attracted to day trading. While most people are attracted to the idea of this activity
because of its popularity, it is not for everyone. Are you someone who would enjoy it? Do you have
the temperament and attitude required to day trade? And most importantly, would you be successful at
day trading? To answer these questions for yourself, consider the personality profiles and snippet of
two days in the lives of two people, Ben and Jenna.

A Tale of Two Days: Ben and Jenna

Imagine a fellow named Ben.

Ben is a mechanical engineer in his early 40s who has worked for several years at the same midsized firm. He owns a 4-bedroom home, in a prosperous neighborhood, and is 10 years into a 30-year
mortgage. He lives with his wife, who is a full time marketing manager, and they have two daughters
under the age of 8, and they all lead a fairly active lifestyle. Financially, they are doing well. Ben is
especially glad that his family does not feel the need to keep up with the Joneses by buying flashy
cars or too many questionable items that would end up in a landfill eventually. But neither does the
family scrimp on minor luxuries like Bens golf lessons or his wifes spa days, and their girls have
enough toys, clothes, and little extras that round out a comfortable childhood.
One day, Ben goes online and opens up his financial statements to check the status of his investments.
Fortunately, he sees a healthy, if pretty much predictable, set of figure on his companys 401(k) plan-both he and his wife contribute their maximums and take advantage of their employers match.
Despite the funds limited options for investment options, he doesnt mind, why make waves with a
stable ship? Years ago, Ben also signed on board with his fathers full-service broker who works
with him to purchase a middle-of-the-road mix of stocks geared toward a conservative portfolio. The
broker also advises the family on estate planning and the family taxes as well, and Ben slept well
knowing that someone he trusted stewarded his finances.

For a moment, as Ben scrolls through the bylines of the traditional companies in his statement, he
thinks briefly about upping his investment game. Just the other week, he was talking to his neighbor
about another exotic sounding financial instruments, and at the killing that people were making.
Maybe he should set up something? But at the end of the day, the very thought of constantly monitoring
the market, following the ups and downs of hundreds of volatile trades makes his stomach churn.
Further, as someone who liked to save his money, Ben did not like the idea of paying broker fees, and
the more you traded on the market, the higher your fees can be---and you arent even guaranteed to
have a successful trade! Why pay to gamble? No, Ben is a true-blue moderate investor, not a trader.
Now, lets take a look at Jennas day.

It is 9am, and Jenna is sitting in her 2-bedroom condo in Miami that she bought outright last year, she
is waiting for the stock market to begin trading at 9:30 Eastern Standard Time. She is wearing pajama
bottoms and a t-shirt, and her feet are bare as she sips from her favorite coffee mug. As her dog
scampers by she scratches his ears and enjoys the quiet moment before she has to fully focus her
attention. Jenna sighs thinking that she hasnt been on a planned vacation in quite a while, but
consoles herself knowing that at least at 4pm, when the market closes, she was free to take her dog for
a run in the fresh air rather than battle rush-hour traffic on the freeway.
Prior to day trading from her home office, Jenna led a pretty typical career trajectory that began with
her completing a bachelors degree in finance with a minor in accounting at a large state university.

She did well and interned first at a major Fortune 500 company and before scoring her first job at a
big 5 accounting firm. While slowly climbing the corporate ladder, Jenna spent her spare time
experimenting with different investment strategies for fun and profit. She found she not only had a
knack for, but genuinely enjoyed seeing how she could make money in creative ways. When she was
in college, she made a risk-free $1,000 when she took advantage of the low interest rate on
borrowing for a student loan and placed it in a CD that yielded a higher return rate. After paying back
the principle plus interest, Jenna pocketed the profit and knew she was comfortable with playing the
long game, but was she comfortable with greater uncertainty for an even greater profit?
The answer came pretty quickly when she decided to funnel the $25,000 of her own money into a
trading account---which is the minimum required by the financial industry in order for traders to
conduct transactions. This was indeed a scary proposition because Jenna knew she could have done
many different things with that $25,000. While she participated in the traditional and secure
investment portfolios offered by her employer, Jenna eventually reasoned that her youth meant she
could be more aggressive with her capital. Naturally, she kept to the general wisdom of saving 10%
of her income and setting aside 3 months of expenses, but she rejected the idea that she should
immediately earmark her savings toward a physical asset like a home right awaythat can wait, she
wanted to try other things first.
Eventually, within a short period of time, Jenna turned her initial investment into a six figure trading
account. Then, she did this again and again. But then she also lost this same amount, more than once.
With each set of gains and losses, Jenna kept her cool, never despairing when she lost big, but never
losing sight of perspective when she profited, keeping to her game plan and being consistent in her
focus each day. Mostly, she honed her skills, learned from her mistakes, and built her financial
repertoire, eventually achieving enough proficiency to transition out of her classic corporate gig into
full-time day trading. Whether it was a good day or bad, Jenna finds immense satisfaction in her
work.
So, what is it that distinguishes Jenna from Ben?
Beyond the specific details of their work lives, portfolios, and financial choices, there are several
personal characteristics that make the difference in their day-to-day routines. At heart, Jenna is a risk
taker while Ben likes to play it safe.

Someone like Jenna is willing to take on greater risk for a potentially greater reward. She is a trader,
which is in sharp contrast to Ben who prefers the more predictable ventures of a conservative
investor. The notions of risk and reward, as well as the personality characteristics of temperament
are central concepts for our discussion on day trading, lets take a closer look on how this pertains to
you.

Risk, Reward, Temperament and Time

Chances are youve heard some pretty wild stories about day trading. Among groups of newbies and
seasoned traders alike, there are whispered tales of individuals earning vast sums of money with the
click of one miraculous trade, but then losing incredible sums, something like the proverbial shirts off
their backs---perhaps even occurring the very next day.
Whether these fantastic accounts have any merit, we will examine more closely later on, but first, in
reviewing the profiles of Ben and Jenna, ask yourself the following questions concerning risk and
reward:
1. How would I feel if I lost money for multiple days in a row? How would I handle this
occurrence?
2. Am I able to accept that despite hard work, diligent research, and focused attention, I
may still lose money?
3. Am I willing to engage with volatile markets day by day while maintaining a rational,
long-term perspective?
4. For the purposes of paying bills, debt, and supporting my living, do I require a
predictable income stream that is paid to me in intervals?
5. Does the possibility of great gain with great risk energize me?
The risk is real. There is unlimited potential for loss. It is not possible to win every day in the market
and thus, no guarantee for a predictable income. The industry requires a great deal of comfort with
risk coupled with a resilient trading account that can take multiple blows over potentially many down
days and multiple losses.
Next, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do I like working independently or do I require working with a team, in an office, or
require the services of support staff?
2. Do I work well within an unstructured, unregulated, or nontraditional environment?
3. Do I need traditional amenities that are already organized and available for me to choose
from such as health insurance options, vacation days, and formal feedback?

These questions speak to the two most essential characteristics of successful day traders: steadfast
self-discipline and fierce independence. Both are significant traits for most individuals to possess in
order to be successful in many different jobs and contexts, but for day traders in particular, these are
non-negotiable personality traits.
Day traders who experience the greatest returns on their investment of not only their money, but of
time, and other opportunity costs (losing time away from a traditional career options) are able to
work with almost no support structure, and can consistently handle their work day from the mundane
(copier jams and buying coffee), to the more complex (health insurance, retirement) largely alone.
Your daily commute from your bedroom to your home office will reveal no coworkers, no daily chitchat from colleagues, no institutional corporate networking, evaluations, feedback, and mentoring.
And while, many people who work in a traditional office are more than happy to be done with long
meetings, annoying cubicle mates, pointless expense reports---they are also missing out on truly
valuable working experiences, social connections, and professional development.
It can be lonely existence working as a day trader.
Some traders describe the experience of day trading as gambling inside a vacuum. This is an apt
metaphor given the inherently risk- inclined, isolationist environment of day trading. Further, and this
may come as a surprise, there is less freedom to day trading than you may think. How is this
possible when, as a day trader, you can organize your days anyway you wish?
First, you are beholden to the schedule of the market from 9:30am to 4pm. While technically, you are
your own boss, ultimately, your job is to sit in front of a computer and generate profit for yourself.
Every minute counts. And in fact, day traders must be able to focus their attention for extended lengths
of time---bathroom breaks are quick, food is eaten at your work station, and you must have constant
access to stock quotes via the internet or your phone. The amount of slavish attention you are required
to lavish on your computer and monitors is similar to being an air traffic controller in terms of the
complete and total attention required.
At the end of the day, the week, and the month, your goal is to see that the balance of losses and gains
add up in your favor. There are no allotted vacation days.

And, unlike a regular job, where you can show up and perform poorly in some instances and still
receive a paycheck, there are no such contingencies in the day trading industry. In fact, you may even
perform well and make rational trading decisions, but the market does not favor you for that
particular day---no bonuses for trying.
The ultimate question then becomes, are you able to perform well, and happily under these
conditions?
Before you begin the process of committing your time and money to day trading, answer these
questions for yourself honestly and completely. The more completely and thoroughly you answer
these questions right now, the more prepared you will be during the inevitable ups and downs of
trading.
We will close out this chapter by summarizing the major concepts you should now understand about
day trading from the stories of Ben and Jenna, as well as generally.

Summary of Day Trading Features

Short holding time/No overnight holding: the term holding refers to the stock you are
trading. In the case of day trading, you will only hold the stock in its position (in
trading, the position refers to an agreement by the holder to either buy or sell that specific
amount of stock) for the duration of time that the market is open (9:30am to 4pm). This
amounts to just under a 6.5 hours of holding time.
As we have covered, holding the position for this specific time frame protects your stock from
any overnight fluctuations (risk) in the market---a time when you cannot trade anyway). Once
you close out your last trade for the day, you are essentially done until you trade again the next
morning.
Expensive startup costs: day trading requires some up-front components that will
quickly add up in cost. Trading accounts require a minimum of $25,000 for a trader to
make any trade, this amount must be viable in order to keep your trading access open.
You will also need trading capital to actually make the trades---an amount that can vary
greatly for beginners, but it is recommended you begin with at least $500 to $2500.
The above quoted refers to only the essential cost to initiate an account and begin trading. In
the next chapter we will cover the importance of setting up a workstation that includes a high
performance computer and a fast internet connection. If you do not already possess these
elements, you will need to invest in them quickly.
Finally, there is education and training. It is advised that you take a day trading course from a
reputable trainer, or, once you become comfortably proficient, you will want to invest in
classes to hone your skills. Quality training may cost anywhere from $2,000 or more
depending on the content.

More expensive commissions and fees: this should make sense since youll be doing
more trades, and youll be trading every day. Paying fees for each trade may take a large
chunk from your earningsthese range from 20-30% depending on the level of service
that is provided. It will be to your advantage to comparison shop, or to find firms that
may offer special discounts if you opened your trade account with them.
Earnings are compounded more quickly: here is some good news, day trading offers a

faster return on your earnings, which in turn, generate further earnings. If you are making
successful trade, you will see daily feedback in your account, and this can feel immensely
gratifying.
Personality and Temperament: are you able to sit and focus on a great variety of realtime, streaming data for hours at a time? Are you willing to forgo a traditional work-life
with corporate benefits and support? We have already covered the basic personal
qualities of self-discipline and independence required for a successful day trader.
Chances are, if you are reading this book, you likely have a personality that values
autonomy and enjoys the instant feedback (negative or positive) that fast-paced day
trading offers. You actually enjoy the idea of working hard because there is a chance that
the payoff will be enormously profitable.
Lifestyle and Quality of Life: depending on the type of lifestyle you would enjoy; day
trading can be either your worst nightmare or a dream come true. If you are the type of
person who counts on scheduled vacation days and predictable income streams, then
likely you will find day trading a tough fit---but if you enjoy the prospect of seeing your
portfolio potentially grow to new heights and are willing to budget for lean times, then
day trading is your best bet.

Chapter 1: How to Get Started

To be prepared is half the victory
Miguel de Cervantes

Before you make your first trade, you want to ensure the best chances for facilitating your success.
This includes creating a playbook from which you will refer to again and again each day as you trade.
In this chapter, you will learn to create a playbook and cultivate the habit of logging in the details of
why you executed that trade. This is not as much of a burden as it sounds---all the financial details are
already recorded in your trader account; you only need to jot down a daily record of your analysis.
Also, in this section, we will discuss the very basic steps and outline the basic terms of day trading
that will get you started. You will learn how to open a basic account, how much you should have in it,
and the importance of setting up your day trading station with the appropriate hardware and software.
Keep in mind that like exercises in the introductory chapter, you need to put in the time answering
questions posed and performing needed tasks. If you are diligent about setting up an efficient and
effective workstation, youll find that is half the victory.

Your Personal Day Trading Playbook

What is a playbook and why would it be important for you? If youve ever played a sport, you know
that playbooks are an important tactical resource. It contains the techniques, strategies, and other
important notes to support a sports teams pursuit of victory. For a day trader working under the
constant, unknowable pressures of the market, it is easy to get confused in the confusion of a highly
volatile day. It is important to maintain perspective in the midst of daily financial turmoil.
In order to build your playbook, keep notes either on your laptop or small notebook so that you can
refer to the following questions quickly and easily:
1. Specify your profit goals and your loss limits by naming the threshold of gains you
would at least like to make, and the absolute highest amounts you are willing to lose
within a given timeline. For example: Within 6 months, I would like to make at least
__________, but cannot lose more than _________. At which point, specify what
your next steps would be. Some suggested follow-ups may be: spend 3 months
acquiring _____ more capital to replenish my trade account or relegate day trading
to monthly trading. If you happen to reach your threshold gains, you should also
specify your next steps. Examples of next steps include: reinvest into an additional
trade account or use profit to pay for analysis software.
The purpose of specificity is crucial for creating continuity in your day trading practice.
Without this forethought, you are more likely to make impulsive decisions whether you net
profits or suffer losses. For example, some new traders are so ecstatic from their first
successful trades that they quickly move this money into personal use when it may be

wiser to reinvest into their trade accounts. Similarly, a major loss early on may be so
discouraging that a new trader simply gives up before they gain the requisite insight that
would help them with future trades.
2. Each day is different, learn from daily success and mistakes by logging your
trades, which in turn, will give you the long-view of the market and your trading
practice. As part of your trading practice, it is important to create spreadsheets of
your progress based on earnings and loss reports from your trade accounts. The
additional features that you must log besides from net losses and gains is additional
narrative information of the trade---the company, your reasoning, analysis, how you
used research and information, whether or not you used software, etc.
Over time, these spreadsheets yield an overall picture of your trading progress. Day by
day, the market and your reactions to trading opportunities can meld into a chaotic blur
given the frantic pace of the market, if you do not log your trading narrative, you will
quickly forget what occurred and how you handled each transaction. A collection of your
analysis over a few days, over a week, a month, and eventually, a year, is an extremely
valuable resource for you to see not only the movement of the market, but sheds light on
your trading propensities and habits.
These two rules are easy to remember, but in practice, are difficult to perform. That is why you must
rely on your day traders essential character trait of self-discipline. Fold in the practice of your daily
log keeping and of writing reviews of your trading practice into the end of your workday; consider it
as natural as part of punching the clock for the end of day.
Making a habit of thoroughly logging not only your numbers (losses, gains, transactions---which
would be automatically calculated for you via your trading account) but of what you did and how you
made the trades will yield valuable dividends in the form of professional growth and greater
analytical skill.

The Essential To-Do List

Now that you have a good idea about the personal characteristics required to become a successful
day trader, lets look at the first steps needed to begin day trading.
1. Allocate between $500 to $2500 to begin trading
2. Allocate $25,000 as the minimum balance required to trade stock and to open a traders
account with a reputable platform (minimum account balance is regulated by the
Financial Industry Regulator Authoritythe FINRA)
3. Reliable computer, preferably with 2 monitors
4. Establish a high speed internet connection
5. Create a back-up internet connection such as a mobile hotspot connection
Allocate between $500 to $2500 to begin trading: Naturally, you will need capital to purchase
stocksthis is the actual amount you will use to trade with and is NOT part of your base minimum of
$25,000 to trade in the first place. It is recommended that you begin modestly with this range
earmarked specifically for day trading. This trading capital should not be needed elsewhere (for
bills, for debt, for essential living expenses). In fact, consider putting your entire financial house in
order before committing to the industry. Do you have unwieldy debt? Are there outstanding
obligations or upcoming expenses?
While it is possible to begin small and dip your toe into day trading, many beginners fall victim to
early discouragement when they realize that they indeed havent thought about starting a college fund
for their oldest child, or could not weather the literal storm that flooded their basement. By taking a
good hard look at your financial health, and then allocating a disposable $2500, you will be in far
better shape to create long-term sustainability for day trading.
Open a traders account with a reputable platform (must have $25,000 available): after you have
completed the steps above, perform your due diligence on the best trading account for you. One of the
advantages of the digital age is the speed, accuracy, and reliability of internet trading. There are many
trading platforms (portals in which you are able to initiate transactions on a variety of markets) with
proven track records that will meet your needs. Different trading platforms offer different amenities,
and your use of them constitutes a leasing of space via the opening of a traders account.
By law, you are required to have at least $25,000 in your account to open a viable leasing space. The
amount of a monthly lease varies but expect to pay from $60 to $150 a month.
Broker fees range can from $4 to $8 with margins of $500 per contract. Getting in and out of trades

will also cost you, and these per-transaction costs can vary widely
If you feel comfortable you may even open more than one account, but for the absolute beginner, one
may be more management. However, some day traders open several for a couple of reasons, one is to
create safety net in case (and this is rare) that one account could freeze or become heavily trafficked.
The more likely reason is that some account requires higher minimums for trading such that if your
account falls below this threshold amount, you are barred from trading further. Therefore, you may
have lost a considerable sum in one account, but have money in a different, still viable account.
Some traders have two or three preferred accounts entirely dependent on different applications
because all trader accounts offer different systems of varying degrees of readability---all this is
entirely dependent on the preferences of the trader.
However, many accounts you open (the fewer the better---but always take into account the possibility
of servers freezing up and costing you time), take the time to review the quality of your trading
accounts streaming chart displays. Most accounts will offer for free, or for a small fee, software to
view streaming chart data, take the time to assess and use the software to increase your comfort in
reading and manipulating chart views.
Set up a reliable computer, preferably with 2 monitors: A vital component of your work station is
a fast, powerful, and reliable computer. The importance of this set-up, along with a consistent highspeed connection cannot be overstated. Get the best you can afford. An executive chef does not
scrimp on high quality knives because these tools are an extension of his or her hands, they perform
the work of prepping food---cheap and dull knives will be a drag on efficiency. For a trader, during
the course of a typical day, where literally, every minute counts, a computer that freezes, lags behind,
or does not supply enough RAM or memory to quickly perform requests will lose you money.
The suggestion for two monitors will aid in creating focus and streamline your work. You will be
looking at charts, performing analysis, watching the financial news or reports, tracking returns,
placing trades and a performing a myriad of activities. Separating the work among different monitors
will enhance your experience.
Connect to a high speed internet connection: Again, this step cannot be emphasized enough.
Purchase the fastest data package available, do not scrimp. Was a day trader, your goal is to quickly
place and then close a trade within the same day, sometimes just minutes later. What would happen if
you placed a trade at 4:15pm during the midst of a lightning storm? Can you afford to risk the market
closing at 4:30pm when you still have an open trade? Streaming information as well as quality
hardware like your computer and monitors are vital for your success. And in fact, quality internet
connection is so important that you must create a redundancy, hence the next order of business:

Create a back-up internet connection: whether this is a mobile hot spot or some other connection,
be advised that the best data plans will pay for itself in time and money saved.
Purchase streaming stock quote software: arguably, you may be able to access, for free, streaming
stock quotes using financial news websites that constantly stream business updates and analysis. But
in the long run, installing software will streamline incoming real time quotes. Versatile software
offers a display of streaming stock quotes.
Why is it important to view streaming stock quotes? These quotes are a window into change
happening in real-time for orders of buying and selling. You will be able see where buyers and
sellers positioned on different exchanges and their offers to buy or sell specific amounts of stock. In
sum, it is a snapshot of supply and demand happening on the market in real-time---software will
streamline this view.

Optional or Follow-Up Activities

After addressing each of the above essential steps you will find that additional activities will create
the training structure needed to support your day trading ventures. While the initial outlay of money
for software and training seems substantial, investing in these items will increase your chances for
maintaining growth in the industry.
1. $1,000-$3,000 for software: ensure that your brokerage account allows for you to have
streaming charts. You will be monitoring information on a daily slope. Many accounts
offer streaming display information over several days. As a day trader you will be
looking at information in a matter of minutes (known as minute interval charts). Again,
many brokerage sites will provide software for free as part of your account, or for a fee,
but it is advisable that you eventually purchase charting software that works best for you.
2. $3,000 up to $10,000 for professional training: in lieu of the professional development,
feedback, mentoring, and networking, you will find in a corporate industry, it may benefit
you to take stock trading courses. High quality education is crucial for moving forward in
making your career a sustainable endeavor. There are a great many programs available
through brokerage firms, or independent educational platforms. Some of the most popular
programs offer different industry tools and varying degrees of reputation, usually
associated with the amount of time theyve been established.

While there are free programs available, some of which reflect the enormous innovation in the
amount and quality of crowd sourced educational programs, you must be judicious in your
consumption of this material. There are several popular and well-established trading schools
to choose. This one is probably the most popular.
Online Trading Academy http://www.tradingacademy.com/

Chapter 2: Stock Market 101 and Day Trading Principles

How does the stock market function?

Cast your mind back to the very first concert you ever went to. Was it an incredibly popular band?
Was it the hottest ticket in town? If you were young and that group or singer was all over the radio,
you or your parents probably paid a pretty penny for the show. Lets say, for arguments sake and
because you were an impressionable youngster, that act happened to have a couple of big hit songs
they were touring all over the world, their annoying music video was splashed in every mall and TV
screen in America, and you shelled out an obscene amount for garish t-shirt (a t-shirt!). They were all
over the place---until they werent.
After taking the country by storm, they faded pretty quickly. Sure, you still heard their couple of hits
every once in a while on the radio, or in pizza commercial (that was weirdthe anthem of your
childhood selling garlic bread). Years and years later, you hear that they are going on tour. This is
mildly exciting so you check the ticket price for when they stop by your neck of the woods, its just a
fraction of what you paid the first time around such a long time ago. How can this be? Isnt everything
more expensive as time goes on?
The simple answer is supply and demand. Your desire (and everyone elses desire, too) has gone
down considerably since the heyday of their popularity. People arent willing to pay very high prices
for things that they perceive as either 1) abundant, or 2) not very desirable. Desire and volume
determine pricing.
On the stock market (for the purposes of this book, we focus on the three largest equities exchanges
such as the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ, and American Stock Exchange) is where listed
securities are bought and sold when buyers and sellers can agree on a price (negotiating with their
perceptions of supply and demand).

Making your first trade

Depending on your trading platform, you may have either a direct-access account (where you
perform the trade yourself, minimizing fees and is the preferred method of day traders), or you go
through an online broker. As noted in the previous chapter, a direct-access traders account should
provide you with the requisite software for streaming price quotes and an efficient ordering system to
perform fast transactional entries.
Depending on your traders account streaming displays, your configuration will vary, but look for the
particular stock symbol you wish to perform the transaction (for example Google is denoted by the
stock exchange symbol if GOOGL or also known as its parent multinational company name Alphabet
Inc.).
In looking within your display, the quote should at least appear in this configuration:
Bid: 750.24 Ask: 750.25 (yes, Google is pretty steep!).
The Bid refers to the inside bid, that is that highest price you are asking for if you want to
sell this stock per share as a market order.
The Ask refers to the inside offer (often also known as the inside ask) and is the lowest
price you are able to purchase GOOGL.
The term spread refers to the difference between the two prices---which in this case is
only 1 cent.
The bid is quoted first in any exchange followed by the offer. These are known as Level
I quotes.
When you are on a direct-access platform (that is, there is NO broker---you as the day
trader broker your own transactions), you are able to view a window display window that
provides you with Level II order entries that show you all the participants who are currently
transacting on that stock, in this case GOOGL.
As a day trader with direct access, you have what is known as transparency. This means
that you are able to see just about every trader who is posting buy or sell orders and their
bids.
As you are reviewing these orders (remember, on a popular stock there will many orders to keep
track of), you will also have an eye on the financial news where a steady rotation of talking heads
(usually, but now always finance experts, market forecasters, CEOs of major or currently hot

companies and a bevy of other commentators) sweet talk or bad mouth a particular stock. Watch
how those stocks move up or down accordingly. Who is responsible for this movement? Novice
traders who hang on every word of the latest gurus. Try to avoid the impulse to chase the herd,
instead, refer back to your playbook.

Two objectives to keep in mind

With your playbook in hand (remember, your playbook specifies your limits and profit thresholds that
will trigger specific actions) in hand, you are ready to begin trading. Here are 2beginner principles to
keep in mind as you proceed (keep in mind that this advice is geared for the absolute beginner. As
you become more consistent in your earnings and establish your trading practice, you will learn the
more sophisticated advanced principles. For now, it is enough to get started by knowing that:
1. Your objective is to make money daily
2. You should engage in high volume / small movement trading
Make money daily: your goal is to reach a particular amount of earnings; some people will set a
threshold amount in order to meet their expenses by the end of the month. While some people think
that simply coming out ahead at the end of the month is a clear enough objective, this vague
objective will harm you in the long run. Set the intention to make a certain amount each day so that
you can track your progress more easily.
Volume is your friend: Lets say you make only small scale trades and you are buying an available
cache of stock that looks good, but you only purchase 100 shares at x-amount, but the stock only
moves 50 cents. You make a total of $50 on that one low volume trade. You still will pay anywhere
from $10-15 to hop into the trade and then another $10-12 to get out of that trade---you just lost up to
$27 on this single trade to commission. To cover the price to play you should be moving 1000
shares to make it worth your while.
Some traders opt for bigger fish with plenty of movement, that is they will look to buy 100 shares
(low volume) of a stock that will move $10, $20 or more---these type of low volume trading / high
movement trading is extremely risky and is not recommended for the beginner trader. Why is this
riskier? You can be confident in the smaller movement (20 cents, 50 cents, perhaps $1-$3) but
moving and potentially losing on stock that moves $10+ indicates high volatility. Once you have more
skin the trading game, you are welcome to perform these riskier trades.

Chapter 3: Different Types of Stocks

Lets say you are very interested in a company called Buzzy Bee Baby (stock symbol is BZZBB) that
makes moderately priced baby products such as strollers, cribs, toys, and all manner of accoutrements
that parents need to rear a child. You first became familiar with the company because you ended up at
big box store one day and saw the brand nestled on the bottom shelf under the dominant brans like
Graco and Fisher Price. You begin your investigation with reading their financial profiles, looking at
the history of their offerings and researching their corporate presence. You like their history of
innovation, their emphasis on quality materials designed in simpler, less decorative styles in favor of
minimalist and cheerful functionality. You decide to buy. But before you do, you should have an idea
of what stocks are available from Buzzy Bee Baby.
In general, there are two major sets of decisions to make. Ask yourself these two questions:
1. Would I prefer to purchase common stock or preferred stock?
2. What class category of stock do I want?
Commons stocks refer to the type of stock most people are familiar with and that day traders find
most often on the market. Common stock owners essentially own a piece of the company, and as
collective owners, they have the right to vote the company toward a preferred direction, mission,
and/or major organization of the company. The more common stock you own, the more you own of the
company.
If you choose to own common stock, there is the attendant choices of stock class. There are 3 classes
of common stock:
Class A is the classic category of stock in which one share equals one vote. The owner
may buy, hold, or trade this category of stock on the open market at their discretion.
Class B is a stock category usually reserved for a special category of potential owners,
that is, those who currently work for, or have worked for the company. Employees have
access to this block of reserved stock which carry greater voting power. The logic here is
that employees or stakeholders have a greater stake in the companys organization and
direction, and thus are recognized by this access to a reserved grouping of stock.
Class C is a category in which stocks are publicly traded but they do not carry voting
rights. C shares may seem inexplicable since they appear to fall into an inferior position,
but they were created to partition power more fairly between Class A and B owners.
When especially large and highly valued corporations issue stock, the classes of A and B

stock holders jostle for representation in their directives for the company. Class B holders
may be fewer in number than Class A, but their B holdings are issued with greater voting
leverage. Thus, A and B are at some point likely to reach an impasse during significant
junctures in the companys trajectory. Class C holders, despite their lack of voting rights, may
throw their weight behind A or B holders, or influence outcomes in other ways since their
payment structure is different.
Preferred stock refers to a category of stock that prioritizes dividend payment over voting rights. As
a preferred stock owner, you are paid first but have no voting power. In essence, you will be paid in
front of other holders, you will be paid your premium dividends despite uncertain economic times,
you will be paid even if the company goes bankrupt. But you have no say in the corporate direction.
The question of which stock type you should buy (for investment) boils down to where your priority
leads you toward---as a beginning day trader, however, it is best to go with Class A common stock
for now.

Chapter 4: How to Read a Candlestick Chart

Performing analysis on stocks consists of two types of activities: researching beforehand and chart
reading in the midst of trading. This chapter introduced you to the fundamentals of reading a special
type of financial informational display known as a candlestick chart.
While you may be familiar with basic line and bar graphs, candlestick graphs are especially useful
for showing a particular set of indicators that are relevant to all traders:
PRICE
Opening price
Closing price
Highest and price of day
MOVEMENT
INTENSITY
INTENSITY DURATION
The appearance of a candlestick chart is not unlike what you know as a box and whisker at first
glance---and there are some principle similarities in that the box and whisker indicates a range of
values, but lets take a closer look at the components of the candlestick chart. Take a look at Figure 1
below:

FIGURE 1: Basic
Candlesticks Gain and Loss
Youll notice several things. First, Stock A (with the green bar) shows an opening price offering at
$31, at the beginning of the trading day, and then closed at the end of day at its highest point, $35, for

a net gain of $4. This is pretty simple, but it is important to note that at $31 and $35, these are the
lowest and highest prices for Stock A---these make up the tops and bottoms of the closed box.
The red bar for Stock B indicates an inverse movement from Stock A. Stock B opened at the higher
value of $35, but by the end of the day, closed at $31---this stock lost $4 by the end of the day. Again,
the top and bottom of the closed rectangle show the highest value and the lowest value of the stock
respectively. You can quickly gauge the downward loss by the color of the bar, which is red--candlestick chart printed without color show a white or clear body to indicate that the closing price
was higher than the opening price while a black body rectangle (the candle stick) denotes a loss from
the start of the trading day to the closing.
What about the so-called wicks of the candlesticks? The wicks are called shadows and represent
more information about the pricing fluctuations that happened to that particular stock during the course
of the day. For example, Stock A may have closed up in that the price was net of +$4 on this day,
but what about the next day? Lets say that it opens the next morning at the price of $35 (the price it
closed at the previous day---a gain of $4 from its opening of $31 the previous day). But it dips up and
down---and at one point the price was actually lower than its opening $35 and eventually dips all the
way down to $32. But then it begins to climb slowly until it hits a pretty good $40---not too shabby.
But the big 40 did not last and the actual closing price was $37, a gain from its opening day value of
$35, but only $2 rather than the $5 it could have netted if it had closed at $40. The graphic looks like
this in Figure 2 below:

FIGURE 2:

Candlestick of Stock A / Gain

Notice that the bar is still green because the stock gained $2 overall. The shadow is longer at the top
because the high of $40 is a full $5 upswing from the open price of $35, the bottom shadow (the low
price) is shorter in that the lowest price of the day only dips $2 down toward $32.
Now lets take a look at Figure 3 below. Stock B closed at a loss, indicated by the red candle body.
The loss is $4 since it opened at $35 but closed at $31, however, that is not the entire story of the day
because at one point, the Stock B showed some momentum and reached the height of $38. Also,
within that same day, it dipped below its opening price to $28.

FIGURE 3: Candlestick of Stock A / Gain

Now that you are able to read a basic candlestick chart, you are able to use this powerful charting
tool to give you a good picture of what your stock is doing during the day.
As a side note, occasionally youll find that a stock opens and closes at the same price during the
day, usually indicating there has been no movement on the stock order; there has been no brokered
transaction between any buyers and sellers. The candlestick will appear like a cross, where the
horizontal line slashing through the middle indicates that the open and close prices are flush with each
other:

Figure 4: Same open &

closing prices
But remember that the vertical line that intersects through the horizontal line are the shadows. These
shadows can be long or short on either side and still show that the price moved up or down during the
day---it just so happens that despite any movement during the day, the stock ended where it began.
As noted above, a candlestick chart provides you with a view of the day by day performance, in realtime of your stock. This is what is known as the intraday view. Lets return to the features outlined
above about what you should be looking for in your candlestick chart:
PRICE
Opening price
Closing price
Highest and lowest price of day
MOVEMENT
INTENSITY
DURATION
Price is obvious, and in your streaming quote software you can hover your mouse over the shadows
and the body of the candlestick to quickly see the prices (opening, closing, highest and lowest). By the
color of the candlestick, youll see at a glance whether the stock gained or loss. During the course of
a day, you will see the general movement of the stock by looking at the length of the body (if it is
green, there is a gain, and the longer the body, the greater the price gain---the converse is true for the
red body).
Take a look at the movement and see if you can chart the pattern---do you see long upward shadows

or long downward shadows? Shadow length can enable you to draw some inferences as to how much
activity, or intensity that stock is eliciting. In conjunction with the movement---that is, is the stock
generally trending up (gaining value) or trending down (losing value) during the course of that day?
As for duration, you are looking at how long the patterns of rising and falling momentum, as well as
the lengths of the shadows, endures and trends.
In conclusion, the candlestick chart tells you how the stock is performing during that specific days
(and several days over time---however you wish to view the chart), the other analysis is the type you
perform at the front end where you must do for groundwork for investigating the company beforehand
to give you context to the stock performance day by day. If you are a traditional investor, you are
interested in the macro-view of the stock, so your view of candlesticks is day by day, over the course
of months. But a day trader is looking at the pattern of the days candlesticks as if he or she is
riding a wavesurfing along the shadows so that they can make immediate decisions. Think of it as
the difference between a surgeon vs. a general practitioner in family practice.
Your family physician has been seeing you for various health issues and annual checkups for years.
He looks at your overall health and sees an overall picture of your health. You first came to him with
normal blood pressure, vitals, and weight. Over some years you had higher cholesterol, gained some
weight, lost some weight, gained it back, but lowered your cholesterol, even as your blood pressure
rose---up and down, for different things and you also plateaued for some time. This is valuable
information. With the general picture, your GP can flip through your charts and peruse your
accumulated information to best direct you toward different suggestions for improving your health.
On the other hand, think of a surgeon in the midst of a complicated cardiothoracic surgical procedure
that she is performing on your grandfather. The surgeon is fully engaged and focused, she is hands
deep in the surgery and keeps an eagle eye and ear on the various machines monitoring your
grandfathers vitals. Every beeping pattern indicates the rate of respiration and electrical activity.
And the anesthesiologist who is monitoring the patients brain waves during the procedure is also
acutely attuned to spikes and falls. For both specialists, there is no casual flipping through of folders,
both are watching for and listening to immediate feedback.
Again, the GP is not unlike the traditional investor who looks at large patterns over longer periods of
time. They use candlestick charting along with line and bar graphs to achieve the most expansive
view available of patterns and trends for different companies and stock offerings.
But it is the day trader who relies most heavily on the unique formation and power of the candlestick
charting technique; it gives more immediately useful feedback. For all intents and purposes, in the
midst of a busy trading day, your focus is fixed entirely on the screens in front of you, monitoring

every shadows rise and fall, in essence, you are performing financial surgery.

Chapter 5: Four Different Order Types

Now that you are actively engaged in reading the analysis for different companies and have a working
understanding of your targeted stocks general performance, health, and trajectory, this chapter
highlights the nuts and bolts of stock buying orders.
To review, every transaction is referred to as a trade execution meaning that some form of action is
being performed on a particular stock. Within your trading account, you are now executing orders--and there are different order types that you may choose from. Your primary activity will be buying
and selling (there are other trading activities that should be covered for an advanced reader, such as
selling short and buying to cover) and generally speaking there are 5 stock order types that you
should be familiar with:
1.
2.
3.
4.

The Market Order

The Limit Order
A Stop Order
A Stop-Limit Order

To begin with, a market order is fairly straightforward in that it is a request by a trader to either buy
or sell a stock at the market price currently available. Someone wants to buy is paired with someone
who wants to sell a specific stock. This is the goal for everyone involved, so it behooves all
participants that a trade goes through. By allowing the market to name the price, the chances are
greater that the order is executed is high (a desirable state). However, you do not have any control

over the value of the stock.

A market order stands in contrast to a limit order in that it allows you to set a specific price that acts
as a triggering value for you to buy or sell your stock. If the stock meets this price threshold, the order
is placed automatically (you set the order on a timer so that it is not placed indefinitely). The
advantage of this is that participants have more control over prices but the downside is that you are
often charged a premium on this order because if your limit is not, there is no sale executed (a
negative for the trading platform, so they recoup by charging more).
On the market, there are many ways to become distracted as you are seeking to buy or sell, sometimes
placing a stop loss or stop-limit order will give you peace of mind in that both are based on rules you
issue to automatically deploy under certain conditions.
These two major orders prevent excessive loss in the following ways:
1. Stop Order: is an order designed to limit your losses by putting a bottom to a stocks
price drop for your cache of stock. Lets say you bought a set of different stocks at $20,
$17, and $52. These stocks go up and down in value, but you are willing to bet that at the
end of the day, the sale will be up---except when it doesnt. You can lose your entire
trade account unless you give an automatic order to sell your stock when the value falls
too low for your taste (for example): $15, $12, and $35. You wont lose your shirt, and
some platforms may even issue these stops for free (they dont you to lose your shirt
eitherits not in their best interest).
2. Stop-limit Order: is an order to buy stock when it reaches your specified price, and to
buy an exact amount automatically. For example, you are very excited about a particular
biotechnology stock, but it is trading at $21, which you find just a bit steep given that you
wish to buy 1000 shares ($21,000), but you are willing to purchase at $19. An automatic
limit order pulls the trigger for you at $19 ensuring that you will not pay more than that
for those 1000 shares.
This also works for selling. A limit order to sell is issued when you decide that you are
willing to sell X number of stock at price X (no less), once there is a buyer, the sale is
triggered guaranteeing that you receive that price.
Pros of limit order: you get exactly what you specify. You have placed your order and do not
have to monitor beyond your already adjusted decision.
Cons of limit order: you get exactly what you specify. While you may be willing to buy or
sell at a certain price, placing your order at the front end ensures that you will not be free to

work on a better deal. In a similar manner that you place an order at your favorite restaurant,
once the kitchen gets the order, you cant unmake your meal---and it will cost you to order
something different if you change your mind.

Chapter 6: Dos and Dontss of Day Trading

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest
Benjamin Franklin
As you become a better day trader, youll develop your own rules for the game. To get you started
however, here are some tips for what to do, and sometimes more important, what NOT to do as you
embark on your trading ventures.

DO:
1. Do keep going. Be persistent. Think of the last time you learned anything worthwhile,
necessary, or fun. Remember the first time you picked up a hockey stick, basketball, or
golf club? Remember the awkward way you handled your new equipment and how it
dropped out of your hands those first few times? And, anyone who has ever picked up a
musical instrument automatically cringes at the memory of that terrible wailing sound of
that super cool electric guitar you saved up so long to buy. You were pretty bad,
probably downright awful. But then, you kept going and got better---because you wanted
to get better, sometimes desperately so.
Can you imagine giving up after one frustrating driving lesson? Who doesnt remember the
bone-jarring stops and starts your first few times at the wheel? But more than likely, you were
hell-bent on learning. I know that I would have practiced parallel parking in the parking lot of
a grocery store all night long if it meant I got to pass my drivers test.
If you want to make day trading a profitable venture, push past the pain, you have to keep at it.
2. Do put in the time to learn---and there is ALWAYS a lot to learn. The basics of
trading are so simple that any person with enough money can buy all the equipment,
hardware, software, and open a trading account and buy their first stock within 24 hours.
But they can lose all their money in less than that time. Put in your time learning the
jargon, understanding the concepts (as suggested in chapter 1), and after you have
achieved some success---keep learning.
Why keep learning after you have the basics committed to memory? Think of what happens to
a medical student after graduation? After four years of training, do they officially have their

medical degrees? Sure. Can you call them, Dr. Of course. But would you want them as your
personal physician? Nope. That is why there is extensive residency trainings and postgraduate
training---what they learn in medical school is the basics of medical care and most
importantly, where to look for information.
After youve been trading for a while, you will develop a knowledge network of where to
receive additional training, how to learn better, faster, and apply these new concepts to your
own trading practice. Never stop learning.
3. Do your own homework. This is related to the first two dos of being persistent and
lifelong learning but NOT the same. Doing your homework means research on all aspects
related to your trading practice. The industry offers endless analysis on companies,
products, and financial eventsbut you must perform your own investigations.
Cable financial news and the internet burst at the seams with information, and in particular, a
certain breed of celebrity analyst has emerged. There is no need to name names, since there
are new glossy talking heads cropping up every week extolling their special brand of
financial punditry. Some of them are good, others are bad, and some are downright
disastrous---listen to them if you must, but follow their advice with caution. And even if you
find a commentator you like, following them blindly does you a disservice since you wont be
able to refine your own skills and self-knowledge to make your trading decisions
independently. If you simply subscribe to a newsletter and buy the featured ticker symbol of
the week, what happens if it tanks? Dont get me wrong, some guidance is great, especially if
you relate to a particular analysts trading style---but be sure you cut the apron strings fairly
soon.
Know your own traders mind and style, do your own homework.
As for the donts of day tradingthis list is just as important:

DONT:
1. Dont isolate yourself. As we have noted at the very beginning of the book, when
discussing the lifestyle of a day trader, it is very easy to become cut-off from the rest of
the world. How does this seclusion happen? First, you are most likely working from

home, and given the total focus required to perform analysis and execute trades
continuously, you would be working entirely alone all day.
This is why creating networking opportunities for yourself is so important. While you should
get plugged in early, keeping up with a professional network of other traders will provide
ongoing support throughout your career. Get a sense of what people are doing and how they
solve problems. You may pick up some useful tips, and more importantly, youll get a chance
to share what youve learned.
It may seem counterintuitive, but the more you reach out and teach others what you have
learned, the more you will gain in your own trading practice, Dont think of it as giving away
secrets---many things that works for some people will not work for others, anyway---but think
of it as contributing to the greater professional development of the industry.
Join networks, make friends, share your experiences.
2. Dont get greedy. Pace yourself. It is a remarkable turn of irony in the day trading
industry that the best antidote for facing the volatility and pandemonium of the market
requires that you remain controlled and orderly. As you become more consistent in
profitable trades, especially as you focus on high volume and modest movements, there
will be many times where you witness an incredible upshot for particular stocks in
specific industries and during special times---and you could have made a killing by
hopping on board that train. You should have made an exception to your daily practice
and habits and done something different. Making those kinds of exceptions can be a
slippery slope.
First you might break your own rules and inevitably, you will lose more than you wanted,
which in turn promotes the next turn in rule breaking until you find youve thrown your entire
playbook out the window. It will be more difficult to regain control, so dont lose it by being
overly greedy in the first place. Make your profit threshold and then hold steady.

Chapter 7: Some Techniques and Strategies

Ready to join the madness above from the comfort of your own home? Now that you have learned
some of the basics of setting up for and getting started in day trading, it is helpful to augment your
daily trading protocol by including different plans and strategies to maximize your earning potential.
Remember the two major principles introduced in chapter 1 that you should keep in mind as you
venture into day trading? Lets review them once more:
3. Specify your goals as well as your limits and stick to them.
4. Each day is different, learn from daily success and mistakes.
This chapter expands on each of these principles by offering additional strategies which expand on
the principles in the following ways:
These additional strategies increase your knowledge base to increasingly
refine your trading goals and help you better define your loss limits.
As you apply different strategies on different days, to different buy and sell
orders, youll develop experience with their relative effectiveness.
Youll strengthen your skills for identifying which protocols work for you in a
variety of situations.
Technique 1: Know a handful of stocks well and trade them exclusively. This is a simplification

strategy of trading that minimizes your exposure to risk on the market by increasing your familiarity
with fewer stocks. Think of it this way, the day trading pace is frantic, with countless numbers of
stocks performing with all kinds of rhythms and patters. Keeping up with this chaos is difficult-unless you have pared it down to just a few stocks that you follow consistently and over time.
Pick a group of well-known but actively moving stocks, those that are brands and companies with
proven track records for generating profits in the long run. You may be thinking this isnt very
exciting, or that the stock patterns for these companies are rather static and known. But this isnt true,
even products that are Fortune 500 caliber yield diverse patterns over time---your job is to know
their stock performance intimately. By delving deeply into the nooks and crannies of that particular
products historical performance, youll be better equipped to trade them on the fly rather than chase
the latest, hottest stock. The wisdom of focusing on fewer, stronger stocks lends itself nicely for
beginners for utilizing the next technique:
Technique 2: Watch the herdand move the other way. As you have one eye on the financial
news shows (which resemble full-on circuses with celebrity financial ringleaders presiding over the
madness), you must maintain your composure and show restraint from participating in the inevitable
stock runs. A stock run refers to the frantic movement of a stock that is currently being discussed. A
hot stock being praised by a famous finance wizard will move the points upward rapidly (and
youll see this on your streaming bid displays). But resist the urge to follow the crowd and join the
stock chase.
Very likely this is an impulse decision you will regret by taking part. How is that? First of all, what
you are seeing touted on the news is likely OLD news by the time you see it screened. Trading day
begins at 9:30am but that doesnt mean that particular stock hasnt been talked about for hours leading
up to the opening of the market. Likely, in the first few minutes of that very morning, the stock has
already burned hot and the price has moved up and up. By the time the masses hear of it, the stock is
ready to deflate---and you can be caught up with newly bought stock that you are now frantically
ready to unload (i.e. amateur traders---those who are going to lose their entire trading accounts, more
experienced traders live for the newbies). Who really benefitted? Those who were already holding
the stock; they received unexpected earnings because they owned the stock---but everyone else is
behind.
Technique 3: Be a hybrid trader. After a certain amount of time, you may amass enough experience
with day trading to comfortably bow out when market conditions are less favorable and become what

is known as a swing trader. That is, you do not have trade daily, but can leave your trades overnight
for a few days or few weeks at a time. You monitor the market daily, so you see what is going on, but
you will dip back into day trading only when you judge there to be more favorable market conditions.

Chapter 8: How Much Can You Earn?

What is the bottom line, then? How much can you really earn? The simple answer is that day trading
can yield unlimited earning potential in context of the opportunities presented in the market
during that day. That is, you can you can make as much as you can imagine, but only within the limits
of what is available in terms of market opportunities.
The stories of individuals making thousands of dollars, tens of thousands on the strength of a single
transaction on a given day are probabilistically, and in actuality, true. But these outcomes are
dependent on not only the quality of stocks up and their availability for trading during that specific
day, but also to the amount of money in your account that you may leverage to move on those
transactions. You can make only what the market allows.
That being said, you can make a nice living. Think of it in a similar manner to professional gambling.
These earners are NOT the fly-to-Vegas-for-a-wedding-and-and-hope-to-score-big types. These are
practiced, skilled, and knowledgeable practitioners who pay taxes on their earnings. The solid
performing ones make over six figures a year, but can just as likely make just enough to pay their
bills.
This is not unlike other occupations that require skilled professionals leveraging experience against
risk---professional gambler is pretty close to day trading in the professional profile, but by this
definition, farmers and fishermen are similar. Think about it, if you planted crops or raised cattle or
fished for tuna, are you EVER guaranteed a good season no matter how experienced, talented, or
resourceful you are? Of course not, but do you stand a BETTER chance of making a living if you have
good skills? Yes.
This brings us full circle to the beginning of the book when you asked yourself the tough questions of
whether you were a risk taker. Obviously, you are. But, do you have the temperament? You will need
your steadfast self-discipline and your sense of fierce independence because it is possible, and likely
probable that you will lose. And perhaps even lose big.
You will make many, many, cringe-inducing, stomach-churning mistakes. Seasoned traders do this all
the time, you will be no different. Your goal should be to break even at the beginning (even if your
OVERALL goal is to make money every day---remember the principles in chapter 2).
Whats the good news? Well, people make money. They make a living; they may even make more than
that. The market has often gone ballisticrefer to the late 1990s, as well as gone downhill in a blink
of an eyerefer to the early 2000s. But overall, market access has transformed in the age of the

internet and individuals talented and willing to ride the frenetic waves of the day to day trading will
find that over time, the waves do even out and the market gains in value. And those are two key
words---over time.
So, be patient, be brave, and rest easy in the knowledge that you have embarked on this venture not
solely to make money. You have chosen to make money in a very specific manner that speaks to you,
that rings true with your risk-taking, self-disciplined, fiercely independent nature. And that is an
experience that cannot be given a price.
So, good luck, play hard, and make it a good day!

Get another book completely free

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one), Mindset: Actionable Strategies to Develop a Positive Mindset Achieve Success and
Freedom in Life completely free.
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In this book Ill share with you how to develop the right mindset to go after your goals and achieve
the success youre striving for.

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