Trading Information

You have reached the Resource Center for daytrading information. Here, you can browse on a lot of information to help you better understand the workings of the stock market. By thoroughly studying and understanding the guides available to you, you are on your way to becoming an excellent stock trader.

First, jumpstart your daytrading knowledge with an understanding of the most common terms in the stock market – daytrader, daytrading, stock market, daytrading strategies and market instruments.

A daytrader is the person who makes profits by buying and selling stocks in a single stock trading day.

They are mostly experts in banking, investments and fund management who look out for stocks or financial instruments that have potential profit margin and trade them. They get commissions from the profits from the difference between the buying and selling price.

Day trading is the term used in the buying and selling of financial instruments in stock exchanges within the same trading day before the standard stock market closing time of 4 pm. The most common financial instruments or “markets” that are day-traded include stocks, currencies and futures contracts like interest rates, commodities and equity index.

Day trading is the opposite of after-hours trading carried out by private trading systems like the Electronic Communications Network (ECN), which is done after the traditional operating hours of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ) system.

A stock market is the general term used for a public or private exchange facility where company shares and other financial instruments are traded (bought and sold) at a set price. It is a key indicator of an economy, allowing companies to raise bigger funds for growth and expansion while investors are given a chance to own shares in publicly listed firms. The main “players” of the stock market are the investors (which may be individual businessmen or institutionalized firms like hedge fund, banks, mutual fund, insurance or investor groups), the brokers and the traders.

Day trading strategies vary depending on the style of the day trader. Some practice short-term trading or scalping which lasts only a few minutes, while others practice position trading where their position on a certain stock or instrument is held all throughout the trading day. Most day traders close transactions before the market closing time as a safety measure from the changing values that may take effect the next trading day.

Many financial instruments are available for daytrading. They include futures (currencies, stock indexes or commodities like oil or gold), currencies (US Dollar, Euro, Pound), futures options and stocks, which is one of the most popular trading instruments.