Day Trading requires only a minimal knowledge of the 'Fundamentals' of the Company you are Trading, and is usually done on the most recent 'News Releases' or 'SEC Filings' that are put out.
Day Trading is done mostly on your ability to 'Read the Charts' correctly. Day Trading with charts uses very short term charts like the: One Minute, Five Minute, Fifteen Minute, and the Half Hour and Hourly time frames.
Swing Trading requires much more Research into the Company you are interested in 'Investing' in. Swing Trades can last from just a few days, to a few weeks, or even months. It also requires a good understanding of the charts using longer time frames like the Ten Day/Hourly, the Three Month/Daily, the One Year/Weekly, and the Five Year/Monthly.
In order to Swing Trade successfully, there is a lot of research that must be done. You must know how to read and understand all of the most recent SEC Filings the company has put out. You have to check for 'Headlines' on a daily basis to see the most recent developments the company is going through.
You must know how to read their Balance Sheet and other Key Statistics. You must follow the Insider Transactions to see what the Officers of the Company are doing with their own shares, as that gives you a clear picture of what the 'Insiders' of the company are thinking about their own company.
You also need to know what the analysts that follow your company are thinking, as they have a profound effect on how the Price Per Share (PPS) reacts after that Company reports their Quarterly and Year End Numbers. This includes knowing all of the most recent Upgrades and Downgrades that are given by them to the companies of your choice.
It's also a good idea to keep track of the Institutional Interest in your company of choice, by following any changes in their positions. If they add to their position, that is a good thing. If they sell some or all of their position, that brings up a red flag.
You must also follow the other stocks that belong to the 'Sector' your stock of interest is in, as they also have an effect to a certain degree on how well your stock will perform. Analysts not only give Upgrades and Downgrades on particular stocks, they also give them for individual 'Sectors' of Industries.
Then, you need to make a decision about whether you believe the (PPS) of this company will increase over a period of time, or decrease. If you like what you see, then you will be looking for a good entry by studying the longer term charts.
You are trying to pick a good entry during a phase when the PPS is undergoing a 'Pullback', and trying to pick the 'Second Low' of this 'Pullback' during a double-bottom chart pattern. That gives you the ability to set a Stop Loss Zone if the PPS breaks below the 'First Low' to minimize losses.
Then you need to figure out your 'Exit Strategy' to maximize profits. This entails reading the daily charts for signals of a negative chart pattern after a good run which signals a potential pull back, coupled with the Volume Studies of the Historical Daily closes.
One of the most important tools for entering a Swing Trade successfully is 'Volume Studies'. You study the Historical Prices found on the Yahoo Finance page to find the patterns of your stocks daily volume. This is a lesson I give that is of the utmost importance in the Swing Trading series of lessons.
Swing Trading takes up very little of your time. All you need is about fifteen minutes each day to check the most recent News Releases and SEC Filings for your stock and others in it's sector, then check the daily chart for possible breakdown patterns, and know the average daily volume and the daily closing price.
I give lessons on how to keep a good percentage of the profits your trades have given you, and how to exit a new trade quickly if it goes against you soon after entering it, to keep any losses to an absolute minimum.
I have a 'Trading Simulator' that allows you to trade the stock market in real-time without using real money. For novice traders, this Simulator allows you to enter and exit trades just like you would if you had a trading account with any of the online brokers. This way, you can actively participate in the stock market without risking any real money until you feel comfortable enough with your ability to trade successfully.
I am not offering the series of lessons on Swing Trading at this time.
I am editing the text and updating the charts, and I will offer these lessons again when this work is completed. If you are interested in learning how my Swing Trading Strategy works, please visit the Video Charts page of this website and view the many Video Charts of my end of the week analysis of the Dow Jones Industrial Average's daily and weekly charts. These are free to view, and you can learn a lot about how Technical Indicators work by watching them.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to hear from you soon.
If you have ANY questions, please feel free to email me at:
daytradinglessons@gmail.com
