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Do’s of Daytrading
1. Seek favorable conditions
for trade entry, or stay out of the market until they appear. Bad
execution ruins a perfect setup.
2. Watch the tape before
you trade. Look for evidence to confirm your opinion. Time, crowd
and trend must support the reversal, breakout or fade you're expecting
to happen.
3. Choose to execute
or to stand aside. Staying out of the market is an aggressive way
to trade. All opportunities carry risk, and even perfect setups
lead to very bad positions.
4. Filter the trade through
your personal plan. Ditch it if it doesn't meet your risk tolerance.
5. Stay on the sidelines
and wait for the opportunity to develop. There's a perfect moment
you're trying to trade.
6. Decide how long you
want to be in the market before you execute. Don't daytrade an investment
or invest in a swing trade.
7. Take positions with
the market flow, not against it. It's more fun to surf the waves
than to get eaten by the sharks.
8. Avoid the open. Typically
it is too chaotic to trade.
9. Stand apart from the
crowd. Its emotions often signal opportunity in the opposite direction.
Profit rarely follows the herd.
10. Maintain an open
mind and let the market show its hand before you trade it.
11. Keep your hands off
the keyboard until you're ready to act. Don't trust your fingers
until they move faster than your brain, but still hit the right
notes.
12. Stand aside when
confusion reigns and the crowd lacks direction.
13. Longer holding periods
reduce the risk of a bad execution.
14. Lower your position
size until you show a track record. Work methodically through each
analysis, and never be in a hurry.
15. Trade a swing strategy
in range-bound markets and a momentum strategy in trending markets.
16. An excellent entry
on a mediocre position makes more money than a bad entry on a good
position.
17. Step in front of
the crowd on pullbacks and stand behind them on breakouts. Be ready
to move against them when conditions favor a reversal.
18. Find the breaking
point where the crowd will lose control, give up or show exuberance.
Then execute the trade just before they do.
19. Use market orders
to get in fast when you can watch the market. Place limit orders
when you have a life outside of the markets.
20.
Focus on execution, not technology. Fast terminals make a good trader
better, but they won't help a loser.
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