The lure of making quick stock market profits with a few clicks of the mouse in the comfort of your own home is the appealing (and misguided) lure of day trading. Day trading can be rewarding but it requires not only abiding by rules of a trading methodology but also...

Buy low and sell higher is how profits are made trading the long side of a stock price move. This strategy is practiced by traders and investors. However, it is possible to also profit on falling stock prices by short selling the shares. This is the inverse of the...

As they say in professional boxing, “styles make fights”. You have explosive punchers like Mike Tyson knocking out opponents inside a single round and methodical boxers like Floyd Mayweather that routinely go the full distance for decision wins. Trading is very...

New traders are highly encouraged to use trading simulators prior to trading with real cash. Even seasoned veterans recovering from a losing streak can rehabilitate themselves with simulators. The purpose of simulators is to properly “test” out your strategies and...

Keeping a trading journal is one of the best ways to track your trades and gain valuable insights into your performance. The data can help you extract important metrics and underlying patterns that can help you optimize your results. While it may seem tedious,...

For day traders, level 2 and time & sales are indispensable tools to gauge pricing to perform precision order executions. The pace and velocity of price updates coupled with tape reading can provide an edge for seasoned tactical traders seeking opportunistic...

Speculating on the direction and duration of stock price movements is the essence of trading. Charts help to visualize and interpret price action. They are further enhanced with the use of tools referred to as technical indicators or studies. Seasoned traders often...

Traders make their bones speculating on price action and relying on their ability to execute good fills in a timely manner. Trading requires the prudent interpretation of price history to anticipate where prices can go from here and what to do when they get there....

Speed and efficiency are the hallmarks of seasoned traders. The ability to react quickly and execute multiple actions with the smallest amount of expended effort can be augmented with the help of your trading platform. Knowing and doing are two different animals. The...

It’s easy to assume that you are getting quality executions when buying and selling stocks. All retail brokers will claim “great executions” in their marketing material. The wave of zero-commission brokers imply all the bells-and-whistles in addition to quality...

It’s not uncommon to wake up one morning and go into a state of shock as you notice one of your stocks is trading at half of yesterday’s price. A frantic search finds no news headlines causing this price drop. You also notice the (-50%) loss is not reflected in your...

Thorough research and analysis for any stock involves both fundamental and technical analysis. Fundamentals analysis involves studying the business operations including financial reports, press releases, industry trends and performance metrics. Technical analysis...

Often times an obscure stock will hit the ticker tape and scanners showing a 100% or more price change (IE: XYZ stock trading at $12.20 from $6, up + $6.20). This naturally draws eyes and attention from traders. How awesome would be if you were long the stock from $6?...

Understanding Contango and Backwardation The age-old theme of trading and investing follows the mantra, “Buy low and sell high.” However, there are widely traded and owned exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) that practice the opposite mantra, “Buy high and sell low.” Why on...

Online brokers enable traders to buy and sell stocks and options. While the larger mainstream online brokers insist they cater to every type of customer from investors to active traders, reality may be a different story. There is a segment of customers that are very...