Day trading is a great way to make money, if you have the time and work ethic for it. Trading from home can be done as a full-time or part-time job, but it requires dedication and discipline. In this article, we’ll discuss what day trading is, how it works, the benefits of day trading at home as your main gig (or not), and some tips on getting started in day trading so that you can trade profitably at home!
Trading from home
Working from home may be the ideal situation for many people these days. But is trading at home a viable option?
Trading securities such as stocks or bonds, forex or cryptocurrencies can be done online. Most Broker firms have mobile apps so you’re never out of touch with your account even if you aren’t working at a desk all day long
Day traders are often very passionate about what they do – arguably more than someone who’s stuck in an office job where they perhaps don’t enjoy their work quite as much as they should.
What is day trading?
Day trading means buying and selling financial instruments, such as stocks, within a trading day based on price fluctuations. For example, a day trader could buy bitcoin (or any other asset) at the market price and sell it once the trade has reached a certain profit level.
Day traders choose markets and assets with big fluctuations which give them the opportunity of multiple trades per day!
Sounds awesome right? Hold on, as we are going to see how to get started with day trading.
How to start day trading from home
Similar to anything that you do, Day trading requires effort and dedication before you become successful.
Choose (and learn) a market
The first step that you need to do is to pick a market and learn how it works. You could choose the Forex market or Cryptocurrencies which are known to be volatile. This means that you will get plenty of price fluctuations on any asset in any given day.
Choosing a market is not enough though. You will need to understand the market, how an event can affect price movements, how trades work and if the market is moving upwards or downwards.
Choose a Brokerage Firm
You should aim to find a reliable broker (such as E*Trade, Interactive Brokers, Ameritrade, XM or Exness). In order to find the best broker, you will need to study some reviews, ask questions in forums, check out the brokers’ websites and see if the broker fulfils your needs.
Some things to watch out for when choosing a broker are:
- Commissions
- Execution time
- Customer Support
- Support Languages
- Availability in the instruments that you want to trade with
- Leverage
- Withdrawal times
- Reliability
Another essential is that the broker offers demo accounts, which leads to the next point.
Register for a Demo Account
Before you start investing real money, you should try out day trading by opening a demo account. Apart from being free, this will give you the opportunity to learn about how it works and what it looks like before risking any money.
Learn your Brokers’ Trading Platform
Choosing the right day trading platform is crucial for success. You should look for a reliable, user-friendly and feature-rich platform that suits your needs so you can focus on trading without wasting time trying to figure out how to use it. Some common platforms that are being used by big brokerage firms are MT4, MT5 and cTrader. You should aim to use one of these platforms that come with many options and integrations.
Learn Trading Strategy
Learning your way around day trading is only half of what you need in order to start making trades on your own! You also need knowledge about several other aspects of day trading: financial markets, analytical skills for doing research on companies, currencies, Cryptos and stocks – not to mention knowing when certain events happen such as earnings reports or major announcements that might affect instruments’ prices.
Some common Day Trading strategies that you may find useful are:
- Breakout Strategy
- Scalping
- Momentum
- Reversal
- Using Pivot Points
Before you start investing money in day trading, it is important to first learn the theory behind these Day Trading strategies.
Set goals and know your limits
Setting your goals before you start investing any money, will allow you to focus your time on what matters the most to you. You should also know that there will be many trades that might not have a positive outcome, and even if they do then it is all down to luck.
Know when to walk away
It is important that you don’t risk everything in order to make some money; day trading can lead people into making bad decisions because of greed or fear. Know when enough is enough and end the trade before losses get out of control!
How to learn more about Trading (and Day Trading)
The markets can be tough to navigate. It is full of uncertainty, and it’s hard to know what will happen from day to day. For many people, this is a turn-off. They want something more stable in their lives–a career they can depend on for years to come with predictable income and growth opportunities.
The best way to learn about trading is through doing, but there are some great resources for traders of all levels that can help get you started.
- Blogs
- Webinars
- Video Training
- Trading Signals
- Expert Advisors (EAs)
- Courses
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