Intraday trading refers to buying and selling of stocks on the same day. It is done using online trading platforms.
Intraday trading is considered riskier than investing in the regular stock market. It is important, especially for beginners, to understand the basics of such trading to avoid losses.
Let’s understand it with an example:
If you buy a stock at Rs. 500 and sell it at Rs. 550, you make an intraday profit of Rs. 50 per share (if all the shares were bought and sold).
So, intraday trading has its advantages and disadvantages. Intraday traders can make money when the market is volatile, but they can also lose a lot if they are not careful.
Hence, it is essential to know the factors that determine profits in intraday trading.
Trade with the Trend
The concept behind Trade with the Trend is that most traders don’t have time in their schedule to watch for news events, but they can watch for technical signals that can predict trends.
Traders can also watch for support and resistance levels that may be reached as a result of market movement.
Resistance and support are arguably some of the most widely discussed concepts in technical analysis.
In its most basic sense, resistance indicates a price level that is likely to act as a barrier for the price of an asset, preventing it from getting pushed in that direction.
If there’s strong buying pressure at a certain level, it’s likely that this resistance level will hold, meaning that the price will bounce off of it and move in the opposite direction.
On the other hand, if there’s significant selling pressure at a certain level, it’s likely that this resistance level will break, and the asset’s price will continue moving in the same direction it was headed before hitting it.
When these levels are potentially going to be reached, a trader can take out a position before the level is actually reached, so they can profit from the reaction once it does.
Traders involved in Trade with the Trend may use technical analysis indicators like moving averages and support/resistance levels to determine when a currency pair has increased enough to enter into a trade position.
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Liquid Stocks
When you plan to trade intraday, you need to be sure that you can buy and sell large volumes of stock without affecting the price.
These are essential for two reasons:
- You don’t want to pay more than the current price by buying a large amount of stock in one transaction
- You don’t want to wait around while your order is being executed if there is any chance of the price moving against you.
The only way to be sure that a sudden move in the price does not impact you is to buy or sell very small amounts of stock at a time.
Tick-size trading depends on having liquid stocks to allow even tiny transactions to be executed swiftly.
Know about the charts
Once you have been trading for a while, you will get to know the characteristics of various stocks.
Many stock trading investors know about charts, it is important to identify stocks that are likely to be the right stock to trade.
The most vital tool in your utility belt is a strong chart pattern recognition ability.
Once you gain proficiency at reading charts, you can spot the formation of stock patterns and trade accordingly.
It is essential as an intraday trader that you are familiar with chart patterns.
By default, every stock will move in an overall trend direction.
There is a bull trend, and there is a bear trend. In other words, the market will move in one direction or another for a long time at a stretch.
As an intraday trader, you need to know these trends so that you can make good decisions regarding the buying and selling of stocks.
The best way to spot market trends is by looking at charts of stocks for which there are historical records available for a long period.
This will give you an idea about how the stock has behaved over time and how it behaves during different phases of its life cycle.
Medium to High Volatility
There are two kinds of intraday breakouts.
The first one is when you see a stock breaking out in the early morning hours around 9:45 am and 10 am, and then it starts moving up or down in the regular trading hours and forms a top or bottom.
The second type is when a stock closes above or below its opening price in the first few minutes of opening the market.
The first type presents good entry points for long positions, while the second gives you good entry points.
The best way to identify breakout stocks is to keep an eye on your trading platform’s Top Gainers and Losers list.
Once you have shortlisted stocks, keep an eye on their daily prices, especially in the first 10 minutes after the market opens.
If you find a stock that has broken out, then place an order to buy or sell as soon as possible so that you don’t miss out on the opportunity to make some money from it.
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Stocks that are price sensitive to news flows
If you are a day trader, you need to have a stock list that is extremely sensitive to news.
These stocks are best for trading because they fluctuate rapidly with new information and thus offer traders numerous trading opportunities. They also allow a trader to capture profits quickly.
There are essentially two types of Intraday traders in India.
The first one is the one who trades on fundamentals and technicals.
The second type of trader watches the news for trading opportunities.
I mention this here because you need to be aware that your intraday trading strategy may not work if you are a technical trader and vice versa.
This strategy will work if you have a stock list of stocks that are sensitive to news. This strategy will not work in a stock that does not react to the news.
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