Day trading has very low barriers to entry. Anyone can start to learn day trading. The question is: Are you learning day trading effectively?
Follow these 6 ways actively to make the most out of your day trading learning experience. You will save time and money. You will also gain new trading mentors and buddies.
1. Learn Quickly from Concise Online Trading Articles
The surefire way to dampen the learning momentum of a day trading beginner is to hand him the 2000-page “Definitive Guide to Day Trading” with 25 appendices.
On the other hand, reading concise trading articles online is the best way to keep the beginner motivated.
Online readers are scanners. They scan through articles to find what interests them. Online writers know this. This is why online articles are easy to read.
Online articles are concise. They have friendly formatting with sub-headings, bullet points, and tables to help you scan through the content quickly.
There are dozens of websites with quality articles on day trading and technical analysis.
Start with our Lesson Plans for the Self-Taught Day Trader. Then, move on to the list below.
- Investopedia – Technical Analysis – A step-by-step guide to learning technical analysis in clear Investopedia-style.
- ChartSchool – Find almost every technical indicator and chart analysis method here.
- BabyPips – School of Pipsology – Progress from preschool to graduation. Best place to start learning about forex trading.
- InformedTrades Trading Course – 75 video lessons all aspects of trading including position sizing and trading psychology.
- Wiley’s “For Dummies Series” – Day Trading Articles – Tons of concise articles on day trading for free. (Book Review: Day Trading For Dummies)
- Trading-Naked: Library of Trading Setups – A hodge-podge of gems for traders.
- Trading Setups Review – Day Trading – If you find this article useful, we have more to offer.
- thepatternsite by Bulkowski – The best online reference for trading patterns and their performance.
2. Get Not One, but Many Trading Mentors
Have you though of getting a trading mentor? How much does it cost? A few hundred dollars maybe.
How about getting many trading mentors for free?
How does that work? Are there selfless individual traders sharing their experience and guiding fellow traders?
Yes. And you can find them in online day trading forums. Most day trading forums are free and well-organized. They offer a platform to ‘crowd-source’ answers to your trading questions. You can find answers to all aspects of trading ranging from trading strategies to the diet of a trader.
Make the most out of day trading forums with these tips.
- Join the best day trading forums.
- Start with the more popular threads. (Sort forum threads by number of views)
- Ask questions politely and ignore the trolls
- Search across more than 20 trading forums with our customized trading forum search engine
- Start a day trading journal to record your learning process. You can find a section for trading journals in most trading forums.
3. Gain Expert Knowledge from Trading Books
Trading books offer a source of expert trading knowledge. While trading books contain valuable trading concepts, most books are not worth reading cover to cover. So, you do not need to buy every single trading book for effective learning.
Pinpoint the best trading books and extract the gems. Start with this list: Day Trading Books with the Top Reviews at Amazon.
The book reviews on Amazon are fantastic. Read both positive and negative reviews for objective feedback. If a book catches your interest, buy directly from Amazon or check if your public library offers the title.
Bonus tip – Get Amazon Prime
Before buying your next trading book from Amazon, make sure you sign up for Amazon Prime. At least, try it free for 30 days to enjoy the following:
(Click here to sign up for a 30-day free trial.)
- Borrow books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
- Read over 1,600 Investing Books on Kindle For FREE with Amazon Prime (Select Investing under “Business & Investing”)
- Get unlimited FREE two-day shipping with no minimum order size
- Instantly watch over 40,000 movies and TV episodes
4. Clock Solid Trading Experience Without Risking a Cent
For learning how to day trade, nothing beats live trading experience. However, trading live is costly when you are still learning.
So what is the second best way to clock trading experience?
Simulated trading.
The trading brokerage industry has grown very competitive and it is a breeze to get demo accounts for trading simulation. Let us help you find the Best Day Trading Simulators.
With a realistic simulator, you can hone your trading skills without risking a cent. The main drawback is that you do not experience the psychological stress of winning and losing real money.
To add some mental stress to your simulation process, aim to ‘earn’ your trading capital. For instance, to deposit $10,000 into your live trading account, you must have made $10,000 in virtual trading. In this way, you are earning your way to a live account.
5. Get Support from New Trading Friends
Learning is a process. For individual traders, it is a process that is hard to sustain. Having a support network of trader friends is essential to learning day trading effectively.
Day trading is an individual sport. But learning how to day trade is not. Pool trading ideas together and encourage each other to be better day traders.
Here are some ways to get to know more traders.
- Make friends on trading forums
- Follow some traders on StockTwits (the largest social media network for traders and investors) — Follow Trading Setups Review on StockTwits!
- Reach out to trader-bloggers (Talk to me!)
I have spoken to many of our newsletter subscribers and shared our trading experience with each other. I have learnt a lot from them, as they did from our exchanges. I hope to hear from more of you.
6. Learn Day Trading with an Open Mind
Keep an open mind and continue to learn regardless of how long you have been day trading.
While you should have a healthy dose of skepticism, do not close yourself to the ideas of other traders.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your method is the only Holy Grail and everyone else is a snake oil peddler. Conceit and arrogance precedes the downfall of traders, including the best of them.
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