Day Trading ETFs

Exchange Traded Funds, also known as ETFs, are also great vehicles for day trading. These securities will also allow you to participate in the market no matter what direction it is going. For instance, if financial stocks are going in the tank, you can just by FAZ, the Direxion Financial 3X Bear ETF. By finding ETFs that take advantage of bear moves in the marketplace, you don't have to worry about shorting stocks, which tends to be a more difficult endeavor. I also like ETFs because of the diversification they offer across market sectors. There are ETFs based on technology, biotechnology, financial sector, real estate, gold, silver, energy, and ETFs that track the major market averages. When you look for ETFs to trade, make sure you focus on those that have sufficient liquidity and volatility. Some of my favorites are in the Direxion and Proshares families and include FAS, FAZ, GASL, NUGT, EDZ, EDC, DRN and ERX, among others. Take a look into ETFs such as these. It is a lot easier to just day trade among these than trying to pick individual stocks for day trading. www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

The Best Day Trading Strategy

Most day traders try to scalp trade for a living. Most are unprofitable. Shouldn't that be reason enough to look at something different? Check out this video I put together to show you what you should be doing instead. Watch it here www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Day Trading Stocks on Gap Days

Check out this video to see how you should handle day trading a stock when it gaps higher at the open. Use probabilities to improve your profitability! Check out the video here www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Today's Best Daytrading Stocks - July 23, 2012

Yesterday we presented our list of best stocks to day trade for this week. Today, two our picks had big days. Check out today's video to learn more. Watch it here. Bestdaytradingstocks.com

Best Stocks to Day Trade, Week of July 23, 2012

Last week proved to be a tough week for our best daytrading stocks, but the list managed to eke out a very modest profit on the back of Friday's performance in MLNX. This weeks best stocks to day trade is as follows: MLNX, ONXX, NSM, THRX, WPRT, SSYS, IOC, SODA, DDD, and NFLX. Keep in mind, we only trade from the long side and only if certain conditions are met. We also seek to minimize risk as much as possible, and in general, we are NOT looking to scalp trade. www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Why Most Day Traders Lose

Most traders and day traders are unprofitable. That is a simple fact. While the exact number of unprofitable traders and day traders is not known, most industry experts place the figure at somewhere between 80% and 90%. Yet, given these astonishing figures, year after year, more people try their hand at trading as a way to escape the corporate rat race. Most people begin trading after they hear or read about someone’s success at the endeavor and decide to try their own luck. This is one of the biggest reasons why most traders lose. They really have no clue how to trade profitably. Besides that, the individual’s success they read about was likely only temporary. Once they learn of someone’s supposed success at trading or day trading, they may read a book about the subject, or subscribe to one of the publications about trading and learn of a trading strategy. In these magazines the prospective trader will often read about some magical indicator or trading strategy that should lead to significant profits. The trader then immediately puts the strategy to the test using real money, and quickly discovers that it really does not work as well as advertised. They then move on to the next strategy they read about in next month’s issue. This is similar to the process that an avid 20 handicap golfer will go through to improve their game. They are always looking for that one magical golf tip that will suddenly transform their awful golf swing into one that hits shots like Tiger Woods. They ignore the fact that the relatively minor swing changes that Tiger has made in his golf swing have taken him years to perfect with substantial hard work. So, why is it that most traders and day traders actually lose? Most traders lose because they never develop a trading edge that gives them an advantage over other traders. Tiger’s edge in the game of golf has never been his physical talent alone, but his mental strength. When he lost that belief in himself, his game suffered. He lost his edge, and it has taken nearly three years for him to regain that edge. What exactly is an edge when it comes to trading? A trading edge can be one of a number of things, but it mainly boils down to having a strategy that the trader develops or learns that is proven to work over a long period of time, and the discipline to follow that strategy even when it is not performing well. One example of this type of trading edge is the trend following system that Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt taught to a group of traders known as the Turtles back in the early 1980’s. The system was used to trade in the futures markets, and was taught to a dozen or so individuals, many of whom to this day successfully manage money as commodity trading advisors. The strategy was demonstrated by this group to work well in the long run, but it came with the pitfall of large equity drawdowns at times. As a result, many other traders that learned the strategy did not have the discipline to stick with it. The key to developing your edge as a trader is to learn all you can about the subject of trading, and then conduct your own research. This is the best way to develop the confidence in the strategies you intend to trade. With that confidence, you will be able to maintain the discipline to stick with those strategies, even while they go through their inevitable drawdown periods. Scott Cole www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

The Top Stocks To Day Trade - July 17, 2012

Check out this video to see today's best stocks for day trading! Check it out here Scott Cole www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

The Top Stocks To Day Trade - July 16, 2012

Check out this video to see the best stocks to day trade for today's trading session. SSYS and VVUS provided day traders who employ our strategies with today's best opportunities! See the video here Scott Cole www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

This Week's Best Stocks To Day Trade - July 16, 2012

This week's best stocks to day trade are as follows: PCYC, VHC, VVUS, RGR, LL, INCY, THRX, ONXX, USG and CIE The best ETF to day trade this week is FAS. These stocks and ETFs meet our criteria for trades from the long side only. Keep in mind that the overall market direction will influence how most stocks perform. Many of these stocks have been bucking the trend though. Scott Cole www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Best Stocks to Day Trade - Week In Review - July 13, 2012

Check out this video to see how the stock market played out this week and how our list of best stocks to day trade navigated a treacherous market. Check out the video here Bestdaytradingstocks.com

The Best Stocks To Day Trade

If you happened to read my post from last night regarding our picks for today, July 10th, you will also note that the list was presented with a bit of caution. I warned to be careful of QCOR and PCYC. As it turns out, the entire market was a big risk today, except those ETFs that do well when the market heads lower. I believe the market is at a critical juncture here, and therefore, it is wise to also monitor some of these ETFs that do well on bearish days. My favorite among these is FAZ, which is the Direxion Financial Bear 3X shares. Also, it only makes sense to trade these ETFs that are leveraged, such as the Direxion group of ETFs and the ProShares Ultra group of ETFs. That way, you get more bang for your buck. One that caught my attention early in the session this morning was that the reading on the NYSE Trin was quite elevated, even while the Dow jumped over 90 points. This alerted me that something was amiss, as it came on the heels of a high reading yesterday. Keep a watch on this indicator, especially if you just day trade the S&P or ETFs. Scott Cole www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Best Stocks To Day Trade For July 10, 2012

Ok, I am going to expand on our list of potential day trading candidates. For today, I only listed three stocks, but one of these that is in our top 10 based on my general filter is QCOR, which was today's best daytrading stock, based upon our trading model. Unfortunately, I did not mention it in my previous post. Here is my main list.... PCYC, MLNX, VHC, NUVA, DDD, ONXX, QCOR, THRX, RYL, INCY Keep in mind that the action of the overall stock market should be monitored in conjunction with these stocks. Also, be wary of QCOR, since it had a big up day today, the odds for another such sizable directional move are reduced. Also, this list is not produced as a list of stocks ready to explode in price tomorrow. This is a list of stocks that meet certain criteria, that, if traded as a portfolio in the near term with my trading model, will produce solid returns. It is very difficult to trade and monitor more than a handful at a time however. Therefore, one can simply wait for those that trade based on the earliest signals in the session, or just monitor a few of these stocks going forward. PCYC has been at the top of the list for weeks, and is due for a correction. Since our method only trades from the long side, this stock is now viewed as higher risk. Portfolio balancing should reflect this higher risk. Scott Cole Bestdaytradingstocks.com

Day trading Apple

Check out this video on how our strategy performs in day trading Apple, going back ten years. You can see the video here www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Day trading Stocks - Is Scalping a Worthwhile Day Trading Strategy?

The majority of day trading systems and strategies being sold to the public these days involve scalping. Scalping is a strategy where the trader makes multiple trades in a single market per day with the hope of making small and consistent profits within a short period of time. The idea is that this is supposedly less risky than position trading. The scalp day trader trades all day, but ends the day with no positions, and therefore, no risk. The simple fact of the matter is that the vast majority of traders and day traders lose. It has been estimated over the years that 90% of futures traders and day traders are unprofitable. Many of these traders have tried to make a living by scalping in and out of stocks, Forex, and futures markets. Therein lies the question. If the majority of traders lose, and many of those losers are day traders, does it not seem logical that scalping is not an easy way to make money in the markets? There is a video of a trader that can be found on Youtube and this trader indicates that he has been trying to day trade since 1996, but up until recently, has never been profitable. That is an eye opening statement. His video is actually a testimonial for another day trading web site that is selling a scalping product. The bottom line is that there is no holy grail, and scalping as a way of making money is extremely difficult. Transaction costs eat away at the account, since the trader is only shooting for small profits to begin with. Over time, they do not achieve anywhere near the required high winning percentage on their trades to offset these transaction costs, and their account eventually dwindles to nothing. Another issue with scalping is it is actually an exhausting way to trade. Many very short term traders suffer from burnout, because scalping requires the trader to monitor the markets all day long. Yet, many are allured to this type of trading for the action alone, just like the gambling addict sitting at the blackjack table for hours on end. Truth be told, there are few professional traders who manage client assets who trade this way. One famous trader attempted to do this, but found that it was difficult trying to juggle his trading, which was short term in nature, with handling the clients themselves, along with bookkeeping and other facets of the money management business. However, there are hedge fund traders that do trade short term strategies where positions are held for a few days or less. These strategies require strong execution to keep transaction costs low, but are easy to automate in liquid markets such as large cap stocks, stock index futures, Forex and treasury markets. Very few of these traders scalp in and out of markets in just a few minutes, because it is simply too difficult to manage this type of trading across many markets. With all this in mind, the new trader should only consider position type trading rather than scalping. It is less intensive, allows the trader to have another source of income to pay their bills, and combined with proper risk management strategies, will keep the trader in the game longer. The facts are the facts, there are few profitable scalpers out there, in spite of the ads in magazines and on the internet. Bestdaytradingstocks.com

Free Day Trading Strategy

I just developed a very simple, but powerful day trading strategy for trading high momentum stocks. You can find it here! Scott Cole

How do the real pros trade and day trade?

Want to get an idea how the real pros day trade stocks, or trade Forex? Check out this video here Bestdaytradingstocks.com

Today's Best Daytrading Stock

Check out this video to see today's best stock to day trade! PCYC has been on a tear as of late. See how you could grab your share of profits in the video below! Best Stock To Day Trade!

How to Pick the Best Stocks To Day Trade

Check out this video on how to pick the best stocks to day trade! For more great info on how to day trade stocks, visit Bestdaytradingstocks.com

How To Pick Stocks To Day Trade

Check out this video to see the best stock to day trade on May 2, 2012, AEO. Then visit bestdaytradingstocks.com to learn more about picking the best stocks to day trade! http://youtu.be/i6Ok80_g39s

Today's Best Stock To Daytrade - April 30, 2012

Check out this video below to see how you could have profited from today's best stock to daytrade! http://youtu.be/HrkioxyteDc For more great day trading info, don't forget to visit www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Best Daytrading Stocks - April 25, 2012

Check out the video below for today's best day trading opportunities in the stock market. View video here www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Choppy Stock Market Difficult on Day Traders

As the overall stock market has been tracing out a topping pattern, or at least a sideways congestion pattern, since mid-March, it has been more difficult to identify solid day trading and swing trading opportunities. The most reliable patterns that predict direction have posted less than stellar records over the last three weeks in particular. This has been due to lack of follow through, and high momentum stocks topping out an rolling over. With this in mind it is critical for day traders to expand their horizons and pay very close attention to the tape. Strong market opens have had a tendency to fizzle out lately, making our job more difficult. Therefore it is critical for traders to be more patient and wait for strong evidence of either a strong market follow through after the opening, or a stock that is diverging strongly from the market. As we have entered earnings season in the last week, most of the big movers have been on earnings reports. Unfortunately, in many cases, after the report, there is a large gap up and then limited follow through. This has resulted in significant frustration for many traders. However, veteran traders understand that these periods will occur, but around the corner the market will find its equilibrium and present more easily identifiable opportunities. With that in mind, now is a good time to exercise caution if you have been undergoing a losing streak. Trade smaller, and wait for the stock market pickings to become easy again. www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Best Daytrading Stocks

The best stocks to day trade on Monday, April 2nd are...

GAME
QIHU
FAS
SGI
TSL
EXEL
IRE

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Best Daytrading Stocks - Commentary for March 6, 2012

Today was a true selling day in the stock market coming on the heels of some suspect price action over the last couple weeks. It appears that for now, the easier money may be made by day traders who focus on shorting opportunities. Keep in mind, this can all change on a dime, and it is always good to pay attention to the tape during the trading day.

Later this week we have an all important employment report, which could put the market back on firmer footing. However, a weak report will likely lead to significantly more selling pressure.

Stay tuned!
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Day Trading Stocks - Apple - February 15, 2012

Check out this video on how you could have profited by day trading Apple stock today, the wildest day in the market this year!
href="http://www.bestdaytradingstocks.com">www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

A Day Trading Tip

I participate, or actually I should say, observe a trading group on Facebook, and it is quite clear to me that most of the participants are simply looking for action, and hope to be profitable. Even the supposed better traders in the group do not seem to have a clear cut strategy that they stick with consistently. The other thing I observe is that most of them love to talk about their winning trades, and they get very excited when these come along. Finally, most seem to trade every day, even if there is limited action and opportunity.

One of the lessons I have had to learn as a trader is to be patient and wait only for those opportunities where the probabilities of success are clearly in my favor. I have found that most people seem to think they need to trade every day no matter what. They also seem to want to be right, rather than profitable. For instance, as Apple stock has moved from $450 to just under $500 in the last week, I noted several traders in the group publicly saying they were buying puts, betting that Apple is wildly over priced, and ready for a plunge. Meanwhile, the stock has evened managed to climb or break even on days when the overall market is down. That is what we call a positive divergence!

The point I am making here is that it is not necessary for you as a day trader to trade every day. Your only goal is to be profitable. If you let other goals cloud your mind, such as being right on the direction of the overall market, then ultimately you will not be profitable. With this in mind, only trade when there are good opportunities for profit. If the market is dull, and these opportunities do not present themselves, then take a break. You want to preserve your capital for those days when windfall opportunities come along, because in the long run, those are the days that will contribute most to your bottom line.

www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Best Stocks To Day Trade - February 9, 2012

The best stock to day trade today was Cheniere Energy. Check out the video to see why.


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Top Daytrading Stocks - January 31, 2012

Once again, the stock market shrugged off early morning jitters to essentially close unchanged today. This pattern has been repeating itself quite a bit in recent weeks, and this has allowed day traders to hop on board strong stocks when the tape improves. Today's best stock to day trade, based upon our proprietary selection criteria, was Westport Innovations (WPRT). Check out the chart below. This was a stock where our strategy results in a gain of up to $2 per share.



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Top Stock To Day Trade - January 25, 2012

The best stock to day trade today was hands down CLR. Today was a great day to pay attention to the tape. The overall market was weak, in spite of the strength in Apple after reporting earnings yesterday. CLR was another stock that gapped up at the open, and when the overall market got its act together, this stock took off. Check out the chart below.



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Top Day Trading Stock - January 24, 2012

The stock market didn't do a whole lot today, but there were some nice movers for day traders to make some decent profits. At Best Daytrading Stocks, we like to focus on the stocks that are outperforming the rest of the market. IDIX is one of these stocks, and today it was set up nicely for a sizable move. You can see the intraday chart of this stock below. We like applying an opening range breakout strategy and holding the position into the close as long as the trade stays profitable all day.



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Top Day Trading Stock of the day

While the overall stock market went nowhere today, there were some good day trading opportunities. The best stock to day trade today, though, based on how we like to trade, was Noble Energy (NBL). This is a classic opening range breakout stock that never looked back.



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Best Stock To Day Trade - January 18, 2012

Have a look at this video about today's top day trading stock.


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Best Stock To Day Trade

Travelzoo was today's best stock to day trade. At bestdaytradingstocks.com, we like to use an opening range breakout strategy after identifying potential stocks for day trading opportunities. Check out the chart below to see what we mean!

Scott Cole
www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Best Stock To Day Trade

U.S. stocks closed with marginal gains once again on Monday, continuing the pattern in place since last Wednesday. The overall trading pattern during the day has been repeated for a few days now...weakness in the morning due to ongoing European issues, and a very modest rally beginning after the European close.

The trading patterns are somewhat mixed...the Dow and S&P 500 look like they are ready to explode upward, while the Nasdaq and small cap averages are more mixed.

One stock I definitely do not like now is Google. Google had broken out recently to 52 week highs, with a nice basing pattern going back about one year. Today, it closed down over 4%, and formed an island reversal pattern in the process, due to the gap down. It closed below its 34 day EMA for the first time since late November. If there is follow through, expect some weakness in the NASDAQ.

Biotechs lead the way upward today, lead by Inhibitex, which is being bought out. It was up 140% today...yes, 140%! Unfortunately, it was not a good day trading move, as it opened high, and then traded in a narrow range.

Our daytrading stock of the day still offered plenty for the day trader. MDVN opened at $49.57, and closed up near $53.00 today. See the chart below.

Scott Cole
www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

Best Daytrading Stock - January 3, 2012

U.S. Stocks opened strongly to start the new trading year, but failed to build onto these gains, and closed a bit off the highs. As a result, the best performing daytrading stocks were highly focused in the oil and gas industry due to the strength in energy prices today, as crude oil closed up over $3 per barrel.

There were a number of stocks with gains in the 8 to 10% range today. Based upon our basic daytrading strategy, the one candidate that stood out is Nabors Industries, which closed with a nearly 10% gain. The intraday chart of this stock may be seen below. Our strategy would provide you with a gain of about $1 per share....not bad for a stock priced under $20!



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Day Trading Tips For The New Year

2011 is behind us, so it is time to renew our energy and focus on the new year! Here are a few tips to jumpstart your daytrading profits.

1. Pay close attention to intermediate term stock market trends. If you can stay on the right side of the market with your day trades, you will be more profitable. This all starts with identifying the current trend in the market.

2. Learn how to read the tape. When you can stay on the right side of the tape, and trade in the direction that the big money is flowing, you will put the odds more in your favor.

3. Don't trade just to trade, or just for the action. Most traders I know are amateurs, and they trade for the thrill of trading. Learn how to treat day trading as a business, don't get emotional, and you will become a better trader.

4. Stick with volatile stocks with decent volume. It makes no sense trying to scalp a few pennies in Microsoft when you can hop on board a fast mover and grab a few dollars!

5. Set goals. You should set goals regarding the success of your trading business. If you are relatively new to trading, you should simply strive for being profitable every month. Most traders are not close to being profitable each month, or at all for that matter.

6. Develop your trading plan and stick to it! Many traders are always changing strategies, looking for the holy grail. There isn't one. So develop a basic and sound strategy and stick with it!

Going forward I will be presenting a lot more tips and thoughts to help your day trading success, so keep stopping by!

Scott Cole
www.bestdaytradingstocks.com