Business owners who want to offer day trading services should take advantage of day trading training. As you look into a training program, you should understand that this is a very complex field and requires patience and skill, not to mention a particular state of mind.

Training for day traders is available in the form of tutorials, webinars, online classes and seminars. All are helpful for day traders and day trading firms to achieve success. Even if you are an established day trader, you should continue to educate yourself and hone your skills. Consider the following training options when looking for day trading stocks training:

1. Start with the basics so you understand the foundation of the day trading system.

2. Remember that trading professionals usually have their own personal trading methods. You should take their lessons and develop your own skills.

3. Trading should be something you get into cautiously. Increase your risk only as you increase your experience and knowledge, and only to the extent that you feel comfortable.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Learn from free educational resources to build your day trading business

There are a plethora of free training resources available for you and your employees to take advantage of. Some educational programs come in the form of tutorials, while others are free DVDs you receive for registering with websites.

I recommend: TradingEducation.com offers a number of tutorials on a variety of topics, including "Fundamentals for Traders" and "Technical Indicators." This site also features articles on trading psychology. The Trading Success Toolkit offers free audio seminars for those who want to build on their success with a more focused approach.

Sign up with a day trading online course

If setting up your business is consuming all your time, you might consider online courses. With streaming video classes you can learn at your own pace, so you don't have to compromise your time to attend a training seminar.

I recommend: Online Trading Academy offers a wealth of educational resources, including on-site, online and home study courses. It also features free online trading courses. The Trading Authority features a two month intensive course that includes personal coaching, critiquing, evaluations and encouragement.

Test your training in forex day trading on a trade simulator

Trading is risky for professionals, but the risks are magnified for those in training. For this reason, you should definitely take advantage of a day trader practice account and trade in a risk-free environment. You can do this by signing up for virtual trading rooms.

I recommend: HowTheMarketWorks.com provides a free stock simulator that allows you to play the stocks without risking your funds. StockReflex allows you to practice your trading skills by replaying historical stock data.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider joining a forum on one of your day trader sites so you can discuss industry topics with fellow traders.

Day trading means buying and selling in rapid succession. The goal for day traders is to take a small profit from a large number of trades. Stocks trade as if there is a continuous auction with buyers bidding the price they are willing to pay and sellers asking for the price they will sell at. Trying to capture profits from the small spread between those two prices is the idea behind day trading. Technology is the key to success in this fast-paced pursuit of profits.

Direct access trading means that you see the exact same bid and ask prices that traders on the exchange floor see. Day trading firms offer this information to anyone with a reliable broadband Internet connection. Using the services of a direct access trading firm means you can sit at home and trade with the same tools used by traders on Wall Street and in hedge funds.

Day trading facts you need to know:

1. A cold and analytical approach to investment analysis is the key to success in day trading.
2. Having a plan and executing that plan with discipline are the simple factors separating day traders from success and failure.
3. Although great wealth is always a possibility, the truth is most day traders can make a comfortable living with a disciplined approach and a trading plan.
4. Direct access trading technology allows trades to be executed quickly through low commission day trading firms.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Day traders must study, study, study

Direct access stock trading pits day traders against market professionals. The professional has spent time learning what to do with the information. Successful day traders must do the same.

I recommend: Pristine.com offers seminar courses to help you get started. Check out MasterTrader.com for video tutorials and training sessions that demonstrate exactly what direct access stock trading means.

Start with a free paper day trading account

You need to be sure your day trading ideas work before putting real money at risk.

I recommend: Questrade offers a free account. To get a better feel for the work involved, an open source program, Merchant of Venice, allows potential day traders to test drive strategy software and paper trade.

Thoroughly test day trading ideas

Armed with knowledge, day traders need an edge. All the data provided by direct access trading firms needs to be stored and tested to find profitable patterns. This will require specialized software to develop a strategy.

I recommend: Blocks Strategy Trader Pack, from Worden Brothers, Metastock and AmiBroker are among the best day trading software options to help you get started.

Open an account with day trading firms

Because day trading requires a large number of trades, direct access trading firms offer low commissions. Deep discounters combine direct access stock trading information with low commissions. Other day trading firms take direct access trading to the next level and let you borrow money from the firm to day trade. The increased capital can boost profits or losses, so be careful.

I recommend: Direct access trading firms, such as Ameritrade, E*TRADE Financial, TradeStation and Interactive Brokers offer outstanding service to day traders. Hold Brothers and Bright Trading offer training and access to trading capital for more aggressive day traders.

Improve performance with day trading resources

Assuming you've done your homework and are ready to day trade, all you need is the discipline to do what you planned to do. Consider a day trading coach to improve performance.

I recommend: Rockwell Trading, Alexander Elder, and Ruth Barrons Roosevelt all offer exceptional day trading programs.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Study the markets - read everything you can find related to day trading, watch business news and review the headlines from real-time news services like Bloomberg and Reuters.
• •  For day traders, there are no guarantees - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• •  Day trading involves catching small moves in what can appear on the direct access trading screens to be chaos. Keep it simple. Figure out which stocks to watch, when you'll buy them and when you'll sell them.

Many people are fascinated by the idea of day trading as a way to significantly increase their wealth. Unfortunately, day trading online is also a way to quickly lose a lot of money. If you want to dabble, it's best to have a bit of day trading education and training under your belt before you get started.

Whether you're interested in forex day trading or want to day trade stocks, you'll find that the process is a bit more difficult than it looks at first. There are many things to learn, but the payoff can be great.

Some of the best reasons to invest in day trading education and training are:

1. To increase your wealth. If you are day trading stocks, you may be able to boost your investments faster than with typical investing.

2. To take advantage of the changes in the market. A day trader pays close attention to market fluctuations and reacts quickly to financial news.

3. To gain control over your investments. Learning about the day trading business helps you to understand how your investments are working for you. You don't need to hire day trading firms or an investment bank to do this. You maintain control.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Learn about the day trading system online

If you are new to investing and day trading, it's a good idea to start by looking at websites that offer an overview of the process. This will let you know the basics and help you to determine whether this type of investing is right for you.

I recommend: The Motley Fool is a highly respected source on finance and investing. Browsing their site turns up articles that present both the positive and negative aspects of day trading. The Day Trading Tutor offers a free training program for day trading.

Attend a seminar to learn how to day trade stocks

Going to a workshop or seminar is a great way to learn how to day trade. This can be a great way to learn from people who are very successful in the business.

I recommend: Joe Ross offers Power Trading Seminars that are ideal for both beginners and advanced students. He also offers personal consultation over the phone. If you're not able to make it to a live seminar, Day Trading University offers a video version of their seminar.

Look for day trading software that includes tutorials

Many people choose to use a software program for day trading to make things easier. However, it's important that you select a software program that's easy to understand and provides you with the training you need to use the software effectively.

I recommend: Sierra Chart offers instructional videos that can help you. TradeStation Securities offers archived seminars for new clients.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Before you start trading with real money, make sure you test the waters with a day trader practice account. This will help you to learn how to day trade stocks without losing any of your own money.

Day traders buy and sell U.S. stocks within one day. Completing four or more day-trade transactions within five business days in the U.S. stock market qualifies a broker as a day trader. If you want to go into this field, you will most likely find it beneficial to know and understand key terms when playing the market.

Learning day trading key terms gives you an edge over competitors as the terms can help you stay current with news and trends in the market. Knowledge of the key terms also helps investors communicate effectively with others in the business.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Averaging down

Averaging down refers to a process where day traders trade their contracts at a lower price, lowering the average entry price.

I recommend: For an in-depth look at averaging down in day trading, go to Stock-Market-Investors.com. It discusses the pros and cons of averaging down in this field.

Margin

The term margin refers to the minimum cash or securities amount a day trader holds in a specific account in order to trade in a particular market.

I recommend: FINRA defines rules you must know about day trading margin requirements. It summarizes the requirements and offers an explanation for the rules.

SEC restrictions

Also called pattern day trading restrictions, SEC restrictions is the term for when the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires traders to deposit a minimum of $25,000 into an account for day trading. Since most day traders do not have this amount of cash at start up, they need to keep their positions for more than a day.

I recommend: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website shows the reactions of traders to SEC restrictions.

Stop loss

A stop loss limits loss by using an exit order for when a trade goes against the original trade that a day trader made. The two types of stop loss are a regular exit and a backup exit.

I recommend: Day Trading offers a detailed description of a stop loss with links to examples explaining how to set one up.

Spread

In day trading, the word spread refers to the difference between the buying and selling prices, also known as the bidding and asking prices. A small spread is when the bid and ask prices are close together, and a large spread is when they are further apart.

I recommend: Tradejuice discusses ways to trade spreads as part of its day trading article compilation.

Triple Witching

Triple Witching, sometimes referred to as Quadruple Witching, happens every three months on the third Friday. It's when various options and future contracts expire simultaneously causing erratic behavior in the markets. Many day traders take extra caution when trading on these days.

I recommend: InvestorWords.com offers a definition for Triple Witching with links leading to further details.