Day traders usually buy and sell assets within one day; their positions are always closed by the end of the trading session. In this type of trading, you make a handful of deals a day. Many use futures and leverage to increase their profits, although this can lead to a higher potential risk. However, with proper risk management, potential losses even with high leverage can be negligible. You can find out more about effective risk management techniques in our free scalping course.
You can day trade any type of asset, including currencies, stocks, options, futures, ETFs, and more. The key aspect day traders look for in a market is liquidity. The frequency and speed of transactions are highly dependent on it. Thanks to its high liquidity and volatility, crypto is a great choice for day trading. One could even argue that crypto as an asset class for day trading is superior to all others. But then again, it doesn’t really matter what class of asset to trade so long as it's both liquid and volatile.
This trading approach implies making money from frequent short-term market movements. Consequently, most day trading strategies require lots of technical analysis, the ability to keep a cool head, and rigid self-discipline. In a nutshell, what day traders do is gather information about the upcoming market fluctuations, find and measure an entry point, trade the asset, and close the positions before the end of the working day. So, as you can see, it’s not actually a one-day type of work, even though it may look like it at first glance. In reality, only through constant market exposure and extensive practice can one learn to day trade at a profit.
Most times, day traders use the default exchange interfaces. However, one way to day trade that's been gaining popularity in recent years is trading via a terminal. Previously reserved for professional traders, terminals are now becoming more accessible and approachable than ever before. Compared to standard exchange interfaces, they offer cleaner and more customizable interfaces, a broader functionality and much faster order execution times, among other useful perks. But most importantly, a terminal connects to multiple exchanges at once, including subaccounts on each exchange. This eliminates the boundaries and makes your day trading truly efficient. You can try out the CScalp terminal and see if it fits you personally. It's 100% free and comes with an in-depth course for beginners (also free).