In this first week of our five–week course on day trading, we want to define what the business of day trading is and what it is not. We will discuss the differences between professional direct-access day traders, and those traders attempting to accomplish the same thing through on-line brokerage firms with internet ISP hook ups. The SEC has expressed many concerns regarding the explosive growth of on-line day trading, and we will address their concerns in this first installment of the course. We will explain why day trading is potentially a valid and rewarding business, but at the same time, we will make you acutely aware of the various hurdles you must overcome to succeed. Successful day traders must maintain a proper psychology, mental attitude, and focus.

Most traders have their favorite markets. In many cases, though, the same markets you excel in with interday trading, you may perish in with intraday trading. It's vital, then, to know how to pick good markets for your day-trading strategies. But one market can't be a panacea for all day-trading problems. It's still important to know what you trade, warns William Darby, president and chief executive officer of Darby Trading Consultants in White Plains. X.Y.

I bought my first call almost 25 years ago; at that time puts hadn’t even started trading. Like a lot of people who get hooked, that first trade was a winner – which only led me to think I knew way more than I did. Succeeding years have taught me otherwise. In the intervening years, I have traded as well as sat on the sidelines. I have read a number of options books to improve my understanding of options theory. But I have never been a professional trader.
In my role as President of thinkorswim, I am working with people who have made their livings trading options. In addition, I have been working closely with Charles on his book to make it more comprehensible to those who have not been floor traders. Charles is a natural born teacher.

“You can be free. You can live and work anywhere in the world, be independent from the routine and not answer to anybody.” With those words I began my first book, Trading for a Living. One of my great pleasures in the years since its publication has been meeting and becoming friends with people who became free thanks to successful trading. Several times a year I run a Traders’ Camp, a week of intensive classes at remote resorts. I enjoy my campers’ successes.

To make a profit, most individual investors and fund managers are forced to take a view on the direction of the price of something. The traditional or fundamental strategy is to study all the aspects of the market-place, all the factors affecting the price or that might affect the price, the general state of the economy (if relevant) and decide on the value of the investment vehicle under study. In addition to the fundamentals, many also consider what are known as the technical factors.

Over the last 20 years, investors have increasingly come to regard investing in
stocks about the same as putting money in the bank—except they got a higher
return. This belief became so pervasive that, as recently as 2000, the government in Washington was still talking about putting part of the Social Security account into securities in order to earn a higher return. After the Nasdaq crash, that plan was quietly dropped.

It has now been close to thirty years since I began writing the first edition of A Random Walk Down Wall Street. The message of the original edition was a very simple one: Investors would be far better off buying and holding an index fund than attempting to buy and sell individual securities or actively managed mutual funds.

Майкл Дж. Маобуссин из «CreditSuisseFirstBoston» дает хороший совет, как избежать отчаяния на рынке:
Знание самого себя означает понимание, как вы, скорее всего, будете себя вести при различных обстоятельствах. За несколько прошлых десятилетий исследователи рыночного поведения выработали ясное понимание психологических ловушек, в которые попадают трейдеры.

Торговля, как и спорт, является ориентированной на высшие достижения дисциплиной и трейдер, подобно каждому великому спортсмену будет периодически добиваться наивысших результатов. Каждый Олимпийский участник прошел через очень тяжелые физические тренировки, но различие между теми, кто завоевал Олимпийскую медаль и теми, кто нет, заключается в психологическом настрое на победу. Большая часть времени начального обучения трейдера сконцентрирована на торговых стратегиях и рыночном анализе.

Ваш бизнес-план – это ваш личный проект успешной торговли. Он включает не только ваши цели, но и детальный план того, как вы планируете туда добраться. Этот план должен выходить за пределы вашей торговой методологии. Он должен включать структурирование не только вашей торговой среды, но целой жизни. Ваш мозг и психика являются вашими основными активами в торговле. Как вы планируете защищать их в течение года?

Ваш бизнес-план должен быть структурирован, чтобы мотивировать вас делать более высокие прибыли на вашем счете.