# Day trading questions



## ChaoSI (2 May 2011)

hey guys, always been curious about this...
for any day traders out there would you mind revealing any stocks that you trade? i'm was interested in seeing what their charts look like...

also, my understanding of day trading is that it requires a relatively large amount of money to be placed into a share to take advantage of small price movements... is this correct?  i would imagine (esp with commsec's $30 brokerage) that day trading with small amounts is quite.... difficult to say the least?


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## burglar (2 May 2011)

ChaoSI said:


> i would imagine (esp with commsec's $30 brokerage) that day trading with small amounts is quite.... difficult to say the least?




Re commsec, ... You have answered your own question. 
I believe day traders use "Paritrade" or "Interactive Brokers"!


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## tech/a (2 May 2011)

ChaoSI said:


> hey guys, always been curious about this...
> for any day traders out there would you mind revealing any stocks that you trade? i'm was interested in seeing what their charts look like...
> 
> also, my understanding of day trading is that it requires a relatively large amount of money to be placed into a share to take advantage of small price movements... is this correct?  i would imagine (esp with commsec's $30 brokerage) that day trading with small amounts is quite.... difficult to say the least?




I use IB
Charts I have traded.
RRS
QNR
EIO

Currently 
SPI
DAX
FTSE Futures.

For shares I wont limit to strictly EOD
Most positions are under $10K but no less than 5K


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## ChaoSI (3 May 2011)

thanks burg.




tech/a said:


> I use IB
> Charts I have traded.
> RRS
> QNR
> ...




thanks for sharing that too btw tech

not EOD meaning that you may actually hold a position depending on what you think it'll do the next day?


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## tech/a (3 May 2011)

They are always fast movers (for day trades)
If its obvious I have jumped on board before the EOD traders
who will hop on tommorow --Ill hold---can get some great greed trading off these guys.
I then sell on the first sign of weakness that day---normally around an hr after open---sometimes immediately.

Day trading is a great challenge and one I would do a lot of if that was all I did---for a living.
Easy money for the experienced.
Youd need $50K in my view to pull enough each day.
A high hit rate entry method 70-80%
and a very good trading platform.
Ability to search realtime setups a must.


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## skyQuake (3 May 2011)

tech/a said:


> They are always fast movers (for day trades)
> If its obvious I have jumped on board before the EOD traders
> who will hop on tommorow --Ill hold---can get some great greed trading off these guys.
> I then sell on the first sign of weakness that day---normally around an hr after open---sometimes immediately.
> ...




It certainly is fun!
tech/a do u primary use IB? How about for stock filters

------------------------------------------------

commsec brokerage will kill you if you daytrade

Unless you're punting small caps in a raging bull mkt


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## tech/a (3 May 2011)

skyQuake said:


> It certainly is fun!
> tech/a do u primary use IB? How about for stock filters
> 
> ------------------------------------------------
> ...





IB only
Yahoo for runners.
R/T searches metastock
EOD setups Metastock
EOD setups Tradeguider

E'signal has some good stats R/T if you subscribe which I do
should look more into them. Like instant % gain/Volume increase. refresh every 20 mins or so to spot movers.


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## Russell (4 May 2011)

Is day trading something you started doing after you had become comfortable with mid to long term trading?


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## tech/a (4 May 2011)

I wouldnt call it day trading although that does happen.

Yes it did follow 

(1) A stint of very costly discretionary trading 17-15 yrs ago.
(2) A great run of System Trading which came about due to (1).
(3) Market dictated system trading particularly longterm was going to struggle so went back to discretionary with the aim of this time---13 yrs later (2 yrs ago) getting it right and using what I had learnt to turn the tables.

I really think you need to know *how to *trade profitably and *how to *skew the edge in your favor to trade in a discretionary manner---daytrading to medium to longer term.


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## Russell (5 May 2011)

Thanks for replying. I am very, very new and wanted to see where day trading would fit in so to speak..


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## ChaoSI (5 May 2011)

Russell said:


> Thanks for replying. I am very, very new and wanted to see where day trading would fit in so to speak..




ooh like me... well from what Tech says... it fits in about 15 years down the track and a costly discretionary trading experience


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## ChaoSI (5 May 2011)

with IB that's interactive brokers i'm guessing?

if they charge so little on brokerage.. where do they profit from ?
is there a minimum amount that i have to open an account with? fees? hidden fees?


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## tech/a (5 May 2011)

ChaoSI said:


> with IB that's interactive brokers i'm guessing?
> 
> if they charge so little on brokerage.. where do they profit from ?
> is there a minimum amount that i have to open an account with? fees? hidden fees?




Volume. They do 10s of millions of trades a day.
US stock is only a $ in and out and Futures all under $5
You can trade anything thats traded with IB 
Their work station is amazing I have no idea of its full capability.
Minimum is $15k I think.

Drawbacks
Pain in the **** to open an account takes a long time.
Ive been with them 3 yrs and no problems  Help desk 24 hrs and really good for any issues---which have been my short fallings not theirs.
If your serious about trading you need to be with IB---in my opinion.


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## ChaoSI (5 May 2011)

tech/a said:


> Volume. They do 10s of millions of trades a day.
> US stock is only a $ in and out and Futures all under $5
> You can trade anything thats traded with IB
> Their work station is amazing I have no idea of its full capability.
> ...





money first   better keep on saving then. but yeah the idea of such tiny commissions is a REALLY big plus.... 
if i recall they have minimum activity fees for the account too as well right?
so i guess in the meantime i better read up and save up lots more :S


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## skyQuake (5 May 2011)

ChaoSI said:


> money first   better keep on saving then. but yeah the idea of such tiny commissions is a REALLY big plus....
> if i recall they have minimum activity fees for the account too as well right?
> so i guess in the meantime i better read up and save up lots more :S




Also from memory, if u're under 21 u can open an acct with $3k


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## tech/a (5 May 2011)

Not aware of either of the above statements.

You could open a demo account to trade and find your way around the platform.
Great way to learn while your saving---youll get a chance to see how much you saved by not opening an account!!


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## builder2818 (5 May 2011)

tech/a said:


> Not aware of either of the above statements.
> 
> You could open a demo account to trade and find your way around the platform.
> Great way to learn while your saving---youll get a chance to see how much you saved by not opening an account!!




Are your funds held in an account in the US and is there hassle in trying to withdraw money inc fees for doing so?

Also, what about if you don't like trading on a regular basis, if you have a few months off, do you get charged any fees for just holding cash in your account?


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## tech/a (5 May 2011)

builder2818 said:


> Are your funds held in an account in the US and is there hassle in trying to withdraw money inc fees for doing so?
> 
> Also, what about if you don't like trading on a regular basis, if you have a few months off, do you get charged any fees for just holding cash in your account?




No hassles depositing or withdrawing.
No fees for non usage as far as I am aware.
Ill find out soon as I'm not going to trade for a few months while O/S


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## builder2818 (5 May 2011)

tech/a said:


> No hassles depositing or withdrawing.
> No fees for non usage as far as I am aware.
> Ill find out soon as I'm not going to trade for a few months while O/S




Thanks Tech, I have always contemplated setting an account up with them. Apart from the ridiculously confusing set up conditions, I wanted to set an account up and was probably not going to use it for a while.

I trade through a trust with a company trustee so that's what makes it a bit harder to understand their account set up process.


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## alexc2005 (2 July 2011)

I've always wondered how this works- have been thinking of getting into day trading a bit.

Sadly i was planning on playing with 2k amounts and at 30 bucks each way thats 3% of my gain taken up in brokerage alone..

Then 30% goes to the tax man.

So say i spend 2k, the share increases 15% = $2300-60(brokerage both ways)-tax (240*.3) = $2168

Means for all that effort i have put in, i only get about $170 profit = 8.5% growth.

Ok, not so good for 2k. But lets look at 5k.

5k spend, share increase 15% = $5750-$60 brokerage - tax (690*.3) = $5483

This time i get 9.6% growth for my money.

Obviously this increases with each amount of money spent as the brokerage becomes more and more insignificant.

20k spend would yield 10.3% profit.

Kinda gay- but thats life i guess, 8.5% profit in a day or 2 is pretty good when you think about how long it would take you to earn that in a high interest bank account (good luck finding one with an 8.5% interest rate)...


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## tech/a (2 July 2011)

Alex

You can't trade through IB with $ 20 k
The setup is very involved and many give up--- worth the perseverance.
On return look at a yearly return.
30  % and more is possible from experienced traders
Pre tax.


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## alexc2005 (3 July 2011)

tech/a said:


> Alex
> 
> You can't trade through IB with $ 20 k
> The setup is very involved and many give up--- worth the perseverance.
> ...




Tech,

I was talking about normal trading with westpac or a normal account.


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## tech/a (3 July 2011)

Alex

Just noticed an error in my post
Should read--- you CAN trade an IB account on $ 20 k
Worth considering if trading short term


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## alexc2005 (3 July 2011)

tech/a said:


> Alex
> 
> Just noticed an error in my post
> Should read--- you CAN trade an IB account on $ 20 k
> Worth considering if trading short term




Ah yeah- i was wondering about that 

Hmm, i will get some practice first before venturing out i think. 

I'll see how i go anyway!

Thanks


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## tminus (6 July 2011)

tech/a said:


> Drawbacks
> Pain in the **** to open an account takes a long time.



How long do they take to open an account, weeks or months?


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