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A typical trading dayEven though every trader has a different daily routine I would like to share my typical trading day when I decide to day trade. I usually start my trading day at 8:30AM EST. The first thing I do after starting my computer is to tune on to financial news as well as world news. I have subscribed to the electronic copies of a bunch of papers which help me keep up to date with the current economic situations around the world. I like the Wall street journal, Investor business daily, Barrons and even the NY times... I try to get a general overview over the news that is moving the market and if there might be more news to be released (i.e. Fed announcements, economic news). I read most of the news wrap-ups over the Internet, but also listen to financial TV. However, I do take the information I get there very cautiously. A very important part of my trading day preparation is the technical analysis of the market itself, especially the NASDAQ. I will use indicators such as retracements, moving averages and trend lines for my analysis. Most importantly though, I want to look at recent lows and highs. If someone would wake me up 2 minutes before the market were to open and ask me to make a quick analysis of the market I would only look at the prior days high for upside resistance and the prior days low for downside support. I would most likely do very well just by doing that. All market analysis is based on the daily charts. In the beginning of the trading day I already have a list of stocks (a watch list) that I want to watch and potentially trade. This list is usually created after the market close. Please see “how to find trade candidates” for more details more on how to find potential candidates. My original watch list mostly has stocks in it,that I am interested in based on technical analysis. I will add additional stocks to the list that are gapping in the morning for potential momentum trades as well as stocks that are mentioned by other traders in newsletters I receive every day. I will only consider stocks that fit my style of trading and my risk tolerance. After all that is done I sometimes have a big list of stocks that needs to shrink before the trading day starts. I try to sort out as many stocks as I can and only focus on three to four stocks that I actually put into level 2 screens and add charts to them. There might be more stocks in my watch list, but rarely more than 10, simply because I would loose my focus by having too many stocks to watch. Most of my trades are entered in the first half hour of the trading day if I day trade but only after 10AM if I swing trade because of the 10AM rule… Between 9:30 and 10AM it’s usually the mom and pop’s orders that go in regardless of the direction of the market. Once these orders have been processed we are likely to see where the stock will really go for the rest of the day… If the stock continues in the same direction after 10AM the odds of it turning against you are lower so you can enter and let it ride (make sure to enter your stop before you leave!). But, like I said, if I plan on daytrading, I will trade in the first 30 minutes of the day. Movements are the strongest during this period of the day. Momentum trades can almost only be done in this time. I make sure to watch what happens in the market during the reversal zones, especially the one at 10:00 and choose my entries accordingly (meaning I wont enter another long if the market is already going up and a reversal zone approaching. Most of the stocks from my initial list will either setup in the first half hour or become invalid. Only a few stocks are sometimes left that I will continue watching for potential setups. If there is not much interesting left on my initial watch list I will start scanning for intra-day trades, i.e. I will scan for strong stocks that are consolidating near their highs for potential breakout trades. I will create another watch list based on those scans. Again, I put the most interesting stocks into level 2 and charts. Ideally, the stocks I find through intra-day scanning will setup after the first 45 minutes of trading and after a reasonable consolidation (depending on the setup). Many of them setup right before the lunch hours (11:30AM- 1:30PM). These hours are usually the slowest of the trading day, with the overall volume being very low. A general rule is not to trade during these hours, since moves are more random and less predictable. I do however find many interesting and often very strong moves during this period and therefore don’t agree anymore with this “old” trader wisdom. This is especially true, if there wasn’t much movement in the first trading hours. If the first hours were slow, then you will often see strong moves over noon. If the first hours were very volatile, then lunch-hours are most likely very slow. After placing my morning trades and potentially some intra-day trades, I will take a break of about 30 minutes, then return to intra-day scanning and continue following the stocks that are still on my morning list. If the market didn’t break out over noon I will be looking to enter more trades once the market gets busier, which is typically after 2PM. I will be mostly just watching the market from about 3PM to the close and exit some of my trades or take partial gains if I have any open positions. In this time I will also start working on my watch list for the next trading day. The close will be very interesting for me to watch, especially if I have positions that I might be willing to hold overnight. A general rule is, that the stronger the stock is at the close, the more likely it is going to continue higher the following day, and the more likely I am to hold it overnight. I like my long positions to finish at least in the upper half of the trading day in order for them to be interesting as an overnight hold (vice versa for shorts). This is pretty much how my trading day looks if I trade trend-following patterns as well as some swing trades. If I would only do very short-term scalps, my day would certainly look different because I would be less affected by the overall market. If I am in a position I will always keep an eye on it. For longer term trades I strongly advise using automated stops for your protection. They have two advantages: 1.You don’t have to watch the stock all the time and 2.They automate your exit decision, which leaves less room for failure. Please be careful though with stop orders and study your brokers order guide carefully. Some stop orders are only saved on your computer; if you lose your Internet connection or your computer crashes your order wont be send out anymore and you are not protected. Now let's jump in and have a look at the two main forces in the markets: Offer and demand 
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