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Day trading
Buying and selling financial instruments within the same trading day

Day trading is a form of speculation involving buying and selling financial instruments such as stocks, options, and cryptocurrency within the same trading day to avoid overnight risks. Traders, often called pattern day traders, must maintain $25,000 equity in their accounts per FINRA rules. Leverage via margin loans can magnify gains and losses, with brokers permitting up to 4:1 intraday leverage under Regulation T. Day trading demands fast execution, often using specialized software, and strategies like scalping. It gained popularity with electronic trading platforms and increased market volatility, attracting both professionals and retail traders alike.

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History

Electronic communication networks (ECNs), large proprietary computer networks on which brokers can list a certain amount of securities to sell at a certain price (the asking price or "ask") or offer to buy a certain amount of securities at a certain price (the "bid"), first became a factor with the launch of Instinet in 1969. However, at first, they generally offered better pricing to large traders.12

The next important step in facilitating day trading was the founding in 1971 of NASDAQ - a virtual stock exchange on which orders were transmitted electronically.13

After Black Monday (1987), the SEC adopted "Order Handling Rules" which required market makers to publish their best bid and ask on the NASDAQ.14

In the 1980s, the NASDAQ introduced the Small Order Execution System (SOES).15 The SOES became so popular among day traders that they were known as "SOES bandits".16 The SOES system ultimately led to trading facilitated by software instead of market makers via ECNs.17

The ability for individuals to day trade via electronic trading platforms coincided with the extreme bull market in technological issues from 1997 to early 2000, known as the dot-com bubble. From 1997 to 2000, the NASDAQ rose from 1,200 to 5,000. Many naive investors with little market experience made huge profits buying these stocks in the morning and selling them in the afternoon, at 400% margin rates. An unprecedented amount of personal investing occurred during the boom and stories of people quitting their jobs to day trade were common.18

In March 2000, this bubble burst, and many less-experienced day traders began to lose money as fast, or faster, than they had made during the buying frenzy. The NASDAQ crashed from 5000 back to 1200; many of the less-experienced traders went broke, although obviously it was possible to have made a fortune during that time by short selling or playing on volatility.1920

Profitability and risks

Because of the nature of financial leverage and the rapid returns that are possible, day trading results can range from extremely profitable to extremely unprofitable; high-risk profile traders can generate either huge percentage returns or huge percentage losses.21

Day trading is risky, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has made the following warnings to day traders:22

  • Be prepared to suffer severe financial losses
  • Day traders do not "invest"
  • Day trading is an extremely stressful and expensive full-time job
  • Day traders depend heavily on borrowing money or buying stocks on margin
  • Don't believe claims of easy profits
  • Watch out for "hot tips" and "expert advice" from newsletters and websites catering to day traders
  • Remember that "educational" seminars, classes, and books about day trading may not be objective
  • Check out day trading firms with your state securities regulator

Most day traders lose money.232425

A 2019 research paper analyzed the performance of individual day traders in the Brazilian equity futures market. Based on trading records from 2012 to 2017, it was concluded that day trading Brazilian equity futures is almost uniformly unprofitable:

We show that it is virtually impossible for individuals to compete with HFTs and day trade for a living, contrary to what course providers claim. We observe all individuals who began to day trade between 2013 and 2015 in the Brazilian equity futures market, the third in terms of volume in the world, and who persisted for at least 300 days: 97% of them lost money, only 0.4% earned more than a bank teller (US$54 per day), and the top individual earned only US$310 per day with great risk (a standard deviation of US$2,560). We find no evidence of learning by day trading.26

An article in Forbes quoting someone from an educational trading website stated that "the success rate for day traders is estimated to be around only 10%, so ... 90% are losing money," adding "only 1% of [day] traders really make money."27

Techniques

Day trading requires a sound and rehearsed method to provide a statistical edge on each trade and should not be engaged on a whim.28

The following are several basic trading strategies by which day traders attempt to make profits. In addition, some day traders also use contrarian investing strategies (more commonly seen in algorithmic trading) to trade specifically against irrational behavior from day traders using the approaches below. It is important for a trader to remain flexible and adjust techniques to match changing market conditions.29

Swing Trading

Trend following

Trend following, or momentum trading, is a strategy used in all trading time-frames, assumes that financial instruments which have been rising steadily will continue to rise, and vice versa with falling. Traders can profit by buying an instrument which has been rising, or short selling a falling one, in the expectation that the trend will continue. These traders use technical analysis to identify trends.30

Szakmary and Lancaster (2015)31 validate the effectiveness of trend following in the U.S. stock market, demonstrating its potential for generating positive returns. Similarly, research by Blackstar Funds highlights rigorous applications of trend following in commodities, financial futures, and currencies, although its application to stock trading presented challenges.32

Contrarian investing

Contrarian investing is a market timing strategy used in all trading time-frames. It assumes that financial instruments that have been rising steadily will reverse and start to fall, and vice versa. The contrarian trader buys an instrument which has been falling, or short-sells a rising one, in the expectation that the trend will change.33

Range trading

Range trading, or range-bound trading, is a trading style in which stocks are watched that have either been rising off a support price or falling off a resistance price. That is, every time the stock hits a high, it falls back to the low, and vice versa. Such a stock is said to be "trading in a range", which is the opposite of trending.34

Scalping

Scalping was originally referred to as spread trading. Scalping is a trading style where small price gaps created by the bid–ask spread are exploited by the speculator. It normally involves establishing and liquidating a position quickly, usually within minutes or even seconds.35

Scalping highly liquid instruments for off-the-floor day traders involves taking quick profits while minimizing risk (loss exposure).36 It applies technical analysis concepts such as over/under-bought, support and resistance zones as well as trendline, trading channel to enter the market at key points and take quick profits from small moves. The basic idea of scalping is to exploit the inefficiency of the market when volatility increases and the trading range expands. Scalpers also use the 'fade' technique, when stock values suddenly rise, they short sell securities that seem overvalued.37

Rebate trading

Rebate trading is an equity trading style that uses ECN rebates as a primary source of profit and revenue. Most ECNs charge commissions to customers who want to have their orders filled immediately at the best prices available, but the ECNs pay commissions to buyers or sellers who "add liquidity" by placing limit orders that create "market-making" in a security. Rebate traders seek to make money from these rebates and will usually maximize their returns by trading low priced, high volume stocks. This enables them to trade more shares and contribute more liquidity with a set amount of capital, while limiting the risk that they will not be able to exit a position in the stock.38

Trading the news

Main article: Trading the news

Price action trading

Main article: Price action trading

Market-neutral trading

Market-neutral trading is a strategy that is designed to mitigate risk in which a trader takes a long position in one security and a short position in another security that is related.39

Algorithmic trading

It is estimated that more than 75% of stock trades in United States are generated by algorithmic trading or high-frequency trading. The increased use of algorithms and quantitative techniques has led to more competition and smaller profits.40

Cost

Commission

Spread

Main article: Bid–ask spread

The numerical difference between the bid and ask prices is referred to as the bid–ask spread.41 It can be viewed as an estimate of transaction costs.42

The bid–ask spread is two sides of the same coin. The spread can be viewed as trading bonuses or costs according to different parties and different strategies. On one hand, traders who do NOT wish to queue their order, instead paying the market price, pay the spreads (costs). On the other hand, traders who wish to queue and wait for execution receive the spreads (bonuses). Some day trading strategies attempt to capture the spread as additional, or even the only, profits for successful trades.43

Market data

Market data is necessary for day traders to be competitive. A real-time data feed requires paying fees to the respective stock exchanges, usually combined with the broker's charges; these fees are usually very low compared to the other costs of trading. The fees may be waived for promotional purposes or for customers meeting a minimum monthly volume of trades. Even a moderately active day trader can expect to meet these requirements, making the basic data feed essentially "free". In addition to the raw market data, some traders purchase more advanced data feeds that include historical data and features such as scanning large numbers of stocks in the live market for unusual activity. Complicated analysis and charting software are other popular additions. These types of systems can cost from tens to hundreds of dollars per month to access.44

See also

References

  1. Yell, Tyler (October 3, 2019). "The Similarities Between Day Trading and Gambling". The Balance. https://www.thebalance.com/the-striking-similarities-between-trading-and-gambling-1345200 ↩

  2. Frankel, Matthew (August 24, 2017). "Why Day Trading Stocks Is Not the Way to Invest". The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/09/why-day-trading-stocks-is-not-the-way-to-invest.aspx ↩

  3. SETH, SHOBHIT (August 17, 2019). "Choosing the Right Day-Trading Software". Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/100714/vital-importance-choosing-right-day-trading-software.asp ↩

  4. https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-and-bulletins/margin-rules-day-trading [bare URL] https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-and-bulletins/margin-rules-day-trading ↩

  5. Bulkowski, T. N. (2013). Swing and day trading evolution of a trader. In Swing and day trading evolution of a trader (1st edition). Wiley. ↩

  6. "Day Traders: Mind Your Margin". Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Archived from the original on 2019-03-15. Retrieved 2019-03-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20190315224215/http://www.finra.org/investors/highlights/day-traders-mind-your-margin ↩

  7. "Day-Trading Margin Requirements: Know the Rules". Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Archived from the original on 2019-04-16. Retrieved 2017-09-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20190416184929/http://www.finra.org/investors/day-trading-margin-requirements-know-rules ↩

  8. Karger, Gunther (August 22, 1999). "Daytrading: Wall Street's latest, riskiest get-rich scheme". American City Business Journals. https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/1999/08/23/editorial3.html ↩

  9. Davis, Anthony A. (2021). "The life of a pandemic day trader". https://www.macleans.ca/economy/the-life-of-a-pandemic-day-trader/ ↩

  10. Godfrey, Neale (July 16, 2017). "Day Trading: Smart Or Stupid?". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nealegodfrey/2017/07/16/day-trading-smart-or-stupid/ ↩

  11. Diamandiev, Damyan (May 26, 2020). "How to Become a Day Trader with $100". Benzinga. https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-become-a-day-trader-with-100/ ↩

  12. "Instinet - A Nomura Company - History". www.instinet.com. Archived from the original on 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2019-03-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20190321094200/https://www.instinet.com/about-instinet/history.html ↩

  13. Terrell, Ellen. "Research Guides: Wall Street and the Stock Exchanges: Historical Resources: Introduction". guides.loc.gov. Retrieved 2025-06-11. https://guides.loc.gov/wall-street-history/introduction ↩

  14. Patterson, Scott (September 13, 2010). "Man Vs. Machine: How the Crash of '87 Gave Birth To High-Frequency Trading". CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2010/09/13/man-vs-machine-how-the-crash-of-87-gave-birth-to-highfrequency-trading.html ↩

  15. Mackintosh, Phil (11 February 2021). "Nasdaq: 50 Years of Market Innovation". www.nasdaq.com. Retrieved 11 June 2025. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/nasdaq%3A-50-years-of-market-innovation-2021-02-11 ↩

  16. Mackintosh, Phil (11 February 2021). "Nasdaq: 50 Years of Market Innovation". www.nasdaq.com. Retrieved 11 June 2025. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/nasdaq%3A-50-years-of-market-innovation-2021-02-11 ↩

  17. Goldfield, Robert (May 31, 1998). "Got $50,000 extra? Put it in day trading". American City Business Journals. https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/1998/06/01/story2.html ↩

  18. Kadlec, Daniel (August 9, 1999). "Day Trading: It's a Brutal World". Time. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,991726,00.html ↩

  19. Nakashima, David (February 11, 2002). "It's back to day jobs for most Internet 'day traders'". American City Business Journals. https://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2002/02/11/focus3.html ↩

  20. Hayes, Adam (June 25, 2019). "Dotcom Bubble Definition". Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dotcom-bubble.asp ↩

  21. KUEPPER, JUSTIN (August 11, 2020). "Day Trading: An Introduction". Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/05/011705.asp ↩

  22. "Day Trading: Your Dollars at Risk". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. April 20, 2005. https://www.sec.gov/reportspubs/investor-publications/investorpubsdaytipshtm.html ↩

  23. MITCHELL, CORY (February 12, 2020). "The Difficulties of Making Money by Day Trading". The Balance. https://www.thebalance.com/why-it-is-so-hard-to-make-consistent-money-day-trading-1031238 ↩

  24. Barber, Brad M.; Lee, Yi-Tsung; Liu, Yu-Jane; Odean, Terrance (March 2014). "The cross-section of speculator skill: Evidence from day trading". Journal of Financial Markets. 18: 1–24. doi:10.1016/j.finmar.2013.05.006. S2CID 7979781. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7k75v0qx ↩

  25. Mahani, Reza; Bernhardt, Dan (June 2007). "Financial Speculators' Underperformance: Learning, Self-Selection, and Endogenous Liquidity". The Journal of Finance. 62 (3): 1313–1340. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6261.2007.01237.x. JSTOR 4622302. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩

  26. Chague, Fernando; De-Losso, Rodrigo; Giovannetti, Bruno Cara (February 2020). "Day trading for a living?". SSRN 3423101. /wiki/SSRN_(identifier) ↩

  27. Godfrey, Neale (July 16, 2017). Day Trading: Smart Or Stupid? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nealegodfrey/2017/07/16/day-trading-smart-or-stupid/?sh=38f6a3d71007 ↩

  28. MITCHELL, CORY (July 22, 2020). "Weighing a Day Trading Career". The Balance. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-you-need-to-know-for-day-trading-1031072 ↩

  29. "Adapting To Change". SFO Magazine. October 2009. https://www.traderplanet.com/adapting-to-change/ ↩

  30. Duggan, Wayne (December 21, 2018). "4 Popular Day Trading Strategies for Investors". U.S. News & World Report. https://money.usnews.com/investing/investing-101/articles/popular-day-trading-strategies-for-investors ↩

  31. Szakmary, A. C., & Lancaster, M. C. (2015). Trend-Following Trading Strategies in U.S. Stocks: A Revisit. Financial Review, 50(2), 221–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/fire.12065 https://doi.org/10.1111/fire.12065 ↩

  32. https://myhedgedfund.typepad.com/files/does_trendfollowing_work_on_stocks-2.pdf [bare URL PDF] https://myhedgedfund.typepad.com/files/does_trendfollowing_work_on_stocks-2.pdf ↩

  33. CHEN, JAMES (March 6, 2019). "Contrarian". Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/contrarian.asp ↩

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  35. Duggan, Wayne (December 21, 2018). "4 Popular Day Trading Strategies for Investors". U.S. News & World Report. https://money.usnews.com/investing/investing-101/articles/popular-day-trading-strategies-for-investors ↩

  36. Norris, Emily (September 1, 2020). "Scalping: Small Quick Profits Can Add Up". Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/05/scalping.asp ↩

  37. "Type of Day Trader". DayTradeTheWorld. 15 January 2021. https://www.daytradetheworld.com/trading-blog/what-type-of-trader-are-you/ ↩

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  40. Duhigg, Charles (November 23, 2006). "Artificial intelligence applied heavily to picking stocks - Business - International Herald Tribune". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/23/business/worldbusiness/23iht-trading.3647885.html ↩

  41. Ødegaard, Bernt Arne (21 December 2023). "Trading costs - Spread measures" (PDF). ba-odegaard.no. Retrieved 11 June 2025. https://ba-odegaard.no/teach/notes/liquidity_estimators/spread/spread_lectures.pdf ↩

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  43. Milton, Adam (July 29, 2020). "Large Bid and Ask Spreads in Day Trading Explained". The Balance. https://www.thebalance.com/spread-bid-and-ask-spread-1031392 ↩

  44. SETH, SHOBHIT (February 25, 2018). "Choosing the Right Day-Trading Software". Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/100714/vital-importance-choosing-right-day-trading-software.asp ↩