Day trading isn't for everyone, but for those that dive into this highly competitive world there is a lot to learn. In my opinion risk is the first thing you want to focus on then you can move on to specific strategies. Now, believe it or not there are many different types of day traders and all kinds of strategies you can use. Today we will look closely at where day traders are looking at different points in the day to find their trades.
Pre-Market: First thing in the morning the only thing on a day traders mind is news. Before the market opens they are interested in what news is causing a stock to start moving in the pre market. This may be due to earnings releases or rumors that cause a stock to surge or decline before the markets are open for regular trading. What they are looking for is a stock that is gapping up or down. This severe change between yesterdays closing price and the projected opening price is what they are attracted to.
Each day there are countless numbers of stocks that are gapping higher or lower. It is the day traders objective to narrow those down to the stocks that he or she wishes to trade. This process is the first thing that every, active day traders is interested in.
Morning: Once the markets are open many day traders will look to trade those stocks which have gapped higher or lower. Using the previously described methods a day trader likely has a list of stocks he will be watching.
There are other places one could look as well in the early part of the day. Exchange traded funds are a focus as well due to their liquidity and ease of finding them. Most day traders will leave a small list of market ETF's to utilize if there aren't many gapping stocks to look at. Again, volume and activity are the driving factors when it comes to choosing them.
Afternoon: Most day traders will not trade during the lunch time as there isn't usually much activity. As lunch comes to an end, and the day trader returns to work they will likely be looking for trending stocks. Now this can go both ways. There are many day traders that like to play stocks that they assume will resume in trend while others like to look for trends that may be coming to an end.
There are many great ways one can study day trading, but putting the time in and trading (either simulated or live) is the best way to accelerate your learning curve.