Does selling then buying same stock qualify as Day Trading (or pattern trading)?

All the information I have read about this suggests that Pattern Trading (with it’s 3 trade/5days restrictions) means opening and closing a trade in the same day.

What I did not understand for sure, lets say if I sell existing positions and buy the same stock the same day, does that qualify as pattern trading?
Clarification, I’m not selling at a loss.

I bought positions 1 day ago, now I want to sell it on high today and repurchase it if it goes low (+comis)

Okay first I can’t answer this questions as you’ve asked it, however maybe this will help. You can in fact sell then buy again if it drops, you can’t however use the funds aquired from the sale to purchase anything until they clear. It takes 3 days for funds to clear according to the trust department where I work. As far as I know you can in fact do what you are wanting to do if you have additional funds in the account to purchase with.

What is your trading system to select the best stocks?

This is my system:

1 – I look at the Zacks Rank and check some of the #1 stocks;
2 – I do some fundamental and technical analysis. I look at the 50 day/200 day moving averages, the ADX, the MACD and the CCI. The 50-day MA has to be above the 200-day MA. The ADX has to be above 30. The MACD has to be above its 9-day EMA. The CCI (20) has to be above 100.
3 – Then I check some news on ths stock and on the sector.

What is your system? Give as many details as possible.

Try this:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TradingZoom/

- a good place to discuss trading systems with other experienced traders.

Where can I find a great FREE website that teaches stock market Trading and Investing?

It could be anything from stock market trading to Futures and Options or even Forex. Could be Day-trading, Online-trading, etc. Please feel free to list as many websites as you might know about – as long as they are FREE. Also, any good book suggestions and/or tips?

First of all – you should focus your learning on one or the other. I’m a trader myself and trading and investing are two totally different things.

There is plenty to learn in both arenas but it is important to first recognize what your overall goal is.

Are you trying to make a living out of it? Trying to get rich? Trying to get better returns over the long term?

From there you can decide wihch vehicle to invest/trade with that best fits your goals.

What is the best online stock trading platform for beginners?

I am just now looking to invest some money in some penny stocks and such. Nothing serious, just a couple hundred bucks or so….just to learn how it works and get started. Which platform should I use with regard to making LOW DOLLAR AMOUNT TRADES… Scottrade, etrade, ING, forex, etc….
When I say low dollar amount, I mean around $200.00 per transaction…that seems like a good dollar amount I can learn the ropes with.

I think this site, sogotrade is pretty decent, $3 per trade, and gets 100 free trades.

http://www.sogotrade.com/Default.aspx

good luck my fd.

How many individuals trading online totally in US? how many trades per day? How many broker-dealers?

I’m very courious about that How many individuals are there stock trading online totally in US? how many online stock trades are there in average per day? How many broker-dealers are there in US? Where can I see the list of their names? I can’t find the latest data released in 2006 or even 2005. That might be some problem with my searching skills. Can anybody help me? How many or at what address can I get the data? Please….

There were 14.3 million online investors at the end of 2000, 17.4 million at the end of 2001 and 20.6 million at the of 2002. With these figures you can calculate your trendline, growing at 125% pace every five years. That would be over 35 million online traders today. The source is a book by David Hallerman.

Online Stock Trading – How To Select A Company

Stock trade was introduced about a century or so. Since then, the stock exchange has changed and is quite different to what it used to be. Stock trading has become increasingly available to everyone and making money here has become very convenient a procedure.

Today, thanks to advances in communication systems , investors have started trading online.

The trade of stocks online is so much more comfortable than on the market floor. It does remove the drama element you see in movies, but is much easier and so much more comfortable. In addition, it reduces the risks of losing your money and increase your chances of making profits.

Stock exchange online has many advantages. First, the trading of stocks can be done with virtually no human interference at all. This is effective and safe for the buying and selling of stocks. Still, if you wish to enter the stock market and do not know thing about it, it could be very dangerous and you may lose money rather than make money.

That’s why there are brokerage firms online that help you in your stock market. They would provide you with sufficient information on trades, and give you advise from time to time.

These companies can be of a lot of help to you if you do not know the stocks. What they will do is they will be the ones to trade on your behalf. They will effectively manage your money and they would also place orders for you.

Because there are so many complicated issues when it comes to trades, many people just do not have the time to completely understand how its done.

An internet basd company will be able to advise with your decisions and help you make profits.

They will charge you a feww per transaction.

Before you begin subscribing to a company online , you must make sure it is legitimate and has a good history. Knowing the numbers of their clients who have benefited from the company and what kind of advice they give could help.

You also need to know if they provide basic services such as live quotes, news, graphics, search capability and account info.

These elements are essential to the negotiation and must be provided online by companies trading brokerage. Another thing you could look out for is a trial period. A reputable company of online commerce would never pressurize you to join, they would be willing to offer a trial period so that you can evaluate the quality of offered services. In case you do not like the way they do things, you should easily be able to quit.

On the other hand if you are satisfied, you could work with the firm.

Do remember the company is supposed to give you tips, and finally follow your orders. It is not necessary that you take every tip they give.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/investing-articles/online-stock-trading-how-to-select-a-company-703538.html

Stock Trading Software > Using Day Trading Software or a Stock Market System

BY.-  http://www.MomentumStockTrading.com  

In the stock market it’s not impossible to watch a stock move up dramatically in a matter of hours or days. Investors and traders can make great money and fatten their wallets every time this happens.

This seems great for every one that wants to try their fortune in the stock market, but the problem is that if you don’t know what stocks to look for and how to properly approach them you could end up wasting cash instead of making your profits grow. That’s why the most important aspect of stock trading is the knowledge FILTER you employ to make your buy and sell decisions.

There are many “fantastic” stock systems and trading software out there, but you need to test them in order to discover which ones help you the most. That’s part of your homework as a stock trader. Test, test and test again.

Complicated stock trading strategies that rely on a “boat load” of technical analysis indicators can make you slow, and being slow when trading stocks can be as dangerous as not knowing what to do in the first place.

The worst thing that can happen to a beginner trader is to get information overload. It’s better to go step by step, and test a practical stock trading strategy that can show you how to focus on concrete ways to make money while picking SOLID hot stock trading opportunities once at a time.

In essence, You can be sure that the trading method you employ to approach the stock market and pick stocks can make a big difference in your results as a trader.

Fortunately some sites on the web can show you how to take advantage of stocks in a practical way every week by minimizing risks. One of those sites is Momentum Stock Pick at

http://www.MomentumStockTrading.com  

They focus on picking certain stocks that can generate excellent gains on the same day.

Visit them today and learn how to take advantage of the market by picking the hottest opportunities this season.

Stock Trading Software
http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/stock-trading-software-gt-using-day-trading-software-or-a-stock-market-system-750010.html

Using Bollinger Bands for Trading Large Cap Stocks

The Bollinger Band is the closest thing to ‘The Holy Grail’ of
technical analysis there is. Especially for large cap stock
traders, it just cannot be beat for analyzing charts. Having
said that however, there is probably no other technical
indicator misused or misunderstood as often as the Bolinger Band
(BB). This article is to provide the technical analyst with the
basics needed to interpret the many faces of the BB.

Before we begin, let me explain the type of trading done at
http://livingonlargecaps.blogspot.com. We trade large cap
stocks, we generally hold stocks for less than two months, and
make about 3-5% on an average trade. Done over and over again
throughout the year, we have made over 50% annual returns for
the last three years.

Now lets discuss what the Bollinger Band (BB) is. In its
standard usage, the BB is derived from taking the 20 day moving
average of the stock price. And then adding and subtracting two
standard deviations of that stock price and placing a line above
the moving average and below the moving average. Now without
having to re-visit my statistics classes of some 25 years ago, I
will try to clarify a standard deviation. It is simply a
measurement of how far the price has deviated above or below the
moving average. A stock going through a particularly volatile
patch, will see its BB’s expand, and a stock going through a
calm period, will see them contract.

BB’s are available on most charting software. Yahoo has them on
their technical analysis charts, as do most other web sites that
are dedicated to technical analysis. If you are unfamiliar with
them I urge you to right now, go experiment with them, using a
few stocks and market indicators like the Dow, or Nasdaq.

If you are familiar with technical analysis, and use indicators
such as the RSI or stochastic. You know one of the unique things
about the BB’s is they are placed right on the stock charts.
They are viewed in the context of the actual price movements. In
fact, for me, they define the stock chart. Stock charts tell me
way more about future movement with the BB placed on them. I
rarely do any analysis without them, except for perhaps an
initial viewing of a stock chart I am considering for watch list
placement. BB’s therefore do not give you a number, like most
other indicators, they don’t tell you an overbought or oversold
condition. They just provide a visual, a story, of where a stock
has been. Therefor you have to interpret.

But what can be learned is crucial, to guessing what will happen
next. BB’s can help you predict price movements, like no other
tool. The trick is, to know what to look for. In other articles
I will present what I require a price pattern to look like
before I even consider it. But for this article, realize that
price patterns need to be structured, calm, heading up, down or
flat. But they can’t be erratic. Erratic price patterns are
never worth trading..

If the upper band and the lower band are not moving in unison
then the pattern is erratic. There is one exception to this
rule, and that is at the beginning of a powerful up or down
move. Remember, the bands tell you where the price will fall in
relative to the 20 day moving average. Well, if a powerful move
is underway, then the price is moving away from the average, and
the bands expand. Once the bands expand it is too late to trade
that move, but the stock is worth watching, one can climb on
board on the next pull back.

But trading the way we do on our blog ,at
http://livingonlargecaps.blogspot.com, that has produced greater
than 50% return three years running, we like the bands to move
in unison. That shows predictability. And predictability is
crucial in getting large returns. It is not the home run we are
looking for, just hit after hit after hit. Load the bases
repeatedly and you generate runs. OK enough baseball analogy.
Here is an example, take the chart HIG. With BB’s in place look
at the chart in early June 2005. It is just after the powerful
upward move, that occurred in May. First notice in May how the
BBs expanded, as the stock shot straight up. Then in June the
bands moved in unison. Around mid June the stock touched its 20
day moving average, then its formation started to ‘bowl’ as it
moved up. Buy it here. Once it hits a 5% profit move up a
sliding stop, and ride the price up. Several things can be
learned form this chart. The single most bullish pattern, is a
stock that has small trading day ranges, and hugs the upper
band. It rides it up between the 20 day average, and the top
band. The bands are at an upward angle, that is not too steep.
And everything moves in unison, both bands, the moving average,
and most importantly for profits, the price.

If one should know anything about the stock market, it is this.
It is ruled by emotions. Emotions are like springs, they stretch
and contract, both for only so long. BB’s measure this like no
other indicator. A stock, especially widely traded large caps,
with all the fundamental research in the world already done,
will only lie dormant for so long, and then they will move. The
move after such dormant periods will almost always be in the
direction of the overall trend. If a stock is above it’s 200 day
moving average then it is in an uptrend, and the next move will
likely be up as well.

Look at the chart CIT, with the BBs of course. See how in June
2005, the BB’s contract late in the month. While the price
touches the lower BB. See how the stock is above the 200 day
moving average. And more importantly the slope of the 200 day
moving average is upward. The stock clearly wants to move up.
The bands are ridiculously close together. Buy right here, an
oversold stock, moving upward, with narrow bands. What happens
next is the bands expand, I call it fish lips, I love fish lips.
This stock could have been bought in June sold at exhaustion as
the bands had expanded with an upper band touch. And then
re-purchased in July and done again. While fish lips provide
remarkable entry signals, they generally aren’t held as long as
the upward unison movement of HIG mentioned above.

There you have the two most crucial lessons in Bollinger Bands.
The HIG pattern I call riding the wave, and the CIT pattern I
call fish lips. Riding the wave can usually be done longer up to
two months, using stops along the way, one doesn’t even really
need to watch it, of course one can as they ca-ching in one
those safe profits. The other pattern is fish lips, they are
usually held for less than a month, and are exited upon upper
band touches, or mare exactly retreats from upper band touches.
(When the price touches the upper band and then retreats). Fish
lips that re formed out of a flat pattern can often turn into
‘riding the wave,’ and then are held longer

Ct Larsen
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/using-bollinger-bands-for-trading-large-cap-stocks-1313.html

Avoid Penny Stock Newsletter Scams

Who else wants a real penny stock newsletter they can trust?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fair share of gimmicky websites offering free penny stocks lists here lately. Believe me, I know how tempting these can be to somebody who is just getting started with penny stock trading. The idea of quick cash and little effort is very difficult to pass up.

Do not get me wrong, penny stock investments are not impossible to figure out. They are not rocket science. Once you learn some of the fundamentals, making the right choices is not hard. The key is actually learning these fundamentals and staying away from all the gimmick penny stock offers online.

Free Penny Stock Newsletter, Explained…

The reason I seem so gunshy of free penny stock newsletters is because I have seen many new investors fail by using them as a guide. You have to understand that unscrupulous websites which offer free stock picks are almost always biased in some way or another based on the incentives that they are given to promote certain penny stocks.

Some growing companies (penny stock companies) will actually pay these websites to “promote” them to you by recommending their stocks. These websites “promote” these company’s stocks by telling YOU that you should invest in them. I am sure you can see the issues that can arise out of this.

There is actually a type of penny stock newsletter which will actually give you unbiased, professional information on the right penny stocks to invest in. The hook is that you need to actually pay a small subscription fee.

I certainly do recommend your subscribing to this type of newsletter if you are completely new to penny stocks. This will show you what to look for in up and coming companies while making some reasonable profits at the same time.

Clay Michael Walker
http://www.articlesbase.com/day-trading-articles/avoid-penny-stock-newsletter-scams-723943.html

Stock Trading Basics 2009 > Stock Trading Techniques – Day Traders Online School

By .-  http://www.PracticalDayTrading.com

A beginner usually feels very attracted to the stock market while for example discovering a small cap stock that’s being reported in CNBC or the news program and watching it rise steady fast and make new highs from $10 to $70 in just 2 months.

While learning about this successful news story he’s saying to himself “Oh boy if I was one of those lucky guys who bought that stock back when it was priced at $10 I easily would have tripled my money by now… That means my 10 grand would transformed in to a whooping 70 K! hassle free … I would have been able to grab one of those big HUMMERs on the spot and probably pick up a nice Rolex by the way!”

The stock market news constantly reports of hot small cap stocks that are breaking out and making tremendous gains on the same day or doubling in price in just a few hours. Back in the bull market of the late 90’s you could easily see a good number of hot stocks sprouting out every week.

Those years surely made it look like every body could easily take LONG SHOTS and make a shiny pile of gold every day in the stock market. But today’s market is a different story. A totally different animal.

Some say that the stock market has gotten more realistic. Fantasy land is over and GAMBLING YOUR WAY TO RICHES is not an option anymore. You might get lucky a few times, but your constant loses can wipe you out sooner or later.

The fact that the bull market period has ended for now doesn’t mean that you can’t make a great deal of money in today’s market. A lot folks from many walks of life keep making excellent profits on a daily basis, pocketing hundreds & thousands of dollars by trading stocks online.

Success in stock trading starts by applying a wiser and REALISTIC methodology for choosing hot stocks as well as for getting in and out of them with profits in mind.

You need to look at the stock market more realistically. You got to learn that you can benefit when stocks go up and also when they FALL down.

You got to WORK SMARTER and get more selective about the hot stock trading opportunities that you choose. You need to embrace the nature of day trading and be fully prepared to take advantage of stocks that are poised for a BIG RISE on the same day.

The bottom line is you have to PREPARE YOUR SELF to be successful, just like you would do it in other areas of your life in order to achieve success.

Stock Trading Basics
http://www.articlesbase.com/day-trading-articles/stock-trading-basics-2009-gt-stock-trading-techniques-day-traders-online-school-724293.html