Friday, July 31, 2009

Swing Trading Explained (Part I)

By Ahmad Hassam

Knowing what type of a trader you are, can make or break your investment career. Take the analogy of a football team. All players are talented and super fit. Everyone can throw and catch the ball. Everyone is a hard hitter. However some are more skilled as receivers. Others are more skilled as kickers. If the receiver is going to do the job of the kicker, not many field goal points will be made.

In general there are three type of trading styles: Position trading, swing trading and day trading. Investing in the currency markets or stock markets is also the same. It depends on your personality makeup what type of trading is best suited to you. You need to know what type of trading style is for you.

Position Trading is generally the buy and hold strategy of investing in stocks over a long haul. In currency trading, position trading means you are in a trade for many months. Usually positions traders are in a trade for a large long term move like when you carry trade. Options traders can also be position traders through covered calls.

Swing Trading means taking short term positions in anticipation of quick market movements over a series of days or weeks. Swing trading is possibly the most dynamic of the three types of trading as the swing trader is able to switch up holding times quickly as the market demands. Swing traders take advantage of technical and fundamental analysis.

In Day Trading, you attempt to capitalize on intraday movements with the markets often trading on momentum and news. Day traders are also known as Kings of Stress. Day trading is not easy and it is certainly not a hobby. Sometimes when the positions warrants holding for a longer period, day trading can become swing trading!

Day trading is the riskiest of the three trading styles. Day trading is ideal for those who are able to handle erratic market movements while actually also having time to monitor the positions throughout the day. You should note that if you dont have time to watch your trades every moment, you should not think of day trading.

You Should Know That Swing Trading Is a Better Alternative to Day Trading Day trading hardly ever ends up well! Only 10% of the day traders succeed. Many people are attracted to the glamour and excitement of day trading. Most day trader usually blow up their accounts and fade away soon especially if the trader has no previous professional trading experience.

Swing trading can be on the other hand a much more effective trading style especially if you are a newer trader. By holding positions overnight and even for a few weeks, you can expose less money for larger moves. If you are a new trader, think about it for a moment.

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