What is Intraday Trading: Expert Tips and Mistakes to Avoid
Every investor or trader dreams of minting huge profits in the stock market, following the footsteps of stalwarts like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala or Warren Buffet. However, only a few actually manage to enjoy the gravy train.
Intraday trading – or day trading – is gaining significant momentum if you want to eke out a livelihood from the stock market. However, negotiating this space can get overwhelming for beginners with lots of technicalities involved. To smoothen this journey, this comprehensive guide discusses intraday trading basics and suggests crucial tips and mistakes to avoid throughout the trading day.
What is Intraday Trading?
Intraday trading involves buying/selling financial assets and securities during market hours on the same day. Day traders predict and earn profits from intraday price changes in assets, including stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETF), and commodities.
The primary objective of intraday trading is to make quick money and exit your position as soon as possible. Additionally, the holding time for assets can vary between some minutes to a few hours.
Generally, day traders scout for high beta stocks, whose prices fluctuate frequently on a regular basis. So, for instance, if a stock price is likely to climb, day traders buy low and sell high. Contrarily, if it is expected to drop, day traders decide to short-sell – selling high and buying low. Indeed, intraday trading demands an acute sense of how the stock market could behave and take action accordingly.
7 Critical Strategies to Follow For a Successful Trading Day
While intraday trading may bring lucrative financial gains to people, it also results in huge losses if done without keeping up with market rules.
Here are seven pro tips to add to your intraday trading playbook:
1. Set Clear Trading Goals
Before selecting stocks, it is essential to set your trading goals and build a solid intraday trading strategy. Decide which small or large stocks, particular industries, or technical indicators you want to focus on. Furthermore, establish profit targets as daily/weekly/monthly income goals.
2. Pick Liquid Stocks
Choose large-cap and mid-cap equities with high liquidity based on your preferences and risk appetite. These scripts have a high trading volume and tight bid-ask spreads. Hence, their liquidity ensures that your buy/sell orders get executed promptly and at reasonable prices.
So, identify stocks that are actively traded, frequently make it to the news, or are part of prominent bourses.
3. Freeze Realistic Entry and Exit Prices
Intraday trading runs on the ongoing market trend. Hence, use fundamental and technical analysis, or a combo of both, to identify potential breakouts or breakdowns as well as support and resistance levels. Determine your risk-reward ratio as well as stop-loss and take-profit levels accordingly.
4. Monitor Market-related News and Events
Closely follow market news and events that significantly affect share prices. Keep tabs on interest rate changes, companies’ financial reports, geopolitical news, and industry developments. In addition, you can browse financial websites or news aggregators for up-to-the-minute information. Such major events trigger short-term price fluctuations and trading opportunities.
5. Grow One Step at a Time
As a rookie intraday trader, a few successful trades might have put you on cloud nine, but it is still too soon to celebrate. Do not make aggressive bets initially. Instead, pick a maximum of 2-3 stocks to start with and increase the trade volume and value as you gain skills and confidence.
Starting small will let you learn from mistakes and understand market dynamics, so you avoid repeating the mistakes.
6. Do Not Go Broke
Always remember Warren Buffet’s mantra: “Do not put all eggs in one basket.”
You will suffer some losses throughout your trading journey. So, only invest a small fraction of your trading capital in each trade. Define a maximum loss limit for each trade or day, also called risk percentage or risk per trade, to prevent considerable losses.
Leverage trailing stop-loss orders to book profits as the trade goes in your favor. Further, implement position-sizing techniques to control your trade size or volume. Intraday trading is risky; as such, invest only what you can afford to lose.
7. Learn and Adapt
Keep a record of all your trades – both successful and unsuccessful – including the motive behind each trade and the outcomes. Regularly analyze them, identify patterns, learn from your mistakes, and refine your stock selection in real time accordingly.
4 Common Intraday Trading Mistakes to Avoid
Here are four top mistakes you must avoid for more profitable and risk-free intraday trading sessions:
1. Not Rebalancing the Assets
Rebalancing involves periodically buying/selling assets in a corpus to maintain a desired level of risk. Day traders often forget to rebalance their assets, resulting in them getting overweight at market highs and underweight during market lows. This eventually leads to poor returns on investment (ROI).
2. Investing in Penny Stocks
While penny scripts offer significantly high returns, they come with high volatility. As a beginner, you should avoid penny stocks, given the high risk of capital loss.
3. Making Emotionally Driven Decisions
Making intraday trading decisions based on your instincts may hit the mark sometimes. However, gut feelings are mixed with personal options and sentiments, including panic, fear, and greed. So, succumbing to these emotions can influence you to make impulsive decisions, potentially leading to huge losses.
4. The Herd Mindset
Most new intraday traders commit the mistake of blindly following the actions and decisions of other investors – otherwise called herd behavior. With this mentality, you can end up paying more for equities or initiate short positions for scrips whose prices have already declined and can rise in the near future.
Trade Wisely, Trade Profitably
Intraday trading is challenging. Studies reveal 7 out of 10 day traders quit after the first year. Moreover, 95% of traders give it up by the third year.
The key to flourishing as an intraday trader lies in your own temperament. That means emotional management, the ability to watch stock markets like a hawk, make calculated moves, and then take tough buy and sell decisions at the right time.
So, test-drive the tips and strategies discussed above and learn without staking all your savings.
FAQs
What is intraday trading?
Intraday trading is a financial strategy where traders buy and sell shares of a stock (s) within the same trading day. Also called day trading, traders aim to book profits from short-term price movements of stocks, capitalizing on price fluctuations that occur within minutes or hours.
How to do intraday trading?
For a successful trading day, always select stocks with high trading volumes for better liquidity and price movement opportunities. Meanwhile, perform in-depth technical and/or fundamental analysis to identify potential trades. Determine entry and exit points and stop-losses to manage risk. Closely monitor the chosen stocks, look for price triggers throughout the trading day, and execute your trades accordingly.
How to make money in intraday trading?
Follow these steps to make money in intraday trading:
1.Determine your risk appetite and risk-reward ratio.
2.Pick liquid stocks with high trading volumes. Avoid high-volatile scrips.
3.Stay updated on economic data, market news, and company announcements.
4.Use technical analysis to identify patterns, trends, and signals for more accurate trading decisions.
5.Set stop-losses and position sizing to avoid significant losses.
6.Keep a check on your emotions.
Is intraday trading profitable?
While intraday trading can be profitable, it is equally possible to incur losses. You must create a well-designed strategy, trade liquid stocks, monitor market sentiments, practice sound risk management, and stick to the plan. Only then will your chances of earning profits while minimizing potential losses increase.
Can NRI do intraday trading in India?
No, NRIs cannot execute intraday trades in India. Instead, they can only invest in future & options (F&O) and equity delivery. To trade in F&O, they must appoint a custodian and have a Custodian Participant (CP) code.
How to learn intraday trading?
You will find numerous online courses to learn intraday trading, but Get Together Finance stands out as the top pick. Our platform offers ISO-accredited certification, providing credibility to your skills. Gain the advantage of advance price action guidance for smarter trading decisions. Access lifetime mentorship support for tailored guidance, and become part of the vibrant GTF Community for knowledge sharing.
How to start intraday trading?
To start intraday trading, create a trading/demat account. Have an automated trading system (ATS) displaying charting platforms for real-time market situations and live data feeds. This ATS executes buy/sell orders based on rules defined by the trader.
Is intraday trading safe?
Intraday trading carries inherent risks due to the short-term nature of the trades and rapid market fluctuations. Hence, traders must prioritize in-depth research, a well-thought-out trading plan, proper risk management, and discipline. Moreover, they should invest what they can afford to lose.
How intraday trading works?
In intraday trading, traders look for stocks that can either move up or down. If a stock’s price will likely increase, traders buy low and sell high. Otherwise, they short-sell, meaning sell high and buy low. Intraday trades use technical analysis methods, track price movements, and watch relevant news and updates to mark potential entry and exit points.
Which time frame is best for intraday trading?
Common time frames intraday traders use include 5-minute, 15-minute, and 30-minute charts. Shorter time frames, like 1 or 5 minutes, are ideal for scalping and quick trades, while longer time frames, like 15 or 30 minutes, offer a broader view and may be better for swing trading within the same day.
Traders should choose a time frame that suits their trading style, risk tolerance, and desired level of activity.
Can government employees do intraday trading?
India’s Central Civil Service (Conduct) Rules, 1964 prohibits government employees (central or state) from engaging in speculative activities, including intraday and F&O. Government employees can rather invest in financial instruments if they wish to hold them for at least 6 months. These include mutual funds, national pension schemes (NPS), RBI bonds, and ETFs.
How to trade in nifty intraday?
Trading in Nifty intraday follows the same procedure as in other stock market indices. The only difference is that you have to trade stocks only under Nifty.
What is an intraday trading example?
Let’s say you purchase 100 shares of a stock at ₹100 apiece at 9:40 AM (amounting to ₹10,000) and sell them for ₹105 apiece at 12:40 PM. Here, you will make a profit of ₹5 on each share or 5% intraday profit.
What is margin in intraday trading?
Intraday trading margin allows traders to borrow their broker or brokerage firm’s resources to buy a larger stock quantity than they can afford in exchange for the shares. You must have a margin account instead of a regular brokerage account to execute trades on margins
Which app is best for intraday trading?
When it comes to learning intraday trading, the best app is one that offers comprehensive education and support. At Get Together Finance, we provide just that. Our program offers lifetime access to Free PDF Notes, a valuable GTF trader checklist, and advanced trading strategies in the zone. Plus, you’ll become part of our thriving 12,000+ member GTF community and receive an ISO-accredited certification upon completion.
How to do Bank Nifty intraday options trading?
Trading option contracts in Bank Nifty intraday follows the same process as in other stock market indices. Here, you have to buy/sell options of stocks only under the Bank Nifty index, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank.
How to do intraday trading in India?
The procedure for intraday trading in India is the same as in the global market. Pick liquid stocks, create a trading plan with entry and exit points, and implement strict risk management techniques like stop-loss orders. Use technical analysis, charts, and indicators to identify potential trades. Furthermore, continuously monitor the market and adhere to your strategy.
How to earn in intraday trading?
Intraday stocks always move according to the market sentiment. So, to earn profits in intraday trading, buy/sell stocks based on how the stock market performs. For instance, if the market is bullish, buy and sell a couple of times to book small profits instead of waiting for that significant move. Similarly, during bearish sentiments, short-sell and buy at lower levels to earn some small profits with 2-3 trades.
Keep up-to-date with market-related news and events and set stop losses and entry and exit points to reduce losses.
How to select stocks for intraday trading?
For optimal gains in intraday trading, choose stocks that:
1.Have high liquidity as they have high trading volumes.
2.Have medium-to-high volatility.
3.Show price movement corresponding to their sector.
How much can I earn in intraday trading?
Earnings in intraday trading vary widely and rely on multiple factors, including trading capital, strategy, risk management, and market conditions. If you are skilled enough and have strategies in place, you can mint in at least five or six-figure ranges. However, most intraday traders lose money in the markets. So, be extra-cautious with a well-defined risk-reward ratio while trading stocks.
Which candle is best for intraday trading?
Popular candlestick chart patterns for intraday trading include three white soldiers, morning star, hanging man, and shooting star. For instance, the effectiveness of these candlestick patterns varies, so combine them with other technical indicators and risk management strategies for successful intraday trading.