The Why. Time is Money, a Catch 22
I learned that time is the most valuable form of currency, but it takes money to obtain time. For years I have struggled to make money on a side gig (photography). I wanted to learn a skill where I can make money from the comfort of my own home.
I was always against day trading the stock market because the risk of it all just didn't go with my financially conservative parameters. I have always been glued to the markets since I have been long term investing for several years in a retirement account, but I never got into short term investing. On paper, the long term investment strategy works (it has been working). Internally, this didn't change the fact that I was 100 percent dependent on a full-time job to live and invest to retire early. I wanted an extra independent side gig.
Paper Trade
For those who do not know what paper trading is, it means live day trading with fake money. It takes out all of the pressures of using real money while letting you dip your toes on the wild wild west of the stock market. Paper trading has allowed me to learn what kind of trader I was, what is my ideal strategy, what is my ideal set up, how much money I was spending per trade (I trade options), practice risk management strategies, and if I had the emotional bandwidth to deal with the fast pace environment.
Everyone is a genius in a bull market. — Mark Cuban
I only started journaling my trades last month (journal your trades if you are serious about this, it's life-changing) but since January, I made around $9,951. To be fair, the month of January was extremely bullish. It was very easy to make money (I'll take credit, but I am also a realist). But if you strictly trade setups (specific chart patterns), you increase your probability of making money. I learned that the stock market is a game of managing emotion, educated speculation, and probability.
To be completely transparent, after being successful in paper trading, I started trading with real money last week. I am already down $150. This was my first loss of the year for me. Whiplashed by reality, I am learning that trading isn't as easy as I thought it was.
A Personal Guide
There is no right guide on how to day trade the stock market. Everyone is a different kind of trader (there are so many free resources out there). I can only say what worked for me throughout my journey of learning how to trade, but I can tell you that I haven't been able to find any guide online on how to go about this in order. I just kept ping-ponging from site to site with no order, and I am a very structured person. This is my order.
Brokers
There are many broker platforms where you can day trade with. To name a few, there's Think or Swim, Interactive Broker, Fidelity, Merrill Edge, Webull (the list goes on). I recommend learning the app 100% (with paper trading) before day trading with real money. You can open a cash account with as little as $500 (and work your way up from there).
Find a Community
This is key. You want to find a community of people who are talking about the market 24/7. It is one of the few ways you will learn how the market is moving, how to trade, what strategy people are using, how traders think, and be given helpful resources on how to practice this craft. Specifically, find discord channels (linked below). It's free and easy to use (I don't get paid for this). Since I day trade with the STAC community, I find myself in that channel the most. In my opinion, it is best to be in a few channels (just so you can get a better landscape of what others are saying). All three of these also have great YouTube channels.
STAC Trading InTheMoney Dumb Money
Reddit can also have great communities to learn from, I am always on the below:
Day Trading Options Investing Personal Finance Stocks Dividends Technical Analysis
Strategies & The Basics
A percentage of my learning has been through the Youtube channel below (Riley Coleman). There's a structured playlist on the brokerage software used, how to read stock charts, trading strategies, options trading, how live trades look like, risk management, and candlesticks (in that order). To deep dive and learn about options, Option Alpha and InTheMoney is great.
Riley Coleman Option Alpha InTheMoney
Candlesticks & Patterns
Reading candlesticks and chart patterns is everything. These are some of the technicals needed to know when to take profits and losses.
Stock Chart Introduction Candlestick Patterns Advanced Patterns
Chart Set-Up
In my chart set up, I use a few studies: 8 Period Moving Average: Used for day trading. 20 Period Moving Average: Used for day trading and swing trading. 50 Period Moving Average: Used for swing trading. 200 Period Moving Average: Used for swing trading. Volume: Measurement for the number of shares traded. Relative Strength Index: Measurement of overbought and oversold shares. TTM Squeeze: Measurement of market consolidation before making a big move.
Find a Schedule & Stick To It
I learned that you can't trade blindly without doing your due diligence. Below is my daily schedule on how I approach my trades.
Pre-Market Analysis Part 1
7:30 am — 9:00 am Fundamental Analysis (I look at the metrics of a company, including annual/quarterly earnings and strength). Technical Analysis (I then focus on the price of the stock, draw support and resistance zones, and study my technical indicators). I then write down my long price, stop-loss price, and short price for each stock. Extra resources I use is checking the daily charts (a must-have free tool) with FinViz.
Pre-Market Analysis Part 2
9:00 am — 9:30 am I day trade in a live trading room with STAC Trading. So for these 30 minutes, we discuss potential trades and mark up our charts with a group of people. A lot goes on in the market, and it is always good to have a group of people to trade and call potential entries with a community.
Markets Open
9:30 am — 4:00 pm Rarely do I stay until 4:00 pm to trade. I usually spend a few minutes until 11:00 am (this is when the market is most active).
If you can't day trade, swing trade. Day trading involves being glued to the charts on a minute-by-minute basis. With swing trading, you can buy positions and hold them for at least a month long. The fundamentals and technical analysis are still the same. Trading isn't for everyone, but it is still a valuable skillset to have and make money (side gig or full time) without relying on other people and the general hiring process involved in trying to obtain a job (side gig or full time).
If you don't like trading in general, that's okay too. You can long-term invest in mutual funds, index funds, and ETFs. Those are always pretty safe.