The opening bell that opens the day feels like caffeine. The market screen is alive with activity. Prices bounce. Algos can smell fear. Then, suddenly as it came, the excitement fades. Until the end. That final trade can shift the tone.
It's crucial to have benchmarks, but don't worship them. https://tradu.com/my/invest-in-stocks/
The S&P 500 is a broad index. Nasdaq leans toward tech. Dow is a quirky price-weighted relic. If you want the basket without the rummage sale, ETFs deliver. Dividends whisper. Buybacks scream.
Trading hours shape behavior. Regular trading hours are from 9:30 AM to 4 PM Eastern Time. Before and after hours, it feels like a tiny hallway. The spreads widen. Size disappears. The first 15 minutes? Factory that makes fireworks. At noon, it dozes. The hive wakes up at power hour.
Order types are meant for use, not display. Market orders fill fast, yet they can cause slippage. Limit orders draw a line. Stop and stop-limit protect the core. Sometimes there are partial fills. That's how it is. No commissions isn’t free; the fills and spreads are still bad.
Settlement is now T+1, which is quicker. Cash comes back faster, but not right away. Pattern day trader guidelines still say that you need 25k for active day trading. The margin is a hot burner. If you treat it lightly, you'll find out the hard way. Shorting creates added trouble, like lending costs, recalls, and the hard-to-borrow tag.
The season when companies report earnings is a stage show. Numbers decline, guidance hits hard, and one sentence on the call may sink a stock. Maya says, "Did he just say 'prudent hiring pause'?" I say, "Translation: watch the price." There are also big forces. Day of the Fed, CPI, and jobs reports. The market sometimes reads music. It feels shocks.
0DTE contracts. Now mix the pot. Gamma squeezes create sudden whipsaws. Price can stick then release, just like a sticky pass. If you don’t grasp the feedback trap, just stay out. It's good to watch.
Risk is a discipline. Start tiny. One percent for each idea is plenty. Fix strict exits. Quickly kill losers. Give winners some space. Always respect risk. Screens pay the steady, not those who show off.
Taxes and paperwork: required yet boring. Rules on wash sales distort your numbers. Higher rates apply to quick flips. Non-US traders need to file documents like W-8BEN and face tax cuts on dividends. Keep track of things. You will thank yourself in the future.
Strategies don't need to be flashy. Dollar-cost averaging keeps discipline. Momentum needs rules, not feelings. You have to analyze details and put up with dead air if you want to find value. If you let them, backtests can trick: survivorship bias, look-ahead leakage, and curve-fitting. Keep the test realistic and unpredictable.
The last piece of advice I jot down is to prepare first, execute second. No running after jumps with shaky hands. No revenge trades. Take a breath. Let it go if the setup is gone. Tomorrow there will be the next chance.