What Does it Take to Be a Day Trader – Part II

Last month we covered some basics so, be sure you review the issue from September 2011 before reading this session.

I’m going to address more time regarding equipment and overall traders setup. Traders should consider using more than one monitor while trading. Depending upon whether you are trading stocks, futures or forex markets, you will want to monitor more than one chart. Even if you are only making one trade at a time, you will want to monitor the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the same time in order to keep an eye on the overall market activity. Additionally, you will want to have one monitor for your trading platform which you want to have opened every moment you are trading. You do not want to have your trading platform minimized while you are trading, it’s the brain behind the whole process so, you need to be able to see it in front of you at all times. The additional monitor can be used for our Trading Room and any other windows you *need* during the trading day, such as a news source, for example. The ultimate setup for a trader is to have more than two monitors which allow that many more charts to be viewed simultaneously. You can have your trading platform take up two monitors and the other monitor for our Trading Room and the other windows you *need* during the trading day. Some traders will use both a PC and a laptop, one for their trading platform and the other, for browser windows.

Remember, during the trading day, you should completely refrain from surfing the web. Surfing the web can bog down your computer and at any given moment, opening the wrong page could cause your computer to crash therefore, take this potential problem out of the equation by doing your surfing, when you are not trading. Additionally, depending upon the size of your processor, you may need to clear your cache in the middle of the trading day. If you notice that your computer seems to slow down or appears sluggish during the day, normally, clearing your cache may be in order. Frequently traders who experience sluggish activity will do so, at about the same time each trading day. Therefore, you may wish to clear your cache at the same time of day – before you notice the sluggish activity. For example, let’s say you notice your computer starts to get sluggish around 1:00 pm – you would then want to make it a practice to clear your cache at 12:00 pm noon – do it before the problem starts. Remember; make sure you are not in any trades when you decide to clear your cache! You can adjust the time you clear your cache around the time you are all cash, and no open trades at that time. Additionally, at the end of every trading day you should also clear your cache and, in the morning as well before you begin trading. Proper computer maintenance is vital.

If your broker account is separate from your trading platform, you will want this open during the entire trading day as well. Take time when you are not trading to set up your monitors, how you will view your windows, while you are trading. Each day you should get set up at least 30 minutes or more, before you are ready to begin trading. Know ahead of time, what will be positioned where, on your monitors. Every day, you should set up your monitors, browser windows and trading platform, the same way. You want to avoid any confusion or clutter and have a steady flow of your workspace. At some point, you should almost be able to set up your monitors - browser windows and trading platform with your eyes closed – that is how uniform everything should be. Everything should have its specific location on your monitors, every single trading day – same position, day in, day out.

If over time you see something is not working out where you have it located on your setup, move it around during off trading hours. You should not be distracted during the trading day, trying to resize or reposition anything you use during the trading day. Don’t jeopardize a trade because you are resizing your charts, for example. Do it after trading hours, not during.

We’ll cover more, in our next months Trading Lesson.
 

October 2011