Hi all.
Can anyone suggest any good tutorial / online lessons / books / other resources to learn the basics of day trading ?
Trading 212 have some excellent resources on their YouTube Channel (think you can also access their videos through the app)
Make sure you have a thorough understanding of CFD’s and you’re comfortable before risking your capital also be sure to make use of the practice mode.
Happy Trading!
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This is a great book; although it made me decide not too pursue day trading, I did learn a lot and do recommend it.
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It also makes you realize that the cfd platform is almost not fit for day trading. He mentions VWAP as the most important day trading tool, which is broken on t212.
There is also no volume Indicator. Well not a real one anyway. I have no idea what the t212 blue line version is but if doesn’t match up with any other platform.
The spread on t212 is also often too wide. These guys day trade actual stocks with a smaller more accurate spread.
And then there is a lot talk about hot keys and getting in and out of trades quicky, or sizing up or selling half your position etc. The user interface is too clunky on cfd for this sort of stuff. And there are no hotkeys. When you go to make or edit an order, the whole platform shuts down and you can’t do anything on the charts.
There is a similar book by one of his colleagues about swing trading. Probably more suited to this platform as it’s slightly longer term. Holding for days where you’re more likely to beat the spread, rather than minutes where you’ll be wiped out.
Which part made you not want to pursue it? For me it’s just that work got in the way. If I had a few months off I’d try to dedicate some time and follow along with the book even if the cfd platform is too clunky. But literally there is always without fail a zoom call or a deadline at the worst possible time if I’m dabbling in stonks. My boss loves calling at exactly 2.30pm when the market opens.
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I actually have the swing trade book as well but I’ve not got round to reading it yet. Have you read it?
For me with day trading it was first and foremost the amount of knowledge needed to do it effectively. The time required was also not practical as my job is pretty demanding.
I also didn’t find it particularly interesting as I like investing in a company rather than a graph. This may change over time as my knowledge grows.
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I started it, but I’m kind of in the same boat as you:
I just got bored of all the intro chapters, put it down “for a second” and haven’t picked back it up yet. There’s a lot of filler at the beginning. Kind of like his school teacher told him to write 200 pages about stonks as punishment. The “Swing Trading Strategies” section isn’t until chapter 12. (There are 14 chapters in the book).
However I’m sure there’s a lot of good info after the intro chapters. Just need to lock myself in a room with it for a few hours.
Also I find a lot of their chart patterns to be a bit hocus pocus. I’m still not entirely convinced about these “head and shoulders” signals etc. so I kind of cringe when I read this stuff. Of course they have examples of how they work, but in hindsight.
I may be vastly wrong here or insanely correct; so bare with my humble opinion:
I get the strong feeling that stock trading for newcomers (myself included) is simply oversold on “you need to know this “xyz” to become successful”. When in actuality it has near no relation.
Too often are courses and books marketed as :
- Learn my steps and follow them diligently. P.S my next course is 50% off TODAY ONLY!!!
- if you lose money, you obviously didn’t pay close enough attention to my method.
- if you made money, well now you know my system works…
If VWAP or (insert any indicator of your choice) is Sooooooo critical to trading, then it also stands to reason that the big money would use this against the general public. There is nothing you can know that the market doesn’t also see. It’s just BS spun to the retail trade to keep them hooked on their next fix. If any single indicator was of use and held high probability of success then there wouldn’t be a list a mile long shown on platforms. So often the big boys at trading desks are now talking about having a clean looking chart rather than a cluttered one. More indicators != more profits. Same applies for systems.
Remember, some bugger sat down to write a book and get it published/distributed and sold, not for your benefit but their own. Too many people pay too much attention to these fad concepts that at the end of the day yield no real return.
I could be wrong, but 99% of the time my bullshit detector is going off that much I need to swap the batteries. 
I have no answer though, i’m still figuring it out myself. Perhaps that is the only answer; that there is no answer and each day is a new day/method.
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