OK, Here’s the deal. Write this down ‘cauue I’m only telling you this once.
First, all the disclaimers. I am not your financial adviser; your mileage may vary; past performance does not guarantee future performance; and may cause birth defects, yo might lose your entire investment. Got it.?
If you expect to make money day trading you need to either trade very volatile stocks or trade derivatives. Very risky. You will be swimming with guys that have more experience than you and most likely will eat you for lunch.
You should have an account where you can trade at low cost. $7–9. That is usually a 50,000 minimum.
A very common type of derivative is options: Puts and Calls. Look them up. You cannot lose more than you invest but can make a lot. With Commodities, short sales, margin buys, you can make a lot but can lose more than your invest. Very dangerous. With options, you vary the risk by choosing the expiration date and whether or not the option is in the money.
For example if I am going to play for a full day and can spend the day in front of the screen I will rtry some crazy option near the expiration and maybe do a straddle. If you figure on looking at it every day then you can go for a longer window.
You have to be willing too lose the full shot to make a big gain. Can you do that? I can, so I was permitted to open this type of account.
You should look up some of the terms I mentioned above. E Trade has a great course in it. If you can’t understand the terminology, read it again, and again. If you still don’t get it – Don’t do it.
One final takeaway. 6 out of 7 option trades are losers. After years of practice I am quite often in that 1 group. Who do you think are the other 6?