Unlike other types of stock trading and investing, day trading involves holding securities for only one day. Day trading is risky and it can be stressful, especially if you’re not prepared. Find out what personality traits you should have if you’re considering a career in day trading, useful websites for Canadian day traders, and a list of the most common mistakes day traders tend to make.

Day traders are different from investors in that day traders hold their securities for only one day. They close out their positions at the end of every day and then start all over again the next day. By contrast, swing traders hold securities for days and sometimes even months, and investors sometimes hold for years.

News trading is possibly the most traditional form of day trading. This type of day trader doesn't pay much attention to stock price and volume charts. Instead, he waits for information that will drive prices. This information may come in the form of a company announcement about earnings or new products; a general economic announcement about interest rates or unemployment; or just a lot of rumors about what may or may not be happening in a given industry.

Every business has its own special language, and day trading is no different. Here are a few terms you may come across: Fibonacci series: The Fibonacci series is a list of numbers, each of which is the sum of the two numbers before it. It stretches into infinity but starts like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13. Proportions based on the Fibonacci series show up throughout nature, and many believe that they indicate profitable trading opportunities.

Over the years, day traders have developed many different ways to manage their money. Most strategies are based on different statistical probability theories, and some share commonalities with casino gambling. The underlying idea is that you should never place all of your money in a single trade, but rather put in an amount that is appropriate given the level of volatility.

Day trading is tough. Most day traders lose money, in part because they make obvious, avoidable mistakes. Here’s a list of some of the most common mistakes that day traders make. Following them is no guarantee that you will make money trading, but it will certainly reduce your risk and improve your odds of being a day trading success in Canada.

Currency trading can be really exciting for a day trader. Every day, trillions (yes, that’s trillions with a t) of dollars of currency are exchanged between governments, banks, travelers, businesses, and speculators. With every trade and every blip in exchange rates, you have new opportunities to make money. Currency is a bigger, more liquid market than the U.

Day trading is a cousin to both investing and gambling, but it is not the same as either. Day trading involves quick reactions to the markets, not a long-term consideration of all the factors that can drive an investment. It works with odds in your favor, or at least that are even, rather than with odds that are against you.

After you put your day trading strategy to work during the trading day, it’s easy to let the energy and emotion overtake you. You can get sloppy and stop keeping track of what’s happening. And that’s not good.Day trading is not a video game; it’s a job (to be honest, it would be a pretty terrible video game). Keeping careful records helps you identify not only how well you follow your strategy but also ways to refine it.