The Complete Idiot's Guide to Day Trading like a Pro

by Sander, Peter J.

• ISBN13: 9780028636535
• ISBN10: 0028636538
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-01
• Publisher: DK Publishing, Inc.

Summary

You're no idiot, of course. You can surf the Web with the best of them, and check the stock market online. You even did all your holiday shopping via the Internet. But when it comes to trading stocks and bonds, and especially making day trades, you leave it to your broker to call the shots. Don't make another phone trade! The Complete Idiot's guide to Day Trading Like a Pro shows you the secrets of going head-to-head with actual traders and brokers. You'll learn where the best trades are made, how to gain direct access to markets, and how to use the strategies of the top market makers. In this Complete Idiot's Guide, you get:

Author Biography

Peter Sander has been actively trading stocks for 30 of his 42 years. A native of Ohio with an MBA from Indiana University, he is now an Internet marketing specialist for a Fortune 50 company in California. This is his third financial book. Peter developed an interest in the stock market early in life, drawn to it by his love of numbers, finance, strategic games, and history. He made his first trades in the seventh grade, tracking each with carefully hand-drawn charts. Now, of course, he does his charts, along with his other trading activities, online. According to Peter, trading is a game of strategy, like poker, chess, or Scrabble. You take informed and calculated risks with a known return in mind. You play both offense and defense. You try to stay one or more moves ahead of your opponent. And you know when to quit. During the rare moment when Peter isn't watching stocks, writing books, working his "day job," or entertaining his two sons, Julian and Jonathan, he sharpens his strategic skills in Scrabble with his wife Jennifer..... Jennifer Basye Sander graduated from Mills College in Oakland, California, in 1981. After working in California politics for a few years, she soon tired of losing and launched her own small publishing company. Since that time, she has published, authored, or co-authored some 16 books about personal finance, creating wealth, and inspiration. Among her books are The Millionairess Across the Street and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Investing for Women. Jennifer and her books have been featured on The View, Bloomberg Financial Television, and C-SPAN's Book TV; written about in the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, Cosmopolitan, and other newspapers and magazines; and have appeared on the bestseller lists of USA Today and The New York Times. She owns and operates a book-packaging firm, Big City Books, in Granite Bay, California. An active and successful stock trader for the past 10 years, Jennifer is a popular speaker on the topic of money motivation for women.

Table of Contents

Part 1: A Day at a Time	1	(48)
Just What Is Day Trading?	3	(10)
Who are these day traders, anyway?
The (Re-) Emergence of Day Trading	13	(10)
A little history and why day trading has come back.
Is This Bud for You?	23	(8)
The different types of day traders, what it takes to day trade, and a skill and attitude assessment.
There Are So Many Good Things to Buy	31	(10)
Discussion of the different markets and securities that can be traded.
Why All the Fuss?	41	(8)
Summary of the latest from the media and regulators.
Part 2: A Trip to the Markets	49	(36)
Trading Places: The NYSE	51	(12)
How the NYSE works---the auction market, specialists, electronic order routing, flow of a trade.
Trading Places: The NASDAQ	63	(12)
How the NASDAQ works---the negotiated market, market makers, SOES, ECNs, Level II transparency, flow of a trade.
On the Move	75	(10)
Review and comparison of markets, overview of market dynamics, indexes, and fundamental and technical analysis.
Part 3: Tools to Keep You Informed	85	(40)
Watching the World Go 'Round	87	(14)
Conventional information sources for all investors.
More Information, Please	101	(14)
More powerful information sources designed for professionals, now available to everyone.
For a Day Trader's Eyes Only	115	(10)
Specialized day-trading information sources.
Part 4: Tools of the Trade	125	(62)
May We Take Your Order?	127	(10)
The hows and whys of different types of orders, and how they're used in trading.
Living at the Margin	137	(8)
The hows and whys of trading with margin.
Getting It Online	145	(12)
All about Internet brokers.
Taking It to Level II	157	(12)
Anatomy and use of the NASDAQ Level II screen.
A High-Performance Trading Jet	169	(18)
About high-performance integrated trading platforms.
Part 5: Reading the Tea Leaves	187	(56)
Getting an Attitude	189	(12)
How to read market behavior.
Getting Really Technical	201	(18)
Reading individual stock behavior and using charts and technical indicators. An overview only---not a whole course!
Games People Play	219	(14)
Market maker and specialist strategies, market makers and specialists as day traders. How to read their behavior.
A Piece of the Action	233	(10)
Following market action and market-maker behavior on Level II---a simple example.
Part 6: Developing Your Own Day-Trading Style	243	(60)
The Day Trader's Playbook	245	(14)
Different day-trading strategies. Tactical advice to help day traders better execute strategies.
Getting Personal	259	(12)
Developing a personal day-trading style, level of commitment, successful personal habits and behaviors.
Trading at the Speed of Thought	271	(32)
Getting started, getting good, where day trading is headed, miscellaneous final thoughts.
Appendices
A Trading Terms	285	(6)
A glossary of the day trader's vocabulary.
B Market-maker and ECN Symbols	291	(2)
A list of the abbreviations you'll see flashing across the Level II screen---and what they stand for.
C ``Plain Talk About Online Investing''	293	(10)
Remarks of U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt at the National Press Club, May 4, 1999.
Index	303