Best Day Trading Tips & Tricks
Day Trading & Crypto Trading 2025

Day trading is a type of speculation in securities in which a trader buys and sells a financial instrument within the same trading day. All positions are closed before the market closes for the day to avoid unmanageable risks and negative price gaps between one day’s close and the next day’s open.

The NYSE and NASDAQ have about 252 trading days a year on average.

• Know about the market. |
  Before putting a dollar into day trading, you should ensure you know what you’re getting into. You need to know how changes in the world can affect volatility, how trades work, how different industries react, and how to predict changes. A lot of day traders focus on a certain industry. 
• Develop a strategy.
  There are numerous distinct approaches for day trading, and courses and online resources can help you understand the process, methods, and risk/return. First, learn about real trades and strategies. You might find a strategy that goes against the crowd or follows the trend. Just know that speculation is the basis of all trading styles. Many free online resources are available that let you watch live trades, look at stock charts and trends, and read financial analyses. 
• Set up a demo account.
  Set up a demo account to learn the ropes before you risk real money. You can buy and sell in real-time, but you can do it in a safe place while you learn more about how to read the market, its trends and changes, how much to risk, and when. Practice, practice, practice. You can try out, fine-tune, and perfect your strategy in a demo environment where making mistakes won’t cost you your house. Keep trying out your plan until you are sure of it. 
• Make goals and know what you can’t do.
  Day trading takes time to learn. Even more so, once you start trading with real money, it would help if you traded while markets are open. Missing a sell because you didn’t make the deal before the exchange closed could be a costly lesson if the stock, future, or currency changes overnight.
• Find out how it will affect your taxes.
  Talk to your financial advisor, accountant, or tax expert to determine how your day trading profits will be taxed before you start. In many countries, the way you pay taxes may depend on whether you do this for a living as an “investor” or a “trader.” There might be rules about how long you have to wait between trades, what to do with capital gains and losses, and what makes you a professional day trader. 
• Pick a broker.
  Getting an investment platform is one of the most important things you can do before you start day trading. This broker will not only be in charge of your account, but you will also use their trading platform to make trades. When timing is important, this platform needs to be reliable. Take the time to find the right fit for you and your goals in terms of reputation and expertise.

Most day traders lose money when they trade during the same day. Anecdotally, it’s been said that 95 percent of day traders lose money in the end, and research has shown that about the same number of unprofitable day traders keep trading even though they’re losing money.

Day trading is neither legal nor illegal.

Many day traders buy and sell stocks based on what’s happening worldwide, like quarterly profit reports, new product launches, or big news. They’re paying attention to what’s going on right now. Some traders use complex algorithms or look at charts to determine when the best time might be to buy or sell.
A day trader looks for one of two ways to make money. If a day trader sees that a stock is going up or thinks it might go up that day, they will buy it and then sell it when its value goes up. But if the value of the stock goes down, they will lose money when they sell it. Not hard to understand.

By buying and selling a financial instrument on the same day, or even more than once on the same day. Taking advantage of small price changes can be a good way to make money if you do it right.

Even though some people can make a living by trading stocks, most day traders lose money in the long run.

Most of the time, day trading doesn’t make money, but sometimes it does. Investors can sometimes predict how a stock will move and make six-figure profits by timing the market right.

Pattern day trader is a term used by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to describe a stock trader who makes four or more day trades in a margin account within five business days.

In 2025, there will be exactly 251 business days.

If you pay for a charting/trading platform or exchange rights, those costs are also added in. So, if you have a good stock day trading strategy and $30,000 (which gives you a 4:1 leverage), you can make about $7,500 minus $2,000, which is $5,500 a month, or an 18% return each month.

You could say that day trading and gambling have a lot in common. When you make a day trade, you are betting that a stock’s random price changes will go in the direction you want.

Yes, Robinhood lets you trade every day. In terms of how it works, it’s the same as investing. Through the app, you buy a stock, which you then sell later in the day.

Yes, Webull’s app lets people trade on the same day.

Look for stocks that were the most volatile or had the biggest percentage gains or losses during the last trading session. Add a volume filter to ensure the stocks are good for day trading. Day traders usually look for stocks with at least one million shares traded daily.

Just above and below the actual body are “shadows” or “wicks.” The shadows show what the day’s high and low prices were. If a down candle’s upper shadow is short, the day’s opening was close to the high point. When the day went up, a short upper shadow means that the close was close to the high.

Day traders buy and sell options and derivatives based on how the prices of futures contracts for commodities change every day. Forex day traders try to take advantage of changes in exchange rates by buying and selling currency pairs throughout a trading day.

Cryptocurrencies are technically not regulated in the same way that stocks and options are. This means there are no limits on how much you can trade in one day.

Webull is a good choice for active traders with limited funds who only want to trade stocks and options on the same day.

Robinhood is a popular trading platform that helps investors who may be new to the stock market or who want to make money day trading.

The platform is a great way to get started in the stock market, but you should leave as soon as you know how to trade.

The average number of trading days for the U.S. stock market in a month is 21, but this number changes from month to month.

In the U.S., day traders must have at least $25,000 in their accounts to legally trade stocks daily. If the balance falls below that level, day trading isn’t allowed until a deposit is made to bring the balance back above $25,000.

The cost of each trade is one of the main reasons why day trading is not a good idea. The most obvious transaction costs are taxes and fees like trading commissions.

Yes, day trading is possible on TD Ameritrade. It’s one of the brokers that recently switched to trading without commissions.

If you are a trader, you are exempt from paying tax on profits up to Rs. 1 lakh from selling long-term shares. However, you will be taxed at 10% on the rest of your profit. On the other hand, if you make money by selling shares you’ve had for less than a year, you have to pay 15% tax on your gains.

Long-term capital gains tax rates allow long-term investors to benefit from tax savings. If you keep your investments in an account that gives you tax breaks, you may get even more tax breaks.

Long-term capital gains tax rates allow long-term investors to benefit from tax savings. If you hold your investments in a tax-advantaged account, you might get even more tax benefits.

It is hard to make money day trading, and there is no guarantee that you will make any money at all.

The ActiveTraderPro platform, low margin fees, and easy learning curve at Fidelity make it a great place for day traders to start. You can change everything about the platform to make your favorite tools and indicators stand out while keeping an eye on the news, social sentiment, and regulatory actions.

The available excess maintenance margin in your account divided by four gives you your day trading buying power. If you have $25,000 in your account, your Day Trading Buying Power is $100,000.

There are no restrictions on day-trading cryptocurrencies, so the Pattern Day Trader rule as defined by FINRA does not apply.

Rules about pattern day trading do not apply to cash accounts. This means you can trade stocks, ETPs, and options without worrying about how many trades you can make in a day.

In these situations, you can also avoid breaking the wash sale rule by buying or getting the security that is not “substantially identical” to the one you just sold. The problem with this method is that neither Congress nor the IRS has defined the term “substantially identical” clearly.

• Start at the beginning
  To be a day trader, you need a lot of knowledge, just like in any other financial job. Invest in learning the basics of market theory, trading strategies, and basic technical skills before you start picking stocks.
• Use simulations to get practice
  Before you start trading for real and risk your money, it’s a good idea to practice the basics on a simulation. Learning how to trade differs from putting what you know to use and learning from your mistakes. Try things out in a safe place. Why not learn the “hard lessons” without losing real money? You can do this by trading in a simulated way with dummy accounts. 
• Choose a small account broker.
  Find a broker that takes $500 as a minimum initial deposit and doesn’t charge you too much for day trading if you only have $500. 
• Choose the Best Assets
  You can trade commodities, stocks, currency, cryptocurrencies, and more. Some people like stocks but they aren’t always the best place to start day trading. Futures, for example, are better in many ways than stocks. They give day traders just starting a lot of freedom because you can trade them almost 24/7 with few breaks. 
• Come up with a good plan.
  You can only invest $500, so choose a strategy that works with that amount. Here are some tips when making your plans:
  ⇒ When to trade and how much to invest
  ⇒ When to enter the market
  ⇒ When to get out of a trade
  ⇒ How to deal with risks

The thinkorswim platform from TD Ameritrade is robust enough to meet the needs of most new active traders. It has high-quality data, charts that can be changed in any way you want, and powerful stock-scanning tools.

Forex day trading uses shorter-term charts to trade currencies on an intraday basis.

Day traders can indeed make money. But the chances are obviously against you. According to a study conducted by several university professors, only about 13 per cent of day traders make a profit each year.

• Open A Cash Account
  Day traders who want to avoid being labelled as pattern day traders might do so by opening cash accounts. They can execute countless day deals with smaller sums of money. Despite having a limitless number of trades, there is a drawback. According to Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, traders cannot take cash proceeds from a deal before settling the transaction. As a result, dealers cannot use the money until two days after the settlement date. 
• Open More Than One Brokerage Account To Avoid The PDT Rule 
  Having more than one brokerage account may be an alternative if trading three times a week is too restrictive for day traders. A day trader can add three more trades every five days when they open multiple brokerage accounts. The availability of commission-free trading at many brokerages makes this a possible way to get around PDT limits. 
• Open An Offshore Account
  Offshore brokerage accounts are another choice if U.S. brokerage accounts are too constrictive. Day traders have fewer limitations and can open offshore accounts to trade more frequently. A day trader should exercise caution if they open an offshore account. There’s a chance the rules that apply to American investors won’t. Additionally, investor safeguards might not be available. Additional charges might be incurred to open these accounts. 
• Trade Forex And Futures To Avoid The PDT Rule 
  Day traders can avoid the PDT Rule by trading foreign exchange or futures and having an offshore account. Both of these asset classes don’t need a specific amount of cash. In actuality, many brokers only require a few thousand dollars to create an account. The enormous amounts of leverage involved in trading these accounts are one thing to be aware of. You must have discipline if you want to learn how to trade Forex and cryptocurrency. 
• Options Trading 
  Another option to get over PDT restrictions is to engage in options trading.

Many people may find day trading ideal employment because it can provide competitive income and flexible working hours. Consider becoming a day trader if you have experience trading equities and want to engage in more competitive transactions.

For a novice trader, day trading on ETRADE is an excellent place to start. When day trading, you shouldn’t be worrying about order execution.

Creating an LLC could help protect your assets by offering limited liability protection if your day trading operations satisfy the requirements for trading businesses set forth by the IRS and can be classified as “trading” rather than just “investing.”

•  Fidelity 
  Great in order execution 
• TradeStation 
  Great for platform technology 
• TD Ameritrade 
  Great for desktop platform 
• Interactive Brokers 
  Great for professionals 
• E*TRADE 
  Great web-based platform

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF has consistently been the most well-liked ETF among day traders (SPY). The trading volume of this ETF regularly exceeds 100 million shares per day, allowing you to trade smaller or larger position sizes depending on the volatility. Consider these additional high-volume equities and ETFs for day trading. Where appropriate, betas are offered. Any figures could change.

Support is a price point that signals to purchase interest by being below the current market price. A price point that indicates selling interest is known as resistance and is set above the current market price.

• The ADX must cross above 30 to indicate a strongly moving market.
• Watch for a retracement of the price to the 20-EMA.
• Place a buy order above the high of the preceding bar when the price reaches the 20-EMA. 
• Put SL below the swing low that has just developed.

Daily moving averages (DMA), the most popular and commonly utilized indicator, are frequently mentioned to traders. On a stock chart, the moving average is a line that joins the average closing rates for a given time. The moving average is more trustworthy the longer the duration.

When a trading day’s high and low are contained by the high and low of the previous day or days, the situation is known as an “inside day.” Inside days show little price change compared to the previous trading days, indicating market indecision for an asset.

The holding period for positions typically marks the difference between swing trading and day trading. While day traders close their holdings before the market closes, swing traders frequently keep positions for at least one night.

Today, $1,000 or less is all that is necessary to begin day trading. When discussing trading in the forex market, this is particularly accurate. The opportunity for profit exists in day trading.

For standard marginable securities, E*TRADE permits a day trading buying power that is 4 times greater. Some stocks, nevertheless, can have more stringent restrictions.

Your account will be limited to a day trading buying power of just 2 times maintenance margin excess when on a day trade call.

Day trading in any security, including options, is subject to the regulation. In general, day trading with cash is not permitted.

An prospective day trader may need more than 1 to 5 years on average to grasp the basics, but every person is different.

Look for stocks that experienced large percentage gains or losses during the previous trading session or were very volatile. Add a volume filter to ensure the equities are suitable for day trading; day traders typically seek out stocks with at least one million shares traded daily.

In your mobile app, you can enable or disable this feature:

• In the bottom right corner, tap the Account symbol.
• Next, tap Account Summary.
• Navigate to Day Trade Settings by scrolling down.
• Turn on or off Pattern Day Trade Protection.

• Create a Webull account
  You can create an account using a desktop computer or a mobile device. No minimum deposit is needed to register an account with Webull, and inexperienced traders can use the paper trading option to practice trading with fake money. 
• Sign in to the Webull app
  If you signed up using a mobile device, you might now sign in to Webull’s trading app using your phone number, email address, and password.
• Specify your day trading approach.
  Your temperament and style can influence your day-trading approach. Some of the more well-liked day trading methods are listed below: Breakouts, Scalping, and News Trading 
• After you’ve opened a trading account with Webull, you have two funding options: ACH transfers and wire transfers. 
• Think about trading virtually (optional).
  If you are new to day trading, using Webull’s paper trading tool is a fantastic hands-on method to gain the trading experience you need. With Webull’s free paper trading account, you can purchase and sell stocks with no financial risk by utilizing virtual currency.
• Start live trading:
  Once you do so in a funded account, the stocks you choose to day trade are up to your due diligence. You might start by choosing the stocks of companies you are already familiar with if you plan to apply basic analysis.

Using a stock screener like StockFetcher to aid your search will help you frequently locate volatile stocks. To locate the stocks that are moving the most that day, you can also conduct some research in the middle of the trading session.

An efficient watchlist can be created in three easy steps.

• Gather a few leadership or liquidity components in each important industry first.
• Second, incorporate scanned stock listings that adhere to general technical standards and your market strategy.
• Third, recheck the list every night.

• An in-game skin
  Investors must know the pushes and pull on both the supply and demand sides if they want to get the most out of their investments in petroleum. The global economy’s output and nations’ capacity to make larger purchases significantly impact the production of crude facilities and the demand for the commodity.
• Implementing a trading plan.
  Investments in energy futures, such as crude oil, also have hundreds of professionals who use this commodities market as a hedge against other speculative markets, just like in the case of equities markets or mutual funds.
• Making distinctions between several categories of crude
  Understanding the differences between Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude trading is crucial. The first type of oil is produced offshore, but the second type is generated through fracking in the US interior. As an investor, you must know each option’s specific results if you are interested in placing bets on both.
• Accurately interpreting the economic realities in China and India
  As two of the biggest importers and consumers of crude oil worldwide, India and China’s internal economic situations have a tremendous impact on the entire world. Due to a decline in demand and an increase in supply, a slowdown in the domestic economy may impact crude prices. Investors must therefore monitor local trends in countries that import oil to comprehend how those trends affect the world energy markets.
• Relying on institutional investors’ tendencies.
  Essentially, the plan is to use it as a hedging tactic against future price changes or rises. Big-ticket investors would benefit from not having to store a significant amount of crude at their facilities. It functions more like a receipt so that oil firms may supply their respective communities’ energy needs during price increases without having to pay additional money.

•  Select a trading platform.
  A day trader must choose their platform as their initial action. This is crucial when choosing the best platform because US-based traders can only utilize domestically regulated crypto-trading platforms. When searching for the ideal trading platform, keep the following factors in mind:
  ⇒ Active years: The length of time an exchange has been in operation may indicate its stability and legitimacy.
  ⇒ Supported cryptos: Compared to a major exchange with fewer possibilities, day traders interested in altcoins may find a smaller exchange with more supported cryptos and trading pairings more useful.
  ⇒ Fees: Exchanges charge transaction fees whenever buyers or sellers complete a transaction. To monetize their operations, all bitcoin exchanges charge users a transaction fee.
  ⇒ Deposit options: Users must put money into their exchange account just like a brokerage.
  ⇒ User reviews: One of the greatest ways to decide which exchange to utilize is to visit various crypto groups and read user reviews.
  ⇒ Liquidity: The ability of an exchange to quickly and easily exchange one asset for another without impacting the price of the former asset is referred to as exchange liquidity. 
• Make an investment decision
  Volatility in the cryptocurrency market is a necessary evil for day traders. The same chaotic market environment that scares away long-term investors also provides possibilities for day traders to benefit. The day trader requires volatility and liquidity to participate in the cryptocurrency market actively. Consider asset liquidity, volatility, and trading volume when deciding what to invest in. 
• Select a trading plan.
  Day traders employ various strategies to profit from transient movements in the cryptocurrency markets. Some websites enable users to follow and emulate the most profitable traders on the platform, which is helpful for aspiring day traders. Here are a few of the most used trading methods for day trading in cryptocurrencies. Arbitrage, automated trading, technical analysis, long straddle, range trading, and scalping

• The “Indicators” area of the platform’s upper menu is the simplest place to start. 
• The indicator settings window will then appear. 
• On other tabs, you can modify the timeframe, choose a different colour range, or add straight line levels on an indicator (which is by default set to “0”). A particular approach for tracking the signals may call for more levels. For instance, selling an asset at the point where the top level of the chart intersects.

In your mobile app, you can enable or disable this feature:

• In the bottom right corner, tap the Account symbol. 
• Select Account Summary.
• After descending, select Day Trade Settings.
• Turn off Pattern Day Trade Protection.

When the CCI rises over +100 on the shorter-term chart and then falls back below +100, the chart suggests that you should enter a short trade. As soon as the CCI dips below -100 and then surges back above -100, traders would then abandon the short trade.

• Register with Finviz Elite
• Choose “Screener” from the top menu. 
• Make no filter selection.
• Select “custom.” 
•  Choose Settings. 
• Click the “export” button in the lower right corner, save the file, and open the CSV file.
• Ensure that the appropriate settings are in place.

• To identify the general price trend, plot a simple moving average (SMA) of 200 periods.
• Include the RSI indicator and set the period to two.
• Change the overbought and oversold values to 90 and 10, respectively.

•  Verify the daily chart that the  %K line has crossed over the  %D line, and the stochastic indicator is below the 20 line.
  Because we only want to be trading in the direction of the higher time frame trend, this is an essential component of the approach. The idea of numerous time frames is crucial since it can help you interpret the price action more thoroughly and better time your entry and exit locations. 
• Lower the time frame to 15 minutes and wait for the stochastic indicator to reach a level of 20. The blue line representing %K crossed the %D line (orange line).
  Similar to the preceding rule, this step requires that the Stochastic indicator reach the 20 level and that the %K line (blue line) cross over the %D line on the 15-minute time frame (orange line). The optimal time frame for day trading is the 15-minute chart because it is neither too quick nor too sluggish.
• Wait for the Stochastic %K line (blue moving average) to cross over the 20 mark 
  The %D line will do the same as the %K is the fast-moving average. We also don’t want to wait too long because doing so will diminish our profit margin. This gets us to the second stage of the finest stochastic trading technique, where you should now shift your attention to the price activity. 
• Watch for forming a Swing Low Pattern on the 15-Minute chart.
  A bar with a higher low than the preceding bar and the succeeding bar is known as a swing low pattern, a three-bar pattern. Here’s how to spot the ideal swing to increase your profit: Following the Best Stochastic Trading Strategy guidelines, a buy signal is only activated if a breakout of the Swing Low Patterns takes place.
• Entry Long When the Highest Point of the Swing Low Pattern is Broken to the Upside. Let’s return to the EUR/USD 15-minute chart we discussed and examine how to combine the stochastic indicator with the swing low pattern.
• Use a protective stop loss below the most recent 15-minute swing low
  As seen in the image below, you want to position your stop loss below the most recent low. To guard against false breakouts, add a buffer of 5 pips away from the bottom. 
• Take Advantage of 2xSL.
  Understanding when to begin a trade is crucial to understanding when to extract profits. The Best Stochastic Trading Strategy employs a fixed take profit equal to two times your stop loss.

We can gather data from the market using VWAP and MVWAP when security is trending. Selling at a price above VWAP is a strong intraday strategy. A reasonable intraday price to buy is when the price is lower than the VWAP. The use of this intraday comes with a warning, though.

Charles Schwab is a fantastic broker overall, and this quality is evident in the breadth of its research offerings, competitive pricing, and trading interface.

On smaller accounts, day trading typically offers greater potential for profit than swing trading.

The following holidays are off-limits for trading on the American stock exchanges in 2025: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, President’s Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas. 

The thinkorswim trading software from TD Ameritrade is well-liked by investors. Charts, individualized scans, news feeds, and more are available.

First, on any day the customer day trades, pattern day traders must keep a minimum equity balance of $25,000 in their margin account. Before starting any day trading operations, you must have the appropriate minimum equity in your account, which can be a combination of cash and qualified assets.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), often known as T+3, mandates that trades be resolved within a three-business-day window. The brokerage house must receive your payment for stock purchases no later than three business days after the trade is completed.

Top Laptops for Trading Stocks in 2025

• The Asus Zenbook Pro Duo. 
• The best gaming laptop for traders is the Razer Blade 17. 
• The best low-weight laptop with long battery life is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10.
• The best convertible laptop for stock trading is the HP Spectre x360 16-Inch.