As Warren Buffett said, 'whether it's socks or stocks, I like mine 50% off.'

I do not day trade but I have been swing trading for the last five years (holding longer than 1 day and usually a few weeks).  Like any profession, there is a lot to know and there's a million ways to approach the market - penny stocks, shorting, news-driven, earnings, options, selling options, etc.  To save yourself a lot of time, money, and frustration, this is what I'd say to anyone wanting to do it, whether day trading, swing trading or position trading (investing for months on end):

1) Study a lot of charts - the good news is that the market is fractal so a 15minute time frame might work the same as a Daily or Monthly chart will.

2) The two most used indicators seem to be RSI 14 and MACD w/ Histogram so if that's what everyone else is generally using, maybe your entries should be based on that too.

3) Study the next higher time frame - I swing so I start with considering the Monthly and Weekly charts.

Free Bonus Tip - Bullish ('buy low and sell high') will usually begin with the price crossing above the 20 simple moving average and the RSI 14 will be above 40.

P.S. Here is an example of a recent swing trade.  I entered in the $3 range with $4 Call options expiring in September.  I sold those Call options slowly in the $6.50 - $8 range and made 400% - 600% gains.  No, it isn't always like that but if you bail quickly then you'll survive and maybe even thrive.

Funny but real
https://youtu.be/7HWlx-rD5NU?t=2

No, I like making money and not losing it.

A 36% return is massive.  I don't think you're 'losing miserably' if you 'only' generate returns of 36%.  Try and squeeze 1% out of your bank.

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What an idiotic response. This was a competition. They were each trying to make more money than the other, get it? The S&P fund returned 125.8%; the hedge fund returned 36%. Losing a game 126 to 36 is called getting your ass kicked.

The funny/sad thing is, absolutely none of this has anything to do with the thread topic of day trading.  I posted my entries, exits, and price target on the CRMD chart which generated basically 500% returns on options.  Now this is about a hedge fund losing to Warren Buffett because he only generated a 36% return?  

The 'logic' here is exactly why I bailed on CathInfo ten years ago.  Looks like I'm already regretting my return and I've literally only posted two or three things.  LOLOLOLOL

I guess a few posters here don't really care about the morality (or lack thereof) but are just out to make money.  Sad.

The stock market is all about money, money, money, the making of money, and more money, and yet still more money - by the ones who move the market, mainly the big banks. They are the ones who trade in 100s of millions of dollars multiple times each day. They're the main culprits, the riggers.

Want the DOW to close up? Buy the crap out of a some big caps like Apple, Microsoft etc., while selling the crap out of everything else. When the millions of lemmings hear the news that those are up, millions of "investors" buy the stock - guess who is selling the stock to them?

When price gets too low, the "investors" see losses that are getting too big to take much longer, so in order to cut their losses the "investors" dump the stock at a loss - guess who buying it from them as the price deteriorates? Wash rinse repeat ad infinitum.

Knowing this happens as a rule does not guarantee you will profit off of it because it is a matter timing, timing is everything in day trading. The ones with the big bucks establish the right and wrong timing but are so crafty about it so as to fool even expert traders - and even the manipulators are not always right. When they lose, they lose big, but most often can afford it....because they have several billions of dollars in their kitty.

Even so, a lot of regular people have done well in the markets, and a lot of people can do well, but what is true for most people is the old adage: "If you want to make a small fortune in the markets, start with a big fortune."

Here's a potential Swing Trade for anyone interested.  VGFC is a new company which announced a partnership on 10/3/22 with the aim of greater product distribution.  For the last six months they've been increasing their revenue and expanding retail positions into big box stores like Whole Foods, Metro Market, etc.

I'm waiting for the RSI to cross above 40 and pull back and the price action to start crossing the 20sma (blue line).  Always risky but, after that, it could see a potential move to the .35 cent area - almost 300%.  We'll see what happens.  Bon voyage.

I like charts that show price is lower on the left side of the chart and higher on the right side of the chart. To me, that is one ugly chart.