Now is not the time to be lounging in front of the TV hoping to somehow get lucky. You are never going to magically get rich and winning the lottery happens for very few people. Since we are suffering through what experts are now calling a global financial crisis, you have to take your future in your own hands and make your own dreams come true.

This means that most people’s finances are suffering, companies are downsizing, and hundreds of jobs are being lost on a daily basis. In short, earning money nowadays just got harder than it was a few years or decades ago. So I say, we should start making our own luck. Now, how do we do this? Well, one of the ways we can do this is to join the highly competitive but greatly rewarding world of day trading.

Day trading is simply one of the forms of stock trading. You probably don’t know a lot about it right now, but it is rather simple to get a basic feel for what a day trader does. The good news is you don’t need to be an expert in everything about the field in order to successfully start your path as a day trader.

The basic definition of stock trading is the buying and selling of stocks, futures, options, or currencies on the stock market. That essentially is what a day trader does as well, but with one catch. A day trader will buy and sell everything on the same day. So, they never hold it for long periods of time.

This means that a day stock trader refrains from holding the stocks he has purchased that day for a few days or even just until the next day. In fact, some day stock traders actually prefer “scalping”, which means they sell off their stocks just minutes after they have bought them. So essentially, day trading is sort of a highly accelerated version of stock trading.

That gives you the basic definition of what a day trader does, so what does it have to do with you?

The first thing that anyone should do when planning to engage in any kind of trade is securing capital. This means that you should make sure that you have sufficient funds for day trading. Experts say that for day trading, you should have a capital of around $20,000 to $25,000 dollars to start with.

Once you have taken care of the financial issues, visit a site such as etrade.com, scottrade.com, or zecco.com. Since day trading is such as fast paced, time intensive business, it only makes sense that you will have to do the trading electronically.

Before you choose which site to sign up for, however, you should at least do some research about how the site works and what fees they might charge you with for using their site. There is nothing more annoying than having to pay for hidden fees that just might surprise the daylights out of you and dampen the joy of having earned some profit in stocks after an anxiety-ridden day of trading. Forewarned is forearmed after all.

You will have a greater chance of actually turning a profit on your first deals as a day trader if you look into stock trends and learn a few things about trading before you throw your money out there. Some traders have money to lose and enjoy the thrill of risking it all, but chances are you cannot afford to do that. If you want to hang onto your money and even see it multiply, do yourself a favor and get some knowledge before you start tossing in the money.

If you do not recognize the inherent risk that stock trading in any form presents, you are likely to come out disappointed in the end. There is no way to take the risk out of this type of business, but if you go about it the right way and use your brain every step of the way, you are likely to find some success. Just use some caution because every year people go into day trading with high hopes of becoming rich, and very few actually make that into their reality. Do your research and make smart decisions in the beginning and chances are you can be quite successful.

While the concept of day trading seems very illusive to many people, it is really not that difficult to comprehend. The concept surrounding day trading is actually very simple. It is actually just a matter of making purchases at low prices and then quickly turning them around and selling them for a profit. While the concept sounds very easy, why would only a small amount of people actually be taking advantage of the benefits? The answer is that is does take a substantial amount of upfront work to be successful and this scares some people off from the prospect.

Because of the vast size of the stock market, a large amount of oversight and research is needed so that the investor knows when, what, where and how to make transactions in day trading. The ability to be successful in day trading has become a more viable option with the expansions in technology that have taken place of the last few years. The invention of the day trading robot is one of the exciting inventions that have changed the face of the day trading business.

A trading robot is not some entity out of a science-fiction film. It is a software program that explores the totality of the market and looks at trends, variables, increases and decreases in price, and various other patterns that are present.

Because the robots are an automated system, they act very quickly to produce valid statistics and other information in a comprehensive manner. The information is turned over to the investor and they use the data to make educated decisions regarding their investments.

Prior to the robot technologies, obtaining such information would be an impossible feat due to the large amount of time that would be required and the amount of resources that would be necessary. Once a day trader begins to use the robot for their trading needs they will have the comprehensive stock and investment data that is necessary to make good day trading decisions. The uncertainty of making investments in the past is removed by the use of the robots.

Can you place one hundred percent guaranteed trades using the information that is submitted by the robots? The answer is most defiantly no. There is not one person or machine that could predict the stock market with absolute certainty.

There will always be risks involved in day trading, no matter how much information a day trader has on their side. With this said, the investment process and the decisions that are made can be more profitable if the investor has the data that can be provided by the trading robot. The chances of making a more substantial profit in the day trading world becomes much higher when the robot is there to assist in gathering and submitting data.

There is no better time than the present to get the best value on stocks. Check out companies that show promise. Small companies are on an uphill climb and seem to be bouncing back quickly. Beware though as they may have a lot of debt to deal with.

Normally the small companies are entrenched in debt. Also beware of the companies that represent huge problems of one kind or another. They usually are recognizable from having stocks that took a beating on the market.

Review financial sources such as magazines that profile the stock market and various newsletters. They can provide great tips in getting started. One excellent investment is blue chips. It is best to buy them from a company is good financial standing.

If you are not a risk taker it may be best to stick to buying value stocks which represent a lower risk. Stocks such as these are referenced as ‘Tortoise and Hare’ stocks. They consist of an accumulation of twenty five respectable companies each.

Old strategies are generally the best of course. Buy low and sell high! Take it one step farther and when a good company is having a lull, buy cheap and get rich. Sound investment choices are those of a food or medicinal quality.

When it comes to buying value stocks keep your ears and eyes open. Take your time and do your homework, but do not take too long and miss out on the economic advantages that are currently available to investors.

8.) Take time to study- Investing in the stock market requires that you should take time to study what it’s all about. You can’t expect to succeed if think that you can just place in your money and hope that it will somehow grow by itself. Studying a lot of books and materials on the stock market will certainly help. When I first started investing I searched for materials in the internet regarding the stock market especially the Philippine stock market. I bought the “investor’s primer” from the Philippine stock exchange. This is a great material for those who are new to the Philippine stock market.

Attending seminars on how to trade in the stock market can further add to your knowledge. Some brokerage firms conduct free seminars for those who are new investors. Last year I attended a 2 day seminar by CITISEC Online. They are one of the most active, most innovative and well managed brokerage firms in the Philippines. The information that you learn in the seminar will certainly help you in your quest to succeed in the stock market. Continuous study is required if you want to be successful in investing in the stock market. Do not not stop learning.

Read all the materials you can and attend all the seminars you can in order to learn. Don’t be discouraged when there are terms you could not understand. For example just reading this post alone, you would probably raise your hands and tell yourself not to invest anymore since there are some terms you could not understand. You don’t even know what “points” are when I was talking about them in point number 2. You don’t even know what the heck is the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) or what does “Blue Chips” or “Bull run” mean. Worse you don’t even understand what a stock is and how it basically works. But so what? I started out not knowing what some of these things are.

Stuff like these are never taught in school. I only learned them by reading and having a hands on experience in trading. I highly suggest that you watch the movie “Pursuit of Happyness” This is a story about one man’s struggle to learn the stock market. Years later he made millions through stock trading. This movie is based on a true story and is sure to inspire you!

9.)Know what is happening in the world around you – There are several factors that affect the stock market. Be aware of the news that is making headlines in the news paper. For sure this will give you a hint on the direction that the market will take. Never skip the business news. It is here where you will be given an idea as to which stock you should buy. I prefer reading the online version of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in order that I may know where the market is heading.

10.) Now is the best day to start – Some people say that experience is the best teacher. I agree, experience is the best way to learn. It does not matter if you start small at first, the most important thing is that you start immediately. Never procrastinate but don’t rush immediately without first studying the basics. When you have already learned the basics of investments, start buying your first stock. The most rewarding thing in your career as a stock market investor is when you have profited from your first sale.