Swing Trading

Determining your trading style is very important right from the beginning. Not knowing what type of a trader you are can make or break your trading career. Take the analogy of a cricket team. There are 11 players in each team in the match. All players are talented and super fit. Everyone can throw and catch the ball. However some are more skilled at balling. Others are more skilled at batting. If the baller is going to do the job of the batter, not many runs will be made and the match will be lost.Investing in the currency markets or stock markets is also the same. It depends on your personality makeup what type of trading is best suited to you. In general there are three type of trading styles:

1. Position Trading,
2. Swing Trading and
3. Day Trading

You need to know what type of trading style is best suited for you. In currency trading, position trading means you are in a trade for many months trying to capitalize on a major long term move in the market. Position Trading is generally the buy and hold strategy of investing in stocks over a long haul. Usually positions traders are in a trade for a large long term move like when you carry trade AUD/JPY. Options traders can also be position traders through covered calls and other strategies.Swing trading is possibly the most dynamic of the three types of trading as the swing trader is able to switch up holding times quickly as the market demands. Swing Trading means taking short term positions in anticipation of quick market movements over a series of days or weeks. Swing traders take advantage of technical and fundamental analysis.Day trading is not easy and it is certainly not a hobby. Sometimes when the positions warrants holding for a longer period, day trading can become swing trading! In Day Trading, you attempt to capitalize on intraday movements with the markets often trading on momentum and news. Day traders are also known as Kings of Stress. You should note that if you don’t have time to watch your trades every moment, you should not think of day trading. Day trading is the riskiest of the three trading styles. Day trading is ideal for those who are able to handle erratic market movements while actually also having time to monitor the positions throughout the day.

Know That Swing Trading Is a Better Alternative to Day Trading
Day trading hardly ever ends up well especially if the trader has no previous professional trading experience. Only 10% of the day traders succeed. Many people are attracted to the glamour and excitement of day trading. Most day trader usually blow up their accounts and fade away soon. By holding positions overnight and even for a few weeks, you can expose less money for larger moves. Swing trading can be on the other hand a much more effective trading style especially if you are a newer trader. If you are a new trader, think about it for a moment.In case of currency trading, the cost of trading is hidden in the bid/ask spreads offered by the broker. Day traders often rake up major commissions charges if they are trading stocks which makes it that much more difficult to beat the overall market. In the end, if you are unable to breakeven, you cannot survive long in day trading. So the more you day trade, the higher your trading cost will become. Swing trading also entails facing stiff trading costs in the shape of spread in case of currencies or commissions if you are trading stocks. But these trading costs are nothing as severe as in day trading. Because price action spans several days to several weeks, market fundamentals can come into play to a larger degree as compared to day trading.Swing trading can also generate higher potential profits on single trades because the holding period is longer than in day trading. Day to day currency movements are due less to market fundamentals and more to short term supply and demand of currencies or shares. Day trading demands lots of attention and time commitment from you. There is a misconception that day trading can be taken as a hobby. It is stressful and a winning position can turn into a losing one within seconds. If you want to permanently take on day trading, you have to have strong nerves.Swing trading currency markets can be very profitable. Currency markets are open 24/5. You can enter or exit a position even late hours. Now the good thing about swing trading is that you can take it full time or part time. Swing trading with an eye on earning additional income or improving the returns on your portfolio is less stressful than swing trading for a living. Part time swing trading means doing analysis when you get home from work! Then implementing trades the following day! You can enter stop loss orders to protect your capital even though you may not be able to watch the market all day. You should first go through this phase first if you eventually want full time swing trading.Swing trading part time is suitable for you if you have a full time job but can devote a few hours a week to analyzing markets and securities or currencies. You should have a passion for financial markets and short term trading. If you are achieving subpar results in your current investment portfolios from your financial advisors or third party then you can take up part time swing trading.

Part time swing trading is for you if you are not a gambler and don’t take undue risks like doubling down your positions after a losing trade. Again swing trading is not for fun. You should also have the discipline to consistently place stop loss orders. By swing trading instead of day trading, you are able to commit less capital to the markets to reach extraordinary gains. At the end of the day, when it comes down to is the fact that you need to determine your trading style before you become serious in trading.