Swing trading
Swing trading means holding a position for days or weeks to catch one move, rather than closing it the same day. You check the chart once or twice a day instead of watching it.
In depth
A swing trader works from the daily and four-hour charts. Price pulls back to a level where buyers showed up before, a decisive candle prints there, and the trade goes on with a stop beyond the level. Three days to three weeks is the usual holding time.
The trade-off is overnight risk. You are not at the screen when earnings, a downgrade or an overseas selloff hits, so the stock can open ten percent below your stop and there is nothing to do about it. That is the price of not having to watch every minute. Size accordingly, and know which dates you are holding through.
Why it matters
The gap risk is the part people find out the hard way. A stop at 98 does not help if the stock opens at 90. Swing traders who size like day traders get one overnight surprise and give back a month. Position size, not the stop, is what caps that loss.
TraderLog groups your results by how long you held, so two-day trades and three-week trades get separate numbers. An automatic held overnight tag marks the ones that carried risk into the next session, and trade replay shows your fills on a TradingView chart.
Frequently asked questions
Usually three days to three weeks, long enough for one move to play out.
Yes. The decisions are made after the close, so you check the chart once a day.
Keep your Swing trading trades on the record in TraderLog
Trades import from Schwab and IBKR on their own, every day lands on a calendar with its P&L, and the day's entry sits beside it. Replay any trade on a TradingView chart. Free for 14 days, no card.
Every trading morning at 8:40 ET our model draws the SPY, QQQ and IWM zones it expects to matter, on a TradingView chart, before the open. Where price reaches one, it has turned 74 percent of the time. Free, no account. See today's map