Day trading
Day trading means opening and closing positions on the same day, so nothing is held overnight. The aim is to make money from moves that last minutes or hours.
In depth
A day trader might buy 200 shares at 50.00 at 9:45am, sell at 50.40 an hour later, and hold nothing by the close. That means watching the screen while the market is open and deciding quickly. Costs matter more than they do for a long-term investor, because you pay them many times over.
Frequent day trades in a margin account can trigger a broker-set minimum account size, so read your broker's terms first. In the United States, profits are usually taxed as short-term gains, which is the higher rate. Check with a tax professional.
Why it matters
Speed removes the buffer. A swing trader has days to be right and a day trader has hours, so a good idea with poor timing still loses. Fees and spreads take a slice of every trade, and at twenty trades a week that slice decides whether the month is green or red.
Your day trades import automatically from Schwab and IBKR, and the calendar shows each day's profit and loss in one grid. Stats break results down by symbol, by long versus short and by how long trades were held, so you can see which part of your day pays.
Frequently asked questions
Frequent day trades in a margin account require a broker-set minimum account size. Check your broker's current terms before you start.
Neither is better. Day trading needs screen time and fast decisions, swing trading needs patience through overnight moves.
Keep your Day 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