The fascination with short-term positions lies in the more favorable time/profit curve. Volatile intraday movement produces sharp price swings that will "average out" over the time frame of the traditional buy and hold strategy. As a result, effective time management becomes extremely important in day trading.

Learn the distinctive traits of each part of the market day. Intraday time segments contain repeating cycles that must be considered before trade execution. For example, don't chase opening hour excitement without understanding the specific risks. Early opportunities often disappear as soon as you see them. And avoid buying weakness in the last hour if price is below key support. Time of day favors painful declines for issues near their lows near market close.

Watch the clock and become a market survivor. You'll develop an intuitive sense of how your positions will react as time responds to intraday cycles.

Successful day traders recognize high probability positions that exploit individual quirks of market behavior. Trader and educator Linda Bradford Raschke mentions a friend that makes a good living by selling 5-min ledge breaks on the S&P500 contract. If you can give up the excitement of chasing parabolic stocks, "quiet" day trades may produce a higher percentage of profitable positions with far less stress.

Focus on optimizing entry and exit. Play single direct thrusts and manage your position size to control risk. Only enter part of your position when the signals don't line up perfectly. Use discretion, execute wisely and apply this golden rule of swing trading: over time, excellent entries on mediocre positions make more money than lousy entries on good ones.