Day Trading
Also called: intraday trading
Opening and closing positions within the same session to capture intraday moves, holding nothing overnight.
Day traders enter and exit the same day, profiting from intraday volatility and avoiding overnight gap risk. The style demands real-time data, fast execution and tight risk control — small edges repeated many times. Common approaches include momentum, breakout, VWAP and opening-range trades.
In the US, accounts flagged as 'pattern day traders' must keep at least $25,000 in equity. Day trading is time-intensive and unforgiving of poor discipline; relative volume, gaps and clean catalysts are how day traders find the few names in play each session.
On StockSetups
StockSetups' real-time engine suits day traders: a live tape with RVOL, gap and VWAP-cross alerts, intraday halts and a session Top List, plus presets like 'Intraday Momo' for the names actually moving right now.
Frequently asked
What is the pattern day trader rule?
In the US, an account that makes four or more day trades in five business days is flagged a pattern day trader and must maintain at least $25,000 in equity to keep day trading on margin.
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