Guide to Day Trading Strategies

H O W T O D A Y T R A D E
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I prepare trades pre-market by entering the share size, the price, 
and choosing the route. All I need to do is press the BUY or SELL 
buttons when the market opens. Image from Lightspeed.
Entering Trades
When I am entering trades, I usually have a few minutes to think about my entry and my stop 
loss. Most trades will be based on a pre-market pattern, or will be based on a midday pattern 
that has been forming for several minutes or hours. This is a good time to note that I rarely trade 
pre-market or after hours. I prefer to focus my trading during regular market hours because 
that’s when we see the most volume. With that said, I do keep a close eye on any patterns or 
support and resistance levels that were formed pre-market. During the pre-market session I 
typically prepare my orders manually in the order entry window so when the market opens at 

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R O S S C A M E R O N
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9:30 I’m ready to trade. The order entry window is where I enter the price, add the 5 cent offset 
for the limit order, choose the share size and choose the ECN route. I always have at least four 
order entry windows up at any given time. This means I can have four different orders ready 
to send. All I need to do is click the buy or sell button. Once I am in the trade, I begin to use 
hotkeys to manage my position.
Image of my Hot Key settings from Lightspeed.
Hot Keys
Some of the trading strategies I use, require high speed trading. As we know the market can 
be irrationally strong. We have seen stocks run over 100%, in a matter of minutes, especially at 
the market open. In order to capitalize on these moves in the market, it is important to use a 
broker that allows direct access routing and hot keys. Hot keys are key commands that can be 
programmed to automatically send orders with the touch of a key. Professional day traders will 
use hot keys to enter trades, exit trades, place stop orders and cancel orders. Having all of our 
possible trade combinations at our 
À
ngertips can allow for high speed trading. Midday trades 
do not usually require the use of hotkeys since they are often slower than trades at the open. 
The market trades on the highest volume consistently in the 
À
rst hour of trading. This is when 
we have the most volatility in the market. My Gap and Go strategy and morning Momentum 
Strategy require the use of hotkeys, to maximize pro
À
t and minimize losses. Typically, I will enter 
these trades using manually entered buy or short orders, and then start using the hot keys to 
manage my position, including placing stop orders and partial pro
À
t taking orders.
My favorite hotkey is the command to sell half my position on the bid price (Control+X) or on 
the ask price (Control+L). The computer system will automatically calculate what half of my 
position equals, in number shares. The computer will also calculate the current bid and ask price 
and place my order at the price I ask. The huge advantage of these hotkeys is that when a stock 
suddenly spikes up 50 cents, I can press my hotkey to sell my full position on the bid (Control+Z) 
without having to type in the new bid price or my number of shares. In the time it takes to type, 

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