Many people would like to trade for a living, but the biggest problem they face is a lack of capital. In order to make a living trading in the stock market, traders really need to plan on having an initial balance of at least $100,000.
Many books and articles have been written about how to use moving averages and a variety of technical indicators to trade the markets. Amazingly, very few of these books or articles show actual test results.
One of the soundest bits of trading advice is to let your winners run and cut your losses early. To many traders, this means use a stop loss order to prevent large losses.
Some futures brokers provide significant leverage and very low margins for day traders. It is relatively easy to find brokers that will allow trading with margins as small as $500 per contract.
Many individuals are drawn to trading thinking they won’t have to do math. This belief is rarely held by successful traders, and few actually succeed in modern trading without some math skills.