Types of Trading

Primarily, there are five types of share trading.

Day Trading:
This form of trade involves purchasing and selling stocks in a single day. In the case of day trading, individuals hold stocks for a few minutes or hours. A trader involved in such trade needs to close his/her transactions prior to the day’s market closure. It is popular for capitalising on small-scale fluctuations in NAV of stocks.

Scalping:
It is also known as micro-trading. Scalping and day-trading are both subsets of intraday trading. Scalping involves reaping small profits repeatedly ranging from a dozen to a hundred profits in a single market day.

However, every transaction does not yield profits, and in some cases a trader’s gross losses might exceed the gains. The holding period of securities, in this case, is shorter compared to day-trading, i.e. individuals hold stocks spanning a maximum of a few minutes.

This feature allows for the frequency of transactions. Similar to day-trading, scalping requires market experience, proficiency, awareness of market fluctuations, and prompt transactions.

Swing Trading:
This style of stock market trading is used to capitalise on the short-term stock trends and patterns. Swing trading is used to earn gains from stock within a few days of purchasing it; ideally one to seven days. Traders technically analyse the stocks to gauge the movement patterns they are following for proper execution of their investment objectives.

Momentum Trading:
In case of momentum trading, a trader exploits a stock’s momentum, i.e. a substantial value movement of stock, either upwards or downwards. A trader tries to capitalise on such momentum by identifying the stocks that are either breaking out or will break out.

In case of upward momentum, the trader sells the stocks he/she is holding, thus yielding higher than average returns. In case of downward movement, the trader purchases a considerable volume of stocks to sell when its price increases.

Position Trading:
Position traders hold securities for months aiming to capitalise on the long-term potential of stocks rather than short-term price movements. This style of trade is ideal for individuals who are not market professionals or regular participants of the market.