Day trading might be able to offer quick profits but also instant losses if you're not careful. Here are some useful tips from Asian day traders.

Day trading is one of the most popular strategies used by forex traders these days because it seems simple and able to offer easy profits. The reality is that making consistent profits from day trading is a rare accomplishment. It's not entirely impossible, but it's definitely not just a walk in the park. Let's hear the stories of several successful day traders in Asia to see how they managed to stay profitable in the long term.

 

Jason Sen

Jason Sen is a successful day trader that started his trading career on the trading floor of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) back in 1987. At the age of 19, he was able to make his way up and generate a good amount of profits. He now owns three hotels in Thailand and is the founder of a trading advisory platform named DayTradingIdeas. But such success wasn't just placed in his hands that easily.

Sen admitted that everything was different back in his early days. There were no mobile phones and everything was analog, so he had to learn all the hand signals on his own. His specialization lies in technical trading, so he used that to analyze the market trend and make profits. He said that day traders should closely watch the trend in order to be profitable. The key is being able to figure out which trend to follow.

Due to his trading skills, Jason can now make about 40-60 pips a day and even over 100 pips on a good day. His impressive track record has earned him a good number of loyal followers on his platform. Now people can pay a monthly fee and become regular subscribers to get access to his content and trade analysis, as well as up-to-date information about market volatility. He also gives out trading advice to major investment banks such as BoA, VTB Capital, Citi, and Deutsche.

 

Jay Tun

Jay Tun is an experienced trader based in Singapore and the founder of a trading educational platform called swimtrading.com, which was made to support retail traders in Asia. The platform offers trading courses for beginners along with various other features that could help traders improve their trading skills. Apart from that, Tun is also active on social media and is a dedicated trader that specializes in the US stock market. Today, he's able to earn a six-figure salary with about 20-30% return on his investments.

According to Jay Tun, the market was most profitable and relatively stable during the pre-Donald Trump era. Things began to change after his presidency, presenting new opportunities to generate profit. Sectors like airline and cruise are considered promising as they still hope to improve, even though they have been badly hit by the pandemic. Meanwhile, some assets like Lithium and Uranium are at their highest peak, so the markets are relatively stable.

Aside from that, Tun believes that there is another thing that's going on in the Asia market at the moment, which is mainly caused by the Chinese government. It is widely known that Beijing has been pushing new regulatory policies, particularly in the tech, gaming, and property industries. This means, there's a chance that these sectors are going to be wiped out. Since the uncertainty is so big, Tun does not recommend trading in these sectors for the time being.

Instead, he suggests formulating a solid plan and considering the risk-to-reward ratio before trading. It's important to decide how much you can afford to lose, then invest your money based on that.

Lastly, he stresses the importance of learning. Even as a professional trader, Jay is still eager to learn from other expert traders and continue sharpening his skills.

 

Rajan Rajkumar

Rajan Rajkumar is a popular trader from India who has over 400,000 online followers on social media. He first started his trading career when he was 22 years old and decided to become a full-time trader during the pandemic after he quit his well-paid IT job in Chennai.

At the beginning of his journey, Rajkumar wasn't very successful. He lost quite a huge sum of money because he believed that to be a successful trader, one has to get dirty and learn. He certainly learned his lessons and finally managed to earn profits about 12-16 months after he started active trading.

He then began to share his experiences through his YouTube channel and Instagram account, where he goes by the name MadrasTrader. He even provides an ultimate trading membership where he gives tutors on how to make profits from trading.

Instead of intraday trading, Rajkumar prefers to use the swing trading strategy, which focuses on gaining smaller profits in short-term trends and cutting losses quickly. Swing trading positions are usually held for a few days, but usually no longer than several weeks. Since there are risks for holding positions overnight, swing trades are usually done in a smaller size compared to other strategies. One of the advantages is that this strategy is considered less risky than intraday trading, so it's a great choice for beginners.

By using the swing trading method, Rajkumar can now make about $2,700 per week. According to him, traders need to do their homework before deciding to open any position in the market. He believes that most traders lose money because they haven't calculated the risks properly. He also said that it's important to be able to balance your emotions with the results of your trade.

 

How to Make Profit with Day Trading

In order to be successful in day trading, there are several tips and tricks that you can implement in your trading routine, such as:

  • Trade with the money that you can afford to lose. Every trader must understand that the market is unpredictable and you can lose money if you take the wrong side when day trading. Thus, it's important to separate the money for trading and daily uses. Don't trade more than the set amount to avoid getting too much loss.

  • Start small. As a rookie trader, it's completely normal to make mistakes and lose some money. It's wise to start small and keep the risk minimum until you gain some experience. You can gradually increase the position size once you feel more confident with your analysis.

  • Build a strong plan before you start. It's never a good idea to enter the market blindly. Remember that even with a solid trading strategy and a good risk management system, the price might still go against your will. Having a plan can help you stay on track and save you from emotional trading when you need to make a rational decision.

  • Be patient. Day traders typically open several positions throughout the day, but that doesn't mean that you should trade for the whole day. Look for opportunities that meet your desired condition. If the situation doesn't seem good, then don't trade.

  • Never stop learning. Trading is not a one-time deal, but it's a long-term investment. So if you wish to make profits consistently, you need to stay updated with the latest news and learn various new strategies. Even as a professional trader, it's still important to keep learning by reading books or sharing with other fellow traders.

 

The Bottom Line

Day trading is essentially a strategy that takes advantage of small price movements throughout the day. It can be profitable if the trader is able to open trades at the right time and accurately predict the price movements. If you're a trader staying in Asia, the 3 figures above could be a good inspiration to reach success.

At the end of the day, day trading is only one way to approach the market. If you want to be a successful day trader, you need to be prepared both financially and mentally. If it feels like intraday trading is too stressful, you can switch to swing trading just like Rajan Rajkumar.

 

One of the most lucrative markets in Asia is Indonesia, an emerging country with one of the highest populations in the world. Interestingly, traders from Indonesia usually prefer to take any trading information in their language.