Is there logic to day trading bitcoin?

[Tal1m0n]

I bought in at $100 btc and have strong belief in it climbing beyond the previous high of $266. Since then I've learned what the exchange sites are for and attempting to work out my own strategy for day trading to increase my coins before they become very expensive again.

What information do you go off of to predict whether the price will go up or down. The Buy and Sell Orders help give me some idea but you never know when somebody will sneak a massive transaction in at the last moment.

Perhaps I could cut my chances like; If it hits $110 I can sell half for that $10 profit in the hopes that the price drops so I can buy back in at $100-105, or if it continues to climb then I profit off the coin I kept and keep the money on hand for when another big price correction.

It'd be exciting if I could make money every day at this without risking getting left behind during the next build up where we were seeing a momentum of $10-15 a day. Every morning waking up and being like "Oh look my btc is worth $600 more than they were yesterday!".

Would it help if I picked up some "Day Trading For Dummy" books or does that not apply to the Bitcoin Market?

[1714166146]

1714166146

[checkers6676]

buy low, sell high

[farfiman]

good luck to you.

[phorensic]

I can't say my style is based off technicals anymore.  I have been watching the charts every single day since the middle of 2011.  I notice patterns.  I read the forums and get a general sense of how the community feels.  Then I wait for a bit of volatility and place trades and the high and low points I think it will hit.  Almost every time I gain BTC or USD (depending on what I want to hold/be long on at the time).  It may only be 2%, or it could be 20%.  Again, I just watch the charts for countless hours and look for patterns.  I don't look at any other market, I just focus on Bitcoin/USD so my judgement isn't clouded, as the other markets in the "real world" don't have the same patterns or traders.

[Ares]

For Bitcoin, you're gonna want to follow the guidelines in the following chart:

[jbord39]

For Bitcoin, you're gonna want to follow the guidelines in the following chart:

http://www.whereispepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Dinosaurs_Lasers.jpg

I can see a few bearish pennants including one Colpitt's oscillator about to break to e^(i*pi*t)*u(t)

Thanks for chart I have been trying to find that for a while.

[glendall]

Perhaps I could cut my chances like; If it hits $110 I can sell half for that $10 profit in the hopes that the price drops so I can buy back in at $100-105, or if it continues to climb then I profit off the coin I kept and keep the money on hand for when another big price correction.

Go for it man  People who do this help stabilize BTC's price.

Just try not to become one of those troll-box guys on BTC_E who continually tries to scare everyone into selling and buying everything whenever it suits their personal portfolio.  

edit: LOL at pic above. That image should be recognized as the Mona Lisa equivalent for the 20th century.

[notme]

For Bitcoin, you're gonna want to follow the guidelines in the following chart:

http://www.whereispepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Dinosaurs_Lasers.jpg

I can see a few bearish pennants including one Colpitt's oscillator about to break to e^(i*pi*t)*u(t)

Thanks for chart I have been trying to find that for a while.

That's just -(1^t)*u(t)... I'm not sure what u(t) is here, but oscillating rapidly between negative and positive seems about right for bitcoin at this time.

[stoto]

I have been trying the same. Since nothing is behind bitcoin the only thing that influence the price is the supply and demand which greatly influenced by the news.
So if you are catching on the fresh news, you could always farm in some big pips.

You can also go for lot of small trades, which can be done by selling/buying at the exact good point within an hour (or sometimes minutes).

I started developing a tool, which keeps me up-to-date on news and exchange rates, so i can react fast if i see an opportunity.
I opened it to public a few days ago, you can try it out:

http://bitcoin.stoto.net/

Keep in mind, that it's still in early stages and needs a lot of work.

You can read about it here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=208277.0

[Crypt_Current]

I had no impetus whatsoever to learn anything about day-trading / investing until I discovered Bitcoin in June 2011 (right after the first "bubble" "burst") ...

I read this thread from start to finish:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=60501.0

And now day-trading in conjunction with crypto mining is my full-time job :-)

[wormbog]

I had no impetus whatsoever to learn anything about day-trading / investing until I discovered Bitcoin in June 2011 (right after the first "bubble" "burst") ...

I read this thread from start to finish:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=60501.0

And now day-trading in conjunction with crypto mining is my full-time job :-)

Great thread. Hard to believe BTC was trading for $5-7 a little over a year ago.

[smoothie]

Logic: PEW PEW 

[Elwar]

buy low, sell high

This. Repeatedly.

[Seal]

I can't say my style is based off technicals anymore.  I have been watching the charts every single day since the middle of 2011.  I notice patterns.  I read the forums and get a general sense of how the community feels.  Then I wait for a bit of volatility and place trades and the high and low points I think it will hit.  Almost every time I gain BTC or USD (depending on what I want to hold/be long on at the time).  It may only be 2%, or it could be 20%.  Again, I just watch the charts for countless hours and look for patterns.  I don't look at any other market, I just focus on Bitcoin/USD so my judgement isn't clouded, as the other markets in the "real world" don't have the same patterns or traders.

Agreed with phorensic, there is definately a pattern to the market. I personally have traded massive volume on the bitcoin markets with great success. My advice as well as what is written above? Be careful and do not get complacent. It is very easy to get lost in all of the hype and FUD that is constantly thrown around on these forums especially.

Good luck and stay safe. If you do not have a huge appetite for risk then I would strongly suggest you just hold onto what you have.

[Seal]

Oh, and as for books, yes I would suggest you start reading as many trading books as you can... not just to learn the technical details about trading, but to learn the attitudes of the most successful traders.

Look up the following books/authors:

-Reminiscences of a stock operator
-Stock market wizard (theres 3 or 4 of these, all are good)
-Nassim Taleeb
-A handful of the new age social economic books out there (great lessons in the basics of supply and demand) i.e. Malcolm Gladwell, Freakonimcs etc...