The Hindu Business Line : Trader's Corner

The typical Indian day trader is a social creature. He likes to do his trading surrounded by his friends, the fellow traders in his broker's office. This ensures that the advice from dealers can be sought easily, without having to wait endlessly for the phone in the broker's office to be answered. Free flow of conversation ensures that intra day trading ideas abound. And, there is always a sympathetic shoulder to cry on when the market decides to throw a bouncer.

But there are many who are different. For them the peace and privacy of their homes/offices are vital for day trading. If you belong to the second category, you need to spend some money equipping yourself with the basic infrastructure required for day trading. The first thing is the hardware. The hardware needed for trading online is a computer with a monitor. The processor can be a Pentium 2.2 GHz or higher processor.

A 512 MB DDR RAM, a 40 or 80 GB hard disk, a combo DVD reader/CD writer, and a 100 Mbps LAN card would be the other hardware requirements. The monitor should be at least 17 inches. A bigger monitor is preferable for day traders as they need to view charts, ticker or news simultaneously. The broadband connection providers generally supply modems. Based on current prices, this hardware can be procured for under Rs 40,000.

The connection speed is of utmost importance to day traders. Active day traders ought to access their broker's terminals through a broadband connection. Once the hardware has been procured and the broadband connection installed, the next step is to open an account with a broker who provides online trading facility.

Many of the leading brokers in India provide online trading facility. This online trading account usually comes with a free demat account. Since technical analysis is imperative for day traders, you need to take an online trading account that gives live intra day charting facility. Other features that you need to ask for with your online trading account are stock market quotes and ticker, live news alerts and live recommendations during trading hours. The speed with which the orders are executed in the online trading system is another feature you should check carefully before selecting the online broker.

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