How to Day Trade for a Living

Andrew Aziz, a Canadian day trader, wrote the most widely read entry-level day trading book in English.

The book takes nothing for granted: it starts by explaining which broker and platform to choose, how to open and organise an account, and the difference between trading low-priced, high-volume stocks and other day trading approaches. From there it introduces concrete patterns such as the Bull Flag and using VWAP as an average price reference, with step-by-step illustrated examples.

What sets this book apart from other beginner manuals is that it devotes the entire first section to risk management before discussing any strategy: for Aziz, no pattern is worth anything if you have not set a stop loss before entering. It closes with a complete trading plan, covering entry, exit and account management rules, which you can adapt to your own trading.

It fits best if you are starting out in day trading and want an orderly guide to work from; if you have been trading for a while, several sections will likely feel too basic. The momentum patterns it teaches carry over, with some adjustments, to liquid futures like the ES or NQ, though the book is written mainly with stocks in mind.