Day trading, as the name suggests, means trading-buying and selling-the stocks on the same trading day. The trading positions, usually though not always, are closed before the market closes for the trading day.

Day trading is different from after- hours trading where the trading activity continues even after the regular marketing hours when the stock exchange closes.

Sellers and buyers who participate in day trading are called day traders. Although day trading evokes the image of a hectic trading activity in course of the trading day, it may not be so in actual practice. You may make several trades, say a dozen, in course of a trading day, or, you may limit yourself to just one trade.

You may, in some cases, just buy a stock on one day and sell it on the next day, if you think that selling it on the same day would not prove profitable. There is no legal restriction such as that you must finish off your trading activity the same day. You may, at the most, have to pay some differential on brokerage if you carry your trade to the next day.

In standard practice, traders usually tend to close their trading positions by the end of the same trading day. In any case your trading frequency depends entirely on your trading strategy for that particular day, or, your general trading style and outlook.

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