Daytrading Software Goes Mainstream

Daytraders will tell you that raw cunning and nerves of steel are the key ingredients of their success. That's just macho rhetoric. Many daytraders I know are too scared to take bathroom breaks for fear they'll miss some momentary market blip. No, the true source of daytraders' prowess lies with the software they use.

Indeed, daytrading software is kind of like the monster joystick used by these ultimate video-game addicts. It's the reason they're able to fly in and out of positions in a heartbeat and make a month's wages on a one-eighth-point move.

Daytrading software packages such as CyBerTrader and TradeCast come with features worlds removed from the plodding execution systems most online brokerages provide. Forget about touchy-feely order-confirmation screens and the 100 free real-time quotes you receive with each new trade. With hardcore daytrading software, charts and Level II quotes (bid and offer quotes from all market makers on the system) refresh with each tick. News scrolls across the screen, sometimes minutes after it happens. ...