Practitioner course in discretionary trading
Swing Trading: Holding Trades for Days and Weeks
Swing trading holds positions for days to weeks, which suits people who cannot watch a screen all day. This course covers scanning for candidates, the main setups, the overnight and gap risk that comes with holding, earnings and event dates, and a weekly routine you can keep.
Swing trading aims to capture moves that last from a few days to a few weeks. It is the style most suited to people who have another job, because decisions can be made in the evening and orders placed in advance. It asks for patience instead of speed, and it carries a risk day traders avoid: the market can open far from where it closed.
How does swing trading work?
You look for markets setting up a move on the daily chart, plan the entry, stop and target before the open, and let the orders work. Most of the effort is in the selection and the plan, not in watching. The course builds a short, repeatable routine and has you run it on a simulated portfolio for twelve weeks.
How do you manage gap risk in swing trading?
By sizing for the gap, not just the stop. A stop placed 3% away does not protect you from a 10% gap on earnings. The course shows how to estimate gap risk for an instrument, how to handle event dates, and how to keep the total risk of several open positions within your limit.
Who is this course for?
Traders who cannot or do not want to trade all day. No programming is needed.
What you will be able to do
- Build a scan and a watchlist routine that takes less than an hour a day.
- Plan swing trades with entries, stops and targets suited to daily charts.
- Size positions for gap risk and correlation across several open trades.
- Manage open trades through earnings, dividends and macro events.
Syllabus, module by module
What swing trading is
Horizons from two days to several weeks, and how costs and risks differ from day trading.
Scanning and watchlists
Free scanners, liquidity filters and a short daily routine.
Swing setups
Trend pullbacks, range trades, breakouts and mean-reversion setups on daily charts.
Overnight and gap risk
Why stops do not protect against gaps, and how to size for them.
Several positions at once
Correlation, sector exposure and the total risk of an open book.
Events
Earnings dates, dividends, index changes and central bank rate decisions.
How the certificate is earned
Weekly quizzes and two graded problem sets: a written swing-trading routine, and a twelve-week simulated portfolio record with a review. On a pass you receive the Course certificate in Swing Trading, issued by the Institute with a verification code. Read how certification works.
Before you start
How to Read Stock Charts: Candles, Volume and Levels and Stop Losses and Position Sizing for Traders.
This course counts toward
- Intermediate Certificate in TradingThe second semester of the trader path: a day trading course and swing trading course in one, covering technical analysis, price action, intraday execution, news, options, evidence-based testing and the written trading plan, with a tested-plan capstone. No programming.
- Diploma in Professional TradingThe top credential on the trader path and the Institute's trading certification for people who do not write code. Three semesters, 24 courses and a 160-hour capstone, from a first lesson on how markets work to a six-month simulated trading business reviewed like a desk.
Questions applicants ask
Is swing trading better than day trading for beginners?
For many people, yes. Costs per trade are a smaller share of the expected move, decisions can be made outside market hours, and there is less pressure to act quickly. It brings its own risk, overnight gaps, which the course covers in detail.
Can I swing trade with a full-time job?
Yes. The course builds a routine of under an hour a day, with orders placed in advance.