Swing Trading for Beginners: A Simple Plan You Can Follow

Swing trading aims to capture a chunk of a move over several days or weeks. It suits people with a full-time job, because decisions are made on daily charts rather than minute by minute.

Step 1: trade with the trend

Use the daily chart and the 50 and 200-day moving averages. Only look for longs when price is above both and they slope up; only shorts in the opposite case.

Step 2: wait for a pullback

Do not chase. Wait for price to pull back towards support, the 20 or 50-day average, or a Fibonacci level such as 38.2% or 61.8% of the last swing.

Step 3: use an entry trigger

• A bullish reversal candle at the support
• RSI turning back up from around 40-50
• A break above the previous day's high

Step 4: plan the exit before entering

Stop below the pullback low. First target at the previous swing high, giving at least 2:1 reward to risk. Size the position so the stop costs 1% of the account.

Step 5: review weekly

Log every trade in a journal: setup, entry, exit, result and emotions. After 20-30 trades you will see which setups actually work for you.

Common mistakes

• Trading against the daily trend
• Holding through earnings or major news without a plan
• Not keeping records

Free tools for this strategy

Fibonacci & pivot calculator · Trading journal · Position size calculator

Frequently asked questions

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