According to the time period needed for completing a trade and schemes followed for trading, online stock trading can be categorized in to different styles. Although there are also many other types of differentiation available, the above two types are discussed in this article.


Based on the average time period needed for completing a trade, that is time period between buying and selling of a share, online stock traders can be grouped in to two broad categories as short term stock traders and long term stock investors. If the average time period to complete a stock trade is less than one year, the type of trading is called short term stock trading. Short term traders are usually active traders, mostly trading according to merit of shares and market trends. If the average time period to complete a stock trade extends beyond one year, the type of stock trading is called long term stock trading. Long term stock traders are mostly established investors, like mutual funds, want to own shares of particular companies for long term benefits.


The short term stock trading style can itself be classified in to three main categories are stock day trading, stock swing trading and stock position trading. Online day trading is the most active type of trading, in which a trader completes his/her trades with in a day so that he/she does not have any overnight risk. They do it for very small capital gains per share. Day stock traders are of two types as scalpers, who trades large quantities with in seconds of minutes for minute profits, and momentum traders who trade with respect to the small trend changes with in a day.


Stock swing trading very much resembles stock day trading, but here the traders are willing to take overnight risks. The time to complete a trade may be minutes or may even goes up to 4 days. Stock swing trades have better chance of profit from share. In stock position trading, the time required to complete a trade can be from a few minutes to week or even months. Position traders are usually company or industry specific and have better chance of profit per share. But they have to face more risks than day trading or swing trading.


There are also several styles of trading grouped according to the scheme or methods used for online stock trading. They include; 1. Technical stock trading style includes the using of advanced and sophisticated softwares/equipments to find suitable stocks for trading, 2. Brother in law stock trading style trades based on advice from fellow traders/brokers, 3. Scuttlebutt stock trading style trades based on information/data collected from various sources like news, ads, reports etc., 4. Economist stock trading style trades based on predictions/evaluations done by agencies/persons, 5. Value stock trading style trades irrespective of market condition but according to the merit of stocks and 6. Conscious stock trading style follows combinations of above trading style with personal experience.