Swing trading is a trade method in the gray area between trend following and day trading. A swing trader holds a stock for a small period of time and then will trade the stock when it's in it intra-week or intra-month oscillation. A experience swing trader will generally choose a large-cap stock because of its broadly defined high and low extremes. The trader will ride the stock wave in one direction for a couple of weeks, only to switch to the opposite side of the trade when their particular stock changes direction. A swing trader is best in position to do this when that market is more on the stable side versus it being a bear or bull market. This is because those markets' momentum generally carry stocks in one direction only (and for a long period of time).

The success in swing trading is to be able to identify what type of market is currently being experienced. One of the best ways of doing this is looking at historical data of what was indicative of different markets in the past, particular prime swing markets. If a market is identified as prime for swing trading, but later turns out to be a bear or bull market, a swing trader can find that there are the same up and down oscillations than those that occur in a more stable market. This would ensure that best strategy would be to trade on a long-term directional trend instead of the quicker trends that many of the most experienced swing traders are noted for.

Unlike many stock traders, swing traders are not looking to make it big with one particular trade, but are more concerned with hitting its baseline and confirm its direction. At the profiting level, a swing trader will want to exit the trade as close to the upper or lower channel line without being too close, which can cause a loss in opportunity. In a market where a stock is showing a strong directional trend a swing trader will usually wait for the channel line to be reached before selling, thus when a stock is showing a weaker directional trend, the trader will usually sell before the before it hits the channel line in the event the direction changes and the line does not hit on that particular swing.

Swing trading is a great method for beginning traders, while offering a profit potential to advanced traders. A great trader will be able to know when the stock is ripe and what momentum their particular stock has gained before making a decision. Trend following plays a very important role in swing trading as well knowledge of the physics of the stock market. Like the physics of ocean waves, swings can be unpredictable but when a large wave comes rushing at the shore, then its prime time for swing trading, but remember that swing trading is never as predictable as the swinging of a clock pendulum.