Day trading is the buying and selling of stocks during the trading day by punters on their own account.
The aim is to make a profit on the day and have no open positions at the close of the trading session.
Day trading became a fad during the 1990s boom as people gave up their regular jobs to play the market full-time. The bursting of the hi-tech bubble came as a rude awakening.
See ordinary share, equity, gilt, bond.