Most traders have their favorite markets. In many cases, though, the same markets you excel in with interday trading, you may perish in with intraday trading. It's vital, then, to know how to pick good markets for your day-trading strategies. But one market can't be a panacea for all day-trading problems. Professional traders often find they have a special knack for some markets, whether it's from past job experience, training, whatever.
Some people just perform better in certain markets.
Still, if a market doesn't have a wide price range as well as considerable volatility, liquidity and consistency Darby says, it can be a bust for day-trading no matter how well you know it. Barring options, it's hard to make money trading a flat market. So if a market doesn't exhibit a healthy range of daily prices, forget about day-trading it. One of the necessities in day-trading is having markets that move enough. It's even better to trade markets with wide ranges within a longer-trending market, he says.