Day trading is the act of buying and selling stock in the same company in a single day. Due to increased risk, day trading is subject to special financial regulations that you should fully understand before you start. Once you’re ready, follow these three steps:

1. Pick a stock that trades more than 500,000 shares per day. Always pay attention to volume. Since some low-cost stocks aren’t traded frequently, it may be difficult to find buyers when you need to move out of a stock. 500,000 shares is an arbitrary number, but it can prove a helpful guide to avoiding ending up trapping your money in a stock for the long-haul. If you can’t move out of your position, after all, you won’t be able to buy and sell other stocks.

2. Consider trading penny stocks. Penny stocks are officially defined as stocks that trade for less than $5. They often prove volatile, providing great opportunity for reward (and, conversely, they’re much riskier than more expensive stocks). Stocks that trade for less than $5 and more than $3 are generally safer than stocks that truly trade for pennies. Margin accounts require investors to hold stocks that are trading for $3 or higher. That means that if a stock falls below $3, some investors who are holding that stock may be forced out of their positions. That can push the price of the stock even lower. Avoid going long on stocks that are trading right around $3.

3. Look for stocks in hot sectors. If shares in flash drive-maker SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) are rising, consider buying shares in a lower-cost stock that’s in the same sector; Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), for instance. Sectors generally move together. If one stock in a sector appears to have moved too high, it’s probably wise to look at one of that stock’s peers.

The key is to remain patient when you’re day trading. Don’t pull the trigger until you have strong reasons to believe a stock will move in one direction.

According to a recent survey by Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE:C), 86 percent of small business owners fear a double-dip recession is just around the corner. They’re putting their money where their mouths are, too, with 75 percent of small business owners already prepared for a double-dip. The proof is in the pudding, although, the head of Small Business Banking at Citibank, Raj Seshadri, is trying to put positive spin on the survey results. “Yet we are encouraged to see businesses adjusting to the economic environment and preparing for additional challenges — so they are ready to expand and grow when conditions improve.”

If nothing else, though, the ECRI recently rose to a two-week high. The index’s growth rate rose to negative 9.9 percent from negative 10.1 a week ago. New numbers from the Economic Cycle Research Institute are due out today. A reading of negative 10 on the ECRI typically points to a looming recession.

Got $50,000? If you have it in a Citigroup (NYSE:C) Citigold account as of Nov. 1, you won’t have to pay monthly fees anymore. Yipee. Smaller banks would be falling all over themselves to land clients who keep $50K in their bank accounts, but Citigroup thought it would be a great idea to charge high-net worth individuals to get an exclusive banking account that promises “invitation-only movie premieres, closed door pre-sales events, members-only clubs, and many of the top-tier restaurants in every time zone.”

It’s not a good sign for one of the top five biggest banks in the US. It’s an admission, in fact, that Citigroup needs to do something to stop the blood-letting. They’ve slipped to fourth place in bank deposits among the country’s biggest banks after they lost out on their bid for Wachovia Corp. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) landed Wachovia instead, and they quickly jumped up on the list of big banks.

Still, will cutting the fees for big fish be enough to lure back customers? A lot of analysts say probably not. If Citigroup’s plans in China come to fruition, though, it probably won’t matter. Who needs American clients when you can get Chinese?

Improvement in credit markets in July promoted Jefferies to reiterate a buy rating on Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE:CIM). “(Credit performance) includes the first instance of improving month over month 90-day delinquencies since the credit crisis began, and continued declines in the total delinquency rate,” Jefferies said in the report. It’s not all good news, though, Jefferies lowered their 2010 EPS estimates for the company from $0.73 to $0.70. Still, the price target doesn’t account for the stock’s 17+ percent yield, and it appears attractive in the long-term. The REIT reported a Diluted Normalized EPS of $0.20 on June 30.

Battle lines are being drawn between two of the biggest banks in the world: Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE:C) and HSBC Holdings, PLC (NYSE:HBC). It’s an American bank vs. a European one, and the fight’s over an Asian country: China.

China opened up to foreign banks in 2006, and ever since that time, just about every banking giant in the world has been struggling to get a foothold there.

“We have aggressive consumer banking expansion plans and want to open branches as fast as regulators in China will let us,” Citigroup’s co-chief in Asia, Stephen Bird, told Bloomburg.

Citigroup has just 29 outlets in China. That puts it in third place behind HSBC (102) and UK bank Standard Chartered (LON:STAN), which has 59. Citigroup’s just announced they’re putting more chips in the pot, though, with aggressive plans to hire 12,000 more people in the country over the next three year.

What does it mean for investors? Better performance. In 2008, Citigroup posted a 46 percent revenue increase. 2009 stats aren’t available, but in general banks have clocked more than 20 percent returns on equity in China. That’s far better than their returns in developed markets like the U.S., and it just might prove to be the savior for a fallen giant.

Shares in Sunrise Senior Living (NYSE:SRZ) exploded yesterday, rising 66 percent in a single trading session. The move came on news that the company would sell eight of nine of their assisted living facilities in Germany to GHS Pflegeresidenzen Grundstucks GmbH and Prudential Real Estate Investors. The deal was worth $74.5 million with the funds going to pay off debt on the property.

The move will strengthen Sunrise’s balance sheet, but it doesn’t point to any future growth in the company and that makes Sunrise look like a great short play. The deal was worth $74.5 million, but the stock rose $81.6 million in market cap yesterday. Too much, too fast? Probably. Especially since the company isn’t directly pocketing any cash in the deal.

The roiling financial markets in the U.S. have knighted new winners and demoted the old guard. What are the top five biggest banks in America?

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACOR)

A $1.3 billion biopharm company that does research into treatments for neurological problems including multiple sclerosis (MS), ACOR surprised analysts with a much smaller loss than expected. The company burnt through 18 cents a share last quarter versus estimates of a loss of 46 cents per share. The stock was up more than 5 percent at last check on high volume. The company credited demand for AMPYRA as narrowing their loss citing the fact that “4,200 Physicians have Written Prescriptions for AMPYRA as of July 30, 2010.” AMPYRA is designed to improve walking in patients with MS.

Coach, Inc. (NYSE:COH)

Coach offered a nice upside surprise by beating analysts estimates of $0.56 per share. They earned $0.64 cents per share last quarter indicating that demand for high-end products may be growing faster than products targeted at lower-income shoppers. That’s generally a good sign for the economy (but somehow it doesn’t have me convinced).

Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA)

Lear trounced analyst estimates of $1.29 per share, instead turning in earnings of $2.96, up from a loss nearly as big a year ago. The automotive supplier indicated that they didn’t think this meant next quarter would be a big upside surprise, too. They left their estimates for 2010 net sales of about $11 billion right where it is.

Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO)

Marathon’s second-quarter earnings surged 72 percent to $1.11 per share (analysts had expected $0.81). The company cited better oil and gas prices as well better refining margins (i.e. they cut their costs). The markets weren’t too enthusiastic, though. They pushed the stock down a half percent near the start of trading.

Radian Group Inc. (NYSE:RDN)

The giant credit and insurance company Radian got absolutely crushed last quarter. The company’s still absorbing losses from derivatives that have been stagnating on their books. Still, the loss was staggering: $4.31 per share when analysts were expecting a loss of just $0.75. The ray of light? The company reported mortgage insurance delinquencies declined for second consecutive quarter. Maybe housing is getting better?

RTI International Metals, Inc. (NYSE:RTI)

The biggest surprise of the day? RTI’s domination of the titanium market. The company reported net income of $21.6 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $1.3 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago. Titanium prices have started a slow climb since April, and it’s finally starting to show in RTI’s earnings.

Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ:SOLF)

The markets were most exuberant about Solarfun’s huge quarter. Traders showed their excitement by pushing the stock up more than 10 percent when Solarfun reported that it earned $0.59 per share last quarter. That’s more than double analyst estimates of $0.25 per share. The company’s also not shying away from bold predictions. They boosted their outlook on increased demand and rapidly ramped up manufacturing capacity.

The dollar dropped an average of roughly 1 percent against the Pound and the Euro. The Dow rallied 208 points (1.99 percent), and the FTSE was up 2.65 percent. What’s going on with gold? Despite an early surge on the New York NYMEX, the yellow metal spot price and corresponding stocks couldn’t keep pace with other equities. Here’s a handful of the most obvious underperformers in gold stocks:

• Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL), +1.01 percent
• Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation (NYSE:CDE), +0.46 percent
• Richmont Mines Inc. (AMEX:RIC), +2.12 percent
• DRDGOLD Ltd. (NASDAQ:DROOY), +1.21 percent
• Allied Nevada Gold Corp. (AMEX:ANV), +0.75 percent

The best performers were the international majors who are more tied to basic materials. Among them:

• Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX), +4.56 percent
• Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP), +5.26 percent

It appears better-than-expected earnings have created a micro-bubble, that could present some excellent short opportunities – particularly in the technology and basic materials stocks. In two weeks, earnings will taper off, and I expect reality to start setting in.

The ECRI, for instance, is pointing to a recession. Alan Greenspan’s calling for a double dip, and I’m try to free up capital and move into dividend stocks after my shorts blew up in my face today. I want to short at the top, and I think we’ll have that opportunity in the next two weeks – no matter what sector you’re in.

Now that Alan Greenspan is warning that the U.S. could be headed for a double-dip recession, investors should be looking to hedge or reverse their positions in equities. If we are, indeed, headed for negative GDP, it’s hard to know what stocks may thrive, but if history can give us any clues, we might want to look in unexpected places. Here are five tickers to do more research on if you want to protect your money with stocks during a recession:

1) SPDR Barclays Capital 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (NYSE:BIL).

When the economy really hits the fan, treasuries have time and again proved the ultimate safe haven. People keep buying them even when their returns goes negative! That happened late in 2008 when investors were more comfortable with negative returns than they were with the volatile markets. The Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF provides somewhere to park your money when you’ve lost faith in just about everything else.

2) iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (Public, NYSE:VXX).

When the markets turn sour, equities get volatile. That means one place to look for a return is on the volatility itself! Strange concept, but it works. The VIX Short-Term Futures ETN from iPath offers exposure to a daily rolling long position in the first and second month VIX futures contracts. It’s essentially mirroring back volatility in S&P 500 Index. That means the more volatile the markets, the better off you do. VXX is down 25 percent over the past six months.

3) Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO).

According to at least one writer, you can’t do much better than booze and tobacco during recessions. What better time to drink and smoke away your woes away then when the economy looks blackest? “Alcoholic beverage makers not only beat the market in 80 percent of recessions prior to this one, they actually rose an average of 6 percent,” Nilus Mattive writes. “Household products manufacturers posted a gain of 1.8 percent and outperformed in every single instance… And tobacco companies rose 9.6 percent and beat the market every time.” Throughout 2009, Altria – the maker of Malboro cigarettes – paid dividends of $1.29 and rose from $15 to $19. Still, that’s off the stock’s pre-recession highs of $24. There could be something more at work here, though: changing U.S. sentiment towards tobacco. Explore booze stocks for potential recession beaters.

4) Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT).

Everyone likes to save money. During a recession, though, pinching pennies goes from a past-time to an absolute necessity. People who might otherwise eschew shopping at Wal-Mart suddenly find themselves in line with everyone else. That’s one of the reasons Wal-Mart has beaten the S&P by more than 30 percent since the start of 2008.

5) ProShares UltraShort Real Estate ETF (NYSE:SRS).

The most straightforward way to profit off a falling market is to pinpoint where the problems are going to be and find an inverse ETF that covers that sector or commodity. One of the triggers of the Great Recession was, of course, the real estate and mortgage-backed derivatives collapse. At one point late in 2008, the ProShares UltraShort Real Estate ETF was trading for more than $1,000 a share! It closed at $23.58 Friday (factoring in a 1:5 split in April).

If you really crave risk, you might take a peek at Direxion Funds Direxion Daily 30-Year Treasury Bull 3X Shares (NYSE:TMF). This Direxion fund seeks 300 percent of the price performance of the NYSE Current 30 Year U.S. Treasury Index. It’s up 34 percent over the past six months.