国外名称叫DAYTRADER，日间操盘手，又叫即日操盘手或当冲炒家，当冲交易员，超短线交易员，主要从事日内交易。2000年后开始在中国大陆出现，采用当天必须平仓机制的操作手法，能在客观上起到价格发现或活跃市场的作用。其属于金融外包领域，金融外包范围包括：承接世界各大证券交易市场（包括美国纽约证券交易市场、多伦多证券交易市场、欧洲联合证券交易市场、纳斯达克证券交易市场和英国伦敦证券交易市场）的金融数据研究分析和投资交易。

国内从业人员有一万左右，而且数目在迅猛发展中，各个大中城市基本都有这样类型的公司，目前有几个大的较早进入中国的DAY TRADING公司，比如加拿大的SWIFT TRADE ,TITILE等，美国有几大公司比如亚信 ，HOLDBROTHER等，作为纽约交易所和NASDAQ或多伦多，AMEX等市场的交易员们由于美国股市的T+0制度和做空机制，也由于DAY TRADE公司达成的相对很便宜的手续费用，TRADER们可以每天进行多次交易，目前给2大市场贡献远远超过10%以上的成交量，而且华人占着越来越大的比例，为国内大学生就业也提供了大量机会，尽管淘汰和竞争也很严重，他们过着黑白颠倒的生活，在没有成为正式员工之前一般没有任何底薪，在经历几个月的磨练后如果能够留下来就成为正式员工，工资按提成计算。

There are 2 major types of day traders: institutional and retail.

An institutional day trader is a trader who works for financial institution. This type of trader has certain advantages over retail traders as he/she generally has access to more resources, tools, equipment, large amounts of capital and leverage, large availability of fresh fund inflows to trade continuously on the markets, dedicated and direct lines to data centers and exchanges, expensive and high-end trading and analytical software, support teams to help, and more. All these advantages give them certain edges over retail day traders.

A retail day trader is a trader who works for himself, or in partnership with a few other traders. A retail trader generally trades with his own capital, though he may also trade with other people's money. Law has restricted the amount of other people's money a retail trader can manage. In the United States, day traders may not advertise as advisors or financial managers. Although not required, nearly all retail day traders use direct access brokers as they offer the fastest order entry and to the exchanges, as well as superior software trading platforms.

In the past, most day traders were institutional traders due to the huge advantages they had over retail traders. However, since the technology boom in the second half of the 1990s, advances in personal computing and communications technology, realized in the accessibility of powerful personal computers and the Internet, have brought fast online trading and powerful market analytical tools to the mainstream. Low, affordable commissions from discount brokers as well as regulation improvements in favor of retail traders have also helped level the trading playing field, making success as a retail trader a possibility for many and a reality for some.