Five tools for stock traders
The days of reading stock quotes in the newspaper are long gone. Now, stock traders get streaming quotes on their smartphones, make trades via their tablets聽or advanced trading platforms, and get company news and updates via Apple Watch alerts, chat rooms and Twitter.
Bottom line: If you鈥檙e not taking advantage of聽聽technology, you鈥檙e missing out. The following tools can streamline your process, improve your research capabilities and possibly boost your returns.
1. A strong trading platform
Choosing a broker with a robust trading platform is step one, and it can create聽a tricky balance. Often, brokers with advanced聽聽have higher trade commissions or require a minimum number of trades or a minimum account balance to access the platform.
There are, however, some clear leaders聽here: TD Ameritrade heads聽the pack with its聽听补苍诲听聽offerings, both of which are available to all customers (though its聽trade commissions are on the high side at $9.99).聽聽also has strong trading tools with a lower聽commission at $4.95 per trade. And for advanced traders,聽聽has a well-regarded platform and low commissions.
2. A mobile trading app
If you鈥檙e serious about trading, you鈥檒l want to be able to do it on the go, which means choosing a broker with a strong mobile trading app. These apps range from bare-bones 鈥� the ability to execute basic trades and view quotes 鈥� to a near mirror image of a Web or desktop platform, with advanced capabilities like charting, complex options trades and stock screeners. Two of the best online broker trading apps are from聽听补苍诲听.
3. Stock screeners
Stock screeners take much of the weight off the trader鈥檚 plate, allowing you to quickly search for a stock based on criteria you鈥檝e defined, like market capitalization (in other words, the value and size of the company), dividend yield, industry or share price.
Most of the trading platforms offered by online brokers include a screener, and some brokers also have screeners for exchange-traded funds, mutual funds or options. But many advanced traders recommend聽, which has in-depth screening capabilities that can help you dial down to trade opportunities. The site also offers charts, U.S. and international market maps and quotes. The basic services are free, but Finviz offers an elite subscription that starts at $24.96聽a month.
4. Stock charts
Charting is integral for any trader who uses technical analysis, which involves evaluating past movements as a means to predict future performance.
Stock charts assist in that analysis by showing the performance of a security over time, allowing traders to recognize patterns and look at various technical indicators. Users can employ聽charts to dig into a stock鈥檚 history and recognize volatility, and can compare multiple securities and benchmark performance to indexes, like the S&P 500.
Online brokers offer charting capabilities that vary in depth; outside resources include websites like聽聽and StockCharts.com, which both offer a number of free features as well as upgraded memberships. StockCharts.com offers a聽聽to get new users familiar with charting.
5. Idea-generation tools
There are a lot of ways to come up with trade ideas, including subscription-based services.聽聽is one of the most popular, offering live market updates, IPO previews, emerging growth stock opportunities and more. Another service,聽, identifies seasonal stock trends.
The other form of analysis frequently used by traders is called fundamental analysis, which聽involves digging into financial statements, company news and outside research reports by professional analysts. By doing聽this, you get a clearer picture of how individual companies and industries are doing, and that can lead to trade ideas. 聽
Brokers often provide this information from third-party sources, and the more research available, the better.聽聽in particular is known for its breadth of research.
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