1 – I look at the Zacks Rank and check some of the #1 stocks;
2 – I do some fundamental and technical analysis. I look at the 50 day/200 day moving averages, the ADX, the MACD and the CCI. The 50-day MA has to be above the 200-day MA. The ADX has to be above 30. The MACD has to be above its 9-day EMA. The CCI (20) has to be above 100.
3 – Then I check some news on ths stock and on the sector.
What is your system? Give as many details as possible.
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TradingZoom/
- a good place to discuss trading systems with other experienced traders.
trading electronically in real time as a day trader
Stocks mainly
Find the articles online that have evaluated and compared online brokerages. I found a good one online in Barron's, but you'll find others in the trading magazines.
This is worth putting a little time and effort into, because it's a pain to switch, so once you choose, you're kinda stuck with it.
Townsend Electronics, the Parent company of TerraNova, is the one that digitized and electronified the Nasdaq. They are technological industry leaders and have a powerful and well built trading system.
I use RealTick at TerraNovaOnline, but it costs $275/mo. I think the Investor package is free to use, and just uses one screen.
What you should try is a free trial of their Investor demo. Their rates are good also, but of course, it depends on how often you trade. It will take you months to learn all the bells and whistles of what this program can do.
The other top-of-the line program is TradeStation, but it costs big bucks to join and operate. Some people consider it the Cadillac of trading and technical analysis.
TerraNova is the home of the Day Trader, so they think nothing of you making several hundred trades a day. You don't have to do that, but it's okay here if you do.
This site should give you a good start.
http://finance.yahoo.com/education
If your current/future employer offers an employee 401k plan. Invest up to the matching % of your employers contribution. If plan offers an election to invest in a money market fund you may want to invest in it until you learn more. Next invest in a Roth IRA up to the max allowed(yearly). If you then have more money to invest, go back to your 401k plan and invest the max allowed(yearly). So after you do all the above and want to invest more you should be able to decide how. Only invest money that you can afford to lose. Making some quick money is nice but if you lose it, it gets right ugly.
You may also think about ETF's instead of mutual funds, stocks. and options.
http://finance.yahoo.com/etf
Try what you learn on demo sites. They can be a very fun but educational way to learn from mistakes. If you pick 75% right with play money then you might be ready to start slowly investing.
http://simulator.investopedia.com/
http://simulator.zacks.com/
http://www.fxcm.com/open-free-100k.jsp
http://www.alpari-idc.com/en/metatrader4…
Or just google for more.
I use Lightning Strikes Trading System for trading in any time frame and it works on forex, stocks, bonds, etf's, mutual funds, etc… They have 3 free training sessions a week and you don't have to buy the software to join in the live chat and text. You can even watch some recorded past live sessions. Here are some past charts that I used.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R0zjjaZ…
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16RxjOUQt…
There are 7 indicators (2 short, 2 medium, and 3 long term) and if volume is reported another one is added (on balance volume). Plus whatever time-frame is used the 2 green horizontal lines are the support and resistance for that time frame. So when indicators are all touching the bottom price is at or very, very near support. At top is at or very, very near resistance. Which helps my entry/exits and risk/reward ratio.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R9Wv-wt…
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R9wSKdV…
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QCt6R2fYIj6…
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QCt6R3R0VQe…
If you can not view charts above I can email them.
Here are my favorite sites.
http://stockcharts.com/
Has basically all you need from fundamental to technical terms. Plus stock screens, charts, public chart lists, and much more useful info.
https://www.fidelity.com/
Has good learning resources.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp
In addition to yahoo finance.
http://www.reuters.com/
For news and more.
http://www.marketwatch.com/default.aspx
For news and more.
http://www.valueprime.com/index.php
For rating stock risk/reward ratio and reports.
http://www.barchart.com/
For investing in more than stocks.
http://www.investopedia.com/
For more great learning tools.
http://www.lightninglive.com/
For best software timing your entry/exits any time frame for day traders and long term investors.
Others worth exploring.
http://www.equis.com/
http://www.stockta.com/
http://www.secform4.com/
Best Wishes,
Burt Whitley