Maybe I’m stuck in my ways after using it for so many years, but the fact is that I’ve tried others that simply can’t compete on price, features, and continual improvement.
I’m talking about my charting program, which I’ve been using daily since 1999. I’ve never regretted paying for this great product, and it has both simplified my research and improved my trading.
Every single self-directed trader needs a charting program, even beyond what’s offered through your broker. Trading platforms allow for some basic scanning and reviewing one-off charts, but when it comes to maintaining separate watchlists and plowing through them efficiently, there’s no better way to do it than through this program.
Favorite Features
Watchlists: I can create unlimited watchlists and flip through them as fast as I want. When I run across a stock I want to earmark, I can ‘flag’ it and review all the flagged stocks separately. This makes my nightly research very efficient and fast as I hunt for the best setups in the market
EasyScans: Whenever I have an idea for a general kind of stock I want to screen for, I use the EasyScan feature. For example, if I’m looking for high-volume and high-priced stocks to short sell, the EasyScan gives them to me quickly. I can get incredibly specific on what I want to see, and this produces a dynamic list of stocks which meet my criteria.
Charts: They’re incredible, fully customizable, and razor sharp. There’s an entire library of indicators I can apply instantly, and I have the entire stock market right at my fingertips. I can create unlimited templates to save and use later, customize my timeframe, or chart type as well. The sky is the limit.
News: As soon as I pull up a stock from a watchlist or chart, all the latest news is right there beside it.
Trend Lines: I trade a lot based on trend lines, and with this program I can draw them quickly and easily, and modify them anytime. This makes it easy to see where support and resistance are, and provides me with the entry points for my trades.
Alerts: The alerts provided in the software are excellent and timely. The alerts can be set for stocks you’re monitoring, and it can notify you via pop-up, email, or pager whenever the conditions you specify have been met.
Others: All my watchlists, settings, alerts and notes are continually backed up on a remote server, so I can access it from anywhere, including my smartphone via their app. I know of no other program that offers that.
Better Trading
The features are incredible, but what makes this program indispensable is the fact that it makes me a better trader. Here’s how:
Every evening, I’ll put on some tunes and work my EasyScans and watchlists to locate my trading candidates. When I see something of interest, I’ll flag it and keep going. Once I finish, I’ll review the flagged items more closely, draw my trend lines, locate my entry points, make some notes, and just like that I’ve got my trading list for the following day. Preparation is crucial in trading.
This program also has a Notes feature that’s amazing. This is an excellent way to journal trades, because each note will automatically append the exact chart you were looking at when you created the note. So, you can record your thoughts about a trade and why you like it, and later on see exactly what you saw when you first put the trade on. The notes feature makes me better by allowing me to study my performance and decisions and learn from them continually.
If you currently have no system for locating plays and keeping your trading ideas organized, this is it.
Take the trial of the software, I’m betting you won’t find anything as robust or affordable elsewhere.