Day Trading Software Choices...Puts You in The Right Call
As a former broker for a few years, in the late 90's, I had many of my clients tell me that they couldn't take advantage of a certain recommendation because they had lost their extra money day trading. Back than the access to sophisticated software programs was limited and also rather costly. Today we are so inundated with software systems, it's almost impossible to know where to turn. There is a way to make your decision easier if we break it down into the areas you wish to learn more about. For instance, are you searching for educational help or a better method to track an asset concentrating on its trends? Stock trading has become one of the Internet's largest growing activities, not only at the professional level, but as an investment-based extra activity as well. This will also determine which program or system best fills your requirements.
To properly consider what software will best suit your needs, we must first determine a mutual understanding. Most investors who use the internet, know about swing trading. If you are not a day trader or long term investor, you are a swing trader. Many so-called experts lump all online traders into the bag of day trading. For the sophisticated observer it is plain to see the obvious differences. A day trader rides the rush of the asset, while a swing trader diagnosis the trends and holds onto it as long as the momentum last. If we are in agreement on these points than you will be able to comprehend the following suggestions I strongly feel is necessary for any software to be useful.
1. It must be able to offer live streaming technical data. (Otherwise the program is merely educational)
2. The platform should defiantly include candlestick charting.
3. Visually it has to be large enough for all the data to be seen easily. (Many of the online brokerage's technical data is to small to be useful)
4. It must be cost effective. (Most good systems can be purchased for between one to two hundred dollars)
For those of you not yet familiar with candlestick charting, I will try to give a brief but accurate explanation. The Chinese invented the market concept, and the Japanese perfected charting techniques with the use of the candlesticks. It is easy to understand this complex system, if we simply break it down to the ticks on the chart you follow everyday. We know that the lower tick is where the stock opened and the higher is where it closed. Now if we made the two lines parallel and connected them, what would we have? A candle. However, during that movement, the stock might have gone lower or higher then where it opened or closed, So our candle has formed a tail and a wick. Is it starting to make a little sense to you?
Take these examples:
1. Lets assume a stock opens two cents higher than it closed yesterday. It later closes three cents higher than that. Should we get in? Not necessarily. Because as the candlestick showed us, even though it had a five cent swing from the day before, a long wick was created. This meant that it went even higher then it eventually settled on. That tells us that the pressure to go higher wasn't strong enough. We will put it on our watch list, and keep a keen eye on it.
2.A few days pass with similar results. Suddenly there is a break in the resistance. The stock has formed a candlestick with a long tail. What does this convey? We might put a buy signal for a couple of cents higher, because the long tail tells us that the bulls are ready to take over.
3. Ideally you want to wait for clusters to form. Of course the greatest indicator is a long candle. One that opens and closes with hardly any wick or tail.
This synopsis could have very easily taken place over a few hours rather than days, if you were day trading, for example. There are many "characters" in candlestick charting, and those who master reading them become successful.
If you can acquire software that gives you even the slightest edge in your favor, it is well worth the Investment. I don't profess to being an expert, but I do know of some. I obviously don't have the time to go into all the details now, but at my site Market Mentalist [http://marketmentalist.myrecommanndations.com]
you will find all you need to know about investing online. There is access to some of the top trading systems available including software, books, newsletters, and Forums. Whether you are an inquisitive novice or a seasoned pro Market Mentalist offers the online investment resource you just might be seeking.
To properly consider what software will best suit your needs, we must first determine a mutual understanding. Most investors who use the internet, know about swing trading. If you are not a day trader or long term investor, you are a swing trader. Many so-called experts lump all online traders into the bag of day trading. For the sophisticated observer it is plain to see the obvious differences. A day trader rides the rush of the asset, while a swing trader diagnosis the trends and holds onto it as long as the momentum last. If we are in agreement on these points than you will be able to comprehend the following suggestions I strongly feel is necessary for any software to be useful.
1. It must be able to offer live streaming technical data. (Otherwise the program is merely educational)
2. The platform should defiantly include candlestick charting.
3. Visually it has to be large enough for all the data to be seen easily. (Many of the online brokerage's technical data is to small to be useful)
4. It must be cost effective. (Most good systems can be purchased for between one to two hundred dollars)
For those of you not yet familiar with candlestick charting, I will try to give a brief but accurate explanation. The Chinese invented the market concept, and the Japanese perfected charting techniques with the use of the candlesticks. It is easy to understand this complex system, if we simply break it down to the ticks on the chart you follow everyday. We know that the lower tick is where the stock opened and the higher is where it closed. Now if we made the two lines parallel and connected them, what would we have? A candle. However, during that movement, the stock might have gone lower or higher then where it opened or closed, So our candle has formed a tail and a wick. Is it starting to make a little sense to you?
Take these examples:
1. Lets assume a stock opens two cents higher than it closed yesterday. It later closes three cents higher than that. Should we get in? Not necessarily. Because as the candlestick showed us, even though it had a five cent swing from the day before, a long wick was created. This meant that it went even higher then it eventually settled on. That tells us that the pressure to go higher wasn't strong enough. We will put it on our watch list, and keep a keen eye on it.
2.A few days pass with similar results. Suddenly there is a break in the resistance. The stock has formed a candlestick with a long tail. What does this convey? We might put a buy signal for a couple of cents higher, because the long tail tells us that the bulls are ready to take over.
3. Ideally you want to wait for clusters to form. Of course the greatest indicator is a long candle. One that opens and closes with hardly any wick or tail.
This synopsis could have very easily taken place over a few hours rather than days, if you were day trading, for example. There are many "characters" in candlestick charting, and those who master reading them become successful.
If you can acquire software that gives you even the slightest edge in your favor, it is well worth the Investment. I don't profess to being an expert, but I do know of some. I obviously don't have the time to go into all the details now, but at my site Market Mentalist [http://marketmentalist.myrecommanndations.com]
you will find all you need to know about investing online. There is access to some of the top trading systems available including software, books, newsletters, and Forums. Whether you are an inquisitive novice or a seasoned pro Market Mentalist offers the online investment resource you just might be seeking.