Trading entails buying and selling financial instruments for a profit. There are a variety of these instruments, and their assets are assigned a financial value that moves up or down. As a trader, you can trade on the direction this value takes. Although you may have heard of stocks, shares, or funds, there are lots of other financial markets and products you can trade.
For those who are wanting to trade successfully, you will need to conduct research prior to trading. Various trading tools are available to help traders conduct research before they start trading, we will be assessing why research is so important before trading and our top picks of trading tools to use.
Trading has become remarkably popular in the last few years. Online trading platforms have been a big driver of this. The ease of access means that as long as people have a stable internet connection and can access the markets, they can trade. Smartphones and other mobile technology have also been a factor. Reaction times are important in the trading world, and now people can react much quicker than before to what’s happening on the markets. This is where a tool like TradingView is useful, but traders may wonder how to use TradingView? TradingView identifies price charts of markets so traders can react quickly and efficiently.
Why is research so important?
Research is essential because there’s no guarantee you’ll actually make a profit from your trading. By conducting research you’ll be able to make informed decisions based on facts and analysis. Your research will also enhance your understanding of the markets and help you keep up to date with market trends.
Research helps you to uncover undervalued stocks and shares, to discover trends that indicate which industries are growing or declining and to detect which markets or industries have a high potential for growth. At the same time, research helps you to understand the risks associated with a particular trade or investment. Reading through reports and analyzing industry trends will provide a greater understanding of how risky a certain trade is.
Essential trading tools for beginners
If you’re just starting out in trading, don’t think you have to do it all without any support. There are lots of different tools to help you make it in the world of trading. Here are some of the main essential ones:
Trading View research tool
Research has just been mentioned above, so it’s fitting to begin this list with a solid tool for research. Trading View is a third-party research website that first started out as a charting tool before expanding into a more comprehensive service. Users can view the price charts of thousands of global markets, read trade signals and technical indicators, and compare symbols to see how markets are acting.
Stock market simulator
A stock market simulator (or simulator of the type of market you’re trading on) is an excellent way to help yourself get started. If you’re not quite ready to take the plunge, you can open a demo account and trade with virtual funds, currencies, etc. and shorten your learning curve dramatically. It’s a superb way to build confidence and prepare yourself for trading for real.
A news resource
Day traders like to keep their eyes open for unusually large volumes of stocks to trade, and a news catalyst is one of the most frequent reasons a company suddenly has massive volumes of stocks available. The catalyst could be a recall, test results, big purchase orders… the list is endless. A news event can send the price of a stock soaring or tumbling. As a trader, you want access to news sources that give you information in real time so you can act on news events. Benzinga Pro is a useful tool and has a social element to it as well so you can share tips and learn from other traders.
Technical indicators tool
Traders use technical indicators to predict price movement. Often, this entails measuring the price action and volume over a period of time. Learning trading strategies, in general, means learning the different combinations of technical indicators traders use. Ideally, you want to experiment with different combinations and use them on different timeframes to decide which works best for you. Again, when it comes to technical indicators, TradingView is a good place to start.
Trading is an exciting way to make money. With the right research and tools, you can make it work for you. Note that it’s preferable to conduct trading at a computer and have more than one monitor, but if that’s not possible, you can also use mobile apps to trade.
