The software that you need for online day trading and trading in general comes down to three basic components.
Once again everyone has their own preference when it comes to brokerage services, financial and market information, and charting software.
The first piece of software you will need is from your brokerage account.
There are many to choose from and everyone has pros and cons.
I look for ease of use and a competitive cost structure.
Most of these firms offer online access through a web browser so there is nothing to download which is very nice.
I would recommend staying with a main stream broker that has been established from over 10 years.
The second and third piece of software that you need will be a data feed and charting software package.
These come in all shapes and sizes and can be a bit confusing.
However, it becomes very easy to sort through the choices if you can answer these three questions: 1)What Kind of trading do you do? (Day Trading, Swing Trading, Long Term, Short Term, etc) 2)What do you trade? (Currencies, Stocks, Options, Futures, etc.
) 3)How much are you willing to spend per month in fees? There are many charting packages and data feed that are available for free on the internet.
They are usually delayed by 20 minutes or more.
If you are doing longer term trades, these kinds of services are fine.
If you are day trading or scalping you will need real-time financial and market information and a charting software package.
These packages cost anywhere between $99.
00 to $490 per month depending on the markets and features that you need.
The data feed and charting package that I use cost me $150 per month but it is well worth the price.
I recommend that you purchase you real-time financial and market information and charting service from the same vendor to insure that you charting software is getting the correct data.
You will also need to make sure that your brokerage and real-time financial and market information that you are buying includes the products that you want to trade.
For example, if you want to trade the Russell 2000 E-mini (ER2), you want to make sure your brokerage account lets you trade this future and your real-time financial and market information provider can provide you with the data.
Once again everyone has their own preference when it comes to brokerage services, financial and market information, and charting software.
The first piece of software you will need is from your brokerage account.
There are many to choose from and everyone has pros and cons.
I look for ease of use and a competitive cost structure.
Most of these firms offer online access through a web browser so there is nothing to download which is very nice.
I would recommend staying with a main stream broker that has been established from over 10 years.
The second and third piece of software that you need will be a data feed and charting software package.
These come in all shapes and sizes and can be a bit confusing.
However, it becomes very easy to sort through the choices if you can answer these three questions: 1)What Kind of trading do you do? (Day Trading, Swing Trading, Long Term, Short Term, etc) 2)What do you trade? (Currencies, Stocks, Options, Futures, etc.
) 3)How much are you willing to spend per month in fees? There are many charting packages and data feed that are available for free on the internet.
They are usually delayed by 20 minutes or more.
If you are doing longer term trades, these kinds of services are fine.
If you are day trading or scalping you will need real-time financial and market information and a charting software package.
These packages cost anywhere between $99.
00 to $490 per month depending on the markets and features that you need.
The data feed and charting package that I use cost me $150 per month but it is well worth the price.
I recommend that you purchase you real-time financial and market information and charting service from the same vendor to insure that you charting software is getting the correct data.
You will also need to make sure that your brokerage and real-time financial and market information that you are buying includes the products that you want to trade.
For example, if you want to trade the Russell 2000 E-mini (ER2), you want to make sure your brokerage account lets you trade this future and your real-time financial and market information provider can provide you with the data.