Stock Investment Software
You can view charts of virtually any traded stock using free software readily available on the Internet. This is a good starting point in getting a feel for what charts are and what they show you. However, you will no doubt soon find that you want to have more control over how the data is displayed and also what information you can view and print off for further consideration.
What would I use it for exactly - just charting or more? Charting is the obvious use for stock investment software but of a comprehensive investment strategy it is really only a part.
To make efficient use of your time (and significantly cut the hours you need to work) you really want a much more comprehensive package. One that includes: A really great stock market screener (Vital to use your time wisely and seek out those leaders) A way of viewing and sorting industry groups and sectors A tool to compare (preferably on percentage terms) fundamental statistics of a stock with others in it's group Links enabling you to access any current news about your chosen stock The ability to maintain and organize a watch list A source of information relating to institutional investors and their action (or lack of it) in the stock that you're considering.
Some of this overlaps and is supplemented by ensuring you read the best investment newspaper but choosing the right software can make the difference between actually finding the best leaders before or after they've started to move. When considering a stock for purchase you'll be looking at a collection of fundamental data in conjunction with it's chart action. You don't want to be trawling individual corporations web sites searching for the data on which you make your decisions. The value of an excellent stock investment software package is in putting all this information readily at your fingertips. It can be extremely helpful if you have a program that will set this information out alongside the chart so as you can make quick and regular cross reference to it
You may well also plot some of this additional data over the chart yourself. For example, lets say you're looking at a company with 5 years worth of accelerating earnings and sales which is noted next to a sound looking chart. You may actually choose to plot those quarterly figures over the chart to see how the 2 correlate. Does the stock price move lead or lag the figures?
How do I judge which is the best?
The best way is to try a few and see what you get on with BUT use the free ones until you get a feel for what you want that they don't offer. As you get more experienced (I'm talking weeks not years!) you'll find little frustrations relating to what you can and can't do. Now is the time to take a free trial period on a paid package to see what it can do for you.


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