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Resources |
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Brokerages For Traders |
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Self-directed traders have
more choices than ever in their ongoing search for speed, pricing
efficiency, and good accounting when it comes to brokerages. First, you have
to find a brokerage that handles your tradable; full-service brokerages
dealing with equities, options, futures, bonds, mutual funds, foreign
exchange, and cash goods are usually full-priced as well. A little scouting,
however, will get you a brokerage targeted on your market of interest. After
that, your first question these days might be, "How fast can I execute
an order?" Look for whether the brokerage offers direct access to
automated exchange trading systems, market makers, and electronic
communications networks (ECNs). If not, check to see if there is at least
the first-generation electronic trading capability of placing orders online
through the Internet. Absent that, you're relegated to old-fashioned phone
calls. With the presence of freely available company information over the
Internet, retail brokerage research is less valuable than it ever has been.
Nevertheless, if you're in less intensively studied but highly commercial
markets such as futures, a brokerage's ability to provide market statistics,
hedging activity reports, and other commercial information may be critical
to your trading and investing decisions. Finally, don't forget the security
of your money. Inquire about a brokerage's clearing operations, and if
you're in equities, about Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC)
coverage. TOP 10 1. XPRESSTRADE 2. TradeStation 3. CyberTrader, A Charles Schwab Company 4. Interactive Brokers 5. Global Futures Exchange & Trading Co. 6. Man Futures 7. CMC-FOREX (Capital Market Services) 8. Fidelity Brokerage 9. Wisdom Financial 10. TD Waterhouse |
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| Advisory Services | ||||
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Traders' Resource: Advisory Services Advisory services are all over the
place, as the listing in shows. You have plenty of choice and plenty of
price points to consider. One key factor is whether the outfit you're
checking out is a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) or a registered
Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA). Though it doesn't weed out the foolish
advice, the act of registration puts the person or persons under the
government's scrutiny. In this listing, filled in by the companies
themselves, you’ll find those who have RIA and/or CTA certifications as
well as those who are nonregistered advisories. If it's trading advice you
seek, then track records are essential, preferably records monitored by
third parties. References should also be checked and if publications are
involved, back issues should be scanned. Even then, a lengthy observation
period following the advisor's rationale and recommendations is prudent.
Commit money to trades only when you are ready to follow the advice
thoroughly: you'll only have yourself to blame if you cherry-pick trades and
come up with results differing from the advisor's. TOP 10 PRODUCT COMPANY 1. Day Trading Program DaytradeTeam.com 2. Small Cap Trader DaytradeTeam.com 3. TheProTrader.com TheProTrader.com 4. Winning Edge Day Trading Signals National Trading Group 5. John Murphy’s Market Message StockCharts.com, Inc. 6. Dave Landry's Swing Trading Alert Service TradingMarkets.com 7. E-mini Day Trader TraderTalk.com 8. Winning Edge Swing Trading Signals National Trading Group 9. Pro Commentary Global Forex Trading (GFT) 10. Beginner’s Investors Kit StockMarketStore.com |
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| Newsletters And Publications | ||||
| Traders’ Resource: Newsletters And Publications Where can investors and traders turn for market insight, trade recommendations, and education about trading and investing? Perhaps the question should be where can't you? These days, financial information is put out in print, on TV, and over the Internet in various formats, but there's still nothing more readable, reliable, or researchable than a regularly published newsletter or magazine. In Traders’ Resource this month, Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES present a short listing of publications in a variety of methods and on variety of subjects -- all printed on paper, on the World Wide Web, or delivered straight to your E-mail inbox -- that may help you to improve your trading. As you can see, some publications have been around for quite a while (in fact, this magazine itself has been published since 1982), and they can be well worth the asking price for the information they deliver. TOP 10 PRODUCT COMPANY 1. Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES Technical Analysis, Inc. 2. Building an Automated Excel Spread Trading System Venus United Capital/Financial-edu.com 3. Chaos Trader’s Email MicroMedia 4. Active Trader Magazine Active Trader Magazine 5. PRISM e-Trend Setups PRISM Trading Advisors, Inc. 6. Market Mastery Van Tharp’s Institute of Trading Mastery 7. Monthly Market Wrap SwingTrades.com 8. The New W.D. Gann Technical Review Lambert-Gann Educators Inc. 9. John Murphy’s Market Message StockCharts.com, Inc. 10. Formula Research Formula Research, Inc. | ||||
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Consultants |
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Traders' Resource: Consultants
Consultants consult on just about every conceivable worry
traders have. A quick perusal of our listing in this issue
shows that they have been called in to consult on everything
from tax advice to weather reporting. Can all this help you?
Maybe. The rules for checking out consultants are simple:
check references, check references, and (did you guess?) check
references. Nothing can be more vague than a consultant's
initial proposal, but nothing is clearer than a client's
opinion on the success of a consultant's engagement.
Consultants without satisfied clients are likely to be doubly
expensive: wasted money and wasted time. When checking
references, make sure you use some references not supplied by
the company you are evaluating. That said and with that in
mind, you must do your homework before calling one in to help
you. Be sure you can say in one sentence what you want the
consultant to achieve. In addition, be sure you know of and
can contact people who truly specialize in your area of
concern, not simply someone who will take on any problem that
someone dreams up. Again, references from others (and
satisfied customers) are great leads. |
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Courses and Seminars |
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Traders' Resource: Courses and Seminars They
say that the more you learn, the more you know you need to
learn. This is true in trading. If you're not fully prepared
when you go to trade, you could be the one that the smart
money profits from. Education is crucial in trading. If you
don't step up to the line with the right tools and know-how to
trade the markets, you may as well be gambling -- with the
odds on the house's side. But help is available, in the way of
courses, seminars, classes, manuals, books, tutorials, even
mentors. Readers often ask us how they can further their
knowledge and skills in trading (that is, in addition to
reading STOCKS & COMMODITIES!). Some readers write us
asking about certification or degree programs in technical
analysis, some want a schedule of upcoming seminars and
conferences, and others seek personalized counsel or tutoring.
Well, here it is -- your resource for current and upcoming
courses and seminars. It's this month's Traders' Resource.
Readers may also want to check out our Readers' Choice Awards
in the 2004 Bonus Issue of STOCKS & COMMODITIES for the
category of Trading Centers/Schools/Training. |
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Online Trading Services |
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Traders' Resource: Online Trading Services You
can find a wealth of information on the Internet for nearly
any subject imaginable, including investing, trading, and the
financial markets. You can even find a good amount on
technical analysis. Each month in STOCKS & COMMODITIES'
Traders' Resource, we present a listing for different
categories of products and services related to trading, all to
aid our readers in their pursuit of trading. This month, we
focus on the topic of online trading services. We contacted
companies that offer services to traders over the Internet as
well as financial website developers and asked them to fill
out an online survey form to describe their Internet site.
Here, you'll find a summary of the data we collected. Some of
these websites offer charting, price quotes, and financial
news and information; others offer a more specialized service
that may be useful to investors and traders. |
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Exchanges |
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Traders' Resource: Exchanges With the
explosion of exchanges around the world and the increase in
poaching of products between exchanges, traders should be
aware of all the places where trading opportunities occur. No
longer bound by national borders or even physical locations,
exchanges can be no more than a box in the corner of an
office. Differentiation is on product, volume, speed, pricing,
and investor protections. Look for an exhange with extensive
trade documentation so that disputes can be resolved quickly
and with quick reference to events. Since more and more
alternatives are rapidly becoming available, don't be afraid
to direct your business to the exchange of your choice. The
plethora of investor choice is forcing a rapid decline in
transaction costs already, and exchange monopolies are a thing
of the past. Use the listing presented here to find the
websites of the exchanges handling your tradable, then go to
the site to get the specifics of the trading vehicle. Better
yet, get several equivalent products at several exchanges and
be sure your broker can direct your business to the venue of
your choice. |
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