Five Tips to Choosing the Right Trading Charting Software

By Reece Mathews


You'd be in a good spot as a trader if you already have a trading system that has been tried and tested. You have to remember however that you can't just succeed on a plan alone no matter how good you've proven it to be. You also need software to go with it.

One common problem though, that traders face is the abundance of options. There are simply too many charting packages to choose from and many of them claim to be the best leaders in the market. So how exactly do you make the right choice?

As you might have already guessed, your first point of assessment must be a product's reputation in its niche or market. Determine what people are saying about it. The internet has made it very easy for anyone to post positive or negative feedback online so you're bound to find a great deal of these on various sites including social sites.

Often however, good customer feedback should not be your sole basis for your decision. As you might already know, anyone can fake good reviews online. As such, you will have to dig deeper and look into such aspects as product longevity. Any package that can boast of having been around for some time has a good chance of being solid. It should be obvious enough that bad products would logically fall off the market considering that consumers will complain to regulating bodies and will mostly campaign that a product be taken out of the market.

Flexibility is also a hallmark of a good charting tool. For more experienced traders this means, having room to custom code their preferences beyond what a package provides as default options. Even if you're just a beginner, you should steer clear of products that offer to do everything for you. Common sense should tell you that no auto tool can replace human judgment and capacity for analysis. Hence, you're most likely headed into a bad situation if you leave everything in the hands of a tool.

Of course, it's also important that there is a balance between flexibility and automation. A tool should also allow some automated options to help ease the work involved in trading. For example, a good charting package should let you specify stock criteria which will allow it to instantly scan the market and spot what you're looking for.

One more important consideration to have in mind is how a package utilizes data plans. Some traders get lured by software packages at rock bottom prices. What they don't know is that, these software creators earn from data plans that they force on their tool users. Good software shouldn't be too limiting when it comes to compatibility with plans. Ideally, you should be able to pick a plan of your choice that'll run with your tool.

After carefully researching about your options, it's possible you might still find it hard to make a good choice. If that's the case, try to at least narrow down your best options. Once you have a short list, go first for those that offer free trials. At least you'd be able to try a tool firsthand to see if it'll work well for you.

Deciding to trade is one of the best decisions you'll ever make in your life. Just to be sure you won't have a hard time though, you need to invest in a trading charting software that's got the best features.