On the surface, executing a trade seems as simple as clicking the BUY button and then clicking the SELL button shortly after. Just like the proverbial iceberg theory, only 20% of an iceberg is visible above the surface. The majority of the iceberg is under the...

The stock market requires both buyers and sellers to operate as an efficient market place. Beginner traders assume there is always a seller on the other side willing to supply shares for sale at the right price and vice versa when they want to sell. Traders usually...

For traders, identifying key price levels ahead of time is part of the preparation that goes into developing a trading game plan. As they say, “Plan your trade and trade your plan.” While many traders do well enough with price charts and trend lines, active traders...

NASDAQ is the pioneer of electronic trading as it introduced the world to an alternative to the auction style open outcry style of order executions found on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Rather than giving autonomous authority to a single specialist to control...

Seasoned traders know that price, liquidity and execution are the cornerstones for the success of any trading strategy and methodology. The stock markets have evolved from open outcry (auction-style) operations with human specialists taking orders to electronic...

In trading, your stock buying power is your ammo. Regardless of how strong your skill sets are, lack of ammo leaves you without an offense or a defense. Knowledge of your changing intraday buying power is crucial to assessing your risk thresholds and preventing...

It happens to everyone. What started off as a clear trading day has now drawn you in. You are micromanaging every tick on your stocks compulsively and placing non-stop trades. You find yourself overwhelmed and quickly taking stops and changing your opinion on...

When stocks make sharp price moves, the natural inkling is to search for any news that may be driving the volatility. It’s just human nature to try to explain what is causing the action. Since news comes out all hours of the day, it can be overwhelming trying to...

The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 is a benchmark index that tracks the stock performance of approximately 500 large-cap publicly traded companies that represent the pulse of the U.S. economy. It’s grouped into 11 sectors and respective individual industries...

The U.S. stock market has over 6,000 listed stocks moving simultaneously throughout the trading day. To find and filter trading opportunities, seasoned traders utilize the power of stock scanners to optimize their time, attention, and efforts. Taking advantage of...

When a publicly traded company announces a secondary offering, the underlying stock price tends to fall sharply. When a public company announces an all stock based acquisition of another company, usually the acquiring company’s share price also tends to sell-off....

Day traders embrace closure and tend to think in singular terms of entry and exits. One shot in and one shot out. Many investors think the same way. However, when breaking that one shot down into multiple shots, chances are you may get a better average price on the...

Stock market traders utilize a wide arsenal of tools to enhance their performance. One of the most essential tools are candlestick stock charts. These enable traders to visually interpret price action to make more informed decisions on trades especially when used in...

Technical analysis utilizes charts and indicators to analyze the price action of an underlying stock. One of the most useful and widely used technical indicators are moving averages, which utilize price history, to anticipate future price action.    What Are Moving...

While you may be familiar with U.S. stock markets, the reality is that all global financial markets are interconnected either directly or indirectly. Some of the relationships are more familiar like the inverse relationship between stocks and bonds. Some relationships...