Stock Chart Program Review
If you read my last post about the importance of using stock charts, then you are probably wondering what chart program to use. Is one better than the other,etc……
Honestly nowadays there are some excellent FREE stock charting programs with real time quotes, multiple technical indicators, and even free stock scans. In fact there are so many stock charting programs out there it gets overwhelming. It is easy to get caught up with using all kinds of technical indicators if you search through all the trading sites,etc……but remember most technical indicators are based on price and volume, which is most important. I won’t go into explaining all the types of indicators for stock charts as there are thousands of sites that do that(read the free tutorials at most charting sites, www.stockcharts.com has great chart lessons).
If you have brokerage account with real time quotes then some people prefer to just use their own broker’s charts. The the most reputable free stock charting sites are (Listed in order from decent to best) :
www.bigcharts.com – Decent but I find the charts hard to read
www.stockcharts.com – Easy to read charts, lots of good indicators for indexes on here. I always thought the charts are easy to read, but for free charts they limit you to view only a couple years and no intraday/short term charts under a daily chart.
www.freestockcharts.com – I personally think this is the best, more compehensive free charting site out there. Tons of indicators, real-time, stock scans, long-term charts, watch lists,etc…….the list goes on. The company who runs this, Worden Brothers, are well known for their www.TCNet.com charting software (which many full-time traders use). Honestly, this free charting site is excellent and the data feeds are good
I personally don’t care for other free charts like google or yahoo as they have no where near the functions offered, data is incorrect sometimes and just don’t compete. Also I have brokerage accounts at 3 brokers and I pretty much never use their charting programs, they usually just don’t have the clean look for how the charts are presented.
I don’t daytrade so the intraday charts are not as huge of a concern for me but it you are using free charts for day trading or short term trading then be careful as data might not be as “fresh” as you want it regarding spreads and volume.
Remember, don’t get overwhelmed by trading indicators,etc…keep your charts simple.
– www.kinetictrader.com