Are you starting out on your exciting stock market investing journey?
What do you need to help you on the path to success? You need a charting platform that is intuitive, yet powerful. You need to join a community of traders and be inspired by their ideas. Finally, you need educational resources and not to break the bank on software costs.
Welcome to the three best stock trading platforms for beginners.
In this review, all the platforms here winners, your choice depends on what you are looking for.
The Best Stock Trading Platforms For Beginners
1. TradingView: Rated Best For Charting & Community Learning for Beginners
Highly Recommended for USA & International Investors & Day Traders who Value a Great Price and Insanely Good Fundamental & Technical Analysis. With Great Streaming News Engines and the Best Ease of Use, you cannot go wrong.
It is really impressive that TradingView has stormed into the review winners section of our Stock Market Software Review in its first try. I now actively use TradingView every day, and it is a key tool in my portfolio, it is not just for beginners, but for pro traders also.
With excellent social integration, chat, news, and the ability to follow other investors and view and share trade ideas, combined with global stock exchange data, TradingView is one of the global stock charting analysis leaders.
You can have TradingView for free; it is also a review winner for our Best Free Charting Software Review so you cannot go wrong. However, there are limitations to the free version, which means an upgrade to a paid service can be worthwhile.
TradingView Pricing
You can have TradingView for free; it is a review winner for our Best Free Charting Software Review so you cannot go wrong. However, there are limitations to the free version, which would warrant an upgrade to the higher-level services. In any case, TradingView is best in class in terms of price.
PRO $9.95 US /mo – 2 Charts per Layout – 1 Device – 10 Alerts – 5 Indicators per Chart – Unlimited Watchlists
PRO+ $19.95 US /mo – 4 Charts per Layout – 2 Devices – 30 Alerts – Intraday & Extended Trading Hours Data
Premium – $39.95 US / mo – 8 Charts per Layout – 5 Devices – 200 Alerts – Top Customer Service – Unlimited Everything
I would recommend going for the TradingView PRO+ at $19.95 per month or the Premium at $39.95 per month; the benefits are extensive, including Priority Customer Support and unlimited everything. I use the PRO+ version.
TradingView runs on PC, Mac, Tablets, and Smartphones and requires Zero Installation, it simply works. The Market data is huge, covering nearly all Stock Markets, and it includes Stock, ETF’s Futures, Foreign Exchange & Bonds, all at no extra price, which means outstanding value for money combined with excellent support options.
TradingView’s Huge Market Data Coverage – Includes almost anything you need to know.
Also, a huge benefit is that the Data Speed and Coverage are mind-blowing, covering literally every stock market on the planet and not just stocks but a lot more.
What Can I Trade Using TradingView?
Stocks – tens of thousands of stocks, see above for exchange coverage.
Forex (FX) Currencies – All the Major, Minor, Exotic currencies covered
Futures – Energy, Metals, Agriculture, Indices and even Interest Rates
Crypto Currencies – 26 including Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash
With TradingView, you get broker integration with CQG, OANDA, Poloniex and Forex.com Winner of Our Best US Forex Broker Review, you can place trades on charts, and it will take care of Profit & Loss reporting and analysis for you. They are adding brokers all the time, and I expect the major global discount brokers soon to be available.
Paper Trading: Perfect For Beginners?
When you are viewing a chart, click the BUY Button, and you will be asked to select your broker. Simply select Paper Trading.
Fundamental & Technical Scanning & Screening
Another perfect 10 for TradingView as they hit the mark on Real-time scanning and filtering, and fundamental watchlists also.
The list of fundamentals you can scan & filter on is truly huge. Any idea you have based on fundamentals will be covered. They even have insane amounts of economic data like Federal Funds Rates and World Economic Growth, thanks to a connection to the QUANDL database.
Watchlists have fundamentals broken into Performance, Valuation, Dividends, Margin, Income Statement, and Balance Sheet. You can set the watchlist and filters to refresh every minute if you wish.
Powerful Yet Simple Screening Tools Integrated into TradingView:
Stock Screener – See the example below to see how powerful and easy it is to use.
Forex Screener – shows by default the major and minor pairs, and you can add exotic FX pairs. You can filter on rising and falling fx pairs and even set alerts directly from the screener.
Crypto Screener – similar to the Forex Screener in power and flexibility.
TradingView Fundamental Stock Screening & Analysis
Screenshot: The TradingView Stock Screener Comes With 150 Different Filters
The TradingView Stock Screener comes complete with 150 fundamental and technical screening criteria; all the usual criteria are there, such as EPS, Quick Ratio, Pre-Tax Margin, and PE Ratio (forwards and trailing twelve months). But it also goes deeps with more esoteric criteria such as the number of employees, Goodwill and Enterprise Value.
Another great thing about the screener implementation is that is is very customizable; you can configure the column and filters exactly how you like it. As you can see above, I have changed the overview screen to include the number of employees, P/E, and EPS TTM.
Try This Interactive Example of TradingView Fundamental Screening & Analysis
TradingView has a very slick system, and they have put a huge amount of thought into how Fundamentals integrate into the analytics system.
What makes TradingView stand out is the huge selection of economic indicators you can map and compare on a chart. For example, you can compare the Civilian Unemployment Rate versus the growth in Company Profits for the USA. This is incredibly powerful.
Moving Averages Ribbon – Beautifully Implemented In TradingView
Social Community Great For Beginner Traders, Join Hundreds of Thousands of Traders
TradingView is built with social at the forefront, and it is simply the best to socially share and learn, forget StockTwits, Tradingview is the best. Fully integrated chat systems, chat forums, and an excellent way to share your drawings and analysis with a single click to any group or forum.
This makes for an excellent way to generate trade ideas or learn from other traders. You have to try it and see it in action to understand the power of the implementation. However, I always warn be careful of who you listen too; you should always make up your own mind.
Connect on TradingViewConnect & Follow Me On TradingView For My Latest Trading Ideas & Chart Analysis
They have also thoughtfully integrated a Kiplinger newsfeed, Stocktwits, and various FX newsfeeds. With a social-first development methodology, combined with powerful economic statistics and a solid newsfeed, it is a great package.
As soon as you connect to TradingView, you realize this is also developed for the community. You can look at community trade ideas, post your charts and ideas, and join limitless numbers of groups covering everything from Bonds to Cryptocurrencies.
Video & Trade Ideas Implementation
Video & Idea Publication
TradingView has the concept of ideas. This is where the community can submit ideas about a specific stock or group of stocks to the community. Their published ideas can then be rated, and the authority of the submitter will then grow. With the powerful social media integration, you can also publish your ideas simultaneously to the TradingView community, Twitter & StockTwits
They also have in 2018 implemented Video Ideas so that contributors can record a video with the touch of a single button and submit to the community.
The news feeds are fully integrated, including Kiplinger, DailyFX, Futures Magazine, FXStreet, and StockTwits. Add that to the social network, and you have a great solution. The news service is only second to MetaStock with their Reuters Feeds.
Technical Chart Analysis
With over 160 different indicators, and unique specialty charts such as LineBreak, Kagi, Heikin Ashi, Point & Figure and Renko, you have everything you will need as an advanced trader, day trader or swing trader. I have the Premium membership, and with that, you also get Level II insight, fully integrated.
TradingView also has an exceptional selection of drawing tools, including tools unavailable on other platforms such as extensive Gann & Fibonacci tools. Sixty-five drawing tools and hundreds of icons for your charts, notes, and ideas.
Most people do not want to learn the in-depth details of how each indicator works. This innovation allows you to save time by getting an instant readout of which indicators are bullish, bearish, or neutral.
This is really well implemented because there are two key types of technical analysis indicators, moving averages based on price and oscillators based on price and or volume. The screenshot below shows a stock I have help for a 50% gain over the last four months, and it is quite accurate based on my observations.
TradingView has implemented an innovative automatic technical analysis rating system, which accurately suggests if an indicator is Buy, Sell, or Neutral.
When you view a chart, you can simply click on “Technicals,” and you are presented with three gauges. Left shows the oscillating indicators like relative strength, stochastics, and Average Directional Index. On the right, you have a selection of Moving Averages, Simple, Exponential, and even Ichimoku Cloud.
Each indicator is then averaged out to give an overall Buy, Sell, or Neutral Rating.
This is an excellent implementation of automated technical analysis designed with the user in mind.
TradingView Charts In Action – Try It Here
Example: AAPL Apple Stock Chart with RSI & Ichimoku Cloud.
I was incredibly impressed with the offering of Kagi, Heikin Ashi, and Renko Charts, including Point & Figure and Line Break.
Also, the user community has developed indicators as exotic as Moon Phase (see chart below).
With this selection of charts, you have everything you will need as an advanced trader. Plus, with the Premium membership, you also get Level II insight, fully integrated. Well done, TradingView.
TradingView – Insanely Beautiful Charts, with a massive selection of indicators. This Chart Feature Moon phase and Darvas Boxes
Did I mention the charts are fast and beautiful?
Also, for the technical power analyst, they have also implemented Darvas Box, Elliot Wave, and Point & Figure Charts. All-round an excellent package.
3. TradingView Alerts on Indicators & Drawings
TradingView alerts are immediate notifications when the market meets your custom criteria. For example, “Alert me if Netflix crosses $200 up”. You can place alerts on Indicators, Prices, or even trendlines; it is extremely flexible. All users can get visual popups, audio signals, email alerts, and email-to-SMS alerts. A Premium plan holder can additionally get real-time server-side text message (SMS) alerts, delivered directly to his / her phone.
Usability For Beginners – 1st Class
Within 5 minutes, I was using TradingView, no credit card, no installation, no configuring data feeds; it was literally just there.
TradingView is up and running with a single click.
Click on the TradingView logo on the left, and it will be instantly running.
It does not get easier than that.
Even better is the fact it is already configured for use. All controls are intuitive, and the charts look amazing. It is quite a feat that it is so easy to use, considering TradingView has so many data feeds and backend power.
The new kid on the block, Trendspider, is doing something very different and innovative to separate itself from the crowded stock chart analysis software market. It solves the problem of too much time spent doing analysis, drawing trendlines, tweaking indicators, and analyzing timeframes. I was immediately a fan and believe it has a bright future ahead. We start with an overview of some of the interesting benefits.
Automated Trendline Detection
Learning the skills of determining trendlines and market direction is a tough ask for beginner traders; this is where TrendSpider enters the market. The automated trendline detection saves a lot of time for newbies, speeds up trade preparation in the morning, and improves accuracy. The TrendSpider algorithm uses mathematics to correlate all the bars on a chart and then draw the lines. It highlights the touches at peaks and troughs in a price trend. As a technical analyst, this is how you are supposed to do it; the more times a price touches the trend line and reverses, the stronger the trend. Therefore, if a price breaks through a strong area of support and resistance, it is more predictive. If you do not like a trend that the AI has used, you can manually delete it or fine-tune it. With this capability, you can have a complete trendline analysis on any chart in a few seconds.
Multi-Timeframe Analysis
Here is where is get even more interesting, the Multi-Timeframe Analysis can be used to super-impose trendlines or indicators from different timeframes onto a single chart. It may seem a little complex at first, but when you get used to it, it makes a lot of sense. Instead of constantly switching timeframes and redrawing trendlines, it is simplý there. It is not just for trendlines though you can use it with the array of 42 stock chart indicators to ensure you do not miss anything. Dan Ushman, the company founder, uses it in his trading, especially with indicators like Bollinger Bands and with trendlines that help expose things other traders miss when they are focused on one timeframe or one indicator at a time.
One thing I also really like is the price indicator analysis; you can let the application plot, name, and highlight your Japanese Candlestick patterns of choice. Want to find Evening Doji Stars, Hammers, or Engulfing Patterns? Just turn on the pattern recognition; it is that easy.
How Does Automatic Trendline Detection work in TrendSpider?
User Guide: Introduction and Overview (Short Version 4min)
Advanced Support & Resistance Lines
The one thing that blew me away here is that the TrendSpider team has found a really elegant way to take the masses of computed data and overlay it onto a single chart.
Using the drop-down selector “S/R Trends” enables a kind of heat map, which shows the hundreds of potential trendlines and the darker red the area, the more touches and concentration of trendlines there are. See the chart below for reference.
Automated Support and Resistance Lines with TrendSpider
Software & Pricing
Trendspider is an HTML5 application, which means it works on any connected device, requires zero installation, zero data stream, or data download configuration. This appeals to me a lot because, with a single click, you are up and running. Also, considering the complexity of the automatic calculations, the application runs swiftly, taking just a few seconds to complete an entire analysis.
Pricing starts at Free to try, but the real power comes in with PRO Trader Plan, which starts at $24.75 per month. This includes Real-Time Data, NASDAQ, NYSE & Amex Stocks, ETF’s, and surprisingly Cryptocurrencies. In this package, you also get unlimited lookups, trend detection, and 10 Dynamic Price Alerts + a free 30 minute personal one on one training session.
The Elite Trade Plan is $37.25 per month, has everything the PRO plan has, and in addition, includes after-hours and pre-market data, OTC, Forex, and Futures data. On top of that, you get 20 Dynamic Alerts.
Considering you get real-time data, the pricing is very competitive, in fact, considerably lower than other charting software vendors.
Trendspider Review Summary
We have focused on what is unique about Trendspider; it is designed for a specific purpose, taking the guesswork and painstaking hours of analysis away from traders. But what do you not get? Well, you do not get fundamental scanning & filtering, trading from charts, or broker integration. There is no social aspect at the moment and no news service. But it is not designed for these things; it is designed for fast, effective machine-driven technical analysis.
I see a bright future for TrendSpider; for example, I expect in the near future to be able to see the analysis of how well any given indicator or price pattern actually works overall or for any given stock. The analysis of the probability of a successful prediction would be an amazing leap forward.
Award-Winning Telechart TC2000 Won Our Stock Market Software Review. But Why Is It Best For US Investors & Loved By Liberated Stock Trader?
Telechart has long been one of my favorite tools, I have been a Platinum service subscriber for over 18 years and find the latest release v18.x to be another great step forward. I started learning stock trading as a beginner with TC2000. It has an endlessly customizable and scalable platform that offers everything an investor in stocks, exchange-traded funds and options would need.
TC2000 is competitive on pricing with all premium stock market analysis software vendors; in fact, it is a leader in pricing, with only TradingView offering a similar price point. TC2000 has been voted as the best software for 25 years straight by the readers of Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities Magazine.
2019 Pricing For TC2000 Services
TC2000 Silver Service Features Price – $9.99/month.
All levels of service enable you to use the TC2000 Brokerage, which enables live from the chart trading and competitive commissions beating out TD Ameritrade and Merrill.
100,000 stocks options and exchange-traded fund data – included
Real-time streaming data is available with an additional charge per exchange connection. This is the same for all software providers.
Eight great layouts ready for use, including my favorite Sector Drilldown, which I discuss later in the review.
Unlimited watchlists, with 80 pre-built layouts
Personal Notes to keep track of your actions
Unbelievable Application Configurability – probably the best in the industry, enabling you to build intricate workflows, tabs, and pop-out windows
Mobile access to your charts, watchlists, and settings.
TC2000 Gold Service Features (Recommended) Price $29.99/month
The reason I recommend the Gold Service is because of the following killer features:
EasyScan is enabled – this allows you to unleash the powerful fundamental scanning, you can scan on EPS, PE Ratio, Earnings Growth, Sales, and many more. It is the best fundamental and technical scanning in the industry at this price point.
Unlocks Technical & Fundamental Scanning Combinations – for example, if you want to combine the stock price crossing the 20-day moving average plus a volume surge with growth in the earnings per share for the last quarter. This is only possible with TC2000
EasyScan results are displayed extremely quickly – this can save a lot of time
100 Alerts are enabled – TC2000 has an excellent alert system, which is extremely flexible, allowing you to alert on any indicator, price or trendline. Alert can be routed through to your email, SMS, or on-screen popups.
Charting of Fundamentals from MorningStar – this is great because it enables you to plot, for example, earnings per share (EPS) onto the chart. This enables you to see visually if a company has earnings acceleration over time.
Platinum Service Price $89.99/month
The Platinum service is triple the price of the Gold service, but if the following features are as important to you as they are for me, then it may be worth the investment:
The EasyScan dashboard is now real-time – you can feel all your scans and criteria in watchlists pulsing with activity as they constantly refresh
Real-time scan results – you can even set up reports that summarize the results of your scans to enabled simpler tracking of thousands of data-points
Worden Brothers continue their winning ways, with very competitive pricing starting at only $9.99 per month for the Silver package. I would recommend the Gold service to start with as you get a more powerful alerts engine and unlock the huge power of the technical & fundamental scanning and filtering that TC2000 is famous for.
TC2000 is aimed squarely at those trading stocks, ETF’s, mutual funds, and stock options, specifically on the US A and Canadian Markets.
Liberated Stock Trader has partnered with Worden Brothers, the creators of TC2000 for over nine years, I am their biggest fan. I even based my PRO training course around TC2000. However, this is a factual review; there are many other software vendors that may meet your needs. But if you decide TC2000 is the right software for you will get a $25 discount from TC2000 plus $129 in free gifts and discounts from Liberated Stock Trader. Simply use this button to get started.
As I have been using the software since 1999, I can say the software is first class and reliable.
TC2000 for Windows
Developed with Microsoft’s Dot.net framework, TC2000 runs natively on the PC. It is fast, responsive, and simple to use. The resolution of the software enables very intricate design details that other development platforms cannot match. Very quick to download, and installation is a breeze.
Worden Brothers have apps on both the Apple store and the Google Play store, as you can imagine due to screen real-estate some of the functionality is trimmed.
TC2000 Support & Customer Service
Support is excellent both on the forums, via email, or via the phone. When you call you will get straight through and are able to speak with skilled personnel in the US, I have never had an issue where it was not solved more or less immediately.
If you have not selected a Brokerage, you should look at TC2000 Brokerage as an option; they have competitive rates, which also means you get full integration so you can trade stocks & options directly from your charts, a huge bonus.
If you trade U.S. Stocks, ETF’s or Mutual Funds, then this is a great solution. Worden also provides regular live training seminars that are of very high quality and also tour the US A with free live training seminars for subscribers.
TC2000 Training & Education
The Worden Brothers in-house training team has hundreds of video webinars online available instantly. But even better than that, they seem to be on a more or less constant roadshow with live free seminars across the United States. One of my students recently wrote to me telling me how great the training was and how much she learned. If you are based in the US or can travel, it is well worth attending one of the scheduled seminars.
Fundamental Scanning and Screening
EasyScan Fundamental & Technical Screener Dashboards
Make no mistake about it, if you want fundamentals stock screeners in real-time layered with technical screens all integrated into live watch lists connected to your charts TC2000 is a power player.
I selected TC2000 as my tool of choice back in the year 1999 because it offered back then, simply the best implementation of fundamental scanning, filtering, and sorting available on the market. Twenty years later, they are still a leader in this section.
They offer a huge selection of fundamentals to choose from 192 to be exact, but even better than that, what makes it truly unique is the fact you can, with a few clicks, create your own indicators based on the fundamentals.
You can then overlay the indicators directly on the charts, which opens up a whole new world of technical and fundamental analysis. 10 out of 10 for TC2000 again.
Technical Chart Analysis
TC2000 has an excellent array of technical indicators and drawing tools, all the big ones are there, from OBV, RSI and Bollinger Bands to Fibonacci Fans and Andrews Pitchfork. With over 240 different indicators, you will have plenty to play with.
Here is a setup I use to find divergences in stock price and volume supply and demand; it is very reliable because it uses a mix of price, volume, and price/volume indicators. I also have backtested Ichimoku Cloud indicator accuracy, and it is also quite reliable.
Ease Of Use – Perfect For Beginner Traders
TC2000 is easy to use and yet very powerful. The interface design strikes the right balance between looking great and being instantly useful.
A heavy focus on watchlist management, flagging stocks, making notes, and powerful scanning make is easy to use and master. The software setup is completed in a few minutes, but it also runs perfectly across devices.
Instant Usability.
If you want to run a very quick test to see how easy to use TC2000 is, try the following.
In 5 Clicks, you have this wonderful industry sector drill down.
tc2000 Sector Analysis Drill Down
In the above chart, I have drilled down into the Technology Sector, and instantly we see the industry indexes, Semi-Conductor, Gaming, Solar, etc. What is really nice is we see to the right the relative performance for the sector versus the S&P-500.
Instantly you can see which sectors are outperforming the market in 5 clicks.
Easy Scan Dashboards
EasyScan Dashboards are reports that can track multiple EasyScans at one time. Counts are continuously updated so you can see stocks move between your scans, great for beginners to get a feel for the market.
Click the report button on the toolbar at the top of TC2000.
Click to create a new EasyScan Dashboard.
Click the checkbox to toggle edit mode on and off.
With edit mode turned on, click the + button to add your custom EasyScans to the dashboard.
Counts are updated in real-time (if you have real-time data).
Right-click on any scan to make edits or view the watchlist of passing stocks.
Summary – TC2000 Great For Beginners
I thoroughly enjoyed “growing up” as a trader with TC2000; it is a first-class platform with a team built on integrity, value for money, and cutting edge technology that unleashes investing opportunities.
If you want simply the best social environment & community to learn to trade, then your only choice is the TradingView platform. If you want great stock market screening and trading from charts, then choose TC2000. Lastly, if you want to do your own analysis but do not know how, TrendSpider will help with its automated trend finder technology.
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