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Stock Trading

A collection of our best articles and lessons on stock trading. Here you will learn the skills strategies and techniques of the day trader, swing trader, and position trader.

A Financial Analyst’s Guide to Trading the Volume Indicator

Stock volume, or trading volume, is the total number of shares traded during a specific period. Volume indicates buying and selling pressure and potential changes in a stock's trend direction and quality.

Are Keltner Channels Worth Trading? Best Settings Tested

A Keltner Channel is a volatility-based trading indicator combining a simple moving average, exponential moving average, and average true range to plot a channel on a chart. It identifies trading signals using overbought and oversold conditions.

12 Ways to Master Stock Chart Indicators by a Certified Analyst

Professional market analysts build trading strategies using chart indicator techniques like divergences, multi-time frame analysis, indicator combinations, and rigorous backtesting.

Advance/Decline (A/D) Line Explained by a Certified Analyst

The advance/decline (A/D) line indicator measures market breadth by identifying how many stocks participate in a market advance or decline. It is calculated by taking the number of advancing stocks minus the declining stocks.

5 Moving Average Indicators Tested on 43,770 Trades

The best moving average settings are SMA or EMA 20 on a daily chart, which achieves a 23% win rate. At settings 50, 100, and 200, it is better to use the Hull moving average, which has win rates of 27%, 10%, and 17%, respectively.

MACD Strategy & Reliability Tested by LiberatedStockTrader

MACD is a trend-following momentum indicator used to identify price trends. We conducted 606,422 test trades to find the best settings and trading strategies.

Is the S&P 500 200-Day Moving Average Profitable? I Test It!

Our testing of the 200-day MA on the S&P500 over 16 years revealed that using this indicator is a losing proposition. A buy-and-hold strategy made a profit of 192% vs. the 200-day MA, which made only 152%.

Best Commodity Channel Index (CCI) Settings Tested on 43,297 Trades

Our test data shows that using the CCI indicator with a 50 setting on the S&P 500 index stocks over 20 years was incredibly profitable, returning a 1,108% profit compared to the market, which returned 555%.

7 Parabolic SAR Trading Strategies Tested by LiberatedStockTrader

The Parabolic Stop and Reverse (PSAR) technical indicator identifies asset price reversals. Relying on parabolic time/price systems it creates effective trailing stop-losses for trading signals.

Bollinger Band Trading Strategies Tested by LiberatedStockTrader

Our reliability testing of Bollinger Bands on the S&P 500, using 13,360 years of data, suggests it is an unreliable, unprofitable indicator for traders. However, Bollinger Bands can be profitable, but you need to know how it works, how to trade it, and the optimal settings.

Top 10 Reliable Candle Patterns: 56,680 Trades Tested

Our 56,680 test trades show the most reliable candlestick formations are the Inverted Hammer (60% success rate), Bearish Marubozu (56.1%), Gravestone Doji (57%), and Bearish Engulfing (57%).

1,680 Trades Test the Shooting Star Candle’s Reliability

Based on 568 years of data, our research shows the Shooting Star candle is bullish, not bearish, as most traders believe. It has a 57.1% upside success rate and an average winning trade of 3.6%. Each trade made using a shooting star nets an average of 0.56% profit.

Rate of Change Indicator Test: Trading a 66% Success Rate

The Rate of Change (ROC) is a momentum indicator that measures the speed and direction of asset price movements. It helps traders determine whether a security is trending and how quickly its price changes.

What is EMA? Best Exponential Moving Average Settings Tested  

An exponential moving average (EMA) technical indicator reduces the lag associated with simple moving averages (SMA) by applying a multiplier to the most recent data. EMAs provide improved sensitivity, enhancing the accuracy of trend analysis.

Stochastic Oscillator Explained: Best Strategy & Settings Tested

The Stochastic Oscillator momentum indicator compares an asset's closing price to a range of its previous prices. It oscillates between 0 and 100; below 20 indicates oversold, and above 80 suggests an overbought market.

6 Principles of Dow Theory Explained with Examples & Video

Dow theory's six principles underpin technical analysis: The market discounts everything; it has three trends and phases; the averages must confirm each other; volume confirms the trend and a trend continues until it reverses.

The Realities of Margin Trading Investigated & How to Avoid Lossess.

Our research shows that overconfidence and a lack of a robust trading plan are the biggest reasons traders lose when trading with margin or leverage.

16 Insights To Trade Leveraged ETFs Successfully

To successfully trade leveraged ETFs, you must understand the importance of ETF decay, liquidity, volume, fees, assets under management, and potential risks.

Simple Moving Average Trading: Settings & Strategy Tested

The simple moving average (SMA) technical analysis indicator helps identify stock price trends. It calculates an arithmetic average of prices, offering a smooth line that eliminates short-term price volatility.

How to Day Trade and Is It Worth It? Tools &...

Ultimately, for 95% of speculators, day trading is not worth it. Although day traders can make significant money quickly, statistics show that most day traders lose money. Over a six-month period excessive commissions, poor trading decisions, weak strategies, and bad market timing cause losses.

Our Best Training & Strategies

Liberated Stock Trader Pro: Learn Stock Market Investing

Learn stock market investing with the complete online stock trading course by Barry D. Moore, a certified financial analyst from the International Federation of Technical Analysts (IFTA).

ETF Investing Strategy: MOSES Improves Performance & Lowers Risk

The MOSES ETF investing strategy is a powerful suite of indicators meticulously backtested over 100 years. Designed to empower you to outperform the market, it equips you with the tools to navigate major stock market crashes and unlock greater investing performance.

Our LST Strategy Beat the Stock Market’s S&P 500 By 102%...

Decades of research and testing unveiled the Liberated Stock Trader Beat the Market System. Our 9-year, backtested, and proven strategy targets 35 financially healthy high-growth stocks, producing a track record of beating the S&P 500 by 102%.

TradingView Review 2024: Tested by LiberatedStockTrader

LiberatedStockTrader's review testing awards TradingView 4.8 stars due to excellent stock chart analysis, pattern recognition, screening, and backtesting. TradingView is our top recommendation for US and international traders.

Stock Rover Review 2024: Tested by LiberatedStockTrader

LiberatedStockTrader's review testing awards Stock Rover 4.7 stars. Its advanced screening, research, and portfolio tools are ideal for US value, income, and growth investors. With 650 financial metrics on 10,000 stocks and 44,000 ETFs, we rate Stock Rover the number one stock screener.

Trade Ideas Review 2024: AI Tested by LiberatedStockTrader

Our in-depth testing shows Trade Ideas is the ultimate black box AI-powered day trading signal platform with built-in automated bot trading. Three automated Holly AI systems pinpoint trading signals for day traders.

TrendSpider Review: Big 2024 Updates! Is It Now The Best?

Our TrendSpider testing finds it is ideal for US traders wanting AI-automated charting, pattern recognition, and backtesting of stocks, indices, futures, and currencies.

Benzinga Pro Review 2024: Tested by LiberatedStockTrader

Our testing shows Benzinga Pro is best for US traders who want a high-speed, actionable, real-time news feed at 1/10th of the price of a Bloomberg terminal. I recommended Benzinga Pro for active day traders and investors who trade news events.

MetaStock Review 2024: Tested by LiberatedStockTrader

Our MetaStock review and test reveal an excellent platform for traders, with 300+ charts and indicators for stocks, ETFs, bonds & forex globally. Metastock has solid backtesting and forecasting, and Refinitiv/Xenith provides powerful real-time news and screening.