What's your most indispensable tool, utility, initiative or resource while trading? Why?

General
21

One Indispensable tool in my trading career has been the 3 Stock Market Broadcast channels on the Indian television, BLOOMBERG, CNBC and ETNOW.

NOT JUST gaining financially on their breaking news and in-depth market research;

BUT these channels continue to be a valuable source of education to enrich my trading knowledge and skills as a working-from-home Indian retail investor.

Learning into the outlook, discipline, character, wisdom and small talk of successful fund managers, institutional investors and market analysts through these channels (which would otherwise be unreachable for an individual retail investor) has been priceless.

With a mindset to learn and evolve, the potential of this particular free-to-use trading resource available to almost every Indian retail investor is limitless.

22

I believe that the most indispensable tool would have to be my intuition. Everything else is just data/information which I interpret. Most of the times our trading decisions are made instinctively rather than being a logical one ( mostly during high volatility) irrespective of the kind of analysis we utilize.

In the contemporary scenario, there is an information overload with respect to learning about the markets and trading. In such a situation, we could get crippled with our decision making process. The faster execution of the orders bears the fact that, by the time we take a decision on the basis of any news about the market, we would have already lost a profitable opportunity. I feel the best way to trade for a retail trader would be through technical analysis. It takes into consideration the events that have already occurred and provides a mathematical way of predicting the randomness in the market. Although, it is not necessary that the events which have occurred in the past will occur again but the volatility in the current scenario might match with the one that happened earlier.

Again, technical analysis has evolved into a complex set of different patterns and indicators or a conjunction of both which has essentially shadowed the true methodology of analysis. I might use a RSI or MACD for a certain period of time then I might use an oscillator the next if I feel that I can create a strategy. But, of course there has to be some resource which I am comfortable with learning or analyzing.

Zerodha varsity provides a good source of learning about the markets in layman terms and is probably one of the best learning resources in India that too with no costs involved. But, I am an ardent reader of Investopedia as it gives me exposure to information about global markets, asset classes and demystifies the jargons utilized while trading or investing. I also recommend reading ‘ Technical Analysis of Financial Markets ‘ by John J Murphy which probably explains the concepts in a simple and readable manner.

Some of the factors that I feel are necessary for considering before trading :

  1. Entry and exit points should be pre - determined if you wish to curtail excessive risk.

  2. Never let the emotions interfere with rationality.

  3. Do not depend upon only one strategy.

  4. Hedge the position in the same asset class or different if the market is going strongly against you.

  5. Protect the capital.

In the end, a retail trader should rely on his own intuition and not get influenced by someone else’s decision. It might work once, twice but not forever and plus it takes out our curiosity of trading and learning from our mistakes. If you have taken a decision to start trading, then never quit if you have incurred losses. You do not quit driving a car if you have met with a bad accident, right ? You just become more cautious.

Also, its good to devise your own strategy. We should not expect Kohli to play like Tendulkar, as he has his own strategy towards the game.

But what matters is that he knows how to win matches :slight_smile:

1 Like
23


Trading is more about psychology than tactics. What is most important in day trading is to be focussed and always be strong during adversity so that one doesn't make impulsive and silly errors which can pile up losses quickly.

For this I have made sticky notes on my desktop. It helps me to remain calm, composed & reminds me of the support n love i have in my life.
I also do have a checklist on my screen all the time which i refer to before  initiatiating a trade.

It has helped me considerably to overcome emotions.

I can call this the most indispensible initiative for trading i have made for myself.

24

Dear Team Zerodha,

Being a Positional Trader, Intraday Trader or Investor We need to be updated with current market conditions, so for obtaining overall market information I rely on following websites: 

Resources for overall information:

  1. For Foreign market Conditions I use moneycontrol.com
  2. For overall happenings in the market I track Zerodha pulse.
  3. Its quarterly results announcement time hence I use Motilal Oswal result calendar ( Check http://www.motilaloswal.com/markets/Corporate-Actions/Event-Result-Calendar.aspx here they really provide results information in nice manner.
  4. Its always necessary to check pre open market as how its gonna open for that matter I use nseindia.com
  5. Nseindia.com also helps me to check which sector is up or which sector is down in order to initiate long or short position.
  6. And last not the least I watch cnbs awaz in the evening ( There Program Stock Talk) just to know what happened today in the market . (but I never listen to there tips for nifty or any stocks…!!!)

Tools and Utilities:

I am a Intraday Trader and most probably A Scalper. So remaining present on the terminal is important for me hence tools I have got for trading are:

  1. Sony Vaio Laptop with 4GB ram ( makes me able to 3-4 applications at the same time.)
  2. For Internet I have Reliance 4G wi-pod and Airtel 4G as a backup if previous doesn’t work.
  3. For trading platform I use Zerodha Pi (best trading platform I have seen so for)
  4. For Chartings  also I use Zerodha Pi 2min intraday charts.
  5. I also keep my smartphone with me in case there is any trouble in terminal based trading so that  I can call and trade or use Zerodha kite.
  6. I do leveraged based trading hence use ‘Zerodha Bracket order’ which enables me to set Target, stoploss and trailing stoploss.
  7. I also look for favourable time to trade. ( For me morning time from 9.15 am to 11.00 am is perfect time for trade as stocks show there maximum moves during this period later most of the time they either move towards one definite move or goes sideways..)

So these are the resources, tools and utilities that help me in trading. But as the question is asked what indispensable tool/utilities/resources that We use while trading for me is Trading based on

1) Candle sticks price formation

2) Support and Resistance

3) Volumes

Being a scalper I don’t get time to apply indicators because whenever I tried to apply them most of the time I missed perfect ‘ Entry Point’ because what I believe is price is never created by indicators but its price that create them.

Candlesticks help me to know what is Open, High, Low & close for a particular scrip and if recognizable candlestick pattern is formed near support or resistance, it becomes entry point.

I will clear it with following example



Above is a VEDL july futures 2min intraday chart. What I observed from Nseindia website that metal sector is up hence selected VEDL among other metal stocks. its opening was almost equal to its previous days closing ie 157.60 later it corrected a bit but between 9.39 am to 9.43 am you can see that 'Morning star Pattern" (It is encircled in blue) is being created which means "Doji" is a indecision between Buyers and Sellers. but later when 'Bullish Morubozu' is formed with volumes indicates that Buyers have upper hand.

Being a Scalper I sold early but you can clearly see that VEDL just kept going up that day and closed to 164.

So these are the tools, resources that I use while trading...All these are equally important to me.

Regards,

25

Indispensable Tools for Day Trading …

I use Zerodha Pulse to get information about any big / small event which can affect market. I look market specific as well stock specific news …

pulse.zerodha.com

I also use Moneycontrol to get information about any big / small event which can affect market. I look market specific as well stock specific news …

moneycontrol.com

At 9.00 am I look Yahoo Finance website to check Europe Closed and US closed figures whether they are +/- 1% and more or flat …

in.finance.yahoo.com

Then I watch CNBC Awaaz to see live Asian Markets figures whether they are +/- 1% and more or flat, as well to listen commentary on any big / small event which can affect market or stock. Then I check opening of market on TV and decide whether to enter the market (long /short) or not to trade at morning.

Throughout day I check time to time live TV on internet …

hindi.moneycontrol.com/tv

At 12.30 pm I use CNBC TV18 to see live Europe open figures whether they are +/- 1% and more or flat…

moneycontrol.com/tv

I use Zerodha Kite from mobile if want to take any position on index or stock specific at market open …

kite.zerodha.com

Throughout day I use Zerodha PI trading platform to trade …

zerodha.com/pi

In Zerodha PI I personally like their Quick Order Tool which I use for Index Future and Index Options to enter any trade quickly. After entry I use strict stop loss according to support resistance level.

Bracket Order / Cover Order are my most indispensable tools to trade any stock. But I don’t use them to trade Index Future and Index Option.

I follow Money Management and Risk Management rules hence before to enter any trade I use Zerodha Brokerage Calculator to know how much stock I can buy /sell within my money management limits. I use Risk Reward Ratio 1:2 and more hence by this calculator I also get my actual risk amount which includes Brokerage, STT, Transaction Charges etc. so according to that I place my take profit order 1:2 and more in bracket order …

https://zerodha.com/brokerage-calculator

I don’t think Semi Automated Trading is good idea. As you can not watch market throughout day and can not always check whether the alerts are generated or not. I personally don’t use any Technical Indicators but now I am going to try to use Fully Automated Trading Tools either with Zerodha or other brokers.

Indispensable Tools for Event Days Trading …

As there are quarterly results announcement going on, to see which companies going to announce result today and tomorrow and keep eye on result if any big player going to announce result today and to get Buy / Short Sell / Straddle / Strangle position accordingly …

http://www.moneycontrol.com/earnings

I use this website to check IIP / CPI / GDP announcement dates and post data …

http://mospi.nic.in/mospi_new/site/PressRelease.aspx

To get detail information about IIP / CPI / GDP …

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/india/indicators

To get information about companies quarterly results, are these good or bad, better than expectation or worse than expectation …

http://www.business-standard.com/companies-results

I use this website to check RBI Monitory Policy announcement dates and to check post policies …

https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/Annualpolicy.aspx

1 Like
26

Amibroker
I use Amibroker for daily chart. I use a software to update Amibroker with each day price. Advantage of Amibroker is that it is very fast and very much customisable. We can easily create chart and scan stocks to find stocks for trading.

Zerodha Calculator
Zerodha calculator at zerodha website is very handy so that we know net profit after brokerage and other charges. Only limitation is that it does not show stamp charges. So I developed a similar tool to show Stamp duty also according to my state. I also made this tool update with live price so I can instantly know how much net profit/loss I am during a trade.​ The checkbox near Buy or Sell allow me to specify which box should show the live price.


 

1 Like
28

I WOULD LIKE TO FRAME A WORD WHICH IF USED AS A TOOL CAN BRING WONDERS !!!
"TPP"
TREND PATIENCE PRATICE
SMALL THINGS LIKE :
ATP / INDEX OPEN VISA PREVIOUS DAY CLOSE
ADVANCE N DECLINE
ALL THESE ARE EASY TOOLS TO DETERMINE TREND.
ONCE TREND BECOMES YOUR BEST FRIEND…THAN JUST HAVE PATIENCE ND MORE IMP IS TO PRACTISE THE PATIENCE.
THIS IS FOR COMMON MAN…WHO DOES HAVE ANY CHARTS OR TOOLS…STILL CAN MAKE SOME GOOD N REAL MONEY.
BEST REGARDS

29

Who is the winner? Time out!

30

Is the contest still open for adding answers ?

31

@ajrj best answer is not yet selected. so I think yes

32

Added some very useful information to my answer. Shared it here just as I found it.

33

Mr AFL,
Could you please explain those points , how they help to increase trading edge ?

34

Hi Vaibhav,
great representation - i too believe the same … just want to add one more thing here…
along with mindset if we keep in mind alwasys that there is randomness in market and we have to part of it and become consistent in randomness and as …there is madess but there is method in it.
so sum up … calmness,stability,confidence and proper mindset will make difference in trading.
small daily improvement over time will bring tsunami in result…keep trading and have beautiful life ahead not in terrms of wealth but in terms of happiness in life.

35

I so well agree on your point of donate/feed few poor people. Just last month I decided to give away 5% of my options income to needy. I do options selling thru ICICI, and with ICICI stock liquidity there is no cash requirement.
This has helped me 2 ways:

  • One always feels good when donating/feeding someone. Just the other day I was on vacation and having tea at a tapari since it was raining. I saw a poor guy and just told the shop owner to give him tea and vada pav. Felt good!
  • I’m extra careful with my options trading now, since I know my 5% is at stake for someone else as well.
1 Like
36

What a wonderful thought indeed -" I’m extra careful with my options trading now, since I know my 5% is at stake for someone else as well."

37

thank you so much @vik_kan @msangani @ShreyaDR for sharing your thoughts n experiences on the post , i love this trading.qna as we get to share our experience and also learn from others experiences and suggestions . wonderful

38

RahulN - bro… you hit the bulls eye. Thumbsup…

39

Thanks buddy! The negatives clearly show how many ppl still trust trading calls.

40

LOL rahul , cant stop laughing LMAO … :slight_smile:

41

I was quite disappointed to see negative votes yesterday. But I am really happy to see some positive votes and comments on my infamous indispensable tool :slight_smile: