Trading Websites Every Day Trader Should Know

Great resources and day trading tools

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Updated on December 29, 2021

Fact checked by Leila Najafi

free trading websites for day traders - TradingView — Photo:
Copyright: TradingView.com

Looking for day trading resources to help you out with your day trading? These trading websites deliver some great tools for finding trades, analyzing trades, and tracking your trades.

Key Takeaways

Trading websites can help you find trades and track them, and many of them won’t cost you a dime.
Some free trading websites offer both real-time and delayed data, so you can watch the market as it's moving.
TradingView offers a stock screener as well as a community chat feature that will allow you to get some feedback from others.
Some, like Finviz, have paid versions of their sites, and their free versions don’t always provide real-time price data.

TradingView Provides Quick Research

TradingView.com is a site providing real-time prices on stocks, electronically traded funds (ETF), and foreign exchange (forex) pairs. It also provides delayed data on futures markets (most futures trade via contract for difference (CFD), and CFD data is real-time). If you are new to trading and want to practice watching the market in real-time, this site allows you to do so.

If you're an experienced trader, it's a quick and easy site to pull up to do some research, as it works well while when you're on the road or not near your normal trading terminal. TradingView also works well as a "backup" data feed in case you lose quotes or get disconnected from your trading terminal or broker.

The charts themselves are of high quality, providing all of the popular indicators, comparison tools, and chart types traders use (such as candlesticks and Heiken Ashi).

Other features include a stock screener, watch lists, paper trading (to test your strategies or learn) and alerts. A community chat portal also exists for discussing your trading ideas with other traders on TradingView.

StockCharts Is Useful for Analysis

StockCharts.com offers a ton of free resources, and you'll likely find yourself spending a fair bit of time on the site as you explore the high-quality trading articles as well.

The Sector Summary shows which sectors are hot over various time frames. Many day traders like to focus on buying strong stocks in strong sectors in a bull market (rising prices), and short selling weak stocks in weak sectors in a bear market (falling prices). This tool can help you easily find such stocks. Click on the sectors, and then the sub-sectors within to get a list of stocks ranked by performance.

The StockCharts SCTR Report lists large-capitalization stocks from strongest to weakest, so you have a quick list of stocks moving well to the upside or downside at either end of the list.

The DecisionPoint Market Analysis Gallery (DP Chart Gallery) breaks down how the stock market is performing by using various daily charts and technical indicators on different time frames. It's a quick way to learn about analyzing price actions or grab a snapshot of the market direction and potential turning points.

Normal price charts can be changed to "seasonality charts," which show how a particular asset performs during different seasons.

Finviz Provides Trading Research

The homepage of Finviz.com offers a host of stocks that are potential day trading candidates. Quickly view the day's top gainers and losers, see which stocks are breaking out, and look at the day's most volatile stocks.

Use the other pages to dig up more data on stocks, forex pairs, or futures. The News page provides timely reports and analysis from major news vendors. The Screener tab allows you to find stocks that match your criteria for trading. The Map option shows how stocks are performing during the trading day.

Price data is delayed on the free version of the site, which is still useful for research, but as a day trader, you may want more timely information, especially if you're using the home page for trade ideas. Finviz Elite is the site's premium subscription tool, which offers real-time quotes, pre-market data, alerts and more.

StockTwits, a Social Media Platform for Traders

If you're an active trader and want a constant stream of stocks (or other assets) that are moving well or breaking out, then this social media platform is one of the best free resources out there.

Search for day traders on StockTwits, and follow them if they provide timely information on stocks (or other assets) that are moving well for day trading purposes. Utilize your own strategy for trading the assets mentioned. StockTwits is just an idea generator not a trade signal service, or at least it isn't recommended for that.

StockTwits can be distracting, so while day trading, keep your focus on market research related to your specific trade parameters and market.

Trading Simulators

For traders starting out, a trading simulator is the best free resource available. While a simulator won't replicate the emotional ups and downs of making and losing real money, it will let you know whether your trading methods are sound or not. Simulations allow you to test your knowledge, strategies, and abilities without risk.

There are many trading simulators available. It might be a good idea to use one offered by a broker you would consider using in real trades. This allows you to become familiar with the broker, their fees, and their platform while developing your trading skills.

How Do You Pick Stocks for Day Trading?

Most day traders seek volatility. These volatile movements allow traders to make the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time. Stock screeners can help you find these volatile stocks. For example, you can filter stocks by volume or daily price movement.

How Does Day Trading Stocks Work?

A day trade is a trade that is opened and closed within the same trading day. The trade usually takes place between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. EST, although extended-hours trading is still considered part of the day. If you start a trade by buying a stock, you'll need to sell it before the end of the day to make it a day trade. If you start a trade by selling or "shorting" a stock, then you need to buy the stock by the end of the day. If you fail to close the trade by the end of the day, then it becomes a swing trade, and different margin requirements will apply.

The Bottom Line

Whether for research or generating trade ideas, these free trading websites offer tools to help in your day trading endeavors. These are resources to help you trade in a more informed manner, because ultimately, the more information you have, the better you will trade.

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