StreetSmart Edge® -- The platform that thinks like a trader
Schwab's premier trading platform StreetSmart Edge was designed to think like a trader, so you can take advantage of trade opportunities in the U.S. market.
Throughout this demo, you'll see what it's like to use StreetSmart Edge to check your positions, assess the markets, find and analyze trade ideas, and enter orders.
We'll start by taking a look at a customized account layout focused primarily on tracking your portfolio.
You can review your current balances and buying power in Account Details. At the top of the screen, you can also track key balances you choose, with the ability to hide them when needed.
In the Positions tab, you can see position information down to individual lot details, as well as realized gain/loss for your closed positions.
You can also create additional layouts to streamline your trade process, such as finding ideas, monitoring broad markets, or whatever your strategy calls for.
Now let's see how to check out what's happening in the U.S. markets.
We'll start with Streaming News, which provides a continually updated newsfeed from sources such as Briefing dot com, Reuters, and others.
You can also watch a commercial-free live stream of the CNBC broadcast in the U.S., European, and Asian markets right on your desktop.
Streaming, interactive charts provide a rich view into the markets and indices. You can adjust the timeframe, or apply a range of technical analysis tools.
Here, you see that the NASDAQ has had a rally today.
Using Screener Plus's predefined screener of top gainers in the NASDAQ, it looks like ZL Communications in telecom is on the rise.
We'll add ZL Communications to a watchlist, which we'll explore further in a bit.
Now it's time to further research ZL Communications. We'll start with fundamental analysis.
The fundamentals of a security are easily viewed by right clicking on the security's name from the watchlist. This brings up the Research tool, populated with the information for that particular stock.
The earnings tab is an intuitive snapshot of the security's most recent earnings report. A glance at ZL's Earnings Per Share indicates that the stock could be currently oversold.
Reviewing Schwab and third-party analyst ratings, it looks like ZL also has a five-star rating from Morningstar Equity Research.
You can also research additional corporate strength metrics, such as cashflow, revenue, or earnings per share.
Within the Launch Tools menu there are a number of other powerful tools to help you identify opportunities and generate ideas, such as the momentum tool for gauging activity, and the high/low tool for identifying securities making 52-week highs or lows.
Now let's review the technicals for ZL Communications.
To determine where it is trading relative to its support and resistance, choose from a variety of technical studies built into StreetSmart Edge, such as Simple Moving Average and Bollinger Bands, which we see here.
As you can see, there are a number of other studies and overlays to choose from.
There are strong indicators that ZL Communications may have broken through its resistance zone and is now in an uptrend.
You can also access additional third-party technical analysis tools to help you assess potential entry and exit opportunities, including chart pattern recognition from Recognia.
Now that we've identified and analyzed ZL Communications with both fundamentals and technicals, we're ready to make a trade.
Start by loading the symbol into the All-In-One Trade Tool. This powerful order entry window allows you to define the parameters of the full trade--from entry to exit--for stocks, ETFs, and single- or multi-leg option orders.
Based on the analysis, you're going to buy it now, when it's appeared to have just broken through its prior resistance.
Once the parameters are set, review the order and confirm the trade. You're now trading ZL Communications!
You can track the progress of your open position within the price chart with this easily identifiable icon, showing where you got in.
So now you've seen how to identify a trading target by analyzing the market as a whole, validate the idea through fundamental and technical analysis, and place a trade with conditional parameters that fit your strategy.
Along with powerful trading tools, Schwab provides you with extensive insight, robust educational resources, and personalized service that can help you become a better trader. Make the most of your trading when you open a Schwab account today.