#TradingTools101 "Trading Tools 101" is an introduction to the essential tools and platforms used by traders to analyze markets, place trades, and manage risk. Whether you’re a beginner in stocks, forex, crypto, or commodities, here’s a breakdown of the key categories of trading tools and what they do:

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🔧 1. Charting & Technical Analysis Tools

These help you analyze price action and trends.

TradingView: Most popular charting platform for retail traders. Offers technical indicators, drawing tools, and community scripts.

MetaTrader 4/5 (MT4/MT5): Widely used in forex trading, supports algorithmic trading via Expert Advisors (EAs).

Thinkorswim (by TD Ameritrade): Advanced charting with built-in scanning tools.

Indicators: Moving Averages, RSI, MACD, Bollinger Bands, Fibonacci Retracements.

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📊 2. Market Scanners & Screeners

Used to find trading opportunities based on custom filters.

Finviz: Great for stock screening based on technical and fundamental metrics.

Trade Ideas: AI-powered scanner with strategy testing.

Crypto Screener (CoinMarketCap, Messari): For filtering crypto assets by volume, change, market cap, etc.

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📰 3. News & Sentiment Tools

Helps you track market-moving news in real-time.

Benzinga Pro: Fast news and audio squawk for traders.

Bloomberg Terminal: Professional-grade news and analytics (very expensive).

Twitter/X, Reddit (r/WallStreetBets): For retail sentiment and breaking headlines.

Market Sentiment Tools: Fear & Greed Index (CNN), Put/Call Ratio, VIX (Volatility Index).

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⚙️ 4. Order Execution Platforms

Where you place trades.

Brokers: Robinhood (easy UI), Interactive Brokers (advanced), eToro (social trading), Webull.

Crypto Exchanges: Binance, Coinbase Pro, Kraken.

Order Types: Market, Limit, Stop, Trailing Stop, OCO (One Cancels the Other).

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📈 5. Backtesting & Strategy Builders

Used to test trading strategies on historical data.

TradingView Pine Script: Create and backtest indicators/strategies.