A trading system is not needed for the long term investor or swing trader. I do believe a trading system is required for the short term day trader. This is a very tough game and I believe in order to gain an upper hand in the short term game you need to have all the right tools in place.

I’m a very visual trader, this means I like to see what is happening in the markets, and like to watch a lot of charts to catch breakouts. My system consist of 8 19″ lcds running off 1 computer. There are 4 video cards powering the system which creates one large desktop.

My trading software of choice is Quotetracker which is free and integrates with hundreds of online brokers. Quotetracker was recently bought by Ameritrade. I use line and candlestick charts. I tie a few of my windows together which means when I change the ticker on one window it will change for all the windows in my group. This quickly lets me see what is happening with a particular stock. Quotetracker can follow the bid and ask price and be setup for 1 click trading.

I also use microcaptrade service which lists the top 400 stocks under $5 including otcbb and pinksheets. If you plan to daytrade I recommend at least 3 screens and get familiar and fast with the software you use.