Key Takeaways Margin on futures can help establish a relatively large position, but it also adds certain risks A certain amount of money, the maintenance margin, must always be maintained on deposit with a futures broker When losses exceed maintenance margin, it may trigger a “margin call” at any time during the trading day Levers […]

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Key Takeaways Understand the difference between implied and historical volatility and how to use them to analyze overall options volatility Know how to analyze relationships between options prices and other metrics such as options greeks and volatility values Learn how to apply implied volatility, historical volatility, and price relationships to help make options trading decisions […]

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Key Takeaways Trading multiple time frames can be helpful for identifying short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term trends Viewing a longer-term chart first gives you a “big picture” view of price movement and the direction of the primary trend Using shorter-term charts can help you identify entry and exit points Traders, are you looking only at the […]

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Key Takeaways Volume-weighted average price (VWAP) can be used to help identify liquidity at specific price points during the trading day VWAP can be used to identify price action based on volume at a given period during the trading day Pullbacks and breakouts with respect to VWAP can be useful for identifying potential entry and […]

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Key Takeaways When applying technical indicators, first start by looking at the overall market Next, look for stocks that are moving in sync with the overall market Come up with a set of indicators to use for trending markets, consolidating markets, and breakouts With hundreds of technical indicators available, it can be difficult to select […]

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Key Takeaways Moving average convergence divergence (MACD) is a momentum indicator that may help identify the strength, direction, and duration of a stock trend MACD crossovers can help indicate when a trend is starting or slowing MACD divergences can be used to spot trend reversals It’s a mouthful. But the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator […]

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Key Takeaways Understand how market internals can give you a big-picture view of the markets Know how to use indicators such as NYSE advances versus declines, the A/D line, and the number of stocks moving above a moving average Once you know if a trend is likely to continue or reverse, you can revert to […]

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Key Takeaways Become familiar with the different charting features available on thinkorswim Understand how to compare charts, create drawing alerts, and backtest strategies directly from price charts  Use the expansion area of a price chart to identify future corporate actions and probable price ranges There are plenty of charting programs out there. But seriously, why […]

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