Key Takeaways You can backtest just about anything—stocks, options, futures, and forex trading strategies Backtesting can help transform untested investment ideas into a time-tested strategy Backtesting may help you make better calculated risks, but know that past performance doesn’t guarantee future outcomes It may sound strange, but three common phrases you often hear in the […]

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Key Takeaways The screener tool allows investors to find potential investment ideas by filtering through stocks, options, mutual funds, and ETFs Screeners can help investors focus on equities that meet their investing strategy and criteria Selecting a good stock or mutual fund to invest in isn’t always easy. Oftentimes, the selection process can be overwhelming […]

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Key Takeaways The Market Maker Move (MMM) indicator shows up on the thinkorswim® platform when the market is pricing in excess volatility The MMM can be particularly useful during earnings season Stock traders may use MMM to price entries and exits, while option traders might use it for strike selection If you’re an active trader, you […]

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Key Takeaways The Activity and Positions subtab allows you to customize your columns, create groups, and arrange your current positions by order The Account Statement subtab gives you a snapshot of your entire account Forex traders can see account statements in the FX Reports subtab, and option traders can roll strategies using the Strategy Roller […]

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Key Takeaways Three popular trend-following indicators are moving averages, moving average convergence divergence (MACD), and Parabolic SAR Get to know trend-following indicators by experimenting with different ones Trend-following indicators can be used on their own or combined with other indicators Many traders, especially those using technical analysis in their trading, often focus on trends. And […]

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Key Takeaways The company profile tool can help investors discover what’s creating a company’s value Investigate companies’ revenue-generating divisions and get a breakdown of what’s driving particular areas The tool can help investors learn if the company’s stock is potentially overvalued or undervalued While many investors use the thinkorswim® Mobile platform to make quick, convenient […]

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Key Takeaways Learn how to decode implied volatility percentile and understand how it can give you an overall picture of an underlying asset’s volatility Know which volatility measures might be helpful for indicating if volatility is relatively high or low Identify options strategies appropriate for high-volatility versus low-volatility environments In this world—they say—change is the […]

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Key Takeaways The thinkorswim trading platform has different versions: desktop, web, and mobile All TD Ameritrade account owners can access all thinkorswim products  All thinkorswim products are interconnected, so you can access watchlists, scans, and other tools across all platforms Trading is a passion. You can’t live without it, even when you’re on vacation. You may […]

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Key Takeaways Understand what cost basis means and how it can affect your taxable capital gains and losses TD Ameritrade offers a simple way to figure out your cost basis Know how to view your positions in terms of realized and unrealized gains/losses and export the data for tax purposes The term cost basis may sound […]

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Key Takeaways Rolling an options trade can offer some advantages as a position approaches expiration Rolling covered calls is a good way to begin learning about rolling options Learn how to use the Strategy Roller® on the thinkorswim® platform to roll your options positions You put a lot of thought into an options trade. Everything on your […]

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