Review of Schwab's StreetSmartPro Software
Active Investors Should Carefully Compare Stock Trading Platforms
Mar 30, 2009
For stock and option traders, knowledge can mean power over the financial markets, but lots of features and options in a software package don’t always translate into significant trading returns. Active investors should also consider what they actually need to reach their monetary goals, and assess how accessible those important tools are within a particular trading platform. Charles Schwab’s StreetSmartPro may be an ideal choice for some traders; here’s an up-close look at the software.
Watchlists
For most traders, every stock pick under consideration starts out as one of many possible trading ideas listed on a watchlist. The more flexible this list is, and the more ways it segregates those tickers into specific sub-lists, the better. StreetSmartPro allows six watchlist windows to be open at a time, with 20 watchlists per each window. The individual watchlists are limited to 100 tickers, which is more than adequate for any trader. All told, traders could monitor up to 12,000 tickers at a time, which is approaching the total number of publicly-traded stocks.
The only drawback to the watchlist is a minor one. To add or subtract a ticker or index symbol to a watchlist, the appropriate spot or line on the list is “right-clicked” with the mouse, opening up a dialog box from which a ticker can be deleted with another mouse click, or a ticker can be added by typing the symbol with the insert-ticker window.
It’s only one extra step compared to a spreadsheet-type window (in which you can add or subtract directly into or from that cell), but for a trader who frequently adds and removes tickers from a watchlist, the extra step can become a bit of a nuisance.
Charting
Charting may well be StreetSmartPro’s strongest feature, not only from an appearance point of view, but also from a usability standpoint.
All facets of the chart’s appearance can be customized and saved for later use, such as font, colors, size, time frames, and the amount of loaded data. The display is crisp, and the data loads very quickly.
Where Schwab’s charting platform really tops the competition, however, is the time frame tabs appearing at the top of each chart window. For traders who study a chart over various time frames (such as weekly, daily, and hourly), one click of the mouse will take the user to a different time frame view for the same stock or index.
All of the basic, and most of the advanced, technical indicators can be plotted on StreetSmartPro’s charts,
Trading ‘System’ Building
If a technical indicator is capable of behaving in such a way that it can yield a specific trade entry or exit signal, then this platform is capable of turning that chart pattern into a specific rule that will not only test the profit performance of that signal, but also show a trader all the stocks that are experiencing said signal at any particular point in time. Thus, a ‘system’ can be built.
The platform does not, however, allow for the construction of highly-customized signals. All of its trading signals rely on common technical indicators behaving in a very specific manner, such as crossovers, or reaching threshold levels. This may be a drawback for traders with higher-level, complicated systems. For most straight-forward system users though, this is not an issue.
Real Trading Integration
A simple double-click on any tradable instrument is all that’s needed to open up the streamlined trading dialog box. The action can be performed from any window where the symbol appears, whether it be a chart, a watchlist, or from a system signal window. The trade turnaround time (between idea to execution) can be as little as a few seconds. Many platforms offer similar utilities, but StreetSmartPro’s is one of the fastest and most intuitive.
Portfolio Monitor
Yes, this active trading platform offers windows that monitor the profitability of each individual trade. It’s simple, adequate, and can be fully customized.
Scanning and Sorting
As was mentioned above, a list of trading ideas can be created at any time based on pre-determined signals. However, a handful of built-in utilities can show a user which stocks are making the biggest gains or losses, which stocks are trading on unusually high volume, and which stocks are hitting new highs or new lows.
Cost
The good news for qualifying Charles Schwab customers is that StreetSmartPro is free; a modest number of trades need to be executed to qualify for access to the platform. The bad news for non-clients is that StreetSmartPro is not available to anyone except qualified Schwab clients. Given the broker’s competitive commission pricing and no-fee accounts though, becoming a client may well be worth the effort to have access to StreetSmartPro.
Related Reading
 |
 |
 |
 |
