Idea Generation Tools

There are a lot of ways to come up with trade ideas, including subscription-based services. Briefing.com is one of the most popular, offering everything from live market updates to initial public offering previews to emerging growth stock opportunities. Another service, Seasonalysis, identifies seasonal stock trends.

The other way traders research a stock is through fundamental analysis, and that involves digging into financial statements, company news and outside research reports written by professional analysts. When you do this, you get a clear picture of how individual companies and industries are doing, and that can lead to trade ideas.

Brokers often provide this information from third-party sources; the more research available, the better. Fidelity in particular is known for its breadth of research.