Must Have Equipment for Stock Trading

Trading, and the necessary equipment to trade, have come a long way since the early days of the stock exchange. These days anyone can do it all from the comfort of our own homes, no shirt, no shoes, no problem. But what happens when your computer starts sounding like a jet engine during peak trading hours?

Having a reliable trading computer gives you comfort in knowing your setup wont fail you when you need it most. In this blog we will go through the equipment you will need to manage your trades depending on your activity level.

Table of Contents

Levels of Trader Equipment

Level 1 - Minimal

If you plan on being mostly a passive trader, never needing real-time access to data or information throughout the day, then you probably fall under this category. At this level of involvement, you will most surely need a cell phone to track your brokerage account(s) and place orders on the market for your positions. If you plan on doing more intensive charting and research, your broker will most likely provide all the detail you’d need. Alternatively, you could subscribe to a third party charting platform like TradingView.

Level 2 - Moderate

For traders who will be more active in the market, potentially monitoring stocks for entries into swing or day trade positions. You may not be trading or at a computer every day or waking hour of the market, but there are times when you like to sit down and lock in some screen time.

At this level of involvement, you will surely need a cell phone and at least 1 computer to help monitor and maintain your portfolio. You may be subscribed to a charting platform and maybe even a news feed service for helping you find trades throughout the day.

Level 3 - Max

If you are a level 3 max trader, then you have a multi monitor setup so you can view multiple charts & feeds at the same time. You most likely even run a TV in your office to watch financial shows like CNBC during market hours. You are glued to your computer(s) and cell phone constantly monitoring stock market prices throughout the day.

At this level of involvement, you will surely need at least 1 computer and two monitors. You are definitely subscribed to at least 1 news feed and use third party charting to supplement your brokerage data. You are a part of multiple trading communities and think about stocks the majority of the day. You love it.

Best Equipment For Traders

Of course depending on the level of involvement/strategy you trade, the equipment could vary. Most traders will get away with a very basic setup, and possibly no extra equipment. A phone and computer might be the extent of gear a new trader will need to get started.

A more serious trader, specifically a trader looking to engage in a form of Day Trading, will require a more extensive setup. We will go over the most important tools a trader will need in this instance.

Computer

Most brokerages and third party trading software runs on PC (Windows). If you have a mac, you can get away with running some software that operates on their OS. Most likely you will need to run software like Parallels on your mac to run most trading software.

If you are serious about trading, your best option is to start thinking about getting the right PC. No matter if you choose a desktop or laptop, you will need to be sure you are looking at adequate machines running good hardware, memory, processor, graphics card(s), & multiple outputs for flexible displays formatting.

Here are some great trading computers:

Laptops: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=trading+laptops&i=computers&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Desktops: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=trading+desktop+computers&i=computers&ref=nb_sb_noss

Monitors

For additional displays, there is no shortage of options. Depending on your room constraints, you can get additional screens from common sizes of 24” – 32”. These can range in price from $100 > $500 depending on quality. Most screens are at least 1080p and a lot are now 4k and higher in resolution. The more resolution you get in a monitor, the more real estate you can fit as far as charts/scanners/feeds/etc.

You must remember that the higher resolution and larger the scanner, the more computing power you will need, especially in the form of a graphics card.

We recommend starting small, build your system up as you get more familiar!

Looking for an all in one system? Check out Falcon Trading Systems: https://www.falcontradingsystems.com/

We hoped you liked our simple breakdown of essential trading equipment! Now, we hope that you have a better ideas of what you will need to acquire to get started trading. To learn more about trading equipment or have any questions or comments, feel free to use the contact form below to get in touch with us.

Must Have Stock Trading Equipment