The Quickest Way to Figure Out Whats Happening to Your Stock & Helpful Tips on Leveraging Social Media
The Quickest Way to Figure Out Whats Happening to Your Stock & Helpful Tips on Leveraging Social Media
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Forward: Have you ever been blindsided by a quick and sharp price change of one
of the securities you're holding? When you're making a profit it
isn't an issue, but when you're losing money you have a choice to make;
either hold, sell, or average down. Before we begin please consider the
following scenario's. In doing so you will better understand the
importance of quickly determining what is driving the price action on
your security.
- Scenario 1: You've bought shares and its seems to be going well when suddenly there is a large amount of price action surrounding the security. You have no clue whats going on. All you know is that you are either making some serious money or losing some serious money, depending on the direction of stock value. Nevertheless, good or bad, you want to know whats driving this ASAP so you will know how to play it.
- Scenario 2: You are patiently waiting for your predetermined entry point on a security that you have done your due diligence on. Suddenly you find out that there is a massive amount buying or selling pressure on the security. Now you want to know whats going on ASAP so you can determine your next course of action.
- Observation: These scenarios have happened to all of us at one time or another. They will no doubt happen to us again. If the news is bad you'll want to know "how bad?" If the news is good you'll want to know "how good?" Any responsible trader would. If the security is dumping on news you may see a good place to enter, or perhaps, will want to re-evaluate the security (Particularly if you are waiting of the ideal price after doing your due diligence). Perhaps you may want to average down. Maybe the news is so bad that you determine it is destined to go lower, and you are willing to accept a small loss to prevent the greater loss. If the news is good you may want to re-evaluate the security and enter at a higher price. Perhaps you'll take profit. Perhaps you'll want to buy more. No matter what the situation, you'll immediately want to know what is going on with the security that you either monitor or own.
Overview: The
purpose of this entry is to provide a guide on how to quickly and
efficiently find out whats going on with a security, so that traders can
be properly informed and develop a sound course of action resulting in
both profitability and mitigation of risk. The inspiration behind
this is to help traders who are frequently frustrated when they cannot
identify what is driving their security. However, there are plenty
of other applications and tips that will also help traders stay on top
of the news surrounding their investment. The resources to be discussed
are the following:
- Stocktwits
- SEC RSS Feeds
- Seeking Alpha App
- Search Engine News Tab
- Company Investor Relations/News Web-page
- Google Alerts
- Twitter & Facebook
- YouTube
- Your Trading Platform
- Webull
1. Stocktwits: Stocktwits (ST)
does a decent job of alerting you when the price of a security on your
watch-list is trending up or down. It also alerts you when a ton of
people begin posting on a particular security in your watch list (Ensure you have push notifications enabled).
More often than not you can go to your stocks' forum and tell
immediately whats going on simply by reading the comments. If there is
big news attached to a security there is usually a news article assigned
to the "NEWSWIRE" toward the top of the comment page (Funny that so many users of ST ignore this). Moreover there are a number of bots (3 or 4 of them to be exact) that will instantly post in the comment section of a ticker when earnings are announced or an SEC Form is published in EDGAR. My favorite bot is "Newsfilter." I personally subscribe to the bots. However, if you choose to both subscribe and opt to be alerted
by the bots on your mobile device, you'd better carry an external
battery for your phone. You will get frequent alerts of everything the
bots post throughout the day and it can get rather annoying. Also if you
get pay-walled by the bots (It happens sometimes, they'll hook you in on news and ask you to pay for the service" know that the information they provide is publicly available. (Note: Other bots and resourceful accounts I like to follow are Shortvolume, Ratings, eWhispers, Estimize, & TradeIdeasQuant). If you are into high risk penny stocks you can follow pennystocksmom and topstockalerts (Use only as a starting place where to look, always do your penny stock DD).
Nevertheless, if there is major price action surrounding your security,
Stocktwits is a good resource to find out whats going on. Remember to
verify the the information if your source is an individual on ST.
Stocktwits Summary:
- Alerts you when a stock on your watch-list is significantly increasing or decreasing in value.
- Alerts you when there are higher than normal amounts of chat circulating around a particular stock.
- Has a "NEWSWIRE" attached to each stock forum that shows the most recent news.
- Bots automatically alert in the appropriate stock forum when earnings are released, SEC Forms are filed, and sometimes if there is big news surrounding a company.
- Can be a great place to ask others for a quick response if you don't know whats going on.
- Can be a great place to share tradinganalysisresources.com with your friends! 👍
2. SEC RSS Feeds: Many traders are unaware that the SEC's EDGAR database has a really simple syndication feed, otherwise known as an "RSS Feed." You can search your company using the FAST SEARCH feature in
EDGAR and you will instantly see the RSS symbol above your search
returns. Input the feed into your favorite RSS reader. That way when an 8-K
is filed notifying shareholders of an offering or an exercised warrant,
you will be among the first to have the information available to you.
You will also be among the first to read 10-K's & 10-Q's. However there can sometimes be drawbacks. For one, a company can release the PR first and file the SEC Form 8-K later. However when it comes to bad news like exercised warrants and offerings they usually just file the 8-K and
surprise everyone. But good news, on the other hand, is usually
released by the company ASAP on their investor relations web-page (Note that earnings calls can come before the 10-Q, so don't think you're going to get a leg up on earnings) Another
draw back is that RSS readers need to be refreshed to update. That
means you want an RSS reader that both refreshes often, and alerts you
when a new filing hits. If you know of one please leave a comment below.
I understand they are out there, but hard to find. And I don't want to
spend money on apps before I am certain they will function the way I
want them to. In any case, if you want to be alerted first on SEC
Filings I suggest subscribing to your company's RSS feed in EDGAR. For a guide to understanding SEC filings please click (HERE) The SEC RSS feed feature is included for every publicly traded company and can be a solid proactive way to mitigate surprises.
SEC RSS Feed Summary:
- Good for being the first to receive SEC Filings like 8-K's, 10-K's & 10-Q's.
- Best used with an RSS Feed reader that will refresh often and alert you to filing updates.
3. Seeking Alpha App: I love the Seeking Alpha
mobile app. If you enable push notifications it will automatically
alert you to anything published regarding the stocks on your watch list.
Within seconds of an earnings call you will have GAAP EPS, Non GAAP
EPS, and revenue complete with how much they either beat or fell short
of earnings expectations. After the earnings call they'll post a full
transcript of what was said. Seeking Alpha will also push out an alert
if there is breaking news and analysis surrounding your security as
well. If a major ratings agency upgrades or downgrades a stock on your
watch list, you'll be alerted to that too. Additionally, if you DO NOT
have a stock on your watch-list, but you want to know whats going on,
you can simply go to the Seeking Alpha website,
put the ticker of your choice into the search bar, click search, click
the news tab, and all the news of offerings, warrants, PR, earnings,
filings, and more will appear from most recent to earliest. Finally,
Seeking Alpha has the added bonus of regularly reporting a daily economic calendar (usually around 12:00 a.m.) on their general news feed.
So you can wake up in the morning and see what the Fed is scheduled to
do, when and what economic data sets are coming out (Like unemployment
numbers, manufacturing, or GDP), and much more! Seeking Alpha
can be an excellent resource for figuring out whats going on with your
security. In many cases they beat the ST bots to the punch.
Seeking Alpha App Summary:
- Alerts you to everything published to a ticker on your watch list (enable push notifications).
- Quick way to receive GAAP EPS/Non GAAP EPS and quarterly revenue immediately after earnings; and to figure out how much they beat or fell short of earnings estimates.
- Quick way to receive updates on SEC Filings, Press Releases, & ratings upgrades and downgrades.
- Easy to review what economic data is coming out the following day.
4. Search Engine News Tab: If
the answer to what I'm looking for cannot be found in either Stocktwits
nor Seeking Alpha, I utilize one of two methods to resolve the
information gap. One of those methods is a simple internet search. I
prefer Bing, as Google
can load you down with paid ads and artificially promoted content.
Nevertheless the search engines have become perfectly acclimatized to
people typing in tickers and hitting the search button. Follow that up
with clicking on the news tab and you should receive news on your ticker
from most recent to most early with a time stamp next to it. Indeed,
sometimes the news driving your security is not from a source that finds
its way to Seeking Alpha or Stock Twits. Or perhaps, it simply hasn't
made it there yet. There have been a number of times when I undertook
this method only to stop as a result of eventually being notified by
Seeking Alpha, albeit later than what I would have liked.
Search Engine News Tab Summary:
- Good for finding information that has yet to make it to Seeking Alpha or Stocktwits.
- Good for finding information from alternative news sources.
5. Company Investor Relations/News Web-page: The
other option I alluded to before is simply to check a company's
Investor Relations or News Web-page. Sometimes these two are
separate and sometimes they are together. Sometimes a company gives
investors the opportunity to sign up for a news letter. If you are
invested in a company, you really should sign up for their news letter.
In fact, you should have a separate email account for just this sort of
information. That way you wont need to sift through all the other emails
you receive in your personal account. You may even want to be alerted
when you receive an email in your trading email account (So set up alerts).
Nevertheless if the information isn't appearing anywhere else it may be
on the investor relations web-page. Indeed, some companies release PR
there first.
Company Investor Relations/News Web-page Summary:
- Can sometimes be the first place to release PR.
- Some companies allow you to subscribe to investor relations and news alerts.
6. Google Alerts: Google Alerts
is a service where Google screens the web and sends its findings into
the inbox of your choosing. You can tell Google exactly what to search
for, and if you're good at boolean search terms, you can place many
searches into one. You can even limit Google to searching certain
sources so as to leave out false positives. One draw back is that you
can only program it to do so many searches every so often. So see Google
Alerts as a way of being reactive to possible data sources, not
proactive. However Google Alerts may scoop up data not found anywhere
else.
Google Alerts Summary:
- Is reactive not proactive.
- Can scoop up data and news not found elsewhere.
7. Twitter & Facebook: If you are invested in a company you really should subscribe to their Twitter account. Their Facebook account
too for that matter. In fact I recommend you have a Facebook and
Twitter account solely for following the businesses you're invested in.
That way you aren't clogging up your own accounts (And if I may be so bold, please share tradinganalysisresources.com on your Twitter and Facebook accounts. Share the knowledge please).
Nevertheless, if the company is going to release PR they will certainly
use Twitter and Facebook to do it, and they often do. I've even seen
securities pump or dump based on a tweet from the company Twitter
account or a random tweet from a company officer. I've additionally seen
PR released on Twitter and Facebook before it was released on the
company web page. Always enable push notifications and ensure you enable
alerts when you subscribe to a company's Twitter or Facebook Page. This
one is a must! And if you aren't already, you may want to follow
President Trumps Twitter feed as well. The markets from time to time
have been known to move on his tweets.
Twitter & Facebook Summary:
- Can subscribe and receive instant alerts from a company.
- Sometimes tweets and Facebook posts come out quicker than investor relations PR.
- Sometimes stocks move on tweets from influential people within the company (Official Company Accounts).
- Sometimes the company investor relations department with have a twitter feed.
- Awesome places to share tradinganalysisresources.com with your friends! 💪
Note:
Please DO NOT harass or follow personal twitter feeds or Facebook
Accounts of corporate officers, workers, or staff. This can get you into
some serious trouble!
8. YouTube: I
once held a position in Biocept (BIOC); A penny stock that was
expecting an upcoming catalyst related to COVID-19 tests. On May 13th
2020 out of the middle of nowhere BIOC began to pump hard. I searched
all over the place and could not figure out why. The full day went by
but I wasn't complaining, because I was making a solid profit.
Eventually someone on Stocktwits showed me what all of the commotion was
over. The CEO of Biocept did an interview with "Proactive: Global Financial News," a little known media company on YouTube.
If I had just went to YouTube, searched for "BIOC," and adjusted the
filter to posts made either "Today" or "This Week," I would have likely
bought more BIOC for a quick day trade. I had never used YouTube for
much of a source. Sure, I would search around on Youtube every now and
then to see what others were saying about a ticker, or perhaps, see what
the company itself had posted, but I never thought it would drive a
security. With this in mind, if you cant find whats driving a security
anywhere else check YouTube. Better yet, if you are invested in a
company subscribe to their YouTube channel.
YouTube Summary:
- A good place to better understand a company and what they do
- Businesses sometimes release PR on YouTube
- CEO's sometimes do interviews on YouTube
9. Your Trading Platform: Many
trading platforms have different features that alert you to news and
keep you informed on your investments. A platform that does not do this
is a bad platform! Sure, most trading apps give you news late, but late
is still something. One of the reasons I switched from Robinhood to Webull,
aside from the frequent crashes and glitches, or the poor trading
hours, was the lack of solid news on companies that weren't Apple,
Microsoft, Tesla, and the like. Indeed Robinhood charged me for news and
analysis, and if the news was there at all, it was always stale. A
trading platform should also be an information platform. If your trading
app is not, its time to switch.
10. Webull: As indicated before, I switched to Webull
out of my lack of satisfaction with Robinhood. However, when I first
downloaded Webull, I was using it to supplement Robinhood with the news
and data that Robinhood was not providing. Indeed, before it was a
trading app Webull was a stock information and screening app. Like
Stocktwits, Webull has a news tab that demonstrates all of the most
recent PR. Also like Stocktwits, each ticker has a forum where the
Webull community can comment. While this isn't necessarily as good as
Stocktwits, it functions similarly and proved helpful to me on many
occasions. For example, if there is news on a security you hold, you
will be alerted and messaged in your Webull inbox. I also like to know
immediately when a security moves violently in either direction. All of
my investments on Webull have alerts pre-set to monitor for large
swings. The user can customize alerts to how much of a (%) is alert
worthy, or more simply if they want, just plug in the price they want to
be alerted at. This is useful, because it prevents traders from
frequently checking their phones to see where their stocks are trading.
It also enables investors to know immediately when there is unusual
price action. Finally, if I am researching a security or looking for an
entry point, Webull comes loaded with customisable screeners to help me
judge value, oversold, overbought, crossing different moving averages,
and too many more to explain here. I can then set my alerts, and if the
security dips to my pre-determined entry point, I can do a quick once
over to ensure the news isn't too bad, and enter.
Webull Summary:
- Has a news feed and comment board for each security like Stocktwits.
- Can set numerous customisable alerts on one security to let you know if your stocks are moving violently up or down.
- Can set up customisable screeners to help you determine future investments.
- Sends alerts to you as news updates to Webull regarding companies you are invested in.
- Webulls paid data services is data overkill!
Conclusion: Not
all of these services will work as designed 100% of the time. I've been
failed by a few. The important thing is that they are the best free way
to get information on your securities as fast as possible. If you
are aware of other resources and methods, please leave a comment below.
As always I hope this has been instructive to you and will lead to more
informed decisions and higher profits. God bless and safe trading!
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