So you’re a brand new investor still looking to find your footing in the wide world of stock trading? That’s great! What you need to know is that there are tools available to you that can aid in this conquest. What may also be helpful is the fact that you do not have to use only what is given to you from one particular investment site or another. You have options to choose which ones are right for you.
Many brokers offer investors portfolio tools within the platform that are designed to help them track their investments each step of the way. This is nice of them to offer this, but it does not guarantee that these are the right tools for a particular investor.
Typically, broker based tracking tools just show what investments are contained within that particular account. These tracking tools may break down the investments by type, but they often do little more than that. They are simply a visual representation of what is already there. That is not quite as useful as some other third party tools available.
Third party investment tracking tools not only break down the investments into segments, but can show performance over extended periods of time. They can show how one type of investment has fared against other types, and some of these portfolio tools are even powerful enough to make projections into the future based on what has happened in the past. While they cannot predict how any particular investment will do with 100% certainty, they can help investors better see how things have been going and how they might continue going in the future.
What many do not realize is that they need to track investments in order to remain excited about the process. More powerful tools means more facts and statistics that can be wonderfully exciting and keep investors doing what they have been doing in order to generate strong returns into the future.
Serious investors should consider their broker based portfolio tracking tools as just the starting point. They can be used for a quick look at the performance of investments. However, a more formal and more detailed view of these same investments requires a more in-depth look at the numbers. That can only be done by third party tools.
Consider all options available to you and use all that seem reasonable to use. Small subscription versions in particular are helpful to those just starting out on their investing journey.