Look to see what the US markets did after you have gone home; it also helps to see what happened in the Asian markets. The key things to look for are buying or selling pressure, it also helps if you write down the levels of the stocks you plan to trade for the following day, make a note of the support and resistance along with the previous days high’s and low’s.

It makes good sense to check where the ADR’s*(see next page) of the large stocks closed the night before in the US, so you can get a good idea whether there was buying or selling pressure after you finished the day.

Before you start trading it is key to have some idea of what stocks might be active on that day and there are various tools to help you do this these include:

Reuters
GNI European morning Report
Dow Jones European Stock News

Before your start your day it is also important to know if there is any equity earning being issued on that day as it could have an impact on what you plan to trade. Make a note of the earnings that are due for release and get some info on the expected. Remember that the most important releases will be the ones that are released during your trading day because they can provide volatility so particular importance should be given to those.

Keeping an eye on the overall index is also good practise because any key levels in the main index that are broken could affect the individual stocks within it. Obviously Reuters, Bloomberg, e-mails, internet, TV also provide continuous data throughout your trading day so it is important to keep an eye on the screens!

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