Day Trading Alerts
Day trading alerts can be a powerful tool in helping to identify short-term trading opportunities and manage risk. For example, you could set an alert in your broker’s app to notify you when the price of Apple (AAPL) stock reaches a certain level, prompting a buy or sell action.
This guide will catalog the different types of trading alerts out there, explain how they can enhance a day trader’s returns, and discuss the key things to consider when choosing an alert provider.
Best Brokers With Day Trading Alerts
Following our hands-on tests, these are the 6 highest-rated brokers with day trading alerts, available through desktop platforms and mobile apps:
Here is a short overview of each broker's pros and cons
- NinjaTrader - NinjaTrader is a US-headquartered and regulated brokerage that specializes in futures trading. There are three pricing plans to suit different needs and budgets, as well as ultra-low margins on popular contracts. The brand's award-winning charting software and trading platform also offers a high-degree of customization and superb technical analysis features.
- Dukascopy - Established in 2004, Dukascopy Bank SA is a Swiss online bank and brokerage providing short-term trading opportunities on 1,200+ instruments, including binaries. A choice of accounts (JForex, MT4/5, Binary Options) and sophisticated platforms (JForex, MT4/MT5) deliver powerful tools and market data for active traders.
- Moomoo - Moomoo is an SEC-regulated app-based investment platform that offers a straightforward and affordable way to invest in Chinese, Hong Kong, Singaporean, Australian and US stocks, ETFs and other assets. Margin trading is available and the brand offers a zero-deposit account as well as several bonuses.
- Videforex - Launched in 2017, Videforex offers access to stock, index, crypto, forex and commodities markets via binary options and CFDs. The proprietary platform, mobile app and integrated copy trading are user-friendly and will suit new and casual traders, and the market analysis tools and trading contests provide good ways to improve your trading skills.
- xChief - xChief is a foreign exchange and CFD broker, established in 2014. The company is based offshore and registered with the VFSC and FMA. Users can choose between a wide selection of accounts and base currencies, making ForexChief accessible to global traders. The brand also stands out for its no deposit bonus and fee rebates for high-volume traders.
- Binarium - Binarium is an established international broker offering binary options trading on diverse markets including stocks, indices, forex, commodities and cryptocurrencies. Traders can start trading with as little as $1 and earn payouts up to 80% of their stake.
NinjaTrader
"NinjaTrader continues to meet the demands of active futures traders looking for low fees and premium analysis tools. The platform hosts top-rate charting features including hundreds of indicators and 10+ chart types."
Tobias Robinson, Reviewer
NinjaTrader Quick Facts
| Demo Account | Yes |
|---|---|
| Instruments | Forex, Stocks, Options, Commodities, Futures, Crypto |
| Regulator | NFA, CFTC |
| Platforms | NinjaTrader Desktop, Web & Mobile, eSignal |
| Minimum Deposit | $0 |
| Minimum Trade | 0.01 Lots |
| Leverage | 1:50 |
| Account Currencies | USD |
Pros
- Low fees are offered, with $50 day trading margins & commissions from $.09 per micro contract
- NinjaTrader is a widely respected and award-winning futures broker and is heavily authorized by the NFA and CFTC
- Traders can get free platform access and trade simulation capabilities in the unlimited demo
Cons
- There is a withdrawal fee on some funding methods
- The premium platform tools come with an extra charge
- Non forex and futures trading requires signing up with partner brokers
Dukascopy
"If you’re an experienced trader, Dukascopy provides the tools you need: JForex for algorithmic strategies, competitive spreads from 0.1 pips, leverage up to 1:200, and the peace of mind of using a Swiss-regulated bank and broker."
Christian Harris, Reviewer
Dukascopy Quick Facts
| Bonus Offer | 10% Equity Bonus |
|---|---|
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Instruments | CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Crypto, Bonds, Binary Options |
| Regulator | FINMA, JFSA, FCMC |
| Platforms | JForex, MT4, MT5 |
| Minimum Deposit | $100 |
| Minimum Trade | 0.01 Lots |
| Leverage | 1:200 |
| Account Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, JPY, ZAR, TRY, SEK, NOK, DKK, CHF, HKD, SGD, PLN, CZK, AED, SAR, HUF, MXN |
Pros
- Dukascopy features some of the best research we’ve seen, even a professional TV studio in Geneva covering financial news, market analysis, and daily insights from professionals.
- Dukascopy is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) as both a broker and a bank, ensuring top-tier financial security and adherence to strict standards.
- The proprietary JForex platform is highly advanced, offering tools for algorithmic trading, extensive charting, and access to deep liquidity for short-term traders.
Cons
- Some account types, such as the MT4/MT5 accounts, require a higher minimum deposit of $1,000, which may not be ideal for traders with smaller budgets.
- While Dukascopy provides some educational resources and 24/7 support, the complexity of its platforms and tools required extensive testing and may overwhelm newer traders.
- Dukascopy's withdrawal fees are higher than most competitors we’ve tested, particularly for bank wire transfers, which may deter traders who require frequent access to their funds.
Moomoo
"Moomoo remains an excellent choice for new and intermediate stock traders who want to build a diverse investment portfolio. What really stands out is the broker's user-friendly app and the low trading fees."
Jemma Grist, Reviewer
Moomoo Quick Facts
| Bonus Offer | Get up to 15 free stocks worth up to $2000 |
|---|---|
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Instruments | Stocks, Options, ETFs, ADRs, OTCs |
| Regulator | SEC, FINRA, MAS, ASIC, SFC |
| Platforms | Desktop Platform, Mobile App |
| Minimum Deposit | $0 |
| Minimum Trade | $0 |
| Leverage | 1:2 |
| Account Currencies | USD, HKD, SGD |
Pros
- Moomoo's analytics and insights are impressive and detailed compared to other brands
- There is no minimum deposit requirement making the broker accessible for beginners
- There are reduced options contract fees from $0.65 to $0
Cons
- It's a shame that there is no 2 factor authentication (2FA), despite the other security features on offer
- There is no phone or live chat support - common options at most other brokers
- There is no negative balance protection, which is a common safety feature at top-tier-regulated brokers
Videforex
"Videforex will serve traders looking for a no-frills, easy-to-use platform to speculate on the direction of popular financial markets through binaries. With a sign-up process that takes a matter of minutes and a web-accessible platform, getting started is a breeze. "
William Berg, Reviewer
Videforex Quick Facts
| Bonus Offer | 20% to 200% Deposit Bonus |
|---|---|
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Instruments | Binary Options, CFDs, Forex, Indices, Commodities, Crypto |
| Platforms | TradingView |
| Minimum Deposit | $250 |
| Minimum Trade | $0.01 |
| Leverage | 1:500 |
| Account Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, RUB |
Pros
- Videforex is one of the few brokers with 24/7 multilingual video support, providing comprehensive assistance for active traders.
- Traders can earn up to 98% payouts on 100+ assets with the broker’s binary options, bringing it in line with competitors like IQCent.
- Videforex regularly runs trading contests, offering practice opportunities and cash prizes to beginners and experienced traders, with position sizes from just ¢0.01.
Cons
- The absence of any educational tools is a serious drawback for newer traders who can find blogs, videos and live trading sessions at category leaders.
- The client terminal needs improvements based on our latest tests, sporting sometimes slow and unresponsive widgets which could dampen the experience for day traders.
- Videforex lacks authorization from a trusted regulator, meaning traders may receive little to zero safeguards like segregated client accounts.
xChief
"xChief continues to prove popular with investors looking to trade highly leveraged CFDs on the popular MetaTrader platforms. The broker's rebate scheme and investment accounts will particularly appeal to seasoned traders. However, the lack of top-tier regulatory oversight is a major drawback."
xChief Quick Facts
| Bonus Offer | $100 No Deposit Bonus |
|---|---|
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Instruments | CFDs, Forex, Metals, Commodities, Stocks, Indices |
| Regulator | ASIC |
| Platforms | MT4, MT5 |
| Minimum Deposit | $10 |
| Minimum Trade | 0.01 Lots |
| Leverage | 1:1000 |
| Account Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF |
Pros
- The broker offers several account types to suit different traders, including a Cent account for beginners and pro-level hedging/netting accounts
- xChief delivers a high-quality day trading environment via the MT4 and MT5 platforms, with market-leading charts, indicators and tools
- xChief offers STP/ECN execution with low spreads from 0.0 pips and low commission rates starting from $2.50 per side
Cons
- Fees and minimums are imposed on most withdrawal methods, including a €60 minimum for SWIFT bank transfers
- The Classic+ and Cent accounts provide access to fewer instruments than the other account types, at 50+ and 35+, respectively
- The total range of 150+ assets is much lower than most competitors who typically offer hundreds
Binarium
"Binarium has been designed with simplicity in mind, featuring a fast, fully digital sign-up process and an intuitive platform and app with 4 chart types and 12 indicators. With binaries spanning 5 minutes to 3 months, it caters to short- and medium-term traders."
Binarium Quick Facts
| Demo Account | Yes |
|---|---|
| Instruments | Forex, Stocks, Cryptos |
| Platforms | Own |
| Minimum Deposit | $5 |
| Minimum Trade | $1 |
| Account Currencies | USD, EUR, AUD, RUB |
Pros
- Binarium claims to segregate client funds with EU banks, meaning traders’ money should not be misused and providing an important layer of protection, which is especially relevant given its offshore status.
- The $10,000 demo account, deposit-doubling welcome bonus, smooth sign-up, and 24/7 support make for an attractive onboarding experience.
- Binarium has the best education centre we’ve seen amongst binary options brands, complete with information on core topics like trading basics and account options, plus professional video guides to using the platform.
Cons
- Despite being operational since 2012, Binarium is an unregulated broker with limited transparency on its website, raising safety concerns and potentially putting your capital at risk.
- Binarium has some way to go to match the investment offering of binary firms like Quotex, with a particularly weak selection of around 20 currencies and 3 cryptocurrencies.
- Payouts of up to 80% are on the low side of binary options platforms based on our evaluations, which may deter traders looking for the possible best returns, though you can get back up to 15% of losing trades.
What Is A Day Trading Alert?
As a short-term trader, you are presented with many hurdles to overcome. How do you choose between thousands of securities? How do you react to news announcements before the market?
This is where day trading alerts come in. Put simply, they alert you when an event takes place.
This event could be a market development, technical indicators, or reaching a specified price target, for example, a notification if the price of gold declines by 1.5% over a four-hour period.
Armed with this information you’re able to act or react swiftly, increasing your chance of yielding a profit. You may want to pay more attention to a security, or know when to enter or exit a trade.
Alerts will flash up on your trading platform when the conditions are met. They can also be sent by email, SMS, and increasingly by push notification on your mobile phone.
You can get straightforward and free trading signals, that come with your trading platform, and you can get additional, complex alerts that come at a price. The complexity of your notifications will depend on your individual trading style and needs.
Types Of Alerts
As technology has rapidly evolved, effective intraday trading alerts can now be found for nearly all markets, including stocks, forex, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.
That said, trading alerts can be broken down into several categories:
Price Alerts
These inform you when prices move by a certain percentage or hit a specific price level.
They are useful because they can immediately notify you when the market breaches support or resistance levels, or encounters a breakout on a price chart – events that often lead to significant price volatility and opportunity for short-term traders.
Technical Alerts
Technical analysis is used extensively by short-term traders, who – after studying charts – can then set up and buy and sell alerts based on an array of popular technical indicators. These include Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), Bollinger Bands, and Ichimoku Cloud.
You can set alerts based on specific conditions or crossovers of these indicators. For instance, I could establish a copper alert on my trading platform to tell me when the MACD line crosses above or below the signal line.
A cross above is a bullish crossover, and an alert in this instance could encourage me to create a buy order for a copper mining stock, such as Rio Tinto (RIO).
News Alerts
Economic reports, geopolitical updates, corporate announcements, market news and other events can have a significant impact on asset prices. Some of the most watched events in the economic calendar include:
- Market-specific supply and demand data (like the weekly US oil rig count)
- Employment data (such as non-farm payrolls in the US)
- Trade numbers (like export data from China)
- GDP data from major economies
- Inflation numbers
News alerts that cover these events – as well as unexpected off-diary occurrences – can help short-term traders stay informed and react to market shifts.
The best news notifications of this sort will come with commentary and analysis to enhance your trading decisions.
Several platforms also allow you to scroll through a tailor-made economic calendar and then tick the events you’d like to set reminders for. They usually allow you to specify how you’d like to be notified, and how much notice you would like.
Pros And Cons Of Using Trading Alerts
Pros
- Opportunity discovery: By alerting you to certain price movements, technical indicators, or news events, you can identify potential entry and exit points and improve your chances of capturing profitable trades.
- Noise reduction: Alerts can streamline the decision-making process, allowing you to block out random market fluctuations and irrelevant information that can obscure meaningful trends or patterns.
- Time efficiency: By setting up notifications, you don’t have to intensively monitor the markets themselves, giving you time to focus on other tasks and refine your short-term trading strategies.
- Speed and accuracy: Some alert systems are now 100% automated, relying on highly accurate maths and removing the human error margin. This also means that the information you need to make a decision can be provided more quickly.
- Risk management: You can minimize risk to your trades by establishing alerts when markets hit certain thresholds, making them an important tool in your risk management arsenal.
Cons
- Technological problems: While technology is rapidly improving, alerts can still convey incorrect or misleading information that provides false trading signals. Notification delays, platform malfunctions, and connectivity issues may also impact your ability to capitalize on trading opportunities or manage risk.
- Over-dependency: Traders can become excessively reliant on alerts to inform dealing decisions. This may dull your ability to adapt to market conditions, lead to overtrading, and hinder the development of analytical skills.
- Increased trading costs: Many brokers offer free alerts, although you can pay third parties for more sophisticated notification systems. While these tools can boost returns, the associated subscription fees or one-off costs can eat into profits.
Choosing An Alert Provider
Hot competition means that brokerages are all investing heavily to provide the best user experience. This is why many increasingly offer trading alert services to their clients.
But with a lot of different companies operating in this industry, what should you consider when deciding which to use?
Based on our direct experience testing a long row of trading alert providers, there are five key things we, and you, should consider:
- Which asset class are you trading? Some specialist notification companies, such as ForexSignals.com, concentrate on certain markets like currencies, while brokers like CMC Markets provide alerts spanning multiple asset classes, from forex to stocks, indices, and commodities.
- How transparent are they? Only choose a service that provides detailed information on their trading strategies, alert methodologies, and performance metrics, notably win rates and average returns. FOREX.com stands out here with its AI-powered Smart Signals engine that provides short-term trade ideas across 4-, 6-, 8- or 12-hour time intervals with a hit rate out of 10.
- Is the alert platform user-friendly? It’s important to select an interface that is easy to use and offers a variety of functions. IG excels here with an intuitive panel in its app that we’ve used to set price alerts, breaking out triggered vs untriggered alerts with accompanying details like price, time and date.
- Do they offer good customer support? Technical problems can be expensive and very frustrating for traders. Try to find out how responsive and effective the provider is in addressing issues, and consider if they provide multiple ways for customers to make contact. XTB has delivered first-class support 24/5 over our years of testing, with integrated live chat in the platform and dedicated account managers.
- What are their fees? Selecting an alert provider requires a trade-off between quality of service and cost. Remember that high fees can take a big bite out of your profits. Opting for a broker with free trading alerts like AvaTrade can help keep fees down. Real-time alerts are available through its web platform and award-winning mobile app.
Many of these questions can only be answered once a provider’s services have been employed. So choosing one that offers a demo account can be a good idea.
We’ve reviewed a growing list of independent trading alert providers over the years, many of which specialize in specific markets and types of trading notifications…
Specialist Trading Alert Providers
Disclaimer – the service providers listed here are not endorsed, or guaranteed, by DayTrading.com to be fit for any purpose. Any use of third-party service providers is at the user’s personal risk. We may receive financial compensation from providers listed here.
Bottom Line
Traders who wish to increase their returns and manage their risk effectively can benefit greatly from day trading alerts.
Yet despite these advantages, traders should also be mindful of the associated costs of using these tools, whilst also remembering to guard against overreliance. They should only be employed as part of a balanced approach to decision-making.
To get started, use our list of the best brokers with day trading alerts.
FAQ
How Can I Receive Trading Alerts?
You can receive your alerts in a number of straightforward ways. You can register for notifications that will pop up when you’re actually in your web-based trading platform, say TradingView. They will usually make a sound to inform you an event of interest has occurred.
Alternatively, you can get mobile SMS notifications. These allow you to respond to important market developments even when you’re on the move.
There is even the option of X, formerly Twitter, alerts. That’s right, you can keep up to date with Donald Trump at the same time as receiving crucial trading information. If that isn’t to your fancy you can set up email alerts and absorb data that way.
Technology now allows you to receive your alerts in whichever medium is most suitable for your needs. For example, an intraday trader glued to the screen all day may benefit most from alerts on their web-based platform.
Can You Profit From Trading Alert Services?
Despite the promise of riches alert service providers claim, there remain downsides to stay aware of. Firstly, remember that however many benefits trading signals and alerts offer, they don’t replace experience and they won’t work without an effective strategy.
Secondly, you need to take into account slippage. There will always be some lag in the alert and your ability to make or exit a trade, and when you’re day trading, every second and tick counts.