What you are setting up
A watchlist is a saved list of investments you want to follow without owning them. Alerts are messages your provider sends when a condition you chose is met.
Watchlists and alerts help because they replace constant checking. A list grouped by theme keeps related names together, so movement within that group is easy to spot. Alerts also make it less likely that you react to a headline before you have read the details.
Before you start
- Check that your provider offers watchlists and the alert types you want, because the tools differ between providers.
- Confirm which delivery channels exist, such as email or a push message on a mobile device.
- Decide which markets you want to follow, and note the ticker symbol of each investment, which is the short code that identifies it.
Choosing alert types
Most setups use a few kinds of alert, and each answers a different question.
- A price alert fires when an investment reaches a level you set, above or below its current price.
- A percentage move alert fires when an investment rises or falls by an amount you choose over a set period.
- A news alert fires when a headline or announcement names an investment on your list.
Price alerts suit a level you already have in mind. Percentage move alerts suit noticing sudden changes without watching the screen all day. News alerts suit staying aware of events, although headlines often arrive after prices have already moved.
Read each message carefully before you decide anything. An alert only reports that something happened, and it is not an instruction to trade.
Steps to set up your watchlist and alerts
- Open the watchlist section of your provider's tools.
- Create a new list.
- Name the list after a theme, such as a sector or a region.
- Add the first investment to the list using its ticker symbol.
- Check that the name matches the investment you meant.
- Open the alert settings for that investment.
- Create a price alert at the level you want to hear about.
- Create a percentage move alert with a size and time window you can explain plainly.
- Turn on news alerts for the investment, if the provider offers them.
- Send a test message to confirm that alerts reach your chosen channel.
- Review the list on a regular schedule and remove names that no longer fit the theme.
Keeping the list manageable
A long list with many alerts becomes noise, and noisy alerts get ignored. Keep each list small enough to review in a short sitting. Several carefully chosen names usually serve a theme better than a long list nobody reads.
Give every alert a reason you can put in a sentence. If you cannot say why an alert matters, remove it. Remove an alert once the reason behind it has passed, rather than leaving it in place out of habit.
When an alert never arrives
- If an alert never arrives, check the delivery channel in your settings and the message permissions on your device, then send a test again.
- If the wrong investment appears, delete it and search again by ticker symbol, because company names can be similar.
- If messages arrive too often, narrow the percentage move size or the news topics instead of switching every alert off.
- If a setting you need is missing, check the provider's own documentation, since alert types vary by provider.
What providers offer also varies by country. Check the provider's own terms and your local financial authority if you are unsure what applies to you.
Alert tools as part of a broker comparison
Watchlists and alerts differ widely between providers, so they belong in your comparison. Some providers include alerts with the main account, while others keep them in a separate tool, and that affects how easy they are to use day to day. Compare these features next to the basic account details.
If you are weighing investment providers, read the guide to choosing investment providers first. For tools built around watching markets, the list of investing research tools sets out which options include alerts. Keep in mind that the right setup depends on how often you plan to check your investments.